Now, before Paul goes on, in his usual way, to show his readers how to put into practice this amazing new life God has given them, he must explain something we find difficult to understand.
Jews and Gentiles…how do they fit together in God’s plan? Both groups have been alienated from God because of sin. More than that, they hate each other. What has God done to fix this terrible situation?
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul explained how Jesus’ death dealt with the enmity between Jew and Gentile…
“For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.”
Ephesians 2:14-16 NLT
Why did God want to reconcile Jews and Gentiles in the first place?
Predestination…that’s a big, scary word. It’s a word that people have studied, argued about, and struggled over for centuries. Does God choose some people for heaven and send others to hell just because He wants to or decides that way? God chose the Jews but they messed up so badly that they had actually rejected their own Messiah.
“With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.”
Romans 9:1-5 NLT
Paul begins this new section with a lament…Oh, if only…why are God’s people lost when they are such a privileged people. Look at what they have received from God! Even Jesus, the Messiah, traced His human ancestry through the Jews. And yet…look what they did…look where they are now! Hating and rejecting Jesus as their own Messiah!
Did God make a mistake when He made wonderful promises to the Jews and they didn’t work? Is it God’s fault that the Jews don’t believe in Jesus?
No, He didn’t… no, it isn’t…and here’s the reason…
“Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
Romans 9:6-9 NLT
Natural descent from Abraham doesn’t automatically mean that every Jew is a true Jew. Real Jews are those who are Abraham’s descendants by faith…who are what Paul calls “children of promise”…like Isaac, not Ishmael. God chose Isaac, the son who was born by a miracle, to be the ancestor of the Jewish race although Ishmael was also his son.
And so, time and again, God selected the person who would continue the bloodline through which Jesus would be born. He could do that because He is God. He has the right to make those choices.
However, we think that God was being unfair. How could He choose one and reject another…? And He did that before the people were born! Is this the meaning of predestination? Does God randomly pick one and reject another…and send those He rejects to hell! Really?
Paul says, “You’ve got it all wrong. This is not about being fair or unfair. This is about mercy!”
“Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.”
Romans 9:14-16 NLT
Now, that’s a completely different perspective! Without God’s mercy, no one would survive. Everyone is under divine judgment apart from His mercy. The thing about mercy is that we can do nothing to earn it. So, it is God’s right alone to choose to whom He will show mercy.
This puts what God does or doesn’t do in a whole new light.
“For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.”
Romans 9:17-18 NLT
Now, that raises another question…
“Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”
Romans 9:19 NLT
Again, Paul responds…” You don’t understand…”
“No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory.”
Romans 9:20-23 NLT
This is about God, not about human reasoning. This is, as always, about God’s glory.
Just as a potter picks up a lump of clay, examines it carefully and then decides what it will become, so it is God who decides about people, not us. We have no choice in the matter because He is God and because every lump of clay will become a vessel that suits His purpose, not ours.
So, predestination is not about God choosing people for heaven or hell. It’s about God deciding beforehand what to make of each lump of clay, so that each one becomes a player in His big story. God’s story, in turn, is about revealing to the whole universe, including everything and everyone in it, who He really is.
Now, let’s narrow this down. Before we were born, before the beginning of time, God chose us, you and me, to be His children.
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT
He predestined us for something specific…
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
Romans 8:29 NIV
Predestination is always tied to the end result…what we were chosen to become…for example…when a freshman steps through the doors of the university for the first time, say…to study medicine…he is predestined to become a doctor if he stays the course.
So, the moment God chooses us to be His child, we are predestined to become a son or daughter in the image of Jesus…if we allow Him to do His work in us… and He chooses us because of His mercy.
Can you now see that predestination is all about God…revealing who He really is to a world of people…through both Jews and Gentiles whom He has chosen…who hate Him and are in rebellion against Him…but whom He can transform by His grace.
So, Paul answers the troubling question, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”, first by warning…” Who are you to question God?”
“Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”
…and second, as we have said before, this is about God, not about us…
“When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory.”
Romans 9:21-23 NLT
…and the point is that we confirm God’s choice about us by the choices we make. Now, that’s a mystery. God chooses and we, because God gave us the freedom to choose, choose to do what He wants. So, He doesn’t force us to do anything but, because of grace, we choose to do His will.
This requires more explanation…
To be continued