DOES GOD ELECT? by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction: When the kids were young, they loved watching Toy Story, the movie. Every time that scene came on of the claw picking one of the green aliens, I couldn’t help but think of how some people understand the doctrine of election – God just randomly picks some people over others to be saved. The question in this message is “Has God indeed elected some people for heaven and others for hell?” The answer is absolutely, positively NO! You have a choice. Okay, then, what do we do with passages like Romans 9 where it talks about election or Romans 8 and Ephesians 1?

Romans 9 (page #1743) 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

Context: Last week we learned about the Christ-time (Ann Jervis, Paul and Time; Although I don’t agree with her on everything, I thinks she does make some very valid and helpful points).When we are united with Christ, we are also united with Christ’s time. Some people see time as only linear and sequential. Others see time as that and the invasion of the apocalyptic age time. Then, there is the Christ-time. This is a view of time as God sees it. The past, present, and future are seen together. Of course, as we step into that time, we are finite (and will always be), and so we can only spiritually see it as Christ. What we notice here is that the promises are given without any mention of fulfillment. Why? Because God doesn’t have to be reminded of that. He promised, and he will fulfill. When we enter into the Christ time, we are also to see the promises as abiding and certain. In Romans 9, 10, and 11, Paul is explaining in Christ-Time the continuing role of the Jewish people.

Don’t forget the context of Romans 9: In the earliest church, there was a great controversy over the continued purpose of the Jewish people. No longer did people have to keep the Law, offer sacrifices, observe circumcision to be saved, and so the question came up – If we don’t have to become a Jewish person in order to be saved, then are they still God’s chosen people? If they are still God’s chosen people, do they still have to believe in Jesus to be saved? There was also some resentment against them since many had rejected Him. H. L. Ellison, The Mystery of Israel, said “The very widespread dislike or even hatred of the Jew[ish person] is probably due less to his claim to election and more to his having maintained it under the hammer blows of history that normally break the election fantasies of other peoples.”

Paul begins by stating the promises to Israel. Romans 9 (page #1743) 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” This is from Genesis where God said that He will use Jacob to lead and Esau to look to him. By the way, the word for election is ekloge (along with eklegomai and eklektos) has the idea of choice for service, like in an election. This usage is found in Hebrew Bible, LXX, Ancient Greek usage, and NT context. Not salvation but service. 

13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” This is from Malachi, where God judged the descendants of Esau – the Edomites – because of their immorality and disobedience. It had nothing to do with salvation. God preserved Jacob’s line to bring the Messiah into the world, and he punished Esau’s line for spreading sin. By the way, I believe that both Ishmael and Esau individually were saved.

Someone might say – “That’s unfair, that God continued to work with Jacob and not with the others.” Paul gives 4 evidences to the contrary:

#1 Moses and the worship of the Golden Calf

15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Keep in mind that this is not mercy unto salvation but unto preserving the plan of salvation. 

#2 Pharaoh and his stubbornness

Listen to verse 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. Pharaoh had a choice – he could have gotten on board with God’s plan of salvation and helped the Hebrews (Jewish people). Instead, he hardened his heart and in turn God made an example out of him. This is more about God rejecting a nation rather than an individual.

#3 Jeremiah and the Potter’s Wheel

Romans 9      19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? 22What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? This quotation from Jeremiah is regarding God’s sovereignty over nations, over creation.

#4 Prophecies from Hosea and Isaiah

Romans 9      25 As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” 26 “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” 27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. 28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.” 29 And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the LORD of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.” Both the passages are about God’s continuing work with the remnant of his people Israel.

So, what is happening to the Jewish people right now, per Paul? Romans 9     30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” The cornerstone has become a stumbling stone for them corporately. The establishment cannot accept Jesus because he refuses to get their endorsement.

Are we the new elect then? No, not in the same way as Israel.

How about these verses on election?

• Romans 8      29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Assurance in suffering.
• Ephesians 1       3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Assurance of future blessings.

So, what’s happening to the Jewish people then and now?

A.   False Dedication

Romans 10       1 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.”

Background: Ever since Israel returned from Babylon, they were zealous in serving God. They were done worshipping idols. They were going to the synagogues and to the temples. They were teaching the Law of God. In fact, they had even added more laws to the Law. They were zealous for God but without knowledge. Paul was an example of that. It was the Golden Age of Judaism and their golden age crucified Jesus Christ.

Let me ask you something: Is it possible to be dedicated/zealous and still be lost? Yes.

Application: Many people are sincere in what they are doing, but they are sincerely lost.

B.   False Standards

Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

Background: “Being ignorant of God’s righteousness” does not mean that the Jewish people were ignorant of the Holiness and Righteousness of God. In fact, they were quite proud that unlike the pagans and their sexually immoral lifestyles, they had some very high standards of righteousness and purity. But it was still not the righteousness of God.

Matthew 5:20  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Application: We have friends and family members who think that they are good enough to get to heaven because they are not living an immoral lifestyle; they don’t lie and cheat and hurt people; they pay their taxes and do their part to help their community; they serve in their church and support a few charity organizations; they are good neighbors and upstanding citizens.  All that is good but there is only one problem – they are seeking to establish their own righteousness.

C.    False Obedience

Rom. 10:4 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

Background: God gave the Law (the 10 commandments, sacrifices, priesthood and festivals) to the people of Israel to warn them against the dangers of sin, to protect them from the effects of sin, to separate them from the influence of the sinful nations around them. The Law kept them together as a society, as a people, and as a nation until the Seed should came. Josephus the historian tells us: “The Jew (ish person) knows the Law better than his own name… Countless thousands would go to their great feasts. Over and above the Law….Many died on the cross and were willing to burned alive and thrown to the lions because of their loyalty to the Law. They were also very evangelistic, trying to convert the Gentiles to the Law of Moses. But they still missed the purpose of the Law.

Instead of letting the Law lead them to Christ, the Jewish people began to worship the Law. They thought that keeping the Law was going to save them. Paul says, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

Application: Keeping the 10 commandments will do absolutely nothing for your salvation. People often ask me “You don’t think we need the 10 commandments today?” Yes we do. We need them in the Capital Building, courtroom, and classrooms. We need to teach them to our kids. They will preserve our society, and our nation. They will give them a sense of right and wrong. But, they will not save you.

Now Paul explains to us what they and we must to be saved? Romans 10: 8-9  ⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): meaning = it’s not that complicated.

⁹that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

#1.IF YOU CONFESS, MAKE SURE YOU BELIEVE IT. There are a lot of people who have confessed but they’ve never believed. They are still lost. By faith, you accept that Jesus is the Son of God who died for you.

¹⁰For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

#2.IF YOU BELIEVE, MAKE SURE YOU CONFESS IT.

There is no such thing as secret Christians and private Christians. God wants us to declare publicly that we are followers of Jesus Christ. During Jesus’ earthly ministry –  John 12:42-43 ⁴²Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Listen to how Jesus responds in Matthew 10:32-33  ³²“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. ³³But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”

For e.g. Adrian Rogers gave a great illustration of the woman who was sitting in the choir and the Holy Spirit was working on her that she needed to be saved. Her friend saw her agony and said, “Let’s go down to the front and give your heart to Christ.” She said, “I am too embarrassed to go to the front. Can I not get saved here?” The friend replied, “No you can’t.”Next night the same thing; next night, again, the same thing. On the last night, She was in agony again. This time she leaned over to her friend and said, “I am ready to go down.” The friend replied, “Now, you are ready to get saved, right here.”

You cannot confess and not believe and you cannot believe and not confess.

Application: Many are sitting on the sidelines that have never openly acknowledged that they are saved. Baptism is an important way of making that declaration. Someone says, “But I am embarrassed.” Listen to Romans 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. Jew or Greek – the same Lord will be rich to all who call on Him. ¹³For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”