Romans 9, 14. Paul asks a question or two.
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? And he gives an answer. God forbid. Of course, when he asks this
question, he's asking it in reference to what he's said before concerning
God's electing grace, concerning the Israel within Israel, concerning
God's spiritual seed as opposed to Abraham's earthly seed, how
that God's mercy is upon the spiritual, the children of promise.
God chooses a people. He has an elect people. a spiritual
Israel, so to speak. That is, the earthly Israel pictures
God's electing grace, whereby He has chosen a people, a spiritual
Israel, out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue. Not just
out of Israel, but out of all the peoples of the world. And He's bestowed His mercy and
grace upon them, and it's in anticipation of man's evil reaction
to this truth that Paul asks this question in verse 14. He anticipates natural man's
reaction to the truth of God and he teaches here, he rebukes
the very idea of asking this question. That's what God forbid
means. It's the strongest possible negative
that can be used with regard to something that has not even
happened yet. He's saying that before this
thought even enters the mind, let God deny its very existence. God forbid that we even imagine
such a thing as there being unrighteousness with Him. And yet, how many have
thought this very thought? How many have expressed this
very idea verbally when the truth is told? I've had that many times
expressed in my presence. When presented with the truth
of God, natural man rebels. How many have charged God foolishly
with regard to his electing free grace in Christ? The suggestion
is here to say that there's unrighteousness with God for him to choose one
and pass by the other without either of them ever having committed
any good or evil before any consideration in them could be entertained. For God to choose one and reject
the other, the suggestion is here that it's not fair for God
to do that. It would be unrighteous for God
to do that. Have you ever heard that suggestion?
It is the natural reaction of every sinner to the truth of
God's electing grace. That's not fair. Everybody has
a chance to be saved. And what they mean by that, whether
they say it or not, is that everyone deserves something from God. It's a denial of the truth that
what everyone deserves from God is condemnation and wrath. We
deserve for God to give us a chance. The interesting thing here to
those who love the truth in this verse here, the interesting thing,
one thing that's instructive is that the very anticipation
of this thought, the fact that we know that this is the thought
that enters the unregenerate mind when presented with God's
truth of free grace, this very teaching, this very thought and
the anticipation of it here by Paul further clarifies the teaching
of the passage itself. Is he teaching that very thing
that causes unbelievers to rail and to fume and to express their
hatred? Is he teaching that very thing
that caused one to say to me when I presented this same truth,
I don't want anything to do with a God like that. Is he teaching
the truth that causes that reaction in natural man? Of course he
is. That's exactly what he's teaching.
Everybody knows that before this anticipated response was exposed
by Paul here. You know that's what he's teaching.
It couldn't be any clearer. But this response to deny God's
right to do with his own what he will just confirms it. Now
look at verse 15. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. This here is why the very thought
of this being unrighteous on God's part to choose one and
not the other. This is why that thought ought
to be denied its very existence. And again, that's what God forbid
means. It means God deny the very existence
of such a thought. Don't even allow it to be thought. And this is why, because God's
word from the very beginning teaches this very thing that's
denied. Paul said, this is not new doctrine. This is not some novel idea that
I've come up with. This is the teaching of scripture
from the beginning. So God forbid that you think
such a thing. You see how the context applies
here? God has established his sovereign
authority over all mankind and revealed that the dispensing
of his mercy is unconditional with regard to the sinner. It's
unconditional. From the very beginning, God
has declared this. From the very start. This is
not a surprise to anybody who hates God. And what he's saying here is
this. Will you oppose the very word of God, which liveth and
abideth forever? He has exalted his word above
all his name. And will you deny what God said,
clearly and plainly? That's what he's confronting
these ones with who would question God's righteousness in this.
If you imagine that it's unfair for God to elect whom he will
and give those to his son in the everlasting covenant of grace
and to rule all things for their eternal good, whom he has chosen,
whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate. And whom He
predestinated, He called them. And whom He called, He justified.
And whom He justified, He glorified, and sent His Son to redeem them
from their sin. Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. And He saved them in every sense
of the word, just because it pleased Him to do so. If you
deny and suggest that it's unfair for God to do that, to bestow
his love and mercy and grace and favor and benefit upon some
and pass by others, then you deny the clear revelation of
God's word. That's what Paul is saying here,
which he clearly revealed from of old, from of old. We study in Genesis and Exodus,
as well as several books in the New Testament in the same message
is taught. It tells us who God is. It tells us what we are and it
shows how God has mercy upon whom he will in his son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, his sovereign authority and power to save and
how he saves by substitution, by representation, by a mediator,
by his son, Jesus Christ. You make God a liar if you suggest
such a thing. God forbid. God forbid. Will you pervert the word of
God and change the truth of God into a lie because people will
be offended by the truth or because you are offended by the truth?
I've had people who claim to be preachers of the gospel. acknowledge
the truth of this, but said they wouldn't preach the truth of
it because it would offend their congregation. I'm sure it would
offend their congregation. It won't offend God's congregation.
But here's what Paul is saying here in the force of these words.
I pray that the Lord will impress upon us this morning. He's saying
if you deny this truth, you've changed God's truth into a lie. Revelation 22, 18, I testify
unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this
book, in which God said, I'll have mercy upon whom I please.
And it's not of him that willeth or of him that runneth. I just
have mercy on whom I will. That book, if you hear the words
of the prophecy of this book, and if any man shall add unto
these things, In other words, if you say, oh yes, salvation's
by the mercy of God, but God shall add unto him the plagues
that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away
from the words of the book of this prophecy, in other words,
If I say that God just chooses who he wants to choose, that
salvation is of the Lord, it'll offend somebody. So I'm going
to say it a little, I'm going to withhold that truth. I'm going
to say what people want to hear. God loves everybody. Christ died for everybody. God shall take away his part
out of the book of life. and out of the holy city and
from the things which are written in this book. All of the curse
of God is upon you and no blessing from God, no favor, no good from
God. Only wrath and judgment and condemnation. This is not just some little
disagreement on a point or two of doctrine.
This is life and death. That's what Paul's saying. This
thing boils down to you either believe God or you reject God. Is that right? This issue, God's sovereignty,
boils down to that. If you don't know the sovereign
God, you don't know God. If you haven't submitted to the
Lord Jesus Christ, then you haven't submitted to the Christ of the
Bible. Look at what God said to Moses
and says to every sinner of every age, I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. The very word mercy precludes
the idea of merit. And to suggest that it's unrighteous
of God to choose one and reject the other assumes that there
is merit. It assumes that God owes you
more than that. It assumes that if God sends
you to hell without favor, without any blessing, he said, I never
knew you, that he's not right to do that.
He owes you something more. But the word mercy precludes
that idea. So the very idea of it being
unrighteous to withhold mercy is erroneous by definition. If
it's mercy, then it's not unrighteous to withhold it. You see, if it's
something God owes you now and he withholds it, God forbid,
God forbid, you're going to get everything you deserve from God. Everything. And if left to yourself,
in yourself, before God, with all of your goodness, with all
of your righteousness before Him, what He owes you is everlasting
hell. In Christ, how can I even say it, that in
my Lord Jesus Christ, God owes me every blessing, every reward,
all of His favor and blessing and presence and glory because
of Christ. If it's not right, He's not going
to do it. He's going to give you what's
right, either in yourself or in the
Lord Jesus Christ. One way or the other, God is
righteous. To despise God's sovereign prerogative
to bestow mercy freely is to insist that God owes you something. And that's not good ground before
God. I wouldn't stand there. God forbid that we stand there. And I want us to notice how Paul does not defend the
truth here in the sense that he tries to explain why God is
righteous to do what he did. He's not taking up for God here.
He's not apologizing for God. He's not defending God's right
to do with his own what he will. He just simply shows from the
word of God that that's exactly what God did. Not why. That's God's business. He doesn't show how it's right
for God to do that. He just says, God forbid that
you think such a thing. Look what God said. He shows
that that's exactly what God did. He bestowed mercy on who
he wanted to bestow mercy upon and that the very idea that God
is not right to do it should be denied existence by God before
it ever enters your mind. This ought to teach us something
on how to present the truth and how to confront error. Error
is exposed by declaring the truth. How are you going to answer this
objection, Paul? How are you going to defend God's
word by just flat telling what God said? This is what God said. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I will. Not making excuses for God like
some seem compelled to do. Just declare what he said. That's
how error is exposed and truth promoted. This verse now will
identify a real sinner from a self-righteous hypocrite every time. When God
says, I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. A real sinner will hear that
and rejoice that God would have mercy upon such as he. And hearing such a glorious truth
that God is going to have mercy upon sinners, he said, I will
have mercy. That being the case, I'm going
to cry for it. You know why? Because I need
it. I've got to have it. I've got to have Christ. And
for God to say, I'm going to have mercy. What a delightful
truth. On the other hand, the self-righteous hypocrite will
be angry at the very idea that mercy is dispensed by God at
his own discretion and that the sinners willing
and running have no consideration in the matter. Bless God for sovereign mercy. If you're a real sinner before
God, then you recognize your only hope in God's willingness
to show mercy in spite of all of your sin. And you rejoice
in the fact that God is able to show mercy upon a sinner like
you. And you'll sing now what you'll sing then much better.
Worthy is the lamb who came and was slain and by his precious
blood made it so that God might be just and justify you. What a wonderful gospel. God's
going to have mercy on whom he pleases. He delights to show
mercy. He's plenteous in it, and He
will show mercy in Christ. There's mercy with God that He
might be feared. May He cause His fear to enter
into our hearts and us to cry for His mercy and to find it
in His precious Son. Let's bow.