The Vital Connection of Grace and Faith

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

Paul’s Heartbreak for Jews

Romans 9:3 ESV

3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

The Messiah is an Israelite

Romans 9:4–5 ESV

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

A Challenging ABC

All Will Not Receive Christ

Romans 9:6 ESV

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,

Bloodline Is Not Salvation

Romans 9:7 ESV

7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

Children are of the Promise

Romans 9:8 ESV

8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

Knowing the histories of Moses and Egypt’s Pharaoh, Paul can describe how God has fulfilled his special purposes by hardening the heart of Pharaoh.

God’s Mercy Is Key

Mercy is tied to grace, which is the theme word for today.

Romans 9:16–17 ESV

16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

God Choices Are His Own

Romans 9:18 ESV

18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

We Can’t Bargain Our Way Into Heaven

Our Sense of Fairness is Selfish

Romans 9:19–20 ESV

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

We forget that God sees the big picture all the time.

Remember you are

A Lump of Clay in the Potter’s Hand

Romans 9:21 ESV

21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

The same clay pottery might become a Casserole or a Chamber Pot.

The same glazed clay might be made into a china terrine for soup or a china toilet for slop.

It’s about the purposes of the potter.

Made for a Purpose

Romans 9:22 ESV

22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

The Outcome Is God’s Design; the process is painful, for we live in a sin-sick world (where even the creation groans awaiting final redemption of God’s children! (Rom 8:22-23 “22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” )

To Know the Glory of Grace

Romans 9:23–24 ESV

23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

We are called to become God’s children by faith Not Because We Earned it==

Whence Righteousness?

From where does righteousness come?

The Israelite approach missed the point, even though they had all they needed:

Romans 9:4 ESV

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.

So Righteousness, or right standing in God’s sight,

-Doesn’t come from heritage.

-Doesn’t come from God’s revelation.

-Doesn’t come from having the Law

-Doesn’t come from perfect worship

-Doesn’t come because the promises of God are available.

Righteousness Is By Faith

It is God’s work for all who believe in him

It is God’s gift for all who submit to him.

Romans 9:30 ESV

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;

It is God’s wish for all to receive. His promises to us are certain; our promises to him are fragile.

“Best Effort” Righteousness is a Bust

Romans 9:31 ESV

31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.

They had everything they needed to become righteous. But they showed every failure in their performance that is common to man. It’s why we don’t really have to mentions Israel or the Jews who failed to follow their law; they are just a people who had more religious advantage than any other people. The had direct revelation from the unseen God; they had the rules for life inscribed by God, written in stone. Any one of them could have lived righteously. Only a few are mentioned in the Bible.

There is first Enoch, who was outstanding in his faith among his generation and was invited right into God’s eternal presence without having to pass through death.

There is also Noah, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord, not because of his perfection but because of his faith.

There is Abraham, the Patriarch of the Jews, who believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. We read of many of his failings in his journey to and through the Promised land, but he was favored because of faith.

These three were before the Law was given. They become perfect examples of Grace that comes by Faith.

Two more I will mention:

Moses, a man with a checkered past who was called into the Lord’s presence where God gave him the law by which God’s people were to live. A man whom God talked to “face to face” so much that he glowed after the encounters. Another imperfect man, for his faith failed him when he was frustrated at the burden he carried for the unruly Israelites and he hit the rock with a stick when God told him to just say the word. So important was his role that God made an example of him, and didn’t allow Moses into the Promised Land, even though it was God himself who cared for him in his death.

And then you find David…a shepherd, a singer, a soldier, a general, a murderer, and adulterer, an insurrectionist, a conqueror and king, and a rather poor father. Yet the Bible says he was the “apple of God’s eye”. His name means beloved, and his righteousness is not in his actions but in his unwavering and repentant faith.

God can’t be bribed by our fragile promises. He knows we will fail, as the Israelites always did.

Faithless Best Efforts Fail

as the records of the Old Testament show over and over again.

Paul addresses why they failed:

Romans 9:32 ESV

32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,

Know that

God is Full of Mercy and Grace

And he would rather give the best to us than pay our sad wages.

That’s why trying hard to please God without understanding God will fail us.

Paul said of his bloodlines,

Romans 10:2 ESV

2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

Which was a very easy statement for him, that’s the one-sentence story of his life before Christ. He studied the Law, studied about God, but never understood who God was until Christ encountered him on the road to Damascus.

Here’s how that works out for Israel, because Paul already knew that’s how it worked out for him:

Romans 10:3 ESV

3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

God’s Grace and Our Faith

are our only lifeline to the Righteousness of God.

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