by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
I. Many in the world believe in fates and destinies<\/p>\n
A. They believe there is a specific role they must play, which they cannot avoid.<\/p>\n B. Calvanists call it Unconditional Election. Some people are predestined to become\nChristians and there is nothing they can do to avoid it.\n 1. They also claim the opposite. That those not elected to become Christians\nwere predetermined to reject our Savior.\n 2. I feel sorry for people who believe in a God who sends people to Hell\nwithout giving them a chance. Such a God is certainly not the one we find\nin the Scriptures.\n C. Romans 9 is sometimes sited to prove their teachings. Let us go through this\npassage and see if this is so\n
II. In Romans 9, Paul is arguing that being born a Jew is not a guarantee of salvation.<\/p>\n
A. Romans 9:1-5<\/p>\n 1. Less there be any misunderstandings, Paul states clearly that he wishes the\nIsraelite nation would be saved.\n
2. They have every advantage in the past.<\/p>\n
3. The Messiah arose from their nation.<\/p>\n
4. Yet most will be lost, so Paul addresses how that can be so.<\/p>\n
B. Romans 9:6-9<\/p>\n
1. Not all of Abraham’s children were given the promise.<\/p>\n a. What happened to Ishmael or his other six sons? God only chose\nIsaac.\n b. We note that Abraham had great faith and was chosen because of\nthat faith.\n (1) Could we claim that it was something special on Isaac’s\npart?\n (2) No, Isaac was chosen before his birth before he\ndemonstrated what type of man he would be.\n 2. The conclusion must be that just being a descendant of Abraham doesn’t\nguarantee selection by God.\n
C. Romans 9:10-13<\/p>\n
1. Isaac had two children, yet only one was selected.<\/p>\n
2. Again that selection was made before Jacob and Esau were born<\/p>\n
a. We are told this was done purposely.<\/p>\n b. God’s purpose is accomplished not by the righteousness of man, but\nthrough God’s own will.\n 3. It almost sounds like God has chosen whom He loves or dislikes before\nthey are even born. \n
a. Notice though that God did not hate Esau before he was born. <\/p>\n b. The statement comes from Malachi 1:2-3, long after Esau’s life had\nended.\n
c. God chose Jacob, but Esau rejected God.<\/p>\n
D. Romans 9:14-16<\/p>\n 1. Some, Paul said, may think that God is being partial and unjust. Why\nshould he pick one person over another?\n 2. Notice that God did not pick Esau for punishment. He selected Jacob for\nblessings.\n
a. That is why God said He could have mercy on whomever He chose.<\/p>\n
b. God is in control. He makes the rules as He sees fit.<\/p>\n c. Let us say a wealthy man went up to one of the young men here\nand said, "I’ll pay all your college tuition."\n
(1) Does this mean he is biased against the rest of us?<\/p>\n (2) Does this mean he doesn’t like any of the other young men\nhere?\n
(3) Too often people take offense where none has been given.<\/p>\n (4) Rather, we should rejoice with our brother that he will\nbenefit from such generosity.\n
E. Romans 9:17-18<\/p>\n 1. Here we have the opposite case. God raised up a king, so that He might\ntear him down. Rather than receiving God’s mercy, he was hardened by\nGod.\n
2. Understand that all kings are ordained by God<\/p>\n
a. No government exists, but by God’s will – Rom 13:1<\/p>\n
b. God puts kings into power – Dan 2:21<\/p>\n
3. Consider, why did God place such a wicked man into power?<\/p>\n a. He could have raised up a pharaoh who looked kindly on the\nIsraelites. Who did not give them severe burdens. Who could have\nfreed the Israelites without a fuss\n b. But such would not have driven the Israelites to willingly follow\nMoses.\n c. Such would not have given God the ability to show His power,\ncausing the nations to fear Israel and their God.\n
4. God played Pharaoh like a violin<\/p>\n a. What if you ruled a country, which slavery form the basis of its\neconomy for hundreds of years.\n b. Now, someone comes demanding that all these slaves be freed.\nWould you ruin your kingdom to set them free?\n c. God gave choices that Pharaoh would not accept. He knew in\nadvance what Pharaoh would choose to do. \n
d. Parents, if haven’t learn this, you ought to take notes. <\/p>\n (1) People are happier if they control the outcome: "Would you\nlike a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or liver and onions\nfor lunch?"\n (2) It doesn’t take a mind reader to know which choice is going\nto be made.\n (3) Yet the child thinks, "I pulled one over on Mom, I got out\nof eating liver!"\n e. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart because the choices he gave Pharaoh\nhad obvious answers.\n (1) As God made the consequences greater, he also made the\ndemands greater.\n
(2) He got Pharaoh use to saying no.<\/p>\n
(3) Yet, in every case, Pharaoh had a choice.<\/p>\n (4) Pharaoh chose to be stubborn, but God put him in a\nsituation where he would be stubborn.\n 5. God gets His way with the righteous, but He also gets His way with the\nwicked.\n
F. Romans 9:19<\/p>\n 1. How then can a wicked person, such as Pharaoh, be punished if God\nbacked him into a corner?\n
2. God doesn’t make a person wicked. – James 1:13-16<\/p>\n 3. The person chooses to be wicked. But God may put him into situations\nthat exposes his wickedness to all. – Pr. 21:1\n
G. Romans 9:20-21<\/p>\n
1. We cannot blame God for our lives. <\/p>\n
a. We may not be favored. We may not be blessed.<\/p>\n
b. Just as the Jews learned, those blessings are not automatic<\/p>\n
c. The question remains, what do we do with what we are given?<\/p>\n
2. God has the right to use us as He sees fit<\/p>\n
3. His use of us does not justify our rebellion against Him<\/p>\n
a. "Why wasn’t I born rich?"<\/p>\n
b. "Why wasn’t I born pretty, or strong, or athletic, or talented?"<\/p>\n
c. I don’t know, but what will you do with your life as it is?<\/p>\n
H. Romans 9:22-23<\/p>\n
1. We often look at things backwards.<\/p>\n 2. We see God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, but we miss how many times God\ngave Pharaoh a chance to change his mind. Have you ever thought why\nGod used ten plagues? Couldn’t He have freed the Israelites with just one\nor two?\nIII. Paul wrote Romans 9 to prove that the Jews did not have a monopoly on salvation. In\nfact, he shows that God had chosen to give it to another people \n A. Paul quotes from the Old Law to show that the calling of the Gentiles was\nprophesied – Romans 9:23-26\n
B. The same law predicted that only a few Jews would be saved – Romans 9:27-28<\/p>\n C. If they really received what they deserved, they would have been all destroyed –\nRomans 9:29\n D. Hence the Gentiles were accepted, though they had not pursued it and the Jews\nwere rejected, despite their effort – Romans 9:30-33\n
E. What made the difference? Faith in Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n F. It was not God’s selection of certain individuals, but His selection of the type of\nperson He desired to bless.\n
G. What are you waiting for?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. Many in the world believe in fates and destinies A. They believe there is a specific role they must play, which they cannot avoid. B. Calvanists call it Unconditional Election. Some people are predestined to become Christians and there is nothing they can do to avoid it. 1. They also claim the opposite. That…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[562,120,563],"class_list":["post-63296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-predestination","tag-romans","tag-unconditional-election"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2591,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/predetermined-destiny\/","url_meta":{"origin":63296,"position":0},"title":"Predetermined Destiny","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Many people in this world believe in fate or destiny. They feel there is a specific role chosen for them which they must play, whatever their personal choice. John Calvin taught that God predestines some people to be Christians and, if so chosen by God, there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47708,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/questions-about-unconditional-election\/","url_meta":{"origin":63296,"position":1},"title":"Questions about unconditional election","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Your website has been very helpful to me in understanding the Bible throughout the past. I have a little issue concerning free will and salvation. I would greatly appreciate the wisdom you have to offer. My brother and I are part of a local Bible study. A couple\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51704,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-our-fate-predetermined\/","url_meta":{"origin":63296,"position":2},"title":"Is Our Fate Predetermined?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Trying to grasp the concept of an infinite God sometimes causes finite man to make mistakes \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Consider this statement from the Presbyterian Confession of Faith (chapter 3, section 1): \u201cGod, from all eternity, did by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37783,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/calvinism-and-the-great-commission\/","url_meta":{"origin":63296,"position":3},"title":"Calvinism and the Great Commission","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne Jackson John Calvin (1509-64) was a religious reformer and theologian. The basic premise of his theology was the absolute sovereignty (right to reign) of God, out of which evolved his misguided theory of \"predestination.\" The Swiss reformer believed that human \"free will\" was destroyed by man's \"original sin\";\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-exist-outside-of-time-and-sees-all-of-time-at-once\/","url_meta":{"origin":63296,"position":4},"title":"Does God exist outside of time and sees all of time at once?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First, I wanted to thank you for the web site.\u00a0 I come here often whenever I find that I have a problem that needs addressing.\u00a0Anyway, on to my question. Lately, I've been wondering about something after something my preacher told me.\u00a0 He once told me that God is not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7672,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-free-will-and-predetermined-destiny-contradictory\/","url_meta":{"origin":63296,"position":5},"title":"Are free will and predetermined destiny contradictory?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Seems to me that free will and predetermined destiny is just a big contradiction. Can you convince me it is not? Answer: Play chess against a grand-master of the game. Even before you begin, I could state in advance that you will lose with great certainty. Though each move\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}