Romans 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
There is a key question that every Calvinist should ask themselves every time they open their mouth. That question is found in verse 14 of our text. “Is there unrighteousness with God?” The answer is given immediately after: “God forbid”. It would be unrighteous to believe the heresy of Calvinism that suggests that some people cannot be saved because God will not allow it. In verse 6 of our text we are told that the Word of God did have an effect on the nation of Israel. Even those who despised the Word of God were affected by it. The fact is that not all those who were born of the seed of Abraham are spiritual Israel. We have mentioned before that the word Israel ends with the letters “el”. That is one of the names of God. He is described as “Eloheem” (referring to the plurality of God revealed in the Godhead), as “El Shaddai” (God Almighty), and many other names that incorporate the name “El”. God’s design for Israel was to be the people of God. The sad reality is that not all those who were descendants of Isaac chose to be the people of God. In fact many of those who were descendants of Isaac chose not to be the people of God. It is sad to have access to all the blessings of God and yet not accept them. Verse 7 answers the argument of the Muslims who claim to be the chosen people because of their connection to Abraham through Ishmael. The promise of God came through Isaac and not through Ishmael or any of the other children of Abraham. Isaac was the promised son and Abraham and Sarah needed to trust God and wait for His timing in giving them that son. The Arabs can be saved but they can only be saved through repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the same way anyone gets saved. If they are going to be saved they would need to turn to God and thus leave ‘Allah’ and ‘Mohammed’ behind. Jesus Christ is not just a prophet. He is the second person of the Godhead and He is the Messiah and Saviour of mankind. In verse 8 Paul further explained that those that are children of the flesh are not the children of God. Abram and Hagar had a son. That son was not according to God’s will. He is referred to as the son of the flesh. The children of the promise are counted for the seed. Even among Isaac’s descendants, not all are Israelites. Isaac had two sons and one of them, Esau, chose to reject God. He despised his birthright. The promise was to Jacob, and Isaac and Rebekah knew that before the two boys were born. Isaac was reluctant to honour God but Jacob did receive the blessing. The manner used in getting it was not right. In verse 9 Paul reminds us that God made His promise sure in Sara. God is never late and He never breaks His promises. In verses 10-12 God continued to show His plan being moved forward. As we mentioned Isaac and Rebecca had a set of twins. Before those twins were born, God knew what His plan was for each of them. The Calvinist likes to take these types of verses out of context. The election did not preclude that Esau could not believe in God. The election pertained to which one would carry forward the promise regarding the nation of Israel. Esau could have trusted in God and been saved. He could have been a godly man who could have directed his generation to fear the God of Israel. However, he demonstrated that he had no interest in God. God did not pre-program him to be a rebel. God shows us His foreknowledge. He knows us far better than we know ourselves. Rather than develop some heresy, to try to distort Who God is, we need to take God at His Word. His offer of forgiveness and salvation is to all people. The sad reality is that most people have no interest in the truth. Verse 12 helps us to see God’s plan. It was not with regard to who could be saved. It was with regard to who would serve whom. In life, the older person is generally given more authority. I remember some years back having a discussion with an older brother on spiritual matters. He is a charismatic and lost and was spewing out heresies, and there were others present so I simply corrected him. The others needed to know the truth. He could not refute what I was saying, and so he stated that he was the older brother and I should be quiet and accept what he had to say. I refused to do that. When it comes to spiritual matters, those who are saved need to be bold and speak the truth. The apostle Paul told Timothy:
I Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Esau would have been content in his role if he would have submitted to God. In verse 13 God contrasted His relationship with Isaac compared to Esau. The Greek word translated as “hated” can mean “to love less”. In some ways we get a mental block and do not allow for God to teach us. We take the word “hatred” and we only allow it to mean one thing. In Luke 14:26 we have the same Greek word translated as hate as well. In that verse Jesus talked of the need to hate father and mother, etc. in order to follow Him and be His disciple. It is obvious that the hatred there is not the same as the hatred that is expressed by an enemy. We need to let the context show us what a certain word means. We do not need to abuse the words and try to soften a message that God gives us. We know that God’s will is for all to be saved. We know that God provided salvation for all through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that God’s “hatred” for Esau was not a pre-planned eternity in hell without giving him opportunity to be forgiven and saved. Esau demonstrated his rebellious nature in his attitude toward the birthright. God knew that was his nature and thus he told Rebecca that the elder shall serve the younger. Notice that Esau could have believed in God. He could have come under God’s authority and walked in the fear of God. If he would have chosen that, he would have come under the authority of the God of Israel. He would have served Isaac as a representative of the God of Israel. Our finite minds have trouble understanding God completely. That is why the book of Romans hammers home the truth that those who are saved must live by faith. This is not a blind faith, but rather it is a faith that is grounded in Biblical facts. In verse 14 God directed Paul to address the conclusion that some would come to, based on what has been written. Again we see that God knows the thoughts of man before man utters a word. John Calvin’s heresies were not a surprise to God. God did not pre-program John Calvin to be a heretic. He knew his nature and what the outflow of that nature would be. John MacArthur is a well known follower of John Calvin. John MacArthur has chosen to reject the truth and follow and build upon John Calvin’s heresies, rather than the sure Word of God. There are thousands of Calvinists in our world. Do we just lay back and accept the heresy because it has a level of popularity? Of course not. Is there unrighteousness in God? Is God not fair and just in all that He does. Should those who are saved be so thankful that God allowed us to be saved and that we are not a part of those who cannot be saved? Is that how we should approach life? I read an article that was sent to me recently on the Sabbath. The author is a Calvinist who does not know the difference between the Lord’s Day and the Sabbath. His argument was with regard to churches using the internet for live-streaming. He suggested that many people have to work on the “Sabbath” in order to keep the internet and the live-streaming working. He suggested that live-streaming was not a necessary thing and so those who use it are breaking the Sabbath law. That is a natural conclusion coming from a Calvinist. The Calvinist does not believe in obeying Jesus’ command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. The Calvinist believes that people will get saved if God wants them to be saved and others will not get saved because God does not want them to be saved. Thus the Calvinist is not overly concerned about getting the Gospel to every creature. Their “evangelism” efforts are tainted. In our text we are taught that God is not unrighteous. He offers His salvation to all. Back in Romans 1:16 the apostle Paul declared that the Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. That is the key. The person must believe. If the person rejects the truth, God will not force the person to believe in Him. It is not God that is unjust. It is the rebellious person that rejects God’s offer and wants to develop his own righteousness that is unjust. That is part of what Paul was addressing here. Esau did not want what God was offering. He wanted his own brand of faith. He developed that and his descendants chose to blindly follow his lead, rather than examine the facts for themselves. This same problem exists today. Most people simply follow the traditions of their forefathers to a certain degree without examining what they are taught in the light of God’s Word. They do not let the Holy Spirit show them the truth. They just follow the broad way that leads to destruction. Paul was directed by God to show God’s justice and the importance of His salvation. His salvation is wonderful and not complicated. It is the devil who tries to make it complicated. Let us take God at His Word and trust Him and enjoy His blessings. Pastor Bartel
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