BOOK OF ROMANS CHAPTER 9
Lesson No. 26 THE SOVEREIGN GRACE OF GOD

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.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. —Romans 9:15-16—

Although professing believers accept that God is sovereign, yet when we talk about His sovereign grace, a lot of them refuse to believe it. This is even a much maligned subject and because this is one of the hardest doctrines to understand, we sometimes choose to be silent about it. However, this is still BIBLE and it must be taught to all our people.

MESSAGE

The Sovereign Grace of God

By Sovereign, we mean that God is absolutely FREE TO ACT AND CHOOSE ACCORDING TO HIS OWN WILL. He has all the absolute right and prerogative. Man on the other hand must believe in Him [who is Holy and Just] and must understand that he is not in any position to question God’s prerogative (Rom. 9:12-33).

By Grace means the goodness of God manifested toward the ill-deserving so that He authored His Plan of Salvation for sinful man. We often define grace as the unmerited favor of God toward man (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 5:1-2; Titus 2:11-14).

Therefore, by SOVEREIGN GRACE, we mean, the ACT OF GOD WHEREBY HE CHOOSES MEN TO BE SAVED ON THE BASIS OF HIS GOODNESS ACCORDING TO HIS OWN WILL—COMPLETELY ON THE MERITS AND SUPREME SACRIFICE OF HIS OWN SON ON THE CROSS; that SALVATION is wholly of the Lord and that He calls men according to the pleasure of His own will (Eph. 1 and 2; Rom. 8:24-33; 11:5-6). This is the BIBLE DOCTRINE. We reject any implication that this is “Calvinism” – a doctrine espoused by John Calvin. To attribute this Bible truth and declaration to man is to rob God of His glory and honor. John Calvin although a great reformer was never a Baptist and that he even became a persecutor of Baptist people and their faith.

Let us study the whole chapter and learn much from it to the glory of the Father and the lifting up of His Son.

A. The burden of Paul (vv.1-3). He was never a traitor to the Jews by turning to the Gentiles. He was just being obedient to the call of God. In fact, he anguished over the Jew’s unbelief and even willing to be rejected of God for the salvation of his own kinsmen.

B. The blessing of being an Israelite (vv.4-5 compare with Rom. 3:1-2). Israelites have been chosen as a people and a nation of God. They were accorded benefits and privileges more than any other nations, the greatest of which is the coming of Christ in the flesh (v.5). The Jewish people unfortunately did not appreciate His coming and that being void of all spiritual understanding, they even crucified their Messiah. Jesus became a stumbling block and the Rock of Offense (vv.31-33).

C. The basic misunderstanding of the promise (vv.6-9). Not all Israel is Israel. Though the covenant given to Abraham brought tremendous blessings and privileges to his seed, yet the real blessings and privileges come from the spiritual seed of Abraham— both Jews and Gentiles (Gal. 3:6-9).

D. The brothers made as examples of God’s sovereignty (vv.10-13). Matthew Henry notes, “Grace does not run in the blood…for wise and holy reasons, not made known to us, He purposed to change Jacob’s heart, and leave Esau to his own perverseness.” -To be continued next Sunday

—BMA’s Messages 07.03.16