Righteousness Promised

Micah 7:18-20

Romans 9-11

 

  1. The 9th sermon in 13 sermons on Paul’s letter to the Romans.
  2. Really could have stopped at chapter 8
    1. General theme has been covered

                                                              i.      Our Total Need, His Total Remedy, Our Genuine Struggle, His Awesome Power.

                                                             ii.      Seriously, end the book with the great 8:38 song and call it a book!

                                                            iii.      Except for one obvious statement - we are not Jews. . . so perhaps the most obvious questions do not spring readily to our minds – What about the chosen people? What about the continuing account of the children of Abraham? What is to become of them? How are we connected? Why do the Gentiles understand Christ and not those who should have most anticipated his arrival? Is this fair? Has God finally abandoned Israel to her wickedness and unbelief?  Is He now fulfilling His will in a new people? All of these questions are left swirling in the air.

1.      Remember, most of the church at this time IS JEWSIH. The Roman historian, Tacitus referred to them as, “a Jewish Sect.”

    1. Paul, himself a Jew, will go out of his way in the next three chapters answering those Big Questions. What about The Jews and What about God’s promises?

                                                               i.      This is exactly why we are not splitting 9, 10 and 11 apart. They are one continuous argument and must be taken as a whole. Chapters 9, 10, and 11 all defend God’s sovereignty and proclaim the dependability of his Promises. Thus the name of this sermon Righteousness Promised. And what God promise - can never be undone.

                                                             ii.      A promise is only as good as the one who promises.

  1. Prayer




  2. Romans 9-10-11
    1. Every time we write a sermon we are indebted to others who have thought about this before us. Period. There are few new ideas, only new combination and illustrations  :~)

                                                              i.      In this case, I am greatly indebted to the work of Earl Palmer, Senior Pastor at University Presbyterian Church, and his work on Romans. So, if you ever want to hear this handled much more lucidly please look up Earl’s work ;~)

    1. Fittingly, perhaps unfortunately, I want to apply an analogy to the arguments in chapters 9-10-11 to illustrate Paul’s point. I am going to use a suspension bridge. A rudimentary bridge to say the least, but it ought to “carry” the freight, the idea
    2. Caveat, IT’S an analogy, if I don’t state it. I don’t intend it! So let’s not get caught up in extra points like where does the bridge go? Where is the bridge built? What color is it? If it were red that would go well with the blood of Jesus  ;~)
    3. Let’s begin with a Big Idea – God’s Righteous Sovereignty Guarantees all of His Promises. In other words, “IF GOD PROMISES YOU RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH IS SALVATION, THEN YOU HAVE IT. THE END.”
    4. I COULD STEP DOWN AND WE COULD HEAD TO THE PICNIC RIGHT NOW, IF YOU GET THIS. This is Paul’s point. This is the mystery that will break him into song . . . again. No matter how you slice it – Grace is God’s choice and he does not “un-choose” anything. It is not on merit, not for the Jew and not for the Gentile. If God dispensed Grace on Merit, no one would receive it. He dispenses grace by sovereign choice that supercedes our ability to understand. He does not nullify human choice. I just have no clue how he incorporate sit!! When Charles Spurgeon was asked to reconcile Human Choice and God’s Sovereignty, he replied, “I never reconcile friends.”



    5. Let’s look at a picture of a suspension bridge.

                                                              i.      It crosses some impasse, usually water, but it is all the same rock. You merely pass from one peak of the rock to another. In my bridge analogy this rock, the foundation of pillar and anchor is God’s Righteous, Sovereign character – Holy, All-Knowingness. From end to end this is what supports everything.

                                                            ii.      The next major pieces of the bridge are the pillars and anchors. They go deep into the bedrock and hold everything stable, and allow for tension. I will fill out each pillar in a moment. What you need to remember for now is that the pillar derives all of its strength from the foundation

                                                          iii.      A suspension bridge will only stand in dynamic tension

1.      If the pillars do not cooperatively pull against each other it will collapse. If one pulls more than the other it will pull the whole thing down. If the bridge is too tight and rigid, wind will tear it down. It needs to be flexible. Equally pulling against each other in dynamic tension. Like Sovereignty and Human Choice. Like God’s transcendence and Immanence. God as One – God as Three. Electron and proton. All in dynamic tension. In perfect repelling and drawing unity.

                                                          iv.      The deck is history

                                                            v.      The vehicle is God’s promise and purpose.

                                                          vi.      Got it?   Bedrock, pillar, tension, deck and vehicle

                                                        vii.      All that remains then is to build the four pillars that bring the stability of the bedrock into the venue of tension.

    1. Here our pillars

                                                              i.      God’s Sovereign Choice of the Jews

                                                            ii.      The Inclusion of the Gentiles

                                                          iii.      The Rejection of the Jews

                                                          iv.      The Final Restoration of the Jews

1.      1 & 2 in tension

2.      3 & 4 in tension

a.      1 & 3 from one side, 2 & 4 the other



  1. Pillar 1- God’s Sovereign Choice of the Jews
    1. Coming out of the joy of Chapter 8, Paul turns to the anguish of chapter 9.
    2. Vv. 1-3 Paul, like Moses before him (Ex. 32:30-35) yearns so badly for his brother that he would be cut of for their sake.
    3. Vv. 4,5 The adoption).
    4. The glory—the presence of God in the tabernacle (Ex. 24:16–17).
    5. The great covenants—through Abraham, Moses and David, God gave unchanging covenants to His people Israel.
    6. The Law—God never so dealt with the Gentiles. Israel heard God’s voice and received His laws to govern their lives.
    7. The temple worship and service of God—the priestly service in the tabernacle was a privilege from the Lord.
    8.  The PROMISES—many OT promises have been fulfilled, and many are yet to be fulfilled for the Jews.
    9. The fathers, an implied the history —Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve sons of Jacob. Then Moses, Joshua, Saul, David and Solomon. Think of the history.
    10. Even the Messiah. Paul has to end with an  AMEN
    11. In Vv. 8-21, Paul is simply making the point the God’s choice is not a merit issue. It is not as though God’s word has failed! The Greek word here, meaning basically “having no effect” pictures a boat of course. Well, God’s purposes are not of course. He chose Israel for his own. He chose whom he would choose and why must remain a mystery for us. He illustrates by pointing out that God chose Isaac, the second born, over Ishmael the first born, Jacob, another second over Esau before either could prove their worth. Moses over Pharaoh, although both were murders. One was a king and the other a slave, but God will choose whom he will choose. So, He does not choose based on human circumstance or merit but his will.
    12. This pillar only stands in God’s character. Any question returns to Character. It is Good, because everything he does is good. Like Paul said, “will the pot ask question the potter?”
  2. The second Pillar is the inclusion of the Gentile in tension with the first.
    1. Here again is another mystery V. 9:30, 24-26; 10:12,13, 19, 20; 11:11
    2. From the very beginning it was God sovereign choice to include the Gentile as described in the end of chapter 11, as a branch grafted into the root.
    3. Not by the law, or obedience to Judaism, but like their common “father” Abraham, BY FAITH!
    4. So pulling against God’s special choice of Israel is his choice to expand his grace to everyone else through them!
  3. Worse yet, and the third Pillar, is this occurred simultaneous to their rejection! Israel missed the boat and most of the people stand outside the blessing
    1. Why? Because, as predicted, they stumbled on the stone layed in Zion (9:33) Jesus. They, who sung this great Psalm 118 upon his final arrival in Jerusalem, did not believe and later called for his crucifixion.
    2. Oh sorrow and tragedy! They missed the great savior. They were so close 10:1-11
  4. Now, I suppose we could stop at Chapter 10, and little avoid another great mystery. Up to this point, it would all make sense “in a way.” God chose Israel, BUT they missed the Messiah, so now the new “Spiritual Israel,”- the convert Jew and the Gentile - can carry the promise. Those Jews outside Jesus, are just now outside. Their promises are void by transference.
  5. Alas, our cute little bridge would collapse and Paul’s argument would not be finished.
  6. Pillar 4, The Final Restoration of the Jews
    1. V. 11:1-5, 11,12; Vv. 25-32
    2. So, there you have it – four pillars, one bridge, in bedrock, in tension, carrying one big idea
  7. Impact
    1. Really easy - God’s Righteous Sovereignty Guarantees all of His Promises.
    2. So, he is not finished with Israel. He cannot be. He has a promise to them. Do not be ignorant Church. While we are indeed new children of Abraham, we are “grafted branches.” Arrogance is misplaced. We only make sense as we are part of the great history of Israel.
    3. We may rest, even though we are unable to fully understand how God’s salvation of the Jewish people will fit together with our own. These simply will stand in cooperative tension. We are as Paul says, now Jews along with Him. Abraham our father. These are our people. The bridge does not stand without them. Without the Jews, it collapses. Without Jewish rejection, it collapses. Without our inclusion, the bridge collapses, and without the reconciliation the bridge collapse. It is all secure in the bedrock of God’s sovereign character and all history will carry His promises. This is the way of it.
    4. We, like Paul at the end of chapter 11, must stop and cry out -
      O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unreachable 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,

to receive a gift in return?”

 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.