“Whom He Wills”

TEXT: Romans 9:14-18 – Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee – November 21, 2004

REVIEW

1. Isaac, Not Ishmael: God gave a big promise to Abraham. While Abraham would be the father of many nations, only one of Abraham’s sons would be the child of promise, the miracle baby Isaac.

2. Jacob, Not Esau: Isaac had his own thoughts concerning the next generation of the covenant. His preference was Esau, but God revealed even before the twin brothers were born that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob). Jacob (Israel) would be the child of promise and the father of a people from whom the Messiah would come.

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

Romans 9:14-18 ¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." ¹⁶ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." ¹⁸ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

The 11^th Hour

In the twentieth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who decides to pay many of his workers much more than they deserved.

Matthew 20:1-16 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?' ⁷ They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.' ⁸ So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.' ⁹ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰ But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. ¹¹ And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, ¹² saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.' ¹³ But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ 'Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. ¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?' ¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen."

The key point in the story comes when the landowner insists that it is lawful for him to do what he wishes with his own things. If salvation is something that we deserve, like wages done for our work, then we have a right to make demands about it. But what if eternal life is a gift from beginning to end? Can we claim that God is unrighteous because He gives the gift to some and not to others?

Is there unrighteousness with God?

It should be obvious to us that it is not our place to be the judge of God. Yet the question comes up when we talk about God choosing the elect. It does not seem fair to some that God would choose Isaac, but that his half-brother Ishmael could never be the child of promise. God would give the son of Hagar many other great things, but it would be through the son of Sarah that the line of blessing would continue. It seems unrighteous to some for God to choose Jacob, while his twin brother Esau would not apparently be part of the elect. If election and resulting eternal life in the blessed presence of God was something that comes to us as our wages, then we could discuss the fairness of having equal pay for equal work. But if all of God’s heavenly blessings come to His adopted children as gifts, that we can make no complaint. A gift is a gift. The fact that one person would receive a gift from God while a second person would have no such benefit would NOT be evidence by which God’s righteousness might be impugned.

If we wonder about the righteousness of God’s electing love for some, the key question to address is whether or not that electing love is some form of wages from God, or whether it is entirely a gift of the Almighty. Is salvation fundamentally of man, or is it entirely of God?

It is not of…

In the 16^th verse of our text we are told of two specific things that are not the driving force behind the favor that God shows to His chosen people. First, Paul says, it is “not of him who wills.” There is no question that every man, woman, girl, or boy truly should turn to God for eternal life immediately. I have no doubt about that. Nor do I doubt that the will of man is of crucial importance to this most critical decision that any person can face. But salvation is not first about your decision.

By the way, why would anyone decide against God? I was recently speaking to some friends about eternal life, and it was very clear within a few seconds that they did not want anything that I was selling. A man comes to the door and says that you have just been granted a marvelous home on the scenic New Hampshire coastline. All expenses, including taxes have been paid, and you are free to keep the home for your own use or to sell it and take the cash value to use in any way you see fit. You look suspiciously at the person and inform him after some few seconds of consideration that you are not about to agree to their terms. Sound silly? How much more foolish is it to turn away from the free gift of eternal life with God which comes at absolutely no cost to you – all entirely paid by the perfect life and atoning death of the Son of God who cherished you before you were born? Everyone should be a Christian. Obviously not everyone sees it that way. People see a cost of true faith in a life that does not seem appealing to them, and they do not believe that the benefit is what God says it is in His Word. In any case, it is not of him who wills, as if we could demand something of God because we did the very meritorious act of choosing to follow His Son.

Furthermore, Paul tells us that it is not “of him who runs.” Running is work. I realize that some people do it for their own entertainment, but even they probably wonder why they continue to punish their bodies in this way if they are not going to get paid for it. A runner in the ancient world delivered messages across great distances, or competed for a prize and the resulting notoriety of being a champion. Our salvation is not like this. It is not first and foremost the result of our running a good race.

By the way, it is very important that we who claim to be Christians continue to face suffering in this life with faith in Christ. It is important that we resist the devil, and that we seek to please God and serve one another. All this is undeniable. There is a race that we must run, and we should be stretching toward the prize of the upward call of God as followers of Christ. But salvation is not about our ability to run with Jesus any more than it is about our ability to decide to follow Jesus.

It is of…

From beginning to end, salvation is of God. This is why all boasting in ourselves is excluded. God is the one who cherished you so long ago and made a plan that you would be like Jesus. God is the one who called you through the irresistible influences of His Holy Spirit. He granted you the faith that you now exercise. He declared your righteousness to be a fact because of the fact of Christ’s life and death credited to your account. God is the one who has marked you and sealed you for glory. He is working all things together for your good.

You do see this, don’t you? It is all of God. It is entirely His gift.

The Example of Pharaoh

Pharaoh was a man like you, only much more powerful, with much more to offer God. God had a purpose for Pharaoh’s life and He has a purpose for yours. He raised up Pharaoh and left Him in His unbelief. More than that, God hardened Pharaoh’s unbelieving heart so that God’s great display of deliverance for His people would not come too quickly. God would make it very clear that the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt, not because Pharaoh knew what was good for him, or because Pharaoh had a sense of social justice, or because the Israelites had shown that they were worthy of being a free people.

God worked everything out concerning the deliverance of Israel in spite of Pharaoh’s hard heart, so that it would be obvious to all that His people were being delivered by His own great love, His own great power, and His uncompromising faithfulness to His perfect plans.

The Biggest Choice – Mercy or Merit

It’s either all about merit or it’s all about mercy. This is the great divide among the religious. One group thinks that righteousness is won by their good choices and their obedience to God’s commands. The other group sees the cross of Christ and comes to a different conclusion. They decide that it is all about the mercy and compassion of God upon His beloved. Are you prepared to insist that God must choose Pharaoh in the same way He chooses Moses, or else your own standards of fairness have not been met? If you feel that way then you are treating salvation as if it is a matter of wages. It is so very far beyond wages. It is a free gift. A husband is not required to love every woman like he loves his wife in order for it to be fair. The Lord has a special love for His bride, and that’s really the only way it could ever be, otherwise it would not be special love.

Brothers and sisters, take the mercy of God and love it. Don’t fight against it. Receive it and believe it.