“God’s Sovereign Mercy” (Romans 9:14–18)

“God’s Sovereign Mercy” (Romans 9:14–18)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, July 1, 2018

       ¹⁴ What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." ¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. ¹⁷ For Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." ¹⁸ Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. (Rom. 9:14-18 NIV)

1. Who Is Being Elected and What Are They Being Elected To?

a. Is the election discussed in this passage corporate (peoples/nations) or individuals?
b. Is the election discussed in this passage temporal (within time for historical purposes) or eternal (unto salvation)?

2. If this passage is talking about the election of individuals unto eternal salvation, on what basis does he elect them?

a. Not ancestry (Abraham)
b. Not parentage (Isaac/Rebecca)
c. Not worthiness of position (older over younger) or normal human considerations
d. Not works or character (before Jacob and Esau were born and “not on the basis of works”)
e. Not on the basis of foreseen faith (“not of works” vs. “him who calls” not “by faith”)
f. It is based on the wise, loving, sovereign, eternal, electing purpose of God (“in order that God’s electing purpose might stand”).

3. If God elects individuals to eternal salvation unconditionally, purely on the basis of his wise and loving sovereign will, then how can God be righteous and just? Isn’t this unfair?

a. How do we determine the justice of God?
b. Isn’t God the author and exemplar of all justice?
c. Wouldn’t an appropriate definition of the justice of God have to begin with God himself and what he has said about his justice in his own Word? This is why Paul uses Scripture and the words of God in his answer to the potential objection about God’s justice.
d. Why would we think that we could determine what is just and fair?

4. God is just in his unconditional election of individuals to salvation, because it is consistent with the character and revelation of God himself.