Romans 9:23-33 Great is His Faithfulness

The Text

Romans 9:23–33 (CSB)
²³ And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory—

²⁴ on us, the ones he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

²⁵ As it also says in Hosea, I will call Not my People, My People, and she who is Unloved, Beloved.

²⁶ And it will be in the place where they were told, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God.

²⁷ But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, Though the number of Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved;

²⁸ since the Lord will execute his sentence completely and decisively on the earth.

²⁹ And just as Isaiah predicted: If the Lord of Hosts had not left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.

³⁰ What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith.

³¹ But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law.

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

³³ As it is written, Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame.

The Introduction

There are more than a few reasons why I was so excited and fearful for diving into Romans 9.

Excited: because it is right after Romans 8 and I know I will have to use the context of chapter 8, all of Romans and all Scripture to exposit this passage responsibly and faithfully.

Fearful: I have long avoided expositing this passage because all of my life in church, I have well-intentioned pastors and teachers who have "explained away" Romans 9, 10, and 11. When you ask about what does it mean when Paul says:

Romans 9:15-16 (CSB) For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy.

"Oh Romans 9? That is just about Israel. We don't have to pay attention to that", they would reply.

Then my face would go like, "Wut?", and a little red flag would pop up. When I was younger in the faith, I wouldn't have the guts to say it but now my insta-response would be, "But isn't all of Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work?" ¹

And if Romans 9 is Scripture, isn't then this passage "profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work?"

Obviously, my question would be rhetorical. Romans 9, 10, and 11 do pertain to all of the church--all believers. Not just Jewish believers but both Jew and Gentile alike. And it contains such good news. Romans 8 sets the stage. And that stage is Mount Everest. From there, you will see the glory and majesty and the wonder and the love of God for us--his people. Romans 9, 10, & 11 just magnifies and theologically explains the gospel of God in his sovereign goodness.

But I will say this, where Paul makes the distinction about the Jewish people (as he did in Romans 2), then he is very much talking about the Jewish people. Don't get those confused. (That was a quick reminder for me as well.)

Our God

To remind us of the context of verses 23-24, let us read the passage:

Romans 9:22–24 (CSB) And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory—on us, the ones he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

If you are coming to the Bible and to Romans and to this passage and you read this passage and you still think that salvation in some part dependent on you, let me say this, in the most loving way that I can, you are not understanding what you are reading. And I get that. The Bible is completely supernatural. Just because the Bible is translated into the English language that we can read and understand does not mean we can understand it.

We can comprehend words. We can go and get English degrees. Write books on reading comprehension. And yet be totally stumped when it comes to understanding the Bible. For the Bible states:

1 Corinthians 2:12 (CSB) Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.

What has been given freely by God to us? Surely, the Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit. Himself. His salvation. Our faith. New hearts. The list is endless.

But have we ever stopped to think about his word? The Scriptures. His word has been freely given to us by the inspiration, preserving, and preaching of his word throughout all of human history. (Now how we got his word in our hands--that price was high and was paid by the blood of martyrs throughout the history of the church--that is another sermon series for another day.)

Who can give us understanding about his word that is a gift that he has freely given to us? Only the Holy Spirit whom dwells in us. (By the way, if you come upon a passage that you don't understand, pray. Pray for understanding. God will answer your prayers.)

Lets get back to the passage:

And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory—on us, the ones he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

What if he did? Guess what. Paul is asking a rhetorical question. Because the answer is: God did do this. Romans 9 lays it all out. We see where God explicitly raised up Pharaoh to power and turned him over to the wickedness of his own narcissistic sin-filled heart to his own destruction just so he would be able to save his people from slavery?

Do you not think that God would send his only begotten Son, to raise him up on a cross just to save his people from sin?

The Gospel

The answer is obviously yes!

²⁵ As it also says in Hosea, I will call Not my People, My People, and she who is Unloved, Beloved.

²⁶ And it will be in the place where they were told, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God.

Do not read this passage thinking he is just talking about the Jewish people! This is you and me. We were once not his people and now we are his people. We were once foolish, disobedient, slaves to various passions and pleasures, dead in our trespasses and sins.

How did God respond?

He appeared to us. He called us. He saved us. Saved us from our own soul-crushing, back-breaking, heart-killing self-righteous works that were only demand more and sent to hell quicker.

Instead, he saved us. Not just from hell of his wrath but he has called us to be with him. So much so, he adopts us and calls us sons of the living God!

To the Jew first and also the Greek.

To the male and female.

To the Israelite and the Gentile.

He has called and we are saved.

²⁷ But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, Though the number of Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved;

²⁸ since the Lord will execute his sentence completely and decisively on the earth.

To those with the eschatology--the end-times theology--that speaks that all of the Jewish people will be saved just on the fact that they are Jewish. This passage counters that terrible, wicked, hell-damning false teaching. The Jewish people are not saved by their birth or race or nationality. For:

John 1:12–13 (CSB) But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

And

Acts 4:12 (CSB) There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

The Old Testament spoke over and over again: you are not saved based on your Jewishness.

Look at verse 29:

²⁹ And just as Isaiah predicted: If the Lord of Hosts had not left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.

If God did not had chosen little Israel--remember not because they were large and mighty but because they were small, feeble, and weak, and scared--and made a covenant with their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, those believe in God know without a shadow of a doubt: they would have been wiped from the face of the earth just like the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Show of hands, who has met a Philistine? Nobody. God wiped them from the face of the earth. Our modern sensibilities might balk at such a notion, "How could God do that?" Because they were wicked. They worshipped demons and never turned to the living God.

The Jewish person, who wrestles with the complete Bible, reads it, and by the grace and the understanding of the Holy Spirit alone, "if not by God, there go I".

And the Jewish people will always be preserved no matter how many attempts are made to wipe them from the face of the earth. See God's preserving hand on them. But if they do not turn to Christ, they will thrown into the fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth--just like Jesus Christ preached to them when he was here on earth.

Our Response

³¹ But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law.

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

Adam. Eve. Seth. Enoch. Noah. Abraham. Sarah. Isaac. Rebekah. Jacob. Leah. Rachel. Joseph. Moses. Zipporah. Joshua. Deborah. Samson. Ruth. Boaz. Jesse. David. Bathsheba. Nathan. Solomon.

They are not saved because they were Jewish! The are saved because they put their faith in the holy Triune God who alone could saved them.

God preached the gospel first to our original father, Adam!

Genesis 3:15 (CSB) I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

What happened?

Genesis 3:21 (CSB) The LORD God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.

God covered them. In other words, Adam believed and it was counted to him as righteousness.

From the Fall of mankind, God has done nothing but save his people. Over and over again.

A remnant will be saved. Not all. But some. The door is narrow to God. The path to hell is wide.

Call upon him. Be saved unto him.

³³ As it is written, Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame.

Christ, the King of Jews, descended from David two ways--through Solomon to Joseph and from Nathan to Mary--Jew of Jews--fulfilled over 200 Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. This is whom God has set as the stone in Zion. Right in the middle of Israel. Right in the middle of the Jews. In their wretched state: under the rule and reign of Caesar and wicked rulers. God gave them a King. The One True Final King. The Son of David.

This is the stumbling block to the Jews. This is foolishness to the Gentiles Unbelieving Jews and Gentiles both cannot get it. The cannot conceive it.

What is this stumbling block?

Christ crucified!

1 Corinthians 1:22-23 (CSB) For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.

Why would God do that? Why would he raise up vessels of destruction just to show his mercy to his people.

24-25 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Christ is the gospel. Christ is the good news. Abraham saw the day of Christ and rejoiced because all the promises of God came true--just like he believed they would.

Choose on this day whom you will serve.