The Purpose of Election
Romans 9:22-24
July 2, 2017
As you know, we have spent the last several weeks
Sort of walking through this concept of God’s Sovereign Election.
We have seen is reality and we have examined it’s “fairness”.
The fact is, that because of the fall,
Mankind is dead in sin and absolutely incapable of saving himself
Or of prompting God to save him,
Or of even responding to God when God offers salvation.
Because of this drastic reality we have seen unmistakably that
The only way any sinner would ever be saved
Is if God so chooses to save that sinner in spite of them.
We call this Sovereign Election.
Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
• It is something God purposed.
• It is something God chose to do.
• It is something that God accomplished by His own sovereign prerogative.
And that reality is all throughout Scripture.
What we’ve been examining the last couple of weeks is
The “FAIRNESS” of that election.
That seems to be the major cry regarding the notion of election.
That’s not fair! That’s not love! That makes God a monster!
That makes us robots!
And in order to answer those accusations
We have spent the last two weeks in Romans 9
Where we took a deeper look into the way God has worked with Israel.
We saw that Israel is lost, and that it most definitely is not God’s fault.
And we saw some key components to God’s salvation.
• It is a SPECIFIC SALVATION (Isaac, not Ishmael)
• It is a SUPERNATURAL SALVATION (by the promise, not the flesh)
• It is a SOVEREIGN SALVATION (Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated)
God most certainly did what He willed to do.
Now the first question centered around GOD’S JUSTICE in this matter.
It just seemed wrong that God would choose one and not the other.
Romans 9:14 “What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!”
And to this Paul gave us two illustrations to further examine
Whether or not God has the right to sovereignly choose to save sinners.
The first illustration was wayward Israel who had built a golden calf and worshiped in defiance of God.
• God had every right to destroy them for this act of idolatry
• Moses interceded
• And God decided to be merciful to those sinners
And we say, God has every right to do that.
He has every right to show mercy whenever He so chooses.
There is no injustice in that.
The second illustration was pagan Pharaoh.
• Pagan was an idol worshiping pagan
• Pharaoh had enslaved and mistreated God’s people
• Pharaoh even demanded worship of himself as god
• And God took this sinner who deserved judgment, but instead of judging him
immediately, first chose to allow him to live so that God could use him for a
greater purpose during the Exodus; namely to demonstrate His power.
And we again must say that God had every right to do this.
God has every right to judge sinners who have offended Him
In whatever way and in whatever time He so chooses.
That again is just.
So election certainly lines up with God’s justice.
The next question however was regarding FAIRNESS.
After all, the text says that God hardened Pharaoh and then judged him and that was just more than most people’s intellect could stand.
Romans 9:19 “You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?”
It doesn’t seem fair that God would harden sinners
And then judge them for it.
And of course Paul answered that with a strong warning.
(20) “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?”
“You’d better rip your tongue out of your mouth before you go questioning the sovereign prerogative of God.”
And incidentally, this is why I think this study is so important.
In our day of humanism and man-centered theology,
It is so important that the church be reminded
Exactly who God is and what that means.
Psalms 100:3 “Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”
If we accomplish nothing else through this study
I hope that you at the very least are brought back to a place
Of Holy Reverence and Fear regarding God.
And then AS WE LEFT LAST WEEK,
We read a hypothetical explanation from Paul.
This is not Paul explaining why God sovereignly chooses who He does (that knowledge is for God alone) but it is Paul giving one hypothetical reason for why God might be doing it.
(22-24) “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”
The implication here is that the reason so many people have such a difficult time with election is because they don’t understand it.
• They don’t understand what it says about the patience of God.
• They don’t understand what it says about the love of God.
• They don’t understand what it says about the glory of God.
Look at this passage for a second.
First Paul gives us a theological fact about God:
God is “willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known,”
If you’ve read the Bible at all, this should be an obvious conclusion.
We don’t get past chapter 6 of the Bible before we find God grieved over the sin of humanity and He sends a global killer to wipe everyone out.
We don’t get past 19 chapters of the Bible before God is raining down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah.
And the list continues.
• We seem Him judge nation after nation after nation.
• We seem Him judge sinner after sinner after sinner.
Anyone who assumes that God tolerates the wicked
Because He is somehow opposed to wrath and judgment,
Obviously doesn’t know God.
God judges sinners, and He will do that for all eternity.
So God is “willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known,”
And here comes the hypothetical.
Paul says, “But…” “What if…”
Instead of demonstrating His wrath God chose to go a different direction.
What if He chose to “endure with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?”
So now we have the entrance of “vessels of wrath”
What does that mean?
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”
So “vessels of wrath” are merely sinners who love their sin
And as a result of their sin abide under God’s fury and judgment.
And Paul describes these “vessels of wrath” by saying that
They have been “prepared for destruction”
That is to say, God is angry at them, they deserve judgment,
And that is where they are headed.
SO AT THIS POINT we have a God who has no problem demonstrating His wrath and we have sinners who certainly deserve it.
It seems like we are about to see fire rain down from heaven.
However, Paul says God chose to go a different direction.
Instead of instantly judging those sinners, God instead “endured [them] with much patience”
Here we have a belligerent sinner who has irritated God at every turn,
And although God has the power and the willingness to judge that sinner,
God instead chose to just endure them.
We would ask: WHY?
• If they are sinful and deserve judgment…
• If they are headed to judgment anyway…
• Why would you endure them?
If you’re figuring it out, this centers around the Pharaoh question of fairness, for that is precisely what God did with Pharaoh.
So why would you endure him?
(23) “And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory”
Now we have ANOTHER GROUP enter the equation.
Paul calls them “vessels of glory”
• If “vessels of wrath” are destined for judgment.
• Then “vessels of glory” are destined for what? Glory
Now, don’t misunderstand.
It’s NOT THAT one are sinful and the other are righteous.
We have already learned that there is none righteous, not even one.
It’s just that some of those sinners received God’s grace
And His divine election and He chose to change their destiny.
He chose to take them out of their sin and make them “vessels of glory”.
(“But God…” Ephesians 2)
If you want further explanation:
“vessels of wrath” would be Esau/Pharaoh
“vessels of glory” would be Jacob/Israel
You get the picture?
So we have the introduction of this new group and Paul explains why God chooses to endure those “vessels of wrath”.
And the answer is “to make know the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy”
CAN I TELL YOU SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT GOD?
HE IS GLORIOUS!
Psalms 29:9 “The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”
And God’s glory is the sum total of all that He is.
• This includes His mercy
• It includes His grace
• It includes His love
• It includes His holiness
• It includes His patience
• It includes His wrath
• It includes His power
All that God is, is contained in His glory.
That is why Paul calls it “the riches of His glory”
God’s glory is insurmountable and incomprehensible.
AND HERE IS THE FACT.
It is the desire of God to make His glory known.
That includes His love and mercy and patience
As well as His fury and wrath and power.
God’s desire is to reveal His glory to His elect.
Listen to the prayer of Jesus on the night before He is crucified.
John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
God’s desire is to reveal His glory to His elect.
And the fact of the matter is,
• If there is no Pharaoh to resist God, then there is no opportunity for God to demonstrate His power through the plagues.
• And if you never get to see God’s power or wrath or judgment, then you never get to see His glory.
So God takes a sinner who is doomed to destruction
And merely delays His judgment so that He can demonstrate
To His elect just how glorious He truly is.
The issue of Pharaoh’s hardening…
The issue of Esau’s judgment…
Had nothing to do with fair, it had to do with God revealing His glory.
God chose to demonstrate His greatness and His glory.
And incidentally Pharaoh isn’t the only time we see this.
Let me ask you a question:
WHO LET SATAN IN THE GARDEN?
• Are we to assume that he slipped past God’s security, and snuck in there and
wrecked the plan before God was able to detect him and detain him?
WHY EVEN PUT A FORBIDDEN TREE IN THE GARDEN?
• Wouldn’t God in His omniscience know that man would be tempted to eat from
that tree?
We certainly believe that God is sovereign over all things and all events,
And we do not believe that Satan can do anything
Unless God grants permission.
(We certainly saw that with Job)
WAIT A MINUTE PREACHER:
• Are you saying that God somehow wanted men to sin?
• Are you saying that God is the author of sin?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
• When God created Satan, how did He create him? Perfect and holy
• When God created man, who did He create him? Holy and blameless
• When God created the earth, how did He create it? Good
James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”
God is not the author of sin.
Sin originated in the heart of man.
Sin originated in the heart of Satan.
THE QUESTION IS DID GOD USE SATAN AND SINFUL MAN
FOR HIS OWN GLORIOUS PURPOSES?
So Satan rebelled against God;
Would God have been just to instantly destroy him? Yes
SO WHY NOT?
What if God chose to patiently endure him until the day of his destruction so that He might demonstrate His glory to His elect?
• Would you know of God’s mercy if you had never sinned?
• Would you know of God’s healing if you had never been sick?
• Would you know of God’s wrath if you had never been confronted?
• Would you know of God’s grace if you had never been chosen?
God is not the author of rebellion, nor is He the author of sin.
God merely allowed His sinful creation to do what they do i
N order that He might demonstrate His glory through their rebellion.
Let me give you another example.
Take the cross.
Acts 2:22-23 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know — this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”
• Did God make the Pharisees conspire against Jesus? No
• Did God make Judas betray Jesus? No
• Did God make Pilate condemn Jesus? No
They all did that on their own.
In fact, they all did that in spite of the preaching
And teaching and pleading of Jesus.
God merely gave those wicked men some leash
And they did exactly what sinful men will always do,
And it afforded God an opportunity to demonstrate His glory.
In that case,
• His glory to raise Christ from the dead,
• And His glory to provide atonement for His elect.
God didn’t make them sin, they did that on their own,
But God certainly permitted their freedom
That He might demonstrate His glory.
THIS IS WHAT PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT HERE.
You could not know the glory of God,
Unless God allowed sinners to remain longer than they deserve,
That He might demonstrate His power in them.
Do you see where we are going here?
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE GLORY OF GOD.
Even at the end of this section in Romans, in chapter 11, Paul summarizes why God would break off Israel, graft in the Gentiles and then graft Israel back in a again.
Romans 11:28-32 “From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.”
What if Israel never rebels?
Then Gentiles never learn about mercy AND Israel never learns about mercy.
But through their rebellion, God demonstrates His glorious mercy and grace to those who would have otherwise never known it.
DO YOU SEE THAT?
God endured “vessels of wrath” so that He might reveal His glory to “vessels of mercy”
And according to Paul, we are those vessels.
(24) “even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”
SO DO YOU SEE THE PURPOSE
BEHIND THIS REVELATION OF ELECTION?
Do you see why it is important that you understand it?
Because it demonstrates the glory of God.
This whole thing is not about man.
• It is not about man’s happiness.
• It is not about man’s free will.
• It is not about what is fair to man.
It is all about God demonstrating His glory
And being worshiped accordingly.
Those who deny it all in favor of man’s free will,
Think they are doing God this great favor
By making Him look so tender and loving and merciful.
In reality they are stripping Him of glory.
They are removing His sovereignty from Him
And giving it to man who gets to choose.
And God is reduced to this sentimental and mushy God who is up in heaven just hoping people will choose Him so that He can save them.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Psalms 115:3 “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”
Everything God does is so that He might demonstrate His glory.
BUT STILL, I KNOW PEOPLE – NOW COMES THE BIBLE ARGUMENTS
I hear what you are saying, but what about those verses?
• What about: Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF
THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
• What about Jesus weeping over Jerusalem saying, “How I longed to
gather you together as a hen gathers her chicks, but you were
unwilling”?
• What about the end of Revelation where we hear Jesus Himself offer
living water to anyone who thirsts?
• What about that passage in 2 Peter which says that God “is not willing
that any should perish”?
Those verses are not inconsistent with what we are learning here.
Give me a second to show you.
TURN TO: ROMANS 10:9-13
You are familiar with that.
It is the famous passage that reveals how to be saved.
You must “confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead” and you will be saved.
Wonderful verse!
And Paul goes on to say that
• Whoever believes won’t be disappointed (11)
• And whoever calls will in fact be saved. (13)
It is the truth that God will never turn away one single repentant sinner.
If you repent, He will forgive.
If you call on Jesus, He will save.
But don’t stop there…
(14-15) “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”
Did you catch that?
Anyone who calls can be saved.
• But they can’t call unless what? They believe.
• And they can’t believe unless what? They hear.
• And they can’t hear without what? A preacher.
• And they can’t preach unless what? They are sent.
And who is it that sends preachers into the world with the gospel?
That passage only reinforces what we have been saying.
It’s not that God would ever refuse a repentant sinner,
It’s just that no sinner will ever repent unless God initiates it.
There is nothing contradictory about that verse.
WELL WHAT ABOUT JESUS WEEPING OVER JERUSALEM?
• Aren’t we to assume that He wanted to save Israel, but it was their
stubborn rebellion that thwarted His plan?
• Can’t we assume then that God was trying to save some who wouldn’t be
saved?
Be careful there.
Are you going to afford sovereignty to sinners
Or are you going to afford sovereignty to God?
Listen, we just learned that God is willing to judge sinners.
But we also clearly read throughout Scripture that sinners grieve God
And that HE TAKES NO PLEASURE in their judgment.
Ezekiel 18:23 “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?”
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘ As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”
God’s grief regarding sinners
Should never be misinterpreted as impotence regarding sinners.
And just because God judges them for their sin
Does not mean that God enjoys it.
And just because they reject His invitation
Does not mean that they thwarted His will.
BUT WAIT PREACHER…
Then why does Peter say that God is patiently waiting for sinners, hoping they will repent?
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
We would do good to read what that verse actually says.
Most people think it says. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward THEM, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
Who does Peter say God is patient toward? “you”
Who is Peter writing to?
2 Peter 1:1 “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:”
In his first epistle, he gives them a different title.
1 Peter 1:1-2 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.”
So who is this “you” Peter is writing to?
• It is those “who are chosen”,
• It is those “who have received a faith as the same kind as ours”
It is the elect.
God will not judge this world
Until every one of His chosen repents and comes.
He is not trying to unnecessarily put the redeemed through hardship,
It’s just that He is not willing to come and bring judgment early
Until all of His elect have come home.
Imagine if you had a house fire
• And you started pulling your children out, and you get all of your children out
and into the truck except for 1, who is still in the house.
• And all of the kids in the truck start talking about how hot it is and how thirsty
they are, and how they want to go get something to drink.
• But you aren’t worried about their discomfort so much as you are
concerned about what? That last child in the fire.
God is not about to leave without all of His elect.
Well then why did Jesus in the Revelation say that anyone who was thirsty could come and have eternal life?
Revelation 21:6 “Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”
Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”
Of course that is true!
And He most certainly will give living water to anyone who thirsts!
The issue is that apart from His divine intervention they won’t want it.
Did we not see all those sinners throughout the tribulation who, despite the hardship, refused to repent, but instead chose to blaspheme God?
In fact we saw that there was only one group of people who was willing to repent and resist the Anti-Christ. Do you remember who those people were?
Revelation 13:8 “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”
THAT HAS BEEN THE POINT ALL ALONG.
Election is not about revealing God to be some sort of monster.
Election simply reveals that God is gracious.
For if left up to the free will of man, none would repent, none would trust, none would thirst, none would be willing, none would come…EVER!
Romans 3:10-12 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
God would certainly save any who come,
But like the king who sent out wedding invitations, none were willing to come.
So God, according to His sovereign prerogative, chose to save some,
In spite of what they were,
And He chose to make His glory known to them.
WHY?
So that for all eternity, He might be surrounded
By the redeemed who would glorify Him forever.
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
This is all about the glory of God.
The fact that God chose me, in spite of me,
And chose to reveal His glory to me,
Is not unjust or unfair,
IT IS ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS!
So, you see the first two aspects of what it means to be saved BY GRACE ALONE.
• Man’s Absolute Inability
• And God’s Sovereign Election
Next time we’re going to move on to the next aspect of Grace Alone,
Which is what has been titled
IRRESISTABLE GRACE or “God’s Effectual Call”.
We have so much left to cover here.
