Believe and Confess 120916

Romans 10:9-13, because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

 

Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart. The heart believes and the mouth confesses. In verses 9 and 10 Paul summarizes the gospel for all the world to see. He uses belief and confession in both verses and reverses the order from one to the other. Both confession of the Lordship of Christ and belief in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead is necessary for salvation. Both confession and belief are necessary to salvation. I do not believe they are steps that occur in a particular order. They sort of happen together rather than one leading to the other. If Jesus is Lord, then the resurrection is part of what we believe about him. Verses 11 through 13 are an expansion on verses 9 and 10 and shows the Old Testament proof supporting the earlier verses.

Paul has quoted from Moses showing that the word from the Lord was not far away from the people of Israel as they entered the promised land. Now he applies the same idea to the men of his day, and incidentally, to the people of our day. The word is near — in the mouth and in the heart — the word of faith proclaimed in Scripture. Everyone who calls on the name the Lord will be saved. Now there is a false teaching surrounding this idea.

I remember when I was a boy listening to a preacher presenting his understanding of this passage. I thought to myself then that what he was saying could not possibly be true. He said that if you call on the name of the Lord you are saved. Then he went on to illustrate the concept that he had. Remember, when I was a boy was during and just after World War II. Millions of American men had gone into that war. Many of them found themselves in combat much more vicious than today simply because they had no body armor to protect them. The preacher said that most of them, in the middle of battle, had cried out to the Lord to save them. Therefore, he concluded that those men were saved because during their time of fear they called out to God. That just simply cannot be! I agree with the elderly lady in a testimony service who said, "It ain't how loud you shout when you yell hallelujah, or how high you jump, it's how straight you walk when you hit the ground.” I am not advocating works salvation. I am saying that confession with the mouth that Jesus is Lord involves more than using his name in a particular time of crisis or religious fervor. Confessing with the mouth must be accompanied by believing in the heart for salvation to occur. Never take one verse by itself, or a few selected verses by themselves, to build your faith. It must be based on the entire word of God.

God invites all to call on his name and be blessed with all the riches of God. God's riches are not always seen in material things. However, he is very generous towards those he can trust with material possessions. Though he is the richest person in the universe he chose to leave heaven's glory for the gloom of earth and become poor in order that by his poverty that we might become rich. Now that is not my opinion it is the word of God found in 2nd Corinthians 8:9. Now let us look at the passage before us…

God invites ALL. There is a general call to all people to come to the Lord. At the Feast of Booths Jesus stood before the crowd and said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ' Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:37-38)

Jesus said, "whoever believes in him." Read with me, John 6:47, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. In fact, twelve times in the gospel of John Jesus uses the term "whoever" in connection with belief in him. It seems obvious that he was saying anyone can come if they will. We know that not everyone will come and it is very obvious that many people will reject the gospel offer. God has made us in such a way that he ordains all that we do and we exercise our personal will and make real, voluntary choices. Many people reject this idea because we cannot understand it. Yet it is clearly presented in Scripture. Should we reject something that we do not understand? We cannot understand, in any final sense, how a plant lives or how a bumblebee flies. I do not understand what a carbohydrate is but I do not deny the existence of carbohydrates. I do not understand what a vitamin is but I take them everyday. Everyone has something they do not understand and yet they do not reject it simply because they do not understand it. So it is with the truth of the Bible concerning Election.

Most Bible scholars agree that Romans 1:16 states the theme of the book. Let us look that verse now…

The theme verse says, "everyone who believes". Read with me Romans 1:16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel even though the gospel condemned his own people because they pursued a righteousness of the law rather than righteousness of faith. He was not ashamed of the gospel because he had, literally, "seen the light" on the Damascus Road, as a result, he now understood that all he had stood for in the past was just garbage. The good news about Jesus Christ is the power of God for salvation. It is the power of God for salvation to everyone. It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The Jews had the first opportunity to come to the gospel. Paul always presented it that way. He went to the synagogue and preached the gospel, and then, when he was turned away, he presented the gospel to whoever would listen. For that action he was condemned by his own people who believed that they were the chosen people of God. Paul had come to understand that the church is "The Israel of God" and now the gospel goes out all the world.

The theme of the book of Acts seems to me to be the gospel going out beginning in Jerusalem, then to Judea, then to Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth. Beginning with only Jews, Acts tells us about the gospel going to Samaritans, an Ethiopian, Roman soldiers, and spreading to non-Jews in many places. The last word in the Greek book of Acts is translated as "unhindered". Though Paul was in chains in Rome the gospel was not hindered — it was going out to everyone everywhere. And those who believed were being saved. It is a wonderful story and has continued until today. This is not some New Testament idea it was prophesied repeatedly in the Old Testament for example…

Joel spoke of everyone. If you have your Bible, turn to Joel 2:32, And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls…

This is the verse used by Paul in Romans 10:13. Repeatedly, Paul has quoted from the Old Testament prophets in support of this truth that the gospel of God has always been "The Gospel of Grace" and is available to all people everywhere. Remember, the call must come because the person doing the calling has believed in their heart. The basic belief in Christ is that he was born of a virgin, took our sins on the cross, was buried and raised again to live forever as the only mediator between God and man. This is not some simple repetition of a formula for salvation. Instead, this is a serious commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

In using the quote from Joel, Paul was making very plain who Jesus is. Joel, of course, was written originally in the Hebrew language. The word "Lord", in the Hebrew text, is the name of God "Yahweh" or, as some would have it in English, "Jehovah". So Paul, a very intelligent scholar of the Hebrew Bible, knowingly used the quote from Joel to say that Jesus is God Himself. Therefore, when we…

Call on the Name. We are calling on God himself because that is who Jesus is. You may say that you do not understand the Trinity. And some deny it because the word Trinity is not in the Bible. It is a word based on "tri", or three, and "unity". Resulting in a word to describe three persons in one Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are God. They are in perfect unity and perfect communion with each other. When we call on the name we do it because we believe and not because we have somehow earned the right through our good works.

Believing and confessing, not works of the law. Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 2:8-10, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Salvation is by grace through faith only. The Scripture says that we are not saved by works of righteousness that we have done. This passage states that it is not our own doing. In fact, it is a gift of God! Our salvation does not result from our good works. We have nothing to boast about and many things to be ashamed of. We have all sinned and come short of God's glory. That is exceptionally sad because the wages of sin is death. If we have all sinned and the wages of sin is death we are born in trouble and it just gets worse as we grow older.

Praise God, we are not beyond hope. God shows his love for us while we are still sinners, ungodly people, by sending his Son to take our sins into his own body and die on the cross. Which allows us, if we are willing, to come to him and confess that Jesus is Lord affirming our belief that he died on the cross and was raised again. If a person believes in their heart, with their entire being, and confesses with their mouth that he is Lord the Bible says that they are saved. A person makes such a confession because they have been called by God you see…

The "called" call on the name. Let's see what Paul said to the Corinthians, he was writing to the church there, turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1:2, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 

 

This is just one example, out of many that we might have used, talking about those who call on the name of the Lord. Notice how these people are described. 1st) they are the church of God that is in Corinth. Not the Baptist Church or the Methodist Church or the Catholic Church but the church of God. All those names for churches came later. I personally believe that what God has done in the Baptist Church speaks to me personally so I am not ashamed of the name "Baptist". Any time you want to know more about what I believe in that respect just ask me I will be happy to fill you in. 2nd) Paul is writing those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus. They are people who are set apart from the world and are in Christ Jesus. 3rd) They are called to be saints. Sanctified in Christ Jesus and called, by God, to be saints. I know that there are some churches who respect certain individuals to the point that they call them "Saints". In New Orleans there is a whole football team of "Saints". Yet the New Testament refers to all believers as Saints. It is made very clear in this passage that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is called to be a Saint. And therefore, the called call on the name of the Lord. And…

Calling on the name involves Lordship. Recall the words of Joel, "… everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." There are people who teach that salvation comes to a person when they give intellectual assent. Then they teach that the person who wants to go on in spiritual growth accept Christ as "Lord". The Bible does not teach this division.

When Paul met Jesus on the Damascus Road he called Jesus, "Lord". "Who are you Lord", he said. And no one knew better what the meeting of "Lord" was than Paul. He knew that word should only be applied to God himself. Later, Paul would tell us about his preaching by saying that he did not hesitate to tell them anything that was profitable to them. He preached to them publicly and from house to house telling everyone about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:20-21)

Repentance is essential to salvation. We turn away from all known sin because we are now ready to confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. All people everywhere need to repent and confess Jesus is Lord. It does not make any difference who your family is or what race you are. The same Lord is Lord of all and he is…

Bestowing his riches. On those who call upon his name.

Salvation is the greatest gift. Turn with me to Ephesians 1:3-8, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight

If you are Christian you have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. You have been chosen by him before the world was created! We have been chosen to be holy and blameless before him. He chose beforehand to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. It was the purpose of his will that he blessed us with Jesus — The Beloved! He has redeemed us through the blood of Christ, forgiving our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. These riches he lavished on us in his wisdom and insight.

His riches may include material things. I subscribe to the concept that God rewards us with material things as much as he can trust us with material things! In other words he gives us what he can trust us with! The truth is, God is more generous than we come near to deserving in the area of material blessings. God is prepared to pour out upon us, lavishly, of material and spiritual things…

More than we can imagine. Look at this quote from Isaiah found in 1 Corinthians 2:9,But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

God has prepared for those who love him more than can be imagined. Not just more than we have imagined but more than we can imagine. More than we have ever seen, more than we have ever heard about and more than we have ever dreamed. 2nd Chronicles 16:9 tells us that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro over the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless towards him. We should be aware that God wants to provide for us. Through the psalmist (Ps 81:16) he said that he would feed us with the finest wheat and with honey from the rock. But, he could not because we would not trust in him.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem he mourned the condition of the city, saying, "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" (Matthew 23:37)

We see in these examples how much God desires to bless his people. The big problem is his people, by and large, are just not blessable! 

 

God Himself is the ultimate gift!

The greatest gift we could ever receive is a relationship with the living God! All the world, sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, are born in sin and conceived in iniquity. Everyone, without exception, deserves death and hell. Yet, God chose for reasons of his own to save some and make them his people. Chosen, not because they are good or somehow deserve it, but because he chooses to love the unlovely. His greatest gift was himself! From the beginning of time he had planned a way for man to know him. Not as the far-off God who created and then drew back to watch his creation but instead one who is near. In fact, not just one who came alongside us but one who came to be one of us. John tells us in the 1st chapter of his gospel that Jesus, the Word, came to his own and his own people did not receive him. But, to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave a right to become children of God,

In Romans 5:8 Paul tells us that God shows us his love in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. And in the 2nd Corinthians 5:21 we are told that he who knew no sin was made to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Can any gift be greater than that which he bestows on us who believe in him.

Throughout Romans 9-11 Paul's concern for the Israelites, his own people, causes him to point out to them (and us) that God always had a plan. A plan that called all people to himself not just the descendents of Abraham. It is not just a matter of saying the word "Lord" in your confession. It is not just a matter of calling to the Lord. Remember, Jesus said that there would be many on the day of judgment who would say to him, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?" Jesus went on to say that he never knew them! Just before that Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21-23) If Jesus as your Lord you will do the will of God the Father.

All scripture quotes from:The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

The Riches of God's Glory 120819

Romans 9:14-24, What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

Our passage begins with Paul asking a question in reply to people who are arguing with him about God choosing some and not others. When they say, "it is not fair!", Paul replies, "Is there injustice on God's part?". Then he quickly answers his own question, "By no means!" He then sets out to prove his answer. The Apostle uses God's reply to Moses and then God's treatment of Pharaoh to explain this simple fact, God may do as he chooses with his own creation. And, No, it is not fair! "Fair" would be far worse than reality.

"Fairness" is a human concept based on social standards not on the word of God. In order for God to be fair and all to be treated the same we would be in serious trouble. Because the condition of all mankind is the same! We all deserve death and hell and any variation from that is the mercy of God. If it were not for God's grace and goodness we would have no hope of life and peace. There is no injustice on God's part when he chooses to save some out of lost humanity. Paul begins his explanation with a story very familiar to his Jewish readers. The story was of a time in the wilderness when the people of God rebelled against him and set up an idol to worship. Turn with me to Exodus 32…

Moses was seeking God's glory.

Israel had rebelled. Exodus 32:7-10, And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

As we read this account there are two or three things that stand out. God, instead of calling them his people, calls them Moses' people. Almost like when daddy comes home from work and mama begins her first sentence with, "Your son…" And you know that that is not going to be good for the boy in question. Then God says something very interesting. "Now therefore let me alone," something is going on between Moses and God even before this statement. Moses appears to be appealing to God on behalf of the people. Moses' intercession is an important part of his pastoral leadership of the congregation in the wilderness. A little further on we find Moses interceding for them…

Moses interceded for them. Read with me, Exodus 33:17, And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

God's relationship with Moses is very intimate. First, he directly answers Moses' intercession with, "This very thing that you have spoken I will do," and the reason is given, "you have found favor in my sight," and, "I know you by name." I believe we can safely say that God knows all of us by name. But this is a special "knowing". Moses was chosen by God as part of the grand scheme of salvation. He was allowed to be raised in the house of Pharaoh, then stripped of all his honors, driven out of Egypt, spent 40 years raising sheep, then, and only then, was he called out to lead God's people. Every part of his life was preparatory to his being the leader of the Exodus of millions of people out of slavery into the freedom of God. Moses, like Abraham before him, and David after him was a man after God's own heart. If anyone had the right to ask God for a special manifestation of his glory it would have been Moses. But no one has that right. No one can do any more with God than to request and await his response in his wisdom. But Moses did ask something let's read on…

God's glory. Exodus 33:18-20, Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

Moses did say, "Please", and God did respond graciously. Moses was asking for more than a personal vision of God's glory. He wanted a manifestation of God's glory to all the people. He was not going to get that! God had already shown himself with the fire and thunder on top of the mountain. Now, he would not waste his glory on all Israel but he would show favor to his friend. He would show Moses what man can see but that is all. You see, God says here, "Man shall not see me and live." Instead, God had Moses stand in a certain place where he could be shielded from God's glory. Covered with God's hand, Moses would be protected as God passed by and then Moses could see God's "back". Not being a scholar in the Hebrew language, I cannot say exactly what this means, but I have been told it could mean the fading of God's glory.

God shows his glory to whom he chooses. He is God and will be gracious to whom he chooses to be gracious to and he will show mercy to whom he will show mercy. We have no rights to claim nor privileges. God is in charge!

Paul then moves on to another example, Pharaoh! You see…

Pharaoh as an example.

God had a purpose. Read with me, Exodus 9:13-14, Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.

We need to remember that God always has a purpose in everything that happens. Slavery in Egypt was part of God's plan. In speaking to Abram hundreds of years before the Exodus God plainly told him that his descendents would go into a land that is not theirs and be afflicted for 400 years. The land promised to Abram was occupied by the people generally called Canaanites and though they were ungodly people they were not yet bad enough to be removed by God. What he said to Abram was, "the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."

So, Joseph was sold into slavery, raised up to be the Prime Minister of Egypt, brought his family to join him and there they settled! Or if you want to think that way God parked them in Egypt until the people living in the promised land were evil enough to be destroyed. Had God been unjust there would have been no reason for Egypt and slavery. He could have just wiped out the people in Canaan and turned the land over to Abram and his descendents. That would have been unjust. He waited until their natural iniquity was evil enough and then called in his people. In the meantime several more things were happening. Israel grew to be a large nation disciplined and organized by slavery. At the right time God called them out. And he did it in such a way that the whole world would come to know about it. In our rebellious human nature we could say that using Egypt and Pharaoh like that was not fair and Pharaoh did not deserve what happened to him. Well, we need to remember that what we all deserve Pharaoh also deserved.

What Pharaoh deserved. Romans 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, & 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These two verses speak to the condition of the human race. All have sinned! Not some — ALL! The Bible says there is none righteous no not one. The standard we are measured by is the glory of God and we fall short of it. Now, by comparing ourselves with someone else we might not look too bad. That is, if we choose carefully who we're going to compare with. But looking good in a human to human competition still leaves us in common danger. We all descend from Adam and Eve and as such we are all sinners. The wages, or pay, for sin is death. That is eternal separation from God. That is what we all deserve and that is what Pharaoh deserved. What he got was a little more complicated and drawn out on his way to death and hell.

What Pharaoh got. Let us look at three passages of Scripture, Exodus 7:3-4a, But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you.; 8:32, But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go. & 14:1-4, Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

Nineteen times in the book of Exodus there is a reference to a hardened heart on the part of Pharaoh. It is easy to say that God caused Pharaoh to have a hard heart. Nothing could be further from the truth! Pharaoh had a hard heart. God did not have to give him a hard heart he simply worked with what he had. You see, God is over all, he is almighty, all-powerful and rules the universe. He can use evil to display his own glory. Romans 9:17 clearly says that God used Pharaoh to display his own glory. Quoting from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "God took Pharaoh as he was, and aggravated and accentuated what it was; he hardened his heart, in order to serve his own purpose."

The story goes this way. When Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh and asked him to allow God's people go back to their land Pharaoh said, "No". In his hardened condition he made the work harder for the slaves and entered into a contest of wills with Jehovah God. Now, he could have been persuaded to give in at the first level and it would have been an historical event but it would not have been what God intended it to be. Ten times God confronted Pharaoh and the Egyptian magicians. Each time he defeated part of their religion. He thoroughly laid waste the land of Egypt in such a manner that it would have taken generations for them to recover. In the end he destroyed the standing army of Egypt and left the country open to its enemies. In the process he withdrew his people from slavery, molded them into a nation that could conquer their enemies and rule the land he had set aside for them.

Before crossing the Red Sea God called out the Egyptian Army and lead it into the Red Sea behind the nation of Israel. His announced purpose was, "and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord". We need to remember that God has a plan for all occasions. Let us look at part of…

God's sovereign purpose.

The potter and the clay. The example Paul uses in verses 20 and 21 is drawn from both Isaiah and Jeremiah. God sent Jeremiah to the potter's house to watch him work. It was a normal day at the potter's house and in the course of making a vessel from clay it was marred. The potter was not upset he simply reshaped it as he had done many many times before. Then God asked the question, "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done?" Then God went on to explain that he could pull a nation down or he could raise one up whenever he wanted to. Then he told that he was shaping disaster against them. He called on them to repent and return to him but they would not. Disaster soon came to pass.

Many have said that unless America soon returns to God a similar disaster will occur here. We need to remember that the events of the Old Testament unfolded over a period of time. God's patience and compassion carried men forward generation after generation. Thousands of years passed before his hand of destruction came upon the world.

Remember, God waited 400 years for the people in the land of Canaan to become sufficiently evil that he would destroy them. America has been a nation for less than 250 years. The rejection of God in our society and in our government, depending on which event you measure from, has only been going on for about 50 years. And for that number I use the Supreme Court case involving Madalyn Murray O'Hair resulting in the end of Bible reading and prayer in the public schools. Ten years later, in Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court opened the door to the approval of abortions resulting in the death of millions of unborn children. I wont even attempt to list all the other evidences of spiritual decline in America. The list goes on and on but the timeframe is very short compared to the biblical accounts of the decline and fall of God's people. God is sovereign and has a plan that includes America but I honestly can say I do not know how America fits into God's plan. In the midst of everything God has a way of taking care of his people. Remember…

God endured with patience. Read with me, 2 Peter 3:8-9, But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Paul reminds us that God endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. And now Peter shows us how indifferent God is to time. One day equals a thousand years; a thousand years equals a day. This is not a math problem or some kind of secret code to help you determine the end times. This is a simple statement of fact. No period of time has any effect on God.

Remember, God is love! In that beautiful description of love found in 1st Corinthians chapter 13 we find the first characteristic of love is this, "Love is patient".

Everything we know about God tells us that he is righteous and just but also loving, patient and kind. He placed man in the Garden of Eden, permitted him to sin and covered that sin. He could have ended it all then, but remember, mankind on earth is not a social experiment of a benevolent God. God had a purpose and a plan.

God had already taken into consideration Cain killing Abel. He knew Seth would be born and he knew that man would become more and more evil until it was time to destroy the earth with a flood. He knew that he would begin again with Noah, his three sons and their wives. He also knew that man would continue in his rebellion. From the very beginning he had seen a man in the land of Ur, whose father was a pagan idol maker, named Abram. He knew that that man would listen when he spoke and would leave his family and his human heritage to follow the Lord wherever he called. He would rename that man, "Abraham" and he would become the father of the faithful. He knew that Abraham's descendents would become slaves in Egypt and be led out with a mighty hand. He knew that those former slaves would conquer Canaan and build a kingdom. He knew that there would be a shepherd boy named David who would become king of Israel. And hundreds of years later he knew that a baby would be born who would be called "the Son of David". He knew that baby would be God himself, Immanuel, "God with us". He knew that that man would take the sins of the whole world on the cross so that mankind could have the opportunity of salvation. He persisted in patience because he had a plan of salvation. He did this…

In order to show his mercy. Read with me, Romans 2:4, Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

God's kindness is meant to lead man to repentance. There are many reasons why God tolerated evil for so long. One, it demonstrates his long-suffering, his compassion. Ezekiel 18:23, Reads like this, Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? Looking further into Ezekiel we find God saying, Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11)

God's patience takes away man's excuse. The evidence of history is that man cannot save himself and it has been proved over and over again. In the final judgment man has no choice but admit that God was patient and long-suffering with the human race.

We should be amazed when we think that God saved any of us. What we deserve is death and hell! Instead, as Paul wrote to Titus, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7) Who are we to talk back to our Creator who has given us the riches of his glory?

All Scripture references are from, The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

God's Purpose 120812

Romans 9:6-13, But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Christians often stumble over Romans 9-11 because they fail to see what it is really all about. They see the word "election" and immediately rush to judgment. God's process of election, or selection, is not based on his looking over the human race to decide who is good enough and/or bad enough. That is a view held by many Christians. That view of God's choosing really grows out of human pride. Since it is proposed by Christians it naturally follows that being a Christian means that God sees something about us that makes us special. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have nothing in ourselves that makes it possible for us to be chosen by God. The reason for election, or selection, is to fulfill the purpose of God.

Paul wants to assure us, in this section of Romans, that, not only does he desire with the deepest commitment that his kinsman be saved but he also wants us to know that God did not fail in regards to Israel. God is not feeble, nor is he unable to fulfill his own purposes! On the contrary, the God we serve — the Creator of the universe – can do anything he chooses, anytime he chooses, without consulting us.

Now, Did God fail in regards to Israel?

He did make a promise to his friend Abraham. Let us read together… Genesis 12:1-3, Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This is a great promise! He promises this man, who has no children, that he will make him a great nation and will make his name great. He promises to bless those who bless Abram and curse those who dishonor Abram. And last of all, he promises that all the families of the earth will be blessed in Abram, or Abraham as he will later be called.

Most of you know the story. Abram, at his wife's suggestion, takes her servant into his bed and produces a child through her. Then several years later, God causes Sarah, Abraham's wife, to bear a child who was the one God intended all the time. It is easy to see that the child of the servant was of the flesh. Only Isaac, the child given by God as a result of a miracle, is a spiritual descendent of Abraham. At the same time the descendents of Isaac were not all faithful people. In fact…

Israel was faithless. Turn with me to, Judges 2:11-13, And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.

The generation that came out of Egypt, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, had died in the wilderness because of their unfaithfulness. Now, the next generation was faithful to the Lord only as long as Joshua lived. At Joshua's death they turned from serving the Lord the following the Baals. This is so amazing to see! They had seen the result of turning from the Lord when they were children. The generation before them had crossed the Red Sea, been given water from a rock, they were fed manna (the bread of heaven), and when they complained were given meat to eat. Now their children, who had crossed the Jordan River on dry ground, seen the walls of Jericho fall at a shout, and then, in battle after battle had taken the land away from the Canaanites who worshiped the Baals. Now they turned away from the living God to worship idols. Suffice it to say that worship of the Baals and the Ashtaroth had a sexual element that resulted in licentious lifestyles. The book of Judges demonstrates how this kind of unfaithfulness to God recurred generation after generation. The people would fall away, God would allow them to be persecuted, they would cry out to God in repentance, God would send a deliverer. Then, they would soon fall back into flesh centered pagan worship. But, God always retained a remnant…

God retained a remnant. Read with me… Romans 11:1-5, I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

From the days of Elijah, after generations of people had fallen away from God, they were forced to acknowledge that Jehovah is God. Elijah had invited priests of Baal to Mount Carmel in Israel. He had them erect an altar to their God and then ask their God to light the fire. After they prayed for most of the day and nothing happened Elijah built an altar to Jehovah, the Lord of heaven. He had large volumes of water poured over the altar he had erected. And then with a simple prayer fire came from above and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the water in the ditch around it and the dust! After having seen all that and verbally proclaiming, "The Lord he is God! They turned back to their old way and Elijah felt abandoned. He thought he was the only faithful person left until God told him, “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” You see…

There have always been two Israel's.

Example, Isaac and Ishmael. Read with me Galatians 4:22-28, For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.” Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

It is easy enough to say, in this example that Paul uses, "Of course, Isaac and Ishmael are clearly different!" One Ishmael was born of a slave woman. His inheritance could not be equal to that of Isaac who was born to Sarah as a result of God's gracious intervention. You might even say that this is not even a good example because of the difference between the two mothers. Paul's point is simple, the children of promise are a picture of the church today. We too, are children of promise. We are sons and daughters of Abraham, the father of the faithful. And it does not matter whether we were born Jewish or Gentile. It matters only that we have been saved by grace through faith not depending on works but as a gift of God. So, to make the point even stronger, Paul gives us another…

Example, Esau and Jacob. Please read with me the second illustration, Genesis 25:21-24, And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.

Isaac prayed for his wife because she was barren. God heard his prayer and soon there was morning sickness and all the other evidences of new life coming into the family. It is very exciting to feel the movement of the baby. Possibly it was very surprising to Rebecca when she felt a lot of movement. In fact, the movement was so violent but she said, "why is this happening to me?" So she went to the Lord in prayer. We do not know exactly how she did this. I assume she brought a sacrifice and after offering the sacrifice waited before the Lord for an answer as to what was happening. God told her in plain words several things: first, two nations were in her and two peoples would be divided from each other. Next, one would be stronger than the other. And then, the older shall serve the younger. It would have been easy enough for God to have used the older of the twins to carry on the godly line. Instead, he chose the younger and weaker of the two showing that it was God's work not man's. Jacob was chosen and Esau was rejected. Unlike Isaac and Ishmael, these two men had the same mother as well as the same father. Not only that, but they were in the womb at the same time. There was no distinction in them except that they were fraternal twins not identical twins.

Read with me… Malachi 1:2-3, “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”

As Paul would say, in our text for today, "in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls" God does not select based on our good works or faithfulness. He selects based on his own purpose and he does not have to consult with us as to what the selection should be. I do not understand how election works other than God has the right over his own creation to do with us as he will. Somehow, he allows us to respond to him according to his purpose by his grace. I am so grateful that God sent his son to deliver the faithful. Remember the words of Luis Palau, "God has no grandchildren!" No one receives salvation because they are the child, or a descendant of, a believer. Throughout history there have been mixed together, even in the same family, believers and unbelievers. They are…

The faithful and the faithless. Read the words of Jesus in, John 8:31-38, So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

Jesus went on a little farther to say, "You are of your father the devil". He was speaking to the Jews who believed in him and showing them that they had no birthright salvation. They could only come the Father through the Son. So there was in the group confronting Jesus believers and unbelievers. All of them were Jews and physically descendents of Abraham. But that physical descent did not make them true children of Abraham. None of this is man's work. Salvation is all of God. You see…

All mankind failed — but God did not!

Adam sinned and we all fell! Read with me please, Romans 5:12, Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Sin came into the world through one man and death through sin. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Remember, it was not a surprise to God when Adam sinned. We are not a social science experiment being conducted by some great benevolent power. God had a purpose and a plan to fulfill that purpose. Before the creation of universe God had already seen the church, the believers of all ages, gathered in glorious adoration and praise of the living God. His plan was so complete that it included our failure.

But God had a plan that included our failure. Now, let us read from Romans 5:19, For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Not by our obedience but by the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ many are made righteous. Not become righteous by our choice but "made righteous". This is God's work not ours.

Do I understand it all? No, but I believe it all. God's word is true and can be trusted in all respects. Please put your faith in him.

I watched some of the Olympics the past two weeks. When athletes from other countries won a gold medal I am impressed with their skill but when athletes from the USA won a gold, as did Gabby Douglas, I am impressed with their skill and proud to be an American. But that pride in America, in our heritage, does not in any way increase my chances of salvation. My only hope of salvation, as is yours, is only by grace, by faith alone, in Christ alone.

Paul the apostle took great pride in his Jewish heritage. He grieved over the fact that his people, by and large, were not believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And, if he could, would be willing to be cast out for their salvation. But he could not do that he can only pray that God would save. His prayer was answered because God has saved some from Israel in every generation of the church.

God's purpose has remained the same. Read with me, 2 Timothy 1:8-10, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

God purposed to call out a chosen people, a holy nation, a people for his possession. He did this so that we could proclaim his excellence. No one comes to him based on their own merits. His purpose and grace were given to us in Christ Jesus. Please note, "before the ages began". He never promised that all the physical descendents of Abraham would be saved. He did promise that the spiritual sons of Abraham would all be saved..

Many would argue that God's purpose had failed because Israel failed so many times in history. We need to be clear, God's purpose will never fail because of humanity. God does not depend on people, in fact, just the opposite, people depend upon God! Paul's argument is pretty simple. Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and, not all Abraham's offspring are his children. Only those who come to God by faith are Abraham's descendents since he is the father of the faithful. This has always been God's plan and purpose that man should be saved not by works of righteousness but by God's choice of grace.

All Scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.