We Are Responsible for our Response to the Message of the Gospel...

Yesterday, we looked at a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Romans that revealed that just as the Jewish people of Moses day and of the Old Testament had no excuse for missing God’s will and message, the Jewish people of Paul’s day had no excuse for missing God’s will and message. Paul’s point here was that Israel and the Jewish people were responsible because they trusted in what they did for God instead of trusting in God’s promise.

Now, Paul’s statements here provoked three specific questions and objections when it comes to the issue of the Jewish people’s responsibility. We see the first question and objection revealed for us in Romans 10:14-15. Let’s look at it together:

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!"

Now, if this letter was being written in the language that we use in our culture today, this question would sound something like this: “Well how can the Jewish people be held responsible? I mean the Jewish people really never had the opportunity to believe? Who went and proclaimed God’s promises to them? Did God even send someone to proclaim God’s promises to them? How can God hold them responsible if they were never given the opportunity to believe the message of the gospel?” In verse 15, Paul affirms this potential objection as being a legitimate question by quoting from a section of a letter in our Bibles called the book of Isaiah.

In Isaiah 52:7, God announced to the Jewish people, who were in exile as a result of God’s judgment for their selfishness and rebellion, that there would be a future deliverance for the Jewish people from exile and back to Jerusalem. Paul applies this deliverance of the Jewish people from physical captivity to the deliverance from spiritual captivity that comes from the message of the gospel. After affirming that this question was a legitimate question, Paul provides an answer to this question in Romans 10:16-17:

However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Paul points the readers of this letter to another section of the book of Isaiah, this time Isaiah 53:1. Isaiah 53 is a section of the Bible that we often read from during the Easter season, as it predicts and proclaims that the Messiah would come, but would be rejected by the Jewish people and suffer and die. Then, in verse 17, Paul agrees that faith, or believing and entrusting one to the claims of Christ comes, from having the opportunity to hear the message of the gospel. And the Jewish people had the opportunity to believe the message of the gospel, because the message of the gospel; the promise of the Messiah, had been around for over 700 years.

And just as Isaiah had predicted the Jewish people did not heed and believe the good news of the Messiah; they did not place their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. And for that the Jewish people were responsible. They were responsible because they had an opportunity to believe. But that raises a second objection, which we see in Romans 10:18:

But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; "THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD."

This objection, simply put was “You cannot hold the Jewish people responsible because they never had the opportunity to hear the message of the gospel. Paul responds to this objection in the form of a question by quoting a section of a letter in the Old Testament called the book of Psalms. In Psalm 19:4, the Psalmist declares God’s glory as revealed in the creation. And while one could argue that the Jewish people had heard because God had revealed Himself through the created world, I do not believe that was Paul’s point here. Paul here is using hyperbole to explain that just as God’s general revelation through His creation is proclaimed over all the earth, God’s special revelation, through the message of the gospel has been proclaimed over all the earth.

Now an almost immediate reaction and objection to this statement is “well that’s not true. The gospel has not been proclaimed in some parts of the world today, so how can Paul say that the gospel has been proclaimed across the world back then”. It is important to remember that Paul is speaking about the Jewish people of his day and their exposure to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, not the entire world here. Paul’s point is that the Jewish people of Paul’s day had access and had heard God’s promises of a Messiah in the Old Testament and had heard the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel.

And the Jewish people were responsible because they had an opportunity to hear the message of the gospel. And in the same way today, as followers of Jesus, we have a responsibility to share the message of the gospel with those who are far from God, because the message of the gospel is the means God uses to reveal Himself and rescue humanity from selfishness and sin. And in the same way today, humanity is responsible because they have had an opportunity to hear the message of the gospel. But that raises a third objection, which we see in Romans 10:19:

But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, "I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU." And Isaiah is very bold and says, "I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME." But as for Israel He says, "ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE."

This objection, if raised in the language we use in our culture today, would sound something like this: “You cannot hold the Jewish people responsible, because they did not know. The Jewish people were not able to wrap their minds around the gospel and its implications so as to understand it”. Paul responds to this objection by pointing the members of the church at Rome, and us here today to two different sections of the Old Testament to show that the Jewish people knew and understood. First, Paul points to Deuteronomy 32:21 to reveal that the Jewish people knew of God’s promises and could be held responsible for their rejection because of Moses.

Paul here is quoting a part of a song that Moses taught the Jewish people in order that they would remember the consequences that would come from rebellion and rejection of God. That song includes a word picture of God as the owner of a vineyard, removing the rebellious Jewish people and giving the vineyard to Gentiles. Paul uses this quote to reveal that God would hold them responsible for knowingly rejecting Him.

In verses 20-21, Paul points the members of the church at Rome to Isaiah 65:1-2 to reveal that the Jewish people knew of God’s promises and could be held responsible for their rejection because of Isaiah. God through the prophet Isaiah had predicted and proclaimed that the Gentiles, who were not looking for God or for Jesus and who had no knowledge of God’s promise of a Messiah, would respond to God’s promise through the gospel. However, the Jewish nation, who knew and understood God and His promises, responded to His pursuit of them by opposing and rebelling against Him. Paul’s point is that the Jewish people had a knowledge and understanding of God’s promises. Therefore the Jewish people were responsible. The Jewish people were responsible because they had an opportunity to know the message of the gospel and chose to reject that message.

And it is in this history lesson of the Jewish people that God provides for us a timeless truth that is necessary to embrace that provides clarity and enables us to balance the two truths of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. And that timeless truth is this: We are responsible for our response to the message of the gospel. Just like the Jewish people in Paul’s day, we are responsible for our response to the message of the gospel because we have had the opportunity to believe the message. We are responsible for our response to the message of the gospel because we have had the opportunity to hear the message. And we are responsible for our response to the message of the gospel because we have had the opportunity to know the message.

When we respond to the message of the gospel by trusting in what we do for God instead of trusting in what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, we are responsible for that choice that separates us from God. When we respond to the message of the gospel by ignoring, opposing and rejecting that message, we are responsible for that choice that separates us from God.

However, when we respond to the message of the gospel by placing our confident trust in that message by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, we receive the forgiveness of our selfishness and sin and enter into the relationship with God that we were created for. Because we are responsible for our response to the message of the gospel.

So, how are you responding to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel?

The Responsibility of Missing God's Will and Message...

Yesterday, we looked at a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Romans that revealed that the Jewish people of Paul’s day did not recognize Jesus as the goal and the end that the Law pointed to. Instead of recognizing and responding to what God had done for them through Christ in order to be right with God, they devoted themselves to attempting to do things for God in order to be right with God. And what they attempted to do for God left them separated from God in selfishness and sin.

To prove that the Jewish people had failed to recognize and respond to Jesus as being the goal and termination of the Law, Paul points the readers of this letter to the message and teachings of the Old Testament itself, beginning in Romans 10:5:

For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: "DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, 'WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?' (that is, to bring Christ down), or 'WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART "-- that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

In verse 5, Paul points the members of the Church of Rome to a section of the Law called the book of Leviticus. Paul reminds the members of the church at Rome that in Leviticus 18:5, Moses had stated that the man who practices righteousness based on the Law, or what they did for God by keeping the commandments of the Law, shall live by that righteousness. Paul’s point here is that the person who attempts to carry out all of the obligations contained in the Law by obeying all of the commandments in the Law will experience a right relationship with God only if they never break any of the commandments of the Law. So, to be in a right relationship with God simply requires perfect obedience to the commandments.

The problem, however, is that we are not perfectly obedient, are we? We even have a phrase for this reality in our culture: “well Dave, nobody’s perfect”. That is 100% true today and that has been 100% true throughout history. Paul then points the members of the church at Rome to another section of the Law, this time from the book of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 30:11-14, as part of his final conversation with the Jewish people, Moses stated the following:

"For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. "It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' "Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.

In other words, Moses was saying to the Jewish people of his day “do not try to use the excuse that you do not know God’s will, because God has graciously given you the Law. God has revealed His nature, His character, and His will for you to you”. Paul here is quoting this section of the Law to reveal the reality that just as the nation of Israel could plead or use the excuse that they did not know God’s will in Moses day as God had graciously given them the Law, neither Jew or Gentile in Paul’s day can plead ignorance as a result of God’s graciously giving His Son Jesus Christ to reveal Himself and to rescue humanity. Paul’s point there is that the word of faith, the message of the gospel, that Paul and other followers of Jesus were publicly proclaiming, clearly revealed what the Old Testament also taught, which was that a person enters into a right relationship with God not based on what we do for God, but by our response to what God has done through Jesus Christ by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

Paul then unpacks this response for us in verses 9-13. Paul reveals two specific actions that occur in the life of a person who responds to God’s transformational activity through Jesus Christ. When Paul uses the phrase, if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, this refers to an acknowledgment of a profession of allegiance to someone or something. The word believe, in the language that this letter was written in, is the same word as faith and means to entrust oneself to someone or something with complete confidence.

Paul here is explaining that a person is rescued from selfishness and sin based on one’s confession of one’s confident trust. A person experiences righteousness, or becomes right with God, when, at the core of their being, they respond to God’s transformational activity in their lives by entrusting themselves with complete confidence that Jesus life, death, and resurrection, pays the penalty for their selfishness and rebellion and enables them to have the relationship with God that they were created for. And that internal trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel results in an outward expression to others that reveals their rescue.

Now it is important to understand that Romans 10:10 does not mean that confession equals salvation. Notice Paul clearly states that righteousness or a right relationship with God is a result of one’s response of confident trust in Christ. Instead, confession is a response to their salvation. Have you ever been around a person who has recently become a follower of Jesus? One of the things that becomes evident is that they cannot quick talking about Jesus. Jesus, and their new relationship with Him, is publicly proclaimed. A person who has genuinely become a follower of Jesus will express their new relationship with Jesus publicly in conversations. Paul is reflecting Moses words in Deuteronomy 30:14 that God’s message results in an internal response that produces an outward expression.

Paul then quotes two other Old Testament passages to reveal the reality that God’s message of rescue has always been a message of faith. First Paul quotes the last phrase of Isaiah 28:16, which Jesus Himself quoted to prove that He was the Messiah. In this passage from Isaiah, the prophet proclaims that it would be one’s confident trust in the Messiah that would provide the foundation for rescue and a right relationship with God for all of humanity. Whether Jew or Gentile; whether religious or irreligious, it was one’s confident trust in God’s promise of a rescuer that resulted in that rescue. Paul proves his point by pointing to a section of a letter in our Bibles called the book of Joel. In Joel 2:32, Joel proclaims that that those who would be saved, would be rescued not based on what they did for God. Those who would be saved would be those who called on the Lord to rescue them.

And just as the Jewish people of Moses day and of the Old Testament had no excuse for missing God’s will and message, the Jewish people of Paul’s day had no excuse for missing God’s will and message. Paul’s point here was that the Jewish people were responsible because they trusted in what they did for God instead of trusting in God’s promise.

Now, Paul’s statements provoked three specific questions and objections when it comes to the issue of the Jewish people’s responsibility. We will look at those objections and questions tomorrow...

The Responsibility of a Failure of Recognition or Attention...

For the past two weeks, we have been examining the strong emotions and questions that come from the timeless truth that the sovereign God is free to choose some and reject others. This week, we will look at the next section of a letter that is recorded in our Bibles called the book of Romans. And it is in this section of this letter that we see Paul respond to these questions by once again looking at the history of the Jewish people. And as Paul continues to give us a history lesson from the lives of the Jewish people, we will discover a timeless truth that will help provide clarity and enable us to balance these two truths of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. So let’s begin by looking together at Romans 10:1:

Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Paul begins this section of his letter to the church at Rome by expressing that his heart’s desire and prayer was for the Jewish people and their salvation. From the core of his being, Paul desired that the Jewish people of his day would be rescued from selfishness and sin and would experience the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. Now the reason that Paul’s desire and prayer was for their rescue and for them to experience the relationship with God that they were created for was because while they had a zeal for God, that zeal was not based on a true knowledge of God. While the Jewish people of Paul’s day were intensely interested in the idea of God and having a relationship with God, they did not have a true knowledge of God. While the Jewish people thought that they knew God, they really did not know God. And Paul had been a witness to this reality as a fellow Jew.

Paul provides the reason why the Jewish people of his day were passionate about God, but really did not know God in verse three: “For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”? The word not knowing here conveys the sense of not paying attention to or failing to recognize something. What the Jewish people of Paul’s day failed to recognize was God’s righteousness. As we have talked about previously, a simple and accurate definition of this 50 cent word righteousness is the quality or state of being right. In other words, the Jewish people of Paul’s day did not recognize or pay attention to the fact that God was right.

Instead of recognizing the fact that God was right and coming under His leadership, the Jewish people sought to establish their own righteousness. The Jewish people devoted serious effort to show that they were right based on what they did for God by keeping the requirements of the Law. The Law refers to the first five books recorded in our Bibles today, which the Jewish people referred to as the Law or Torah.

In verse 4, we see Paul explain why the Jewish people were still separated from God and in desperate need of rescue, in spite of their attempts to be right with God based on what they did for God by keeping the commandments of the Law: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” But what does that mean? When Paul uses the word end, here, he is not simply referring to the termination of something. The word end here also refers to a goal toward which a movement is directed.

Paul’s point here is that Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, was the goal and resulted in the termination of the Law. As we discovered in the trial series, the Law was never given to provide our justification. In other words, the Law was not given so that we could be declared not guilty of having a problem with God based on what we do for God. Instead, the Law was given to reveal our condemnation as being guilty of having a huge problem with God. The Law was given to reveal our need for rescue and to point us to our rescuer, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the goal of the Law. The Law is designed to move humanity toward the goal of rescue and a relationship with God as we respond to what God has done for us through Jesus Christ by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

However, the Jewish people of Paul’s day did not recognize Jesus as the goal and the end that the Law pointed to. Instead of recognizing and responding to what God had done for them through Christ in order to be right with God, they devoted themselves to attempting to do things for God in order to be right with God. And what they attempted to do for God left them separated from God in selfishness and sin. And to prove that the Jewish people had failed to recognize and respond to Jesus as being the goal and termination of the Law, Paul then points the readers of this letter to the message and teachings of the Old Testament itself, which we will look at tomorrow...

Does Anyone Pursue a Right Relationship with God?

We have been examining the strong emotions and questions that come from the timeless truth that the sovereign God is free to choose some and reject others. Thursday, we looked the reality that God alone reserves the right to choose as the creator of the universe according to His purpose, which is to bring Him glory. And this reality is clearly revealed through the message and teachings of the Bible. Paul then provides a third reason why God’s freedom to choose some and reject others is just in Romans 9:30:

What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."

In these verses, we see Paul provide for us a third reason why God’s freedom to choose some and reject others is just in that God’s freedom to choose some and reject others is just because no one pursues a right relationship with God. In verses 30, we see that the Gentiles did not even pursue righteousness, which literally means to be in the quality or state of being right with God. Non Jewish humanity was content to leave God out and live as though He did not exist. Paul explains that they attained a right relationship with God, not because they pursued God. Instead they achieved a right relationship with God as a result of God’s pursuit of them in order to rescue them from selfishness and rebellion through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It was their response to God’s activity by placing their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel that resulted in a right relationship with God.

Paul then contrasts the Gentiles lack of pursuit of God with the Jews wrong pursuit of God in verses 31-33. Instead of placing their confident trust in God and the promises of God, the Jewish people pursued a right relationship with God through the Law, which are the first five books that are recorded for us in our Bibles today. The Jewish people pursued a right relationship with God based on what they did for God instead of placing their confident trust in what God had done for them through Jesus.

And because they pursued a wrong path toward a right relationship with God, they viewed the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with offense and rejected it. The Jewish people responded to the message of the gospel as one responds to stubbing one’s toe on a rock; the Jewish people were offended and rejected the gospel and Jesus. Paul concludes verse 33 by reminding the members of the church at Rome that this should not come as a surprised, because God predicted and proclaimed that this would occur some 700 years earlier, in the book of Isaiah.
You see, God in His sovereign foresight knew that no one would pursue a right relationship with God.

And because of that reality, God’s sovereign freedom to choose some and reject others is just. God’s sovereign freedom to choose some and reject others is just because no one deserves to be chosen. God’s sovereign freedom to choose some and reject others is just because He alone reserves the right to choose. God’s sovereign freedom to choose some and reject others is just no one pursues a right relationship with God. This morning, God is sovereign and we are responsible. And for the rest of this week, we will see Paul shift to focus in greater detail on the responsibility that we bear as a result of our attitude and actions before God.

Does God Deserve to Have the Right to Choose?

This week, we are examining the strong emotions and questions that come from the timeless truth that the sovereign God is free to choose some and reject others. Yesterday we looked at a famous story from the Bible that revealed that God’s freedom to choose some and reject other is just because no one deserves to be chosen. God sovereignly chooses to confirm and set into place the selfishness and rebellion that is already present in some. And God sovereignly chooses, by His gracious and transformational activity, to melt and bend some hearts to Him. But no one deserves that grace. But that raises a second potential question that the members of the church at Rome could have, which Paul addresses in Romans 9:19:

You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"

Now this question, if it were asked today, would sound something like this: “Well then how can God blame me? How can God hold me responsible if He is the one who makes it impossible for me to respond? If God is the one who hardens my heart, they why is it my fault?” We see Paul’s response to this question beginning in verse 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? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 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.

Well, I really wish Paul would let us know how he really feels. “So do you want to talk back to God? Who do you think you are, anyway? Are you in any position to question your Creator? And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us the reality that God’s freedom to choose some and reject others is just because He alone reserves the right to choose. The sovereign God alone reserves the right to choose some and reject others. First, God reserves the right to choose based on His position as Creator and sustainer of the universe. Paul unpacks this timeless truth through the word picture of a potter and clay. Just as a potter creates some objects that are viewed and used in a way that results in honor, there are other objects that are created that are used in a dishonorable way.

In Paul’s day, pottery was used extensively and in a variety of ways. Some pottery was created to hold things of value and was thus viewed with honor, while other pottery was created to hold trash and was viewed with dishonor. Paul’s point here is that as Creator, God reserves the right to choose some of His creation for rescue and honor in the relationship with Him that they were created for, while rejecting others to the dishonor that comes from eternal separation from God.

Second, in verses 22-24, we see Paul explain that God reserves the right to choose based on His purposes to bring Him glory. While God could just as easily resolved to make known His right and just response to selfishness and rebellion, He instead chose to bear up under and put up with humanities selfishness and rebellion, even the selfishness and rebellion of those that Paul states were vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. In other words, even those that God was going to reject; God decided to put up with their selfishness and rebellion while they lived here on earth.

Now a natural question that arises here is “why would God put up and allow people to act out in selfishness and rebellion, when He already knows that He is not going to choose to rescue them, but is going to instead reject them?” If that question is running through your mind, I want to let you know that that is a great question to be asking. And Paul answers that question for us in verses 23: “And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.”

Here is a great picture this morning to help us understand what Paul is communicating here. When you shop for a diamond ring or piece of jewelry, have you ever noticed the background that those diamonds are placed on? Diamonds are most often placed on a black background, because the dark black background provides the starkest contrast possible and is what most prominently reveals the splendor and majesty of the diamond. Paul’s point here is that just as a stark black background most prominently reveals the splendor of the diamond, the selfishness and rebellion of those whom God has chosen to reject provides the most striking and stark background that reveals the splendor and majesty of God’s grace towards those whom He has chosen to rescue.

You see, God reserves the right to choose based on His purpose to bring Him glory. And God reveals the glory, the splendor, and the majesty that He is so worthy of by choosing to rescue both Jews and Gentiles, whom Paul states have been chosen beforehand by God to receive the forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that they were created for as a result of God’s activity through Jesus life, death, and resurrection. Paul then explains that God also reserves the right to choose some based on His message that is recorded for us in the Bible, which we see in Romans 9:25-29:

As He says also in Hosea, "I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, 'MY PEOPLE,' AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, 'BELOVED.'" "AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, 'YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,' THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD." Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED; FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY." And just as Isaiah foretold, "UNLESS THE LORD OF SABAOTH HAD LEFT TO US A POSTERITY, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE RESEMBLED GOMORRAH."

In these verses, Paul reminds the members of the church at Rome, and us here this morning that the fact that God alone reserves the right to choose is revealed repeatedly throughout the Old Testament. First, in Romans 9:25-26, Paul takes a section of a letter that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the book of Hosea and explains that God’s promise of rescue not only applied to the Jewish people, but also applied to Gentiles. Paul’s point here is that the Bible predicted and proclaimed that God reserved the right to choose and rescue those who were far from God, but were not Jewish by nature.

Second, Paul quotes a section of a letter in our Bibles called the Book of Isaiah to remind the members of the church at Rome that God had previously proclaimed that while there would be a large number of Jewish people, the vast majority of those people would be rejected by God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion. In Isaiah 10:22-23, God proclaims that only a remnant, or a relatively small group of survivors, would be rescued from the transcendent danger that selfishness and rebellion presented to them. Paul then quotes a third section of the book of Isaiah, which is Isaiah 1:9, to remind followers of Jesus throughout history that God had predicted that it was only God’s gracious choice of a small group of survivors from the Jewish people that kept them from being totally destroyed as a result of selfishness and rebellion.

Paul’s point is that God alone reserves the right to choose; and that is clearly revealed through the message and teachings of the Bible. Tomorrow, we will see Paul provide a third reason why God’s freedom to choose some and reject others is just.

Does Anyone Deserve to be Chosen by God?

This week, we are examining the strong emotions and questions that come from the timeless truth that the sovereign God is free to choose some and reject others. Yesterday we looked at a story from the history of the Jewish people that revealed that God’s freedom to choose some and reject other is just because no one deserves to be chosen. The Jewish people did not deserve to be chosen by God because the Jewish people rebelled against God. And as a result the Jewish people were responsible to face God’s right and just response to their rebellion. However, God in His sovereignty has the freedom to choose to extend grace and forgiveness to some, even though none deserved it.

But not only do we see this principle play out in the lives of the Jewish people; we also see this principle play out in the lives of those who were not Jewish, as Paul reveals for us beginning in Romans 9:17:

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

Here we see Paul point the readers of this letter to another story that is recorded for us in the book of Exodus, this time in Exodus 9. But to fully understand what Paul is communicating here, we first need to answer two questions. First, we need to understand the context in which this story takes place. Second, we need to understand what Paul means when he says that God hardens whom He desires in verse 18. So let’s look at the context first.

At this point in God’s story, the Jewish people are still enslaved by the nation of Egypt. The ruler of the nation of Egypt was called the Pharaoh. Now a pharaoh was not only viewed as a political leader; a pharaoh was also viewed and worshipped as a god. As the Jewish people cried out for deliverance from slavery, God responded by calling and sending Moses as His messenger and His representative to Pharaoh. In God’s initial conversation with Moses, we see God say the following to Moses regarding how Pharaoh would respond to his message, which is recorded for us in Exodus 3:19:

"But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion.

You see, God, in His foreknowledge, knew that Pharaoh would not allow the Jewish people to leave on His own. God already knew how Pharaoh was going to respond. And that is exactly how Pharaoh responded. Pharaoh refused to release the Jewish people from slavery. Pharaoh continued to view himself as God and continued to rebel against God. And it is in this context that we read the following in Exodus 9:13-17:

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and stand 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 and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. "For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. "But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth. "Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go.

God is saying to Pharaoh “while you think you are large and in charge, the reality is that the only reason that you are where you are is because I placed you there. And I have placed you there so that I will be clearly seen as being the one true sovereign God who is large and in charge. While you think you are large and in charge, I am going to use you to reveal that I am actually large and in charge. The whole world will talk about what I am about to do to you”.

What makes this passage difficult to swallow, however, are Paul’s words in verse 18; “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” The word harden, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to cause to be unyielding in resisting information. So Paul seems to be saying that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Paul seems to be saying that God made it impossible for Pharaoh to repent. Is that the case? And if it is, that seems harsh and unjust doesn’t it?

In the book of Exodus, we discover that 10 times Pharaoh hardened his own heart and 10 times God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Seven times Pharaoh hardened his own heart before God hardened it. The first time that we see the phrase, however, it was God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart. To fully understand what is happening here, we must understand the connection between God’s foreknowledge and God’s sovereignty. For God to take a person who lived in right relationship with God and harden their heart so that they would be eternally separated from God in Hell would be unfair, would we all agree?

Now here is the question: is that the type of person that Pharaoh was? No, it was not as though Pharaoh was a devoted follower of God that God hardened so that he would rebel against Him. Pharaoh was a selfish and rebellious person who viewed himself as God. And God was fully aware of what that selfishness and rebellion would look like before it even happened. Now here is a more personal and difficult question to wrestle with: What type of people are we apart from God’s transformational activity? What type of people are we apart from God’s grace?

You see God’s hardening is an act directed against human beings who are already in rebellion against God and the word of God. God’s hardening does not cause spiritual insensitivity to the things of God; it maintains people in the state of selfishness and sin that already characterizes them. Paul’s point here is that God hardens whoever He chooses and human beings, because of their rebellion, are responsible for their ultimate condemnation. God does not take good people and make them bad. Instead God chooses to confirm and set into place the selfishness and rebellion that is already present in them. The great reformed theologian Calvin referred to this truth this way: “The same sun which melts the wax also hardens the clay”.

Because, the timeless reality is that God’s freedom to choose some and reject others is just because no one deserves to be chosen. God sovereignly chooses to confirm and set into place the selfishness and rebellion that is already present in some. And God sovereignly chooses, by His gracious and transformational activity, to melt and bend some hearts to Him. But no one deserves that grace. As Paul continues his letter, we see him respond to a second potential question that the members of the church at Rome could have. Tomorrow we will look at that question and Paul's answer.

Is God's Choice A Just Choice?

Last week, we talked about two truths about God that seemed to be in conflict with one another, which are God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. We saw a man named Paul reveal for us the timeless truth that the sovereign God is free to choose some and reject others. God, who is large and in charge of all humanity throughout history, is free to choose some and reject others.

In Romans, 9:1-13, we looked at two stories from the history of the Jewish nation that revealed for us the timeless truth that God, who knows everything that happens in human history before it happens, executes His Divine plan and purposes by choosing some and rejecting others. And God’s sovereign choice is based not on our race, not on our performance, not on our intelligence. That choice is based on God’s grace and God’s grace alone. Now this timeless truth provokes strong thoughts and equally strong questions. And this week we will see that these questions are not new. So let’s begin by looking together at a question that the members of the church at Rome had, which is recorded for us in Romans 9:14:

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!

Paul begins this section of his letter by addressing a potential objection that the members of the church may have had to his statement that God is free to choose some and reject others: “What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there?” This question, if communicated in the language of our culture today, would sound something like this: “Hold on Paul, what do you mean God is free to choose some and reject others? That just does not seem to be fair or right? That does not sound very just; that sounds like God is up in Heaven flipping a coin. That sounds like God is playing duck, duck, choose, with the eternal destinies of people. How is that just or fair or right? If that is how God operates, then God is unjust and unfair”.

And maybe I have just described the questions and thoughts that are running through your mind when you here that God is free to choose some and reject others. Maybe you are questioning whether or not God is just if He chooses some and rejects others. So is God unjust? Is God unfair? Is God wrong? While we wrestle with the answer to those questions, we see Paul’s answer to this question at the end of verse 14: “may it never be!” Paul responds to this question by defending God’s rightness and justice with the strongest negative response that is possible in the language this letter was originally written in. This response would have grabbed the attention of every person in Rome reading this letter.

And it is in this response that we see revealed for us a timeless truth that is necessary to embrace if we are going to be able to balance the two truths of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. And that timeless truth is this: God’s sovereign freedom to choose some and reject others is just. Paul’s pointed response reveals for us the reality that God is perfectly right and God is perfectly just in choosing some and rejecting others. And in Romans 9:14-33, we see Paul reveal for us three reasons why God’s sovereign freedom to choose some and reject others is just. We see the first reason revealed for us in Romans 9:15. Let’s look at it together:

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 does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

To prove the point that God has the sovereign freedom to choose some and reject others, Paul points the readers of this letter to a story that is recorded for us in a letter in our Bibles called the book of Exodus. To fully understand what Paul is communicating here however, we first need to understand the context in which this story takes place. In Exodus chapter 32, we read that after Moses went up to Mount Sinai to meet with God and receive the Ten Commandments, which took forty days, the Jewish people became impatient. And instead of waiting for Moses to return, they convinced Aaron, who was one of the pastors, to make an idol in the form of a golden calf. The Jewish people then proceeded to worship this idol and participate in an orgy as part of that worship. As you might imagine, God was not pleased with the Jewish people worshipping something other than Him as god and the sexual sin that occurred as part of that worship.

Moses upon seeing the nature of the selfishness and sin responded by doing two things. First, Moses broke the tablets that contained the Ten Commandment, which demonstrated that the Jewish people had broken their covenant with God, and destroyed the idol and those who were leading the rebellion. Second, Moses went back up to Mount Sinai to intercede for the Jewish people in the presence of God. Because, at this point God was no longer going to enter into the Promised Land with the Jewish people. While God would keep His end of the promise and bring the Jewish people into the Promised Land, He was not going to go with them. We read the reason why in Exodus 33:3:

"Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way."

Moses then pleads to God for God to extend forgiveness and grace and accompany the Jewish people into the land that He had promised them. Moses asks God to reveal Himself to him in a powerful way. And it is in this context that we read the following in Exodus 33:19, which Paul quotes in Romans 9:15:

And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."

You see, the Jewish people had selfishly rebelled and rejected God, instead choosing to worship something other than God as god. The Jewish people deserved God’s right and just response to that selfishness and rebellion. Yet, in spite of the fact that the Jewish nation deserved God’s right and just response, God was willing to be gracious and compassionate upon some. And it is in this story from the history of the Jewish people that Paul provides the first reason why God’s freedom to choose some and reject others is just. And that first reason is this: God’s freedom to choose some and reject other is just because no one deserves to be chosen.

The Jewish people did not deserve to be chosen by God because the Jewish people rebelled against God. And as a result the Jewish people were responsible to face God’s right and just response to their rebellion. However, God in His sovereignty has the freedom to choose to extend grace and forgiveness to some, even though none deserved it. But not only do we see this principle play out in the lives of the Jewish people; we also see this principle play out in the lives of those who were not Jewish, which we will look at tomorrow...

Is God Free to Choose Some and Reject Others?

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Romans, where Paul was sharing his heart regarding the Jewish people. In spite of all of the privileges that the Jewish people had received from God, it was apparent that most of the Jewish people, according to the words that Paul had just written, were not called and rescued by God. And this grieved Paul’s heart.

And this also provokes a huge question. And that question is this: Is God really sovereign? Paul responded to this question by explaining that not every person who is Jewish ethnically or physically was in a right relationship with God spiritually. Now as you might imagine, this statement by Paul would have been greatly offensive to the Jewish religious people of the day. This statement would be like someone saying, not everyone who attends church is going to be in Heaven. And not everyone who attends church is going to be in Heaven, because church attendance makes you a Christian about as much as sleeping in the garage makes you a car. Just because you show up in church and say well “I’m a Christian because I go to this church and was born in a Christian nation and into a Christian family” that does not make you a Christian.

And that was exactly what the Apostle Paul was saying to the Jewish people of his day. And to further his point Paul makes a second strong statement that he backs up with a story of Abraham and Sarah from the history of the Jewish people. Paul then unpacks this old testament story by explaining that it is not those who are born of the flesh, or by natural descent and effort, that are chosen and adopted by God as His children. Instead, just as it was for Isaac, the timeless reality is that those who become adopted as children of God come about as the result of God’s activity as He fulfills His promise. As one famous theologian wrote “What counts is grace, not race”. Paul then reminds the members of the church at Rome and followers of Jesus throughout history of the promise that God made to Abraham and Sarah, which is recorded for us in Genesis 18:10.

But Abraham and Sarah were not the only example from the history of the Jewish people that revealed that not every person who is Jewish ethnically or physically was in a right relationship with God spiritually. Paul points us to a second story, beginning in Romans 9:10:

And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER." Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED."

Here we see Paul point followers of Jesus throughout history another story that is recorded for us in the very first letter of the Bible called the Book of Genesis. And just like the previous story, to understand this story we first need to understand the context in which the story takes place. In Genesis 25, we enter into God’s story as Isaac has grown up and is now married. However, Isaac’s wife Rebekkah was also unable to bear children. And it is into this context that we read the following, beginning in Genesis 25:21:

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If it is so, why then am I this way?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger."

Paul then unpacks this Old Testament story in verse 11 by stating “for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,”. Now a natural response to this statement by Paul is to say “well that does not seem to be fair. What is God up there flipping a coin? Esau never had a chance. And if that is how God is then I want nothing to do with Him”. Maybe I have just described your reaction to what Paul is saying here. And if you are wrestling with this same response, I just want to let you know this is a very important response to wrestle with. And you are probably like most people who read this section of the Bible, so let’s wrestle with this together.

To fully understand what Paul is communicating here, we must understand and consider the connection between God’s choice and God’s foreknowledge. When Paul uses the word choice here, he is referring to God’s special choice of people to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for. Theologians refer to God’s special choice as election. As we discovered last week, foreknowledge refers to God knowledge of everything that happens in human history before it happens. God knew all of humanity before they came into existence on this earth. God is all knowing. He not only knows what you did yesterday; He also knows what you will do tomorrow, next week, and for the rest of your life.

Now with these definitions in mind, let’s now consider the connection between God’s choice and God’s foreknowledge. Because of God’s foreknowledge, He already knew all of the actions, decisions and intentions that Jacob and Esau would have. Before they were born God already knew what they were going to do. And in light of all that God knew that Jacob and Esau were going to do; and in light of God’s divine purpose and plan that would stand, which means to remain active and at work, God chose Jacob. And God’s choice of Jacob was not based on anything that he did for God; God’s choice was based on God’s choice and God’s choice alone.

Paul then reinforces this reality by quoting the beginning of the very last letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament, called the Book of Malachi. In Malachi 1:2-3, we read that God loved Jacob, but hated Esau. Well that sounds harsh, doesn’t it? What is interesting here is that the word hated here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to disregard or reject someone. The word loved, by contrast, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to bestow love for someone who is in need. You see, neither Malachi nor Paul were simply referring to an emotional response here.

In addition, let’s consider for a moment the lives of Jacob and Esau. In the Bible, we read that Jacob deceived his father in order to receive the blessing that belonged to Esau and manipulated his brother Esau into handing over his birthright and the larger inheritance that the birthright represented. So did Jacob have selfishness and rebellion in his life? Most definitely. Then there is Esau. Esau despised his birthright and selfishly sold it for a bowl of soup. Then Esau married women that he knew his parents disproved of in order to rebel against them. So did Esau have selfishness and rebellion in his life? Most definitely. Were both Jacob and Esau equally guilty of having a huge problem with God? Yes they were. Were Jacob and Esau each equally needy of rescue? Yes they were. And did God, in His foreknowledge know that they were both going to be in equal need of rescue? Yes, He did.

You see, it was not Jacob and Esau's works, or what they did for God, that resulted in them having an opportunity to be right with God. Their works deserved God’s right and just response to their selfishness and rebellion. Instead of giving them both what they deserved, God chose Jacob and God rejected Esau. And it is in these Old Testament stories involving the Jewish nation that we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us a timeless truth that is necessary to embrace if we are able to balance God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. And that timeless truth is this: The sovereign God is free to choose some and reject others.

God, who is large and in charge of all humanity throughout history, is free to choose some and reject others. God, who knows everything that happens in human history before it happens, executes His Divine plan and purposes by choosing some and rejecting others. And that choice is based not on our race, not on our performance, not on our intelligence. That choice is based on God’s grace and God’s grace alone.

Now, this timeless truth alone does not resolve the lack clarity and confusion that balancing the truths of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility creates, does it? What about our will? What about choice? And if God is sovereign, if God is large and in charge, then how can man be held responsible for what God ordains and causes? Next week we will see these are not new questions. We will see Paul address and answer these questions and the tension that comes from balancing God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility.

In the meantime, however, we have clearly seen through the history of the Jewish people that the sovereign God is free to choose some and reject others.

Is God Really Large and in Charge?

Yesterday, we looked at a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Romans, where Paul was sharing his heart regarding the Jewish people. In spite of all of the privileges that the Jewish people had received from God, it was apparent that most of the Jewish people, according to the words that Paul had just written, were not called and rescued by God. And this grieved Paul’s heart.

And this also provokes a huge question. And that question is this: Is God really sovereign? If God is sovereign, then why are the Jewish people, who He gave all these privileges to, rejecting Him? And why have they rejected Him throughout history. I mean if God is large and in charge, then how could this happen? And the response of many people, including the readers of this letter was “God does not seem to be too sovereign, in light of the history of the Jewish people, now does He?” And as the Apostle Paul continues in this section of this letter, we see him address this question head-on, beginning in Romans 9:6:

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;

Paul responds to those who were questioning God’s sovereignty head on “it is not as though the word of God has failed”. If this letter was written in the language we use in our culture today, this phrase would sound something like this: “it is not as though God’s list of His chosen people is inaccurate or inadequate. It is not as though God made a mistake in His computation or addition when it came to those who He was going to rescue. God’s math here is not fuzzy”.

Paul then backs up his response with a second statement: “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;”. But what does that mean? “All Israel” here refers to those Jewish people who responded to God’s activity throughout history by placing their confident trust in God and the promises of God. The phrase descended from Israel refers to the Jewish people that descended from Jacob and his twelve sons to form the Jewish nation. Paul’s point here is that not every person who is Jewish ethnically or physically was in a right relationship with God spiritually.

Now as you might imagine, this statement by Paul would have been greatly offensive to the Jewish religious people of the day. This statement would be like someone saying, not everyone who attends church is going to be in Heaven. And this morning, not everyone who attends church is going to be in Heaven. Because church attendance makes you a Christian about as much as sleeping in the garage makes you a car. Just because you show up in church and say well “I’m a Christian because I go to this church and was born in a Christian nation and into a Christian family” that does not make you a Christian. And that was exactly what the Apostle Paul was saying to the Jewish people of his day. And to further his point Paul makes a second strong statement that he backs up with a story from the history of the Jewish people, beginning in verse 7:

nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED." That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is the word of promise: "AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON."

Now to understand what Paul is communicating here, we first need to understand a word and a story. When Paul uses the word children here, this word refers to those who have the same characteristics of another. Paul’s point in verse seven is that not every ethnic Jewish person had been chosen by God to be rescued and adopted by God as His children. Paul then points the members of the church at Rome, and us here this morning to a story that is recorded for us in the very first letter of the Bible, called the Book of Genesis.

To understand this story, however, we first need to understand the context in which the story takes place. Abraham, who was considered the father of the Jewish people, was married to Sarah. As we discovered in the previous sermon series, Abraham and Sarah were both old and Sarah was on the other side of menopause, so children seemed impossible for the couple. However, God came to Abraham and Sarah and promised them that they would in fact have a child.

However, after ten years went by and God’ promise remained unfulfilled, Sarah became impatient. And in Sarah’s impatience, she gave one of her maidservants, named Hagar, to Abraham, so that Abraham could have sex with the maidservant, who would function like a surrogate mother for Sarah. See who says the Bible is boring. You should really read it sometime. The result of this arrangement was the birth of Ishmael. Fourteen years later, in Genesis chapter 21, we read that God fulfills His promise to Abraham and Sarah through the birth of Isaac. Now while Abraham and Sarah were overjoyed with the birth of Isaac, Ishmael did not share their enthusiasm.

Ishmael did not share their enthusiasm because Ishmael knew that he had just lost out on the inheritance and the privileges had previously been coming to him. And Ishmael responded to this situation and to his loss by mistreating and attempting to abuse Isaac. And like any mom, Sarah responds to the mistreatment and abuse of her son by Ishmael, by demanding that Hagar and Ishmael be kicked out of the house.
Now Abraham has a dilemma. Both Ishmael and Isaac are his children. And while Ishmael was conceived as a result of Abraham and Sarah efforts apart from God’s promise and plan, Ishmael was still his son. And in his dilemma Abraham cries out to God. And we see God’s response recorded for us in Genesis 21:11-13:

The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. "And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant."

In verse 8, Paul then unpacks this old testament story for the members of the church at Rome and us here today by explaining that it is not those who are born of the flesh, or by natural descent and effort, that are chosen and adopted by God as His children. Instead, just as it was for Isaac, the timeless reality is that those who become adopted as children of God come about as the result of God’s activity as He fulfills His promise. As one famous theologian wrote “What counts is grace, not race”. Paul then reminds the members of the church at Rome and followers of Jesus throughout history of the promise that God made to Abraham and Sarah, which is recorded for us in Genesis 18:10.

But Abraham and Sarah were not the only example from the history of the Jewish people that revealed that not every person who is Jewish ethnically or physically was in a right relationship with God spiritually. Paul then points the readers of this letter to a second story, which we will look at tomorrow.

Balancing God's Sovereignty and Man's Responsibility...

As a church, we gather together every Sunday in community to respond to who God is, what God has done, and what God has promised to do in worship. And as part of our time together, we look at the message and teachings of the Bible. We spend time looking at the message and the teachings of the Bible because we believe that the Bible sets that standard for us as followers of Jesus. We believe that the Bible contains the truth about who God is, what He has done, and what He has promised to do.

And while we believe that everything in the Bible is totally and equally true, we also recognize that everything in the Bible is not always equally clear. Some parts of the Bible are difficult to hear not because they are difficult to understand; they are difficult to hear because they are clear and easy to understand and demand that something change in our lives that we may not necessarily want to change. Other parts of the Bible are difficult to hear because they are not necessarily as clear and seem to reveal truths that appear to be in conflict to one another.

And when two truths seem to be in conflict with one another, the result is often confusion and a lack of clarity. Perhaps nowhere in the Bible do we see this confusion and lack of clarity become more apparent than when we talk about God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility.

When we use the word sovereignty, we are referring to the fact that God is large and in charge of everything that happens in all of creation throughout all of history. When we say that God is sovereign, we are saying that nothing happens apart from God’s approval; nothing. No natural disaster, no human decision, no act of government, no supernatural event, occurs apart from God’s knowledge. God is not surprised; God is not in Heaven saying “Oh, I didn’t see that one coming”. As a matter of fact, the exact opposite is true. The Bible teaches us that God works all things according to the counsel of His will. God ordains, God causes, God works with every event throughout history to accomplish His desires and His purposes on earth. God is large and in charge of everything.

But if God is large and in charge of everything and if nothing happens apart from God’s approval and if God ordains and causes all things to happen, then what happens to choice? What about our will? Does humanity have choice or are we robots or puppets on a string? And if God is sovereign, then how can man be held responsible? If God is large and in charge then how can man be held responsible for what God ordains and causes? On the other hand, if man has choice and freedom to exercise his desires and will to whatever end, how can God be sovereign? If we have freedom to make decisions and exercise choice and our will to lead our own lives, how can God be sovereign? How can God be large and in charge if I am responsible for my life and I have the choice in how I live my life?

God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility seem to be on a collision course that leads to confusion and a lack of clarity. This lack of clarity and confusion when it comes to God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility is not new, however. And for the next several weeks, we are going to spend our time addressing these timeless questions by looking at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the Book of Romans. And in this section of this letter, we will see the Apostle Paul address the balance between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. And my hope and our prayer is that we would be able to gain clarity and be able to balance the two truths of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. So let’s begin where Paul begins, which is in Romans 9:1:

I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

Paul begins this section of this letter that was written to a first century church located in Rome by sharing his heart when it comes to the Jewish people. You see, while Paul was the missionary that God used in the most powerful and prominent way to spread the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to the non-Jewish world, at the end of the day, he was a Jew through and through. He took great pride in being Jewish. And because he took great pride in his Jewish heritage, he found himself experiencing great sorrow and unceasing grief in his heart. Now these two phrases refer to an unceasing pain and distress that was felt from head to toe. In the core of his being Paul was in constant grief, pain, and sorrow.

Paul then provides the reason for this constant grief, pain, and sorrow in verse 3: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Now the word accursed, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally meant to be devoted to destruction. This word was used to describe the offerings that were made to God in the Jewish sacrificial system as a result of selfishness and sin. In other words, Paul wished that he could offer his life and face eternity separated from God in Hell for the sake of the Jewish people.

Paul then reveals six privileges that the Jewish people had received from God. First, Paul explains that the Jewish people had received the privilege of adoption. Of all the nations in the world, the Jewish people were chosen by God to be His chosen people. Second, the Jewish people had received the privilege of the glory, which refers to the honor and recognition that the Jewish people received of experiencing God’s presence and power throughout their history. Third, the Jewish people had received the privilege of the covenants. Paul here is revealing the reality that the Jewish people had been the recipients of several decrees and assurance that God and God alone had made to the Jewish people. God had taken the initiative to enter into a covenant relationship with the Jewish people.

Fourth, the Jewish people had received the privilege of the giving of the Law and the temple services and the promises. God gave the Jewish people the message and teachings of the first five books in our Bibles today, which the Jewish people referred to as the Law or Torah. In addition, God gave the Jewish people the privilege of the service of the temple. You see, prior to Jesus arrival, there was only one church where God was to be worshipped. And that church was located in Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jewish people. The Jewish people were given the privilege of having the only church and the opportunity to worship the Lord in a way that was true and correct. And God gave the Jewish people His kingdom promises.

Fifth, the Jewish people had received the privilege of a rich heritage, which Paul refers to as the fathers. The Jewish people had a rich heritage and history of beliefs and practices when it came to God and following God. And sixth, the Jewish people had received the privilege of the promise of the Messiah. God had promised a rescuer, a deliverer, who would save humanity from the huge problem that it faced as a result of selfishness and rebellion. And that rescuer, that deliverer, was going to be from the Jewish people.

Yet, in spite of these amazing promises and privileges, Paul was in constant pain, grief, and sorrow for his Jewish brothers and sisters. But why was that the case? To understand why Paul was in sorrow and anguish for his Jewish brothers and sisters, let’s look again at something that Paul had written that we looked at last week, in Romans 8:28-30:

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

However, many, if not most of the Jewish nation had rejected the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. And many of the Jewish people were actually persecuting followers of Jesus, including Paul. In spite of all of the privileges that the Jewish people had received from God, it was apparent that most of the Jewish people, according to the words that Paul had just written, were not called and rescued by God. And this grieved Paul’s heart.

And this also provokes a huge question. And that question is this: Is God really sovereign? If God is sovereign, then why are the Jewish people, who He gave all these privileges to, rejecting Him? And why have they rejected Him throughout history. I mean if God is large and in charge, then how could this happen? And the response of many people, including the readers of this letter was “God does not seem to be too sovereign, in light of the history of the Jewish people, now does He?”

And as the Apostle Paul continues in this section of this letter, we see him address this question head-on, which we will look at tomorrow.

A Glorious Future that Cannot be Lost...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in our Bible that reveals for us as followers of Jesus that our rescue from selfishness and rebellion results in a glorious future, where we live in the presence of God in Heaven in a relationship with God that is free from selfishness and rebellion for all eternity. Yesterday, we discovered that followers of Jesus have a glorious future that God affirms. We ended our time asking the question "how should we respond to the fact that God chose us beforehand, knowing full well that we would be selfish and rebellious; knowing full well that are selfishness and rebellion would result in Him sending His Son, in order to declare us not guilty of our selfishness and sin and enable us to experience the relationship with God that we were created for?"

Today, we see Paul ask the members of the church at Rome this very question and reveal for us the third different aspect of our rescue that results in a glorious future that provides us hope. So let’s look at it together in verse 31:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

Here we see Paul ask a string of rhetorical questions that reveal a third aspect of our rescue that results in a glorious future that provides hope. And that third aspect is that as followers of Jesus we have a glorious future that cannot be lost. If Paul was writing this letter in the language we use today, these verses would sound something like this: “who is going to get in between God and those whom He has lovingly and graciously rescued through His Son Jesus? If He allowed His Son to be treated as though He had lived our selfish and sinful lives so that He could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life, what is going to get between that love? Are troubles and stressful circumstances? Don’t think so. Is harassment and opposition from those who reject His Son? Don’t think so. Is hunger, poverty, danger, or violent death? Don’t think so.”

Paul then quotes from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament book of Psalms. In Psalm 44:22, the Psalmist describes the price that a loyal follower of God would have to pay at the hands of a world that was at war with God. Paul then explains that, in spite of the price that may be paid at the hands of those who oppose God, followers of Jesus overwhelmingly conquer through Jesus; Followers of Jesus have a glorious future and a glorious victory over the suffering that they may experience while here on earth. A glorious future that cannot be lost as a result of earthly opposition. But not only do followers of Jesus have a future that cannot be lost as a result of earthly opposition. Notice how this section of this letter concludes:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul had a certainty and a security that nothing could separate us from God’s loving rescue through Jesus Christ. No sphere of existence; No supernatural power; no dimension of time; no power imaginable; no dimension of space; nothing. Nothing can get in the way of our glorious future where followers of Jesus will be transformed into saints who never sin again that participate in the glory and splendor of God as we live in intimate relationship with Him.

Because our rescue results in a glorious future. A glorious future that the creation eagerly awaits. A glorious future that God affirms. And a glorious future that cannot be lost.

So, what shall we say to these things as followers of Jesus?

A Glorious Future that God Affirms...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in our Bible that reveals for us as followers of Jesus that our rescue from selfishness and rebellion results in a glorious future, where we live in the presence of God in Heaven in a relationship with God that is free from selfishness and rebellion for all eternity. Yesterday, we discovered that followers of Jesus have a glorious future that creation eagerly awaits. Today we see Paul continue in Romans 8:18-39 to reveal a second aspect of our rescue that results in a glorious future that provides us hope. So let’s look at it together in verse 26:

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Here we see revealed a second aspect of the glorious future that we have as a result of our rescue from selfishness and sin. And that second aspect is that followers of Jesus have a glorious future that God affirms. In these verses, we see two different ways that God affirms our glorious future as followers of Jesus. First in verses 26 and 27, we see how the Holy Spirit affirms our glorious future. Paul explains that the Holy Spirit helps our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we should. What is so interesting here is that the word weakness, in the language this letter was originally written in, literally means to have a lack of confidence or a feeling of inadequacy that comes from a lack of spiritual insight.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever been in a place where you do not even have the words to pray? Have you ever been in the place where you feel inadequate, where you feel you have no confidence to pray to God because you do not even know where to start or what to pray? I know I have been there. Paul then explains that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words. When we feel inadequate; when we have no confidence; when we feel we have no insight, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with great concern in words that are inexpressible. When we feel like we have no insight, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with a depth of insight and concern that we could never find ourselves.

And if that was not enough, in verse 27 Paul explains that “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” But what does that mean? If Paul was writing this letter in the language we use today, this verse would sound something like this: And God, who searches the core of our beings, knows the mindset of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit intercedes and prays for us according to God’s desire for our lives. You see, God knows what the Holy Spirit intends, and there is perfect harmony between what God wants and what the Holy Spirit prays, because the Holy Spirit prays according to God’s desire for our lives.

Paul then reveals God’s desire for our lives by introducing a well known and generally accepted fact that the members of the church at Rome would have been aware of. And this well known and generally accepted fact reveals a second way that God affirms our glorious future. And whether you regularly attend church or this is your first time in church; whether you regularly read your Bible or have never read the Bible; you are probably familiar with what Paul states next. You are probably familiar because you have heard it used as a slogan or seen this verse on a bumper sticker of coffee mug: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good”.

But to understand what the Apostle Paul is communicating here we first need to do two things. First, we need to keep reading the rest of the verse. Second, we need to figure out what the word good means. So let’s do those two things together. Romans 8:28 says the following: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” You see, this is not a blanket statement for every human being on the planet. You see, God works with all things in the life of the follower of Jesus for good. God never promises to work with all things in the life those who are not followers of Jesus for good; so to quote this verse to someone who is not a follower of Jesus is to give them a wrong view of God and how He relates to those who are far from Him.

Paul’s point here is that for the person who has responded to God’s activity in their lives by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, God works with every situation and circumstance, whether good or bad for good. Well then what does Paul mean when he says that God causes all things to work together for good? What is good in God’s eyes? We find the answer to this question in verse 29. However, to fully understand what Paul is communicating here, we first need to define some 50 cent theological words. When Paul uses the word foreknew here, this word means to know beforehand and to choose beforehand. Then there is the word predestined. Predestined, most simply put, is to pre-decide. To predestine is to decide upon something beforehand, to predetermine something.

God knew all of humanity before they came into existence on this earth. God is all knowing. He not only knows what you did yesterday; He also knows what you will do tomorrow, next week, and for the rest of your life. And God knew everything about what you were going to do here on earth before you were a twinkle in your daddy’s eye, so to speak. And already knowing what we were going to do before we even lived a day on this earth, God pre-decided to rescue us so that we would experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for, in spite of our selfishness and rebellion.

And God’s good for those whom He rescued; God’s good purpose in the lives of His followers is to shape and mold us in a way that we become more like Christ in character and conduct. As we live in the relationship with God that we were created for, God works with every situation and circumstance for His glory and for our spiritual growth and good. Every circumstance and situation God works with in order to make us more like Christ so that we would reveal and reflect Christ in a way that advances His kingdom mission and enhances His reputation.

And in case the members of the church at Rome missed his point, Paul reinforces his point in verse 30. To those whom God decided upon beforehand to rescue from selfishness and rebellion, God declares them not guilty of having a problem with God as a result of God’s activity through Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. And the person who has responded to what God has done in their lives by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader have a glorious future where we will be transformed into saints who never sin again that participate in the glory and splendor of God as we live in intimate relationship with Him.

Now here is a question to consider: how should we respond to what we have just heard? How should we respond to the fact that God chose us beforehand, knowing full well that we would be selfish and rebellious; knowing full well that are selfishness and rebellion would result in Him sending His Son, in order to declare us not guilty of our selfishness and sin and enable us to experience the relationship with God that we were created for.

As Paul concludes this section of this letter, we see Paul ask the members of the church at Rome this very question and reveal for us the third different aspect of our rescue that results in a glorious future that provides us hope. We will look at that tomorrow...

Our Rescue Results in a Glorious Future that Creation Awaits...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in our Bible that reveals for us as followers of Jesus that our rescue from selfishness and rebellion results in a glorious future, where we live in the presence of God in Heaven in a relationship with God that is free from selfishness and rebellion for all eternity. And in Romans 8:18-39, we see Paul reveal for us three different aspects of the glorious future that we will experience as followers of Jesus as a result of God’s transformational activity. We see the first aspect revealed for us beginning in Romans 8:19:

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

In verse 19, when we see the phrase “the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly”, this phrase literally means to look forward with and eager expectation. The creation refers to all of the creation outside of humanity. Whether animate or inanimate, all of creation is looking forward with an eager expectation. But notice what creation is looking forward to with such eager expectation: the revealing of the sons of God. And here we see Paul reveal for us the first of three different aspects of our rescue that results in a glorious future that provides us hope. And that aspect is that followers of Jesus have a glorious future that creation eagerly awaits. Paul here is revealing for us the timeless truth that all of God’s creation is looking forward with an eager expectation to the end of God’s story here on earth when followers of Jesus will become fully known and transformed into saints who never sin again that participate in the glory and splendor of God as they live in intimate relationship with Him.

Now a natural question that arises here is “why is all of creation looking forward with a confident expectation to the day when followers of Jesus will become fully known and transformed into saints who never sin?” Paul answers that question for us in verses 20-21 by explaining that the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but unwillingly. Paul here is revealing that creation unwillingly has been enslaved and dominated by something that has resulted in it being rendered useless and therefore without hope. Creation is enslaved and dominated by corruption, which is deterioration and decay. And We see this in the world on a daily basis, don’t we? Creation is marred by hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis.

And we can often tend to want respond to this reality in one of two ways. People often react by either blaming God; God this is your fault! Or by questioning God? God, why do these natural disasters occur? But this morning, these natural disasters reveal the reality that the creation is enslaved to the deterioration and decay. Deterioration and decay that is the result of the selfishness and sin of humanity. You see, as a result of Adam’s act of selfishness and rebellion, sin totally corrupted all of creation, not just humanity.

All of creation was created by God perfect, but is now flawed and broken as a result of selfishness and sin. God did not corrupt the earth so that natural disasters occur, the consequences of selfishness and sin corrupted the earth, resulting in natural disasters. God ordains and God works through the evil of natural disasters to reveal the stark contrast between selfishness and sin and His glory and grace. God ordains and uses what selfishness and rebellion desires for evil and destruction to advance His Kingdom and to enhance His reputation.

Paul then explains that all of creation looks forward with eager expectation to the day when followers of Jesus will be transformed into saints who never sin because that will be the day that creation will also be set free from the consequences that humanities selfishness and sin have caused. Paul does so with a vivid word picture in verse 22: the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. Just as a woman endures and suffers the agonizing pain of labor by looking forward with an eager expectation to holding the precious new life that that pain produces, all of creation endures its decay and deterioration by looking forward with and eager expectation to being rescued and released from the consequences that selfishness and sin brought to the world.

Paul then reminds the members of the church at Rome that, as followers of Jesus who have received the Holy Spirit, we also groan under the consequences that selfish rebellion and sin produce. We groan because we have experienced God’s transformational activity in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit; and yet there are times that we still act in selfishness and rebellion. We groan while here on earth because while we are saints that have the Spirit of God within us, we still sometimes sin.

We groan because we want to be set free from our earthly bodies that have been corrupted by selfishness and rebellion so that we can fully experience life in the relationship with God that we were created for. That is what Paul is referring to when he uses the phrase “waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies”. As followers of Jesus we eagerly await the day when we will be released from our corrupted earthly physical bodies and fully experience the relationship with God that we were created for as His children.

Paul reinforces this reality in verses 24 and 25. Our rescue from selfishness and sin through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, provides a confident expectation for the future that we are looking forward to. The very nature of hope, however, is that hope is placed in something that we are not currently experiencing. I mean who hopes for what they already are experiencing? But as Paul states in verse 25, when we are looking forward with a confident expectation to the future, we are able to persevere; we are able to hold out and bear up under whatever circumstances we currently face. And that glorious future, for followers of Jesus, is the day when we are transformed into saints who never sin again that participate in the glory and splendor of God as we live in intimate relationship with Him.

Paul then continues in this section of this letter by revealing aspect of our rescue that results in a glorious future that provides us hope. We will look at that aspect tomorrow.

Our Rescue Results in a Glorious Future...

For the past several months, we have looked at two different aspects of God’s response of rescue to the problem of selfishness and sin. First, we looked at God’s transformational activity through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ results in us being rescued from selfishness and sin. When we respond to God’s activity in our lives by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, we receive forgiveness and rescue from selfishness and sin and are declared not guilty of having a problem with God. Now the big 50 cent word that is used to describe God’s transformational activity that results in our rescue is the word justification.

We then discussed a second aspect of God’s response that results in our rescue. For the last four weeks we have discussed how God’s transformational activity in our lives should result in a separation from selfishness and sin. Now theologians refer to this as sanctification. Sanctification, simply put, is the process by which we become like Christ in character and actions. As we continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus, we experience the progressive nature of sanctification as we increasingly reflect Christ in our character and conduct, because, at the end of the day, we are slaves to the one whom we obey. As followers of Jesus, we are no longer under the domination of selfishness and rebellion; we have been rescued and released by the power of the Holy Spirit to live a life that is empowered by the Holy Spirit.

This week I would like for us to spend our time together looking at the next section of this letter that is recorded for us in our Bibles, called the book of Romans. And it is in this section of this letter that we discover third different aspect of God’s response to the problem of selfishness and sin. And it is in this third aspect of God’s response to the problem of selfishness and sin that we will discover a timeless truth that provides a timeless source of hope. So let’s discover this timeless truth together, beginning in Romans 8:18:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of a first century church that was located in Rome by explaining that he considered the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. In other words, as Paul looked at the suffering that he and other followers of Jesus experience as we live life on earth, he viewed those suffering as insignificant. Paul viewed the troubles and trials that we experience as a minor inconvenience for followers of Jesus. Now it was not that Paul was unaware or was minimizing the troubles, the trials, and the suffering that followers of Jesus experience as we live here on earth. However, Paul was comparing what we experience here on earth with something that is to be revealed to us in the future.

And it is here that we see discover a timeless truth and a timeless hope that God’s rescue provides followers of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Our rescue results in a glorious future. Paul’s is revealing the reality that followers of Jesus have a glorious future; a future that has not yet been fully known. You see, at the end of God’s story here on earth, when Jesus Christ returns to defeat selfishness, sin, and death, followers of Jesus, will experience and participate in the splendor and radiance that comes from living in the relationship with God that we were created for in Heaven.

As we have seen in this series, prior to God’s transformational activity in our lives, we are sinners who sin; we are selfish and rebellious and live at odds with God and the truth of God. When we respond to God’s activity in our lives by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, we are declared not guilty of having a problem with God and become saints who sometimes sin. This is referred to be theologians as justification. As we continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus, we increasingly become more like Christ in our character and conduct. This is referred to by theologians as sanctification. However, there are still times where we will be selfish and sin.

When Jesus Christ returns and we experience the eternal relationship with God that we were created for in Heaven, we will be saints who no longer sin. Now theologians refer to this experience as glorification. The timeless reality is that our rescue from selfishness and rebellion results in a glorious future, where we live in the presence of God in Heaven in a relationship with God that is free from selfishness and rebellion for all eternity. And in Romans 8:18-39, we see Paul reveal for us three different aspects of the glorious future that we will experience as followers of Jesus as a result of God’s transformational activity.

This week, we will spend our time together looking at each of these aspects of the glorious future we have as followers of Jesus.