Can We Trust God? When Julia Gillard said There will be no carbon tax under my government Did you believe her?

Transcription

1 Can We Trust God? (Romans 9:1-13 October 9, 2011) When Julia Gillard said There will be no carbon tax under my government Did you believe her? Probably most of us thought that political expedience would decide if she kept that promise or not. And as it turned out that was indeed the case she explained her change of heart on a change of circumstances. The result is that the polls show that we simply don t trust her to keep her promises. 1

2 But the lack of trust about keeping promises fits well on the other side of politics too. Tony Abbott was quite forthright in explaining that: The statements that need to be taken absolutely as gospel truth are those carefully prepared scripted remarks. As he admitted, that is politician speak for if it is a core promise I will do my best to keep it but even then no guarantees. Carbon-taxes and GST are one thing but what about heaven and hell? What if the One making the promises is no politician but God almighty Himself? When our eternal destiny depends entirely on the promises of God we have to know with absolute certainty whether we can trust Him. Is God like a human king making promises only to change when the situation changes? Does God have core promises and non-core promises? Heaven and hell depend on this answer. Fortunately, the Bible is very clear about what we should expect from God. Numbers 23:19: God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? 2

3 This is not the place to do a whole sermon on those passages that seem to suggest that at times God does change His mind. This involves a study of the decretive and perceptive wills of God and that will take us well off track. There are good articles aplenty dealing with this but let me just say that if God makes a decree it will not change. However, if God announces an intention to act that is conditional on man s response God does alter His response in relation to man. Suffice it to say if God simply makes a decree a pronouncement of what He will do that is not related to the response of man it will come to pass. This is crucial because our eternal destiny hangs on the question of whether we can trust God or not. We have not seen heaven, we have not touched eternity, we have not smelled the New Jerusalem. But we know it is our destiny because God has said so. Listen to these magnificent promises in Romans 8:38 39: For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul is certain, I am certain, you are certain that death is not the end why? because God has promised that He prepares a place for us. We believe this because God is not man who lies, changes His mind or does not do what he promises. We know this because of the character of God and because we need only look at God s faithfulness throughout all His dealings with man. There is no promise God has made that has failed to come to pass so we can be sure that all His promises will come to pass. Read the Psalms how often does the Psalmist recount the past faithfulness of God as the basis for the future faithfulness of God? Having said all of this what if some of the promises of God did fail to come to pass? What if God flooded the earth again having said He would not? What if some explicit promises of God failed to be fulfilled? That would destroy the foundation of our faith and hope for eternity because our entire basis for trusting the future promises of God is His faithfulness. 3

4 That is the very question raised in Romans Is God faithful? Can we trust the promises of God? However, Romans 9-11 is not the easiest of sections. N.T Wright put it this way: Romans 9-11 is as full of problems as a hedgehog is full of prickles. Many have given it up as a bad job, leaving Romans as a book with eight chapters of gospel at the beginning, four of application at the end, and three of puzzle in the middle. But having said that the key thrust of these chapters is clear. The verse that is the centre of Romans 9-11 is Romans 9:6: But it is not as though the word of God has failed. It seems that Paul knew the questions the gospel was raising in the minds of some. If what Paul says in Romans 1-8 is true then it seemed to some that God s promises to Israel had failed and if the promises of salvation for Israel failed how can we trust the promises of salvation made to the church? Those questioning Paul s gospel might rewrite Romans 8:38 39: What can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord? Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation but there is one thing. If God changes His mind and places His love elsewhere then we are separated from His love. Here is the argument some were making. In the Old Testament there are specific promises made to Israel: Israel will always be God s people. Sin will not negate the covenant with God. God will save Israel. 4

5 The Old Testament is filled with promises to national Israel regarding the restoration of the nation, the establishment of a theocratic government from Jerusalem, and the resultant restructuring of the human and material universe. Israel was to be made the centre of the world. Here are just a few of those promises. Israel will always be God s people. Listen to these promises God makes to Israel in Jeremiah 32:37-40: Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me 5

6 forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. Listen to Ezekiel 11:17 20: Therefore say, Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 36:22 28: Therefore say to the house of Israel, I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. Do you hear those promises to Israel? You will always be my people. I will not turn away from you. Another promise Sin will not negate the covenant with God. Psalm 89:28 36: My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules, if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. 6

7 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. That is pretty clear. Even if Israel sins God will not stop loving them or violate His covenant with them. God will save Israel. Zechariah 12:7 10: And the LORD will give salvation to the tents of Judah first. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. Jeremiah 50:4 5: In those days and in that time, declares the LORD, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten. Here are clear promises of Israel s salvation in the end times. There are many other specific promises made to Israel in the Old Testament but just focus on these three for now: Israel will always be God s people. 7

8 Sin will not negate the covenant with God. God will save Israel. When you reflect on these promises, it is not too difficult to understand why some statements Paul has made in Romans 1-8 seem to say that according to Paul God will not keep those promises. According to Paul the church is the main people of God with a remnant of Israel as subset. How does this match with all the promises to Israel made in the Old Testament? Paul answers this crucial question in Romans Where does Israel fit in now that the church is the people of God? The problem of Israel is one which has vexed Christians for 2000 years. While Romans 9-11 is probably the core passage in Scripture on the place of Israel it is by no means the only passage. While it is quite a simplification there are three main ways that Christians have dealt with the question of the Old Testament promises to Israel in light of the church age. 8

9 The promises to Israel are fulfilled spiritually in the church. The promises to Israel are fulfilled literally in the future. The promises to Israel are fulfilled in the church and in the future. What do these mean? The promises to Israel are fulfilled spiritually in the church. Because of Israel s sin they were replaced as the people of God by the church. This means that every promise made to Israel will be fulfilled in the church. But, the promises are not fulfilled literally but spiritually. For example the promises of being brought back into the land are fulfilled by the church being taken to heaven. This was Calvin s view and it was a view many in the church adopted. However, it has fallen out of favour today because if you read Romans 9-11 no one can doubt that Israel as a nation is in view. You can t just substitute the word church when Paul speaks of Israel. Paul s point is that God is not done with the nation of Israel. Not every promise to Israel is fulfilled in the church. Very few hold to this view today. The promises to Israel are fulfilled literally in the future. Because of Israel s sin they were replaced temporarily as the people of God by the church. 9

10 Right now God is dealing exclusively with the church. But, in the future the church will be removed at the rapture and then in the millennium God will literally fulfil all his promises to the nation of Israel. This view was popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But, not only does this fail to deal with the whole of Scripture but when you look at Romans 11 God is dealing with both the church and Israel now not just the church. So while some still hold to this it has fallen out of favour because it just doesn t match Scripture. The promises to Israel are fulfilled in the church and in the future. This is the view most churches hold to and in my opinion is most certainly the correct view. The church is grafted into the promises of Israel not replacing Israel but sharing with Israel. Have a look at Romans 11:25 27: 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. Right now God is still dealing with Israel but there is a partial hardening. 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. God is dealing with the church and Israel but in the future when the Deliverer comes all Israel will be saved. God is not done with Israel. The question then becomes which promises are fulfilled in the church which are yet future for Israel how are they fulfilled in the church. These are actually very difficult questions. But we will do our best to answer them as we work through these chapters. But, what is crucial to remember is that Romans 9-11 was not written to deal with the question of Israel but to deal with an assault on the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God. So with all of that introduction turn with me to Romans 9:1-3 where Paul begins to answer this question Can we trust God?: I am speaking the truth in Christ I am not lying; my conscience bears me 10

11 witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 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. When you are a Jew and Jews believe that they are saved by being the chosen people and keeping the Law well enough and your task as an Apostle is to say no salvation is by grace through faith you become unpopular with the Jews. Paul was accused of being against Israel that he does not care about Israel. Here he says that couldn t be further from the truth. Paul is in anguish that so many Jews those who should know better were failing to find salvation in Christ. In fact Paul says it is such a gut-wrenching source of anguish if he could do it Paul would swap his salvation for the salvation of Israel. Just stop there. Paul knows what this means. Condemned for all eternity. Revelation 14:9 11: And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name. Searing pain without ceasing. Facing the wrath of God for all eternity. Paul understands this and yet he says If I could I would choose hell so my brothers the Jews could gain heaven. I thought about this through the week. Would I give my life for my son? absolutely. Would I give my life if it meant some stranger would come to Christ? Yeah I would. But those choices are made easier because I know that death means being with Christ. What if the choices were different? What if my daughter went off the rails would I give my eternal salvation for her to come to Christ? I had to think about that one pretty hard. I could not bear the thought 11

12 that she would face searing pain without end but could I face that? Could I knowingly swap heaven for hell? Honestly I think so but that is a really hard choice. Could I do it for a stranger? I d like to think so truth is probably not. Choosing hell when you know the consequences is an incredible choice. It got me thinking about Paul s love for others. The love that would allow you to choose hell to see others in heaven is immense. What drove Paul to this love for his kinsman was that he was in sorrow and unceasing anguish at the thought that they were in hell. Truth is I am rarely in anguish about the state of the souls of others. Oh it bothers me I pray for them but unless it is someone really close to me I don t think I could say I am in great sorrow and unceasing anguish. How do you feel about the lost? We need to think much about heaven and hell. Everyone who dies apart from Christ is heading to hell torment forever. It should cause us pain and anguish. But here is the good news. Don t lose any sleep over whether you would swap your salvation for theirs you can t. Paul was just trying to make a point. But there is something you can do and it doesn t cost you heaven you can tell them about Christ. In fact that is the main thrust of chapter 10. Romans 10:13 17: For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. But what drives Paul to agony is that his kinsmen in the flesh should know better. They had every privilege. Romans 9:4 5: They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God 12

13 over all, blessed forever. Amen. They had everything. Adopted as the people of God. Partakers of the glory of God. Recipients of the covenants with God and the Law and the worship and the promises. They are descended from the Patriarchs, of the race of Israel, born into the people of promise. The promises of the Messiah the Christ who is God over all was theirs. But the reality is that the majority of Israel were not saved. And that is a tragedy of incredible proportions. But the problem does not lie with God but with the hard hearts of Israel. It is not that the promises of God have failed it is that the Jews failed to understand them correctly. This brings us to the key verse. Romans 9:6: But it is not as though the word of God has failed. The promises of God have not, are not and will not fail. Paul says that the problem is a misunderstanding of the promises. The promises are not for every member of Israel but for those who are the true Israel the Israel of faith. The promises don t guarantee salvation just because you are related to Abraham. The promise was that those who are the true Israel those with faith will be saved. Paul outlines this in Romans

14 The promises were realized in the faithful of Israel Romans 9:6: For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. Those who were faithful the true Israel have received the promises throughout Israel s history. The promises are realized in the faithful Gentiles and Israel This is happening today. Romans 9:25 26: As indeed he says in Hosea, Those who were not my people I will call my people, and her who was not beloved I will call beloved. And in the very place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God. Gentiles as well as Jews receive the promises in the time of the Gentiles. The promises will be realized in the faithful of Israel Romans 11:25 26: 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 ; 14

15 In the future faithful Israel will receive the promises. Paul is adamant God kept every promise made to Israel but the promises were for the true Israel the Israel of faith. Paul says this. In the past and at the present time God did not save Israel as a nation. In fact in the past God really only saved a small portion of Israel the true Israel. In Romans 9:27 he says: And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved. These promises of national salvation were not fulfilled in the past or in the present they will be fulfilled in the future. In the past and now God has only been saving a small remnant of Israel but this is all according to the promises of God. But, there is one other key point we need to understand to grasp Paul s argument. Ultimately faith is based on the election of God Paul adds this element in because this is a crucial part of his argument. Paul has told us that the promises of God are for those who have faith. But, Paul has also told us that if faith is up to man no one will choose God and there will be no one to inherit the promises and the promises of God will fail. Romans 3:10 11: As it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. However, since faith is ultimately dependent on God there will always be men and women who can inherit the promises of God. So Paul weaves these two truths together the true Israel are the people of promise and the people of promise have faith because God gave it to them. To flesh this out Paul gives two examples of this Isaac and Jacob. He could have chosen any number of examples. If you read through Genesis one of the most surprising aspects is that at every turn the blessing passes through the less likely channel. Through Seth not Cain. Through Abraham not Haran. 15

16 Through Isaac not Ishmael. Through Jacob not Esau. Through Judah not Joseph. God sovereignly chooses who to bless with faith and the promises. What becomes clear as we work through these chapters is that Paul says that this surprising sovereign choice of God continues today and into the future. It was surprising and shocking that God chose the younger Isaac and Jacob. It is surprising and shocking that God hardened Israel and chose Gentiles. It will be surprising and shocking that God will one day soften the hearts of Israel and choose them again. Salvation is by faith but it is God who is the ultimate source of that faith. It is a gift. That is a huge amount of theology to just dump on you. That is open your mouth wide and turn on the fire hydrant stuff. You need to read these chapters prayerfully and meditatively. Paul begins his defence by arguing that The promises were realized in the faithful of Israel. Romans 9:6: For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. Paul s point is this. The promises have not failed because the promises were made not to those who were Jews by birth but to the true Israel the Israel who believed the promises. To be a true Jew you had to have faith in the Messiah. 16

17 In reality the true Israel would be only a small circle within the larger circle of ethnic Israel. Paul understands that since so few Jews had faith in Christ it seemed like the grand promises of national salvation were false. The true Israel in Paul s day was not a magnificent nation but a subset of the church. Paul begins by arguing that true Israel has always been a small subset and later he will argue that in the future that is when all Israel will be saved. He then gives as examples, Isaac and Jacob, that the true Israel has been a small subset throughout history. Romans 9:7 9: Not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 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. For this is what the promise said: About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son. Paul s point is this. If salvation was primarily having the right parents having Abraham as your dad should be enough. Ishmael was the older son. When the son of promise did not come, Abraham asked God for the blessing to come through Ishmael. God said no the son of promise will come. And as a prime example that salvation comes through faith the son of promise was born Isaac and the blessing flowed through him. 17

18 God chose the younger Isaac over the older Ishmael. And if that is not enough verses 10-13: And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 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. As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. Two children twins. Same parents. Same upbringing. Surely the blessing would flow through the older. But no, the older will serve the younger. Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. Seven words. Seven words found in Malachi and repeated in Romans. Seven words but seven words that have spawned a mountain of argument. Why did God love Jacob and hate Esau? What does it mean that God loved Jacob and hated Esau? And at the heart of this issue is the sovereign choice of God. How could God ever love Jacob? Connive the birthright, steal the blessing, deceiving Jacob how can God choose to love him it is scandalous! And the only reason God loved Jacob is grace. In our society there is no difference between the firstborn and lastborn. But not so in those times. The blessing was usually bestowed on the deathbed and it affirmed the rights of the firstborn. It was the formal passing over of the rights of the firstborn and leadership of the family. But within the descendants of Abraham there was another aspect to these rights. The blessing also indicated the line which would ultimately lead to Messiah. Humanly speaking the line should pass to the older. But, Genesis 25:22-23: The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, Why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her: 18

19 Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger. God blessed Rebekah but she had not one but two sons in her womb. And these two sons would become two nations. But the older the firstborn will serve the younger. God decrees that the line of blessing will go through the younger son. As this plays out it becomes clear God chose Jacob not just to receive the blessing but to be saved. The question arises why did God chose Jacob and not Esau? Why did He choose to love Jacob and call him to salvation but not Esau? Some have suggested that it was relative merit. Esau was a profane man he despised his birthright and married pagan women. But, Esau had some redeeming features. Remember what happens when Jacob finally returns and meets Esau in Genesis 33. Esau comes with four hundred men he could slaughter Jacob. Jacob is worried that he will do just that for stealing his blessing. But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. And Esau said, I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself. We see that Esau goes out of his way to welcome Jacob. In many ways Esau is a more likeable and honourable man than Jacob. Lying, deceiving Jacob was not chosen because he was such a paragon of virtue. So why is it that God says Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated? In Romans 9 Paul directly addresses this issue. Paul is explaining why only some of the nation of Israel are saved. And his answer is basically God chooses to place His saving love on whoever He wills and that is how it has always been. God has His people and they will inherit His promises. Two sons in Rebekah s womb. God chose to place His electing love on one but not on the other. 19

20 On what basis did God choose? Was it parentage? Paul says no look at Jacob and Esau same mother same father nothing there to indicate preference. Maybe it was on the basis of works or devotion or faith that they were chosen. Paul says no God chose Jacob over Esau before they were born before they had done anything good or bad. And don t forget Jacob did not turn out to be a paragon of virtue. Maybe it is on birth order the birthright. No! The older will serve the younger. The only answer is Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. For God s own purpose in election He chose Jacob. That choosing is later validated in that Jacob becomes a man of faith and Esau despises the birthright but the basis lies with God Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. Some have said this is not speaking of individual salvation but the nations that will come from them. That simply cannot be the case. The context of chapter 9 is individual salvation why are some individuals in Israel saved not others. Verses 21 and 22 clearly refer to individual salvation and damnation. Chapters 10 and 11 clearly deal with individual salvation. Some object that this makes God capricious, unloving, unfair. Paul answers this objection in verses that we will look at next week. In the plan and purpose of God, He chooses to place His electing love on some and not on others. God is sovereign. We all deserve hell. But in love God chooses to save some based only on His good pleasure. Don t mistake this. Paul also makes it clear that faith is also our responsibility. We are held accountable for whether we trust God or not. But God also is sovereign in salvation. One reason He does this is that if salvation is by faith and faith is only up to us no one will choose God and the promises of God will fail. But, God s promises cannot fail. 20

21 Numbers 23:19: God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? When God says Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved we can trust our eternity to it. When God says nothing can separate us from the love of God we can be certain this is true. If there are days when you wonder is there really a God, is there really heaven look at history. Every promise of God has come to pass. Look at Israel still here and still with a future. What God says comes to pass. Politicians fail us. Men fail us. God does not and cannot. His nature is such that He cannot change his mind or fail us. He will come back for us. He will take us to heaven. He will wash us clean. If you do not know God then know this you can trust Him. Politicians let you down. Men let you down. But God will not. His yes is yes His no is no. And He has promised call on Him and you will be saved. 21

22 You can base your life and your eternity on the promises of God. 22