Chosen by Grace
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Sermon Title: Chosen by Grace
Scripture: Romans 11:1-6
Occasion: The Lord’s Day
Date: March 3, 2023
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Scripture Transitions Sermon Title|Quotes |Emphasis
PRAY
Ephesians 1:2 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
We have spent over 2 years in the book of Romans.
There is a reason for that.
Martin Luther, the great protestant reformer, gives us the reason why:
“In this epistle we . . . find most abundantly the things that a Christian ought to know, namely, what is law, gospel, sin, punishment, grace, faith, righteousness, Christ, God, good works, love, hope, and the cross; and also how we are to conduct ourselves toward everyone, be he righteous or sinner, strong or weak, friend or foe-and even toward our own selves. Moreover, this all ably supported with Scripture and proved by St. Paul's own example and that of the prophets, so that one could not wish for anything more. Therefore it appears that he wanted in this one epistle to sum up briefly the whole Christian and evangelical doctrine, and to prepare an introduction to the entire Old Testament. For, without doubt whoever has this epistle well in his heart, has with him the light an power of the Old Testament. Therefore let every Christian be familiar with it and exercise himself in it continually. To this end may God give his grace.” (Luther's Works, Vol. 35, 1960, p. 380)
The epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament, and is truly the purest gospel. It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. (Luther's Works, Vol. 35, 1960, p. 365)
This is why we have studied this book carefully for 2 years.
Also, there is your challenge, Church, from Martin Luther himself, let us memorize letter to the Romans!
Although I’m joking a little with you, I do believe, that if we made it our aim to memorize this letter; our lives would be enriched, more holy, and more stable, and more full of joy.
After all King david say says in Psalm 119:11
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
I digress.
At the onset of this section of Romans (Rom.9-11) that the banner of this whole section is Romans 9:6
Romans 9:6 (ESV)
But it is not as though the word of God has failed.
I made a statement at this start of this section of Romans in hopes that you filter everything through it in light of Romans 9:6.
I said “Although these chapters will talk about Israel and God’s plan for them, and election, and so on, we must
understand that These chapters are not primarily about Israel or election; the are primarily about God.”
You see, God wants you to see him and know that He is trust worthy.
So Paul uses this section to accomplish this end by vindicating the righteousness and justice of God. The big theology word for this is “Theodicy.”
This section of Scripture is a theodicy that aims to prove to us that God is right and just and good and faithful in all of his doings.
So Paul uses God’s relationship with Israel to bring all of this to light for us.
In other words, when you see God’s relationship with Israel in the OT and see their current state today, you should not think to yourself “Ah ha, God is unjust” but rather, You should see the faithful and immutable character of God, and thus it should woo you to believe in Christ for salvation.
This is especially true for the jewish people that is the primary audience of this section 9-11.
The apostle Paul is vindicating God’s character and bringing forth, masterfully by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that God has not forsaken Israel.
And once a jew realizes the immutability of God’s character, and they see the sovereign mercy and grace of God’s providences for them, the prayer is that God would open their eyes and that they would trust in their long awaited Messiah and believe in the gospel.
So Paul has vindicated God to His jewish friends thus far by showing them:
God’s word has not failed because not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. (Not all physical Israel is Spiritual Israel)
He uses the example of Jacob and Esau. (Cited from Mal. 1:2, 3)
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
He says in Romans 9:14-15
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Paul shows that the Word of God (promises of God) have not failed because if the jews understood their scriptures they should have known that the day would come were God would temporarily harden the hearts of the jewish people, provoke them to jeously by extending his loving salvific hand to a no people. To the gentile nations.
This fulfillment of God’s word from the prophets of old (Paul mentions Isaiah and Moses) should have caused them to trust the gospel and believe in Christ, and not reject him.
They rejected the message and our Christ because it suited them to. They were seeking to establish their own way to be made right with God (by their own works) rather than submitting to Gods plan of salvation by Grace through face Jesus Christ.
This is exactly what Paul says, in Romans 10:4
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
c. God sent preachers, preachers preached, they heard the gospel as promised , but they continued in disbelief and opposed the messiah and His gospel.
And today we find ourselves opening the closing chapter of this section. And what Paul wants Israel to know is that the promises of God to Israel have not failed!
If God has rejected Israel, than the promises have failed.
By no means has God rejected Israel, and thus by no means has he forsaken His promises to His people.
Paul uses this third section to make the case that one day all Israel will be saved.
Romans 11:25–32 (ESV)
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
“and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.
For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
God’s infinite wisdom and extravagant mercy overwhelms Paul to the point of breaking out in doxology (praise).
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
SIDE NOTE- Friends theology should always lead us to doxology. If it doesn't, it just might be because you have the wrong motivation in your heart for pursing theology.
So God’s integrity is what is at stake here in this section of Romans.
Thesis statement:
Today's sermon will explore the doctrines of foreknowledge, and God's sovereign grace. A proper understanding of these doctrines will reveal that God has not rejected His people, and His promises to Israel remain intact. The implication of this truth is that God's integrity remains steadfast, and we can confidently trust Him with our lives.
I have titled today’s sermon: “Chosen by Grace.”
So how we will tackle this section is first unpack the foreknowledge of God in verse 2 and God’s choosing grace in vv5-6, then show the work as they say in school as we go along by unpacking the two illustrations Paul uses of, one of himself, and the second of Elijah.
So let’s start with unpacking how Paul uses the foreknowledge of God here in verses 1 & 2.
Romans 11:1–2 (ESV)
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
V2 it tightly connected to verse 1.
V2 is the foundational truth, and what supports the foundational truth statement in verse 2 is verse 1.
In other words, Paul says, because of God’s foreknowing Israel (we will provide a definition for that in just a moment ) Paul is saying God has not rejected ethnic Israel because He has foreknown them, and the proof of that foreknowing is ME!
Because "I am an ethnic Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.” there is no possible way that God has rejected Israel, because I’m living proof of this foreknowledge of God.
Just so we are clear: the people Paul is concerned about in verse 1 must be the physical, ethnic people of Israel, not the church of Jew and Gentile.
But if this is true the question will eventually arise:
Will all Jewish people who ever lived be saved?
The answer is sadly “no.”
Out of the mouth of Jesus in Matthew 8:11 he says,
Matthew 8:11–12 (ESV)
I tell you, many [Gentiles] will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom [Israelites] of heaven,
while the sons of the kingdom [Israelites] will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
or the words of Paul in Romans 2:8-9
Romans 2:8–9 (ESV)
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the JEW first and also the GREEK,
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.
We should read these scriptures with fear and trembling.
It should break our hearts that the jewish people by whom came the jewish messiah, have been and currently are dying and going to hell.
That should break our hearts and cause us to respond in action. To send preachers there to preach the gospel. To send pastors to plant Churches. (mentioned Whoey and Covenant Ministries)
But here is the truth and principle that we can’t miss from all of this:
No Jew or Gentile individual is saved because of his ethnicity or background.
If that is the case, in which it is, what in the world does paul mean when in Romans 11:2 when he says,
Romans 11:2 (ESV)
God has not rejected HIS PEOPLE whom he foreknew.
I think we could make the case that it’s referring to the “remnant, chosen by grace” in verse 5.
In other words, we can argue that Paul and other Jews in his day believed in Christ, and so there is a faithful remnant who will inherit the promises made to Israel, therefore so God has not rejected his people, namely, his remnant whom he foreknew.
We are almost to the right understanding.
But there's a problem with that explanation of verse 2: that's not what verse 1 was asking when it said, "Has God rejected his people?"
The problem verse 1 is raising is not that there is no remnant.
Chapters 9 and 10 were clear that there was a remnant of Jews who were saved (9:24, 27, "a remnant will be saved").
The absence of a remnant was not ever a problem in Israels history.
The problem in these chapters is that it looks like corporate Israel taken as a whole, alive in any given generation, is mainly perishing and cut off from Christ.
That's the issue raised in verse 1.
That's what I think Paul refers to when he says God has not rejected his people - the people of Israel taken as a corporate whole in any given generation.
God has not rejected them (the whole).
But now let's connect this with the idea of foreknowing in verse 2.
Paul says in Romans 11:2
Romans 11:2 (ESV)
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
He means that if God foreknew Israel (corporate Israel), then he can't reject them.
Not let’s define foreknowledge so we can have a working definition.
Definition of Foreknowledge:
In Greek, the term for “foreknowledge” is prognosis, which expresses the idea of knowing reality before it is real and events before they occur.
In Christian theology, foreknowledge refers to the all-knowing, omniscient nature of God whereby He knows reality before it is real, all things and events before they happen, and all people before they exist.
Foreknowledge, with reference to God, connotes foreordination or fore-loving.
As it relates to verse 2 it means God's foreordination fore-loving covenant commitment to corporate Israel.
Zechariah 2:8 (ESV)
For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye
Deuteronomy 32:8–10 (ESV)
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.
“He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
What does this say about God's relationship to Israel?
It says they are very precious.
The eye is something to be protected because it is very precious.
No one cares to lose sight, it is a precious possession.
To touch Israel then is to touch a very precious possession of God, which He values very highly, as you would value your own eye.
The apple of God’s eye, beloved is the nation of Israel.
God has set his sovereign love upon Israel before the creation of the world.
When God sets His love on someone, nothing can stop Him from loving them.
Anyone whom God foreordains, remains.
Anyone whom God elects, He never rejects.
Anyone whom God chooses, He never loses.
When God makes a promise, He keeps it.
God’s covenant commitment to Israel therefore can't be broken.
Hebrews 6:17–18 (ESV)
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath (Covenant),
so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
We can be strongly encouraged with great hope when God makes a promise.
And of course that promise is secure by none other than Christ and His finished work. (All the promises of God are yes and amen in Chirst)
That's why Paul is sure God has not rejected Israel as a whole.
He foreknew them.
In the past he "knew" them.
Christ… Romans 11:26 “The Deliverer/ Redeemer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;”
Christ will see to it,
The clearest illustration of this foreknowledge in relation to the whole people of Israel is found Amos 3:2.
God says to Israel, Amos 3:2
Amos 3:2 (ESV)
“You only have I KNOWN of all the families of the earth;
Almost every trusted theologian that I have read agrees that this means,
"You only have I CHOSEN.”
You only have I sought out and made mine and known you the way a husband knows a wife.
That the foreknowledge Paul is speaking about Romans 11:2.
Israel is God's foreknown- chosen people.
This is supported in Romans 11:28-29, when Paul says,
Romans 11:28–29 (ESV)
As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
This is not a reference to the remnant.
The believing remnant are not "enemies of God" for the sake of Gentiles.
They are not part of the disobedience that leads to mercy for the Gentiles (11:31-32).
Romans 11:28 is a reference to corporate Israel as a whole, alive in any given generation.
This is the visible corporate nation of people called Jews.
And because they reject Christ, they are presently and temporarily enemies of God , and cut off from Christ (Romans 9:3).
Of course, I say this with trembling and longing to see them believe in Christ.
But that is not the whole story.
There is a future for corporate Israel, because they are as a corporate people (not every individual who lived) "elect."
That is, they are "foreknown."
God made a covenant with their forefathers. "You only have I known from all the peoples of the earth."
And in Paul's mind the fact that there is a remnant of Jewish believers in the Messiah that God has kept for himself (vv. 4-5) signals to Paul that God is not through with corporate Israel.
But that why Paul can later say in Romans 11:12
Romans 11:12 (ESV)
Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
And that’s why Paul issues a warning to the Church in Romans 11:25-26
Romans 11:25–26 (ESV)
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
A time is coming for Israel’s restoration. And when it comes, it will not only be a blessing to the nation of Israel but to all the nations!
This is Paul’s meaning in Romans 11:2
Romans 11:2 (ESV)
God has not rejected HIS PEOPLE whom he FOREKNEW.
But now as we transition to v5, and show support for that in v4 with Elijah , we see that God has not only set his love on Corporate Israel but he has also kept for himself a remnant chosen by grace.
Romans 11:2–5 (ESV)
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”
But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
So too at the present time there is A REMNANT, CHOSEN BY GRACE.
Paul here uses the account of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 to support his argument that God has not rejected the Israel of His own day.
He compares his own day to the horrific days of prophet Elijah.
And the short of his argument is, there was a remnant is Elijah’s day, and there is one in His day.
But the question that arises, at least for me as I was tracking this down, was this:
How can the apostle Paul be so confident that a faithful remnant existed then in Elijah’s day and faithful remnant exists now?
Three words: God’s Sovereign Grace.
The link between Elijah’s day and Paul’s day is the sovereign grace of our God exercised in choosing and keeping a faithful remnant for Himself.
Just look at verse 4 again,
Romans 11:4 (ESV)
But what is God’s reply to him? “I have KEPT for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
In the OT Hebrew of 1 Kings 19:18 it means literally “I caused to remain.”
So when Paul read 1 Kings 19:18 He saw the sovereign grace of God at work.
Now, what pastor John Piper points out here about Paul’s observation of 1 Kings 19:18 is absolutely fascinating:
He says,
“Be careful here. Don't make a mistake: The point of God's work for these seven thousand is not to keep them alive. When God says, "I have kept for myself seven thousand men," he didn't mean, I have kept them from Jezebel's sword. That wouldn't help Paul's argument at all. He's not trying to answer the question whether believing Israelites had died. He's trying to answer the question whether Israelites are believing and being saved and inheriting the promised blessings of God.
So when God says (v. 4), "I have kept for myself seven thousand men," he doesn't mean "I saw to it that they stayed alive." He means, "I saw to it that they were faithful. I saw to it that they believed."
I believe Piper spot on here!
This is the only understanding, really, that makes Paul’s argument here work.
So, Paul’s confidence regarding the faithful remnant of Elijah’s day, and the faithful remnant in His day, and the faithful remnant in our day, comes from the sovereign grace of God.
By God’s grace there was a remnant then and by God’s grace there is a remnant now.
And this is exactly why He says Romans 11:5
Romans 11:5 (ESV)
So too at the present time there is a remnant, CHOSEN BY GRACE.
The word “chosen” in the greek also means election.
So Paul is interpreting scripture with scripture here. (Which is a helpful way to study the bible)
He says in vv4-5, that the same way God sovereignly chose seven thousand men for himself in Elijah’s day, so too in the present time, God is sovereignly choosing a remnant of jewish people by His grace, for himself in our day .
Paul has confidence in God’s sovereign grace.
Paul is helping the Church to see today, that our confidence must not be in our efforts or methods of reaching the Lost, but our confidence must be in God who is the decisive cause of one’s salvation.
So we press forward with missions and evangelism and outreach because we are sure that the grace that saved us when we were enemies of Christ, can and will also reach others who are far from God.
When I read this portion of scripture all I could think of is the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10
1 Corinthians 15:9–10 (ESV)
For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
If it wasn’t for the grace of God we would all still be unworthy persecutors and blasphemers of God.
Ephesians 2:4-5
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
You would think that the apostle Paul would end it here in verse 5, but he continues to verse 6 to make an important clarification about the choosing grace of God.
Why?
Because, we are prone to take the credit for things. We are prone to make man the center of salvation rather than God and His grace.
So Paul being jealous for us to make election depend on the absolute grace of God and not our works, leaves us with verse 6.
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
We as humans have a really hard time letting grace be grace.
We have this propensity in the flesh, to throw in our works with grace every-time we talk about our salvation.
And what Paul is doing here is helping to fight that urge!
He says, “Let grace be grace” beloved.
Earlier in this letter Paul contrasts faith and grace.
He teaches us that works are things we do to earn God’s favor and faith is something we do that receives God’s favor.
That is a common conversation for the apostle Paul, but what I want you to see is that, that conversation is not happening here our text.
There is no mention of faith here. JUST GRACE!
What Paul IS contrasting here in verse 6 is grace and works.
So the contrast is not between two kinds of human activity: faith and works.
The contrast is between divine activity ( which is grace) and human activity (which is works).
And the point is that if election (God’s choosing) is based on anything we do, it’s not longer grace.
If we provide the decisive act in causing our salvation, it’s no longer God’s "choosing by grace."
A Pastor goes on to make this observation about verse 6 and says:
Just think of it for moment: What meaning could it have for election (not the subsequent acts of salvation but the very first act of election in eternity) to be gracious if it depended on our decisive initiative?
If God watches (even ahead of time in eternity with his foreknowledge) and waits, as it were, for us to act, and then in response to that self-generated act, he chooses us, then we are not "chosen by divine grace"; we are chosen by a decisive human act.
He goes on to say..
God would simply be a responder. We would determine his action. And grace would no longer be grace.
This is exactly the electing grace of God that Paul talks about in Romans 9:11-12
Romans 9:11–12 (ESV)
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of ELECTION might continue, not because of works BUT because of him who calls—
she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
The reason for God’s calling Jacob before He was born and did anything good or evil is so that God’s purpose according to His divine election might stand.
God’s sovereign electing Grace would not be grace if Jacob did anything for it (or to earn it). “otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”
This is absolutely vital for us to understand this morning:
Grace is FREE and if it is not FREE it is not grace.
God's grace comes first; it's not a reaction but a choice made by God.
The decisive cause of our salvation is not us (our works or reponse) but God’s sovereign choosing grace.
Paul’s confidence for the salvation of anyone, Both Jew or Greek, in Elijah’s day, in Paul’s day, and in our day: Is the sovereign grace of God to save sinners.
So has God rejected his people Israel?: No!
Why?
Because no rejection of theirs or ours can stop God from saving anyone He sovereignly chooses by grace.
Not a remnant of Jews or saving a nation or saving a no people.
When God by His grace chooses to remove the hardness from the hearts of men, (from our hearts this morning) nothing will stop Him from extending His hand of sovereign grace to save us.
And this grace beloved came at a great cost to be extended to us.
The good news of the gospel is that the cost of our sin was paid by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, not by us.
It is given at the expense of the Son of God’s incarnation in the womb of Mary and His obedience in suffering the law’s just condemnation on the cross.
When God shows us grace, He is faithful and just to do so because of the saving work of Jesus Christ alone.
So here are a few ways you can respond to this grace today:
Unbeliever, you can humble yourself and accept this grace by faith today, and be saved. (You cannot out-sin the grace of God)
We sung about it- God’s grace is greater than all our sins.
But you must humble yourself, and die to yourself to receive this gift of God’s grace.
Christian, may the grace of God humble you, and cause you to not only cherish His grace, but serve God freely and unreservedly, proving that the grace of God toward you is not in vain. (Serving him sacrificially is the proper respond to this expensive and lavish grace of God)
This grace of God should cause believers to pray for those around us that have hard hearts.
Since God in His grace shows mercy to whomever he wills and hardens whomever he wills, we have a duty as christians to pray boldy that God would show mercy to those around us, and remove the hardness from their hearts to receive the gospel.
2 Timothy 2:25–26 “[Pray that] God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, [that] they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil.
Share this gospel of grace that is able to save absolutely anyone!
The grace of God should propel us to take bold risks for Him, knowing that the grace of God not only saves us but keeps us!
Missions
Church planting
Sacrificial giving and serving in the Church
Lastly, the choosing grace of God should not cause us to say “Maybe God hasn't chosen me.”
1. Rather we should have the confidence that God’s grace can break through the hardest of hearts. (look at Paul). The grace of God can reach anyone!
The grace of God has no limits and no bounds.
2. Since God’s choosing is all by grace, there is absolutely no reason to think that we are excluded. None.
The grace of God is an open invitation for anyone to come to Him:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
PRAY