DATE: 10-12-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend and — I don’t want to get you all too excited — but we’re down to our last four sermons in Romans. I believe that today’s sermon is the seventieth one I’ve preached during our time in Romans. And — if you think that’s a bit much — pastor John Piper preached around two hundred and twenty-five sermons when he took his church through the book. We literally could go through Romans two more times to equal that number. So — yeah — you’re welcome for the speediness at which we’ve made our way through the book.

If you’ve been with us in recent weeks and months — you know that we’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of rich theological truths — Paul’s now in the “so what” section of his letter. Meaning he’s addressing how all of the theology — that’s found in the first eleven chapters — is to play itself out in how we live. Or at least how it should influence the way we live.

And we just finished a three part mini-series within our series in Romans — as Paul just concluded a lengthy section on how Christians are to disagree with one another regarding secondary issues — or what are sometimes called non-essentials.

For over a chapter Paul has stressed how uniting around the essentials that we believe — beliefs about God, salvation, sin, the Bible, and so on — along with our love for one another — will create an atmosphere of unity even when we disagree with each other over non-essential beliefs or behaviors. And this kind of unity is a signal to the unbelieving world that our faith in Christ actually affects and shapes the way we live.

For we live in a world where division is the norm. Where even the smallest and most minor of disagreements is reason for judgment, name calling, questioning of character, and so on. God dishonoring behaviors that have found their way into the church and among God’s people as we’ve taken our cues from the world instead of the Word. And — any behavior that dishonors God — brings joy and delight to our enemy and foe — the devil. And he’d much rather we fight against our fellow Christians than unite together to fight against him.

Thus the question Paul’s put before us is this: Who will we fight against? One another or our real enemy?

Now — though the mini-series on how to disagree was only a three parter — today’s sermon does reveal to us a result of what happens when we disagree biblically with one another. What result is that? That as a faith family we’ll experience and display hope-filled, Christ-exalting living. For hope-filled, Christ-exalting living is a characteristic of God’s people when they’re unitied together on the essentials of the faith and disagree — biblically — when it comes to non-essentials.

This is what we find in our text for today — which is Romans chapter fifteen — verses eight through thirteen. So if you have your Bible — please turn with me there — to Romans chapter fifteen — we’ll begin in verse eight. There Paul writes…

Romans 15:8–13 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives — that’s our focus for today. For hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives will be a result of our commitment to being united and unified on the essentials of the faith. Hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives fueled by knowing that…

• One — Christ came to reveal God’s truth.
• Two — Christ came to confirm God’s promises.
• Three — Christ came to show God’s mercy.
• Which leads to Christ being our hope.

That’s where we’re headed today — today — like every time we gather together — is all about Jesus. For he came to reveal God’s truth, to confirm God’s promises, to show God’s mercy, which results in him being our hope.

CHRIST CAME TO REVEAL GOD’S TRUTH

Let’s begin by seeing how Christ came to reveal God’s truth. We’re back in verse eight. There Paul writes…

Romans 15:8 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness…

Here Paul tells us that Jesus came to earth to be a servant to the circumcised — that’s the Jewish people. And Paul tells us that Jesus became their servant to show them God’s truthfulness. 

Now — before we get to how Jesus did this — we need to remember that — part of the reason there was disagreement and conflict in the church in Rome is because there were Christians coming from Jewish backgrounds along with Christians coming from Gentile — or non-Jewish — backgrounds. The examples of what they were disagreeing over — that Paul used in the previous chapter — show us how their different backgrounds — even different religious backgrounds and upbringings — was causing division and disunity in the church.

I bring this up as a reminder because — here in our verse — Paul reminds us that Jesus came to earth as a Jewish man to show the Jewish people God’s truthfulness. Why would Jesus need to come to reveal God’s truthfulness to the Jewish people? Because the Jews had drifted from God’s truth. 

There are all kinds of reasons for their drift from God’s truth — but they’d drifted so far that — when Jesus came to earth — the Jewish people — especially the Jewish religious leaders and experts in the law — or the Old Testament — thought Jesus was a rebellious law breaker when all he was doing was revealing to them how far they’d drifted from God’s truth.

Think of how far one must drift from the truth in order to see Jesus — not as revelation of God’s truthfulness — but the opposite. I wonder how accurately your view of Jesus aligns with God’s truth? The only way to know is to compare the Jesus you believe in with the Jesus found in God’s Word.

The apostle John — in his gospel — his account of the life of Jesus — emphasizes the connection between Jesus and God’s truth.

For example, in some of the first words of his gospel — John describes Jesus this way.

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word (that’s Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

A few verses later — John adds…

John 1:17 ESV

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

A few chapters later John records Jesus’ conversation with a Samaritan woman who he met at a well. In his conversation with her — the topic of worship comes up — to which Jesus replied…

John 4:23–24 ESV

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

True worshipers of God will worship him in spirit and in truth. Truth matters — for Jesus came to reveal truth.

And pay close attention to what we read in a lengthy encounter that Jesus has with a crowd of people. The crowd was split in their opinion of Jesus. Some believed him — others didn’t.

John 8:31–47 ESV

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide (or stay) in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They (these are the folks who didn’t believe in him…they…) answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Jesus tells the crowd — and us — that the words he speaks are words of truth. Then he adds that — in believing his words of truth — one will find freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from being enslaved to sin. Freedom from being ensnared by the lies of the devil. Freedom from self-salvation and other false forms of salvation — for there’s only one way of salvation: faith in Jesus Christ.

• We’re not saved by our opinions about Jesus.
• We’re not saved by our political affiliations.
• We’re not saved because we attend church.
• We’re not saved because the popular vote happens to agree with Scripture.
• We’re not saved because they — the other side of whatever division we find ourselves in — welcomes worse sinners than our side.
• No — we’re saved when we repent of our sins — the big ones and the small ones — and turn to Jesus Christ in faith for our salvation — for he is the only way of salvation.

Well that sounds awfully intolerant. Is Jesus the only way of salvation? This is exactly what Jesus said to his disciples when they were troubled. Jesus said these comforting words to them.

John 14:1–7 ESV

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus is the only way of salvation. He is the revelation of God’s truth. And he is where life — the “abundant and overflowing with joy for all eternity” life — is found.

And — in his tenderness towards us — those who follow him today — Jesus says…

John 14:15–17 ESV

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

In his love for us — Jesus — who reveals to us God’s truth — with the Father has sent the Spirit of truth to live in his people. And the Holy Spirit lives in us to lead, guide, and direct us according to the truth.

Yet Jesus is still not done revealing to us the truth. For Jesus prayed this prayer.

John 17:14–19 ESV

14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Sanctify means “to make holy” — the word can also mean to be “set apart.” And — here — Jesus says that he’s set his disciples — those who believe in him — apart from falsehoods and apart from lies and has set them in the truth. 

And where is this truth found? According to Jesus — now that he’s in Heaven — truth is found in God’s Word to us — the Bible — and in the Holy Spirit — who dwells in us. Thus we long to be Word and Spirit Christians here at Gateway — followers of Jesus who are being made holy by the truth — for Jesus came to reveal God’s truth.

CHRIST CAME TO CONFIRM GOD’S PROMISES

Which leads us to another reason why Jesus came — to confirm God’s promises to his people. This is what Paul tells us in verse eight when he writes…

Romans 15:8 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,

Here Paul echoes back to something he wrote earlier in Romans. Way back in chapter nine we read…

Romans 9:1–5 ESV

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Both here — and in our chapter — Paul’s wanting to remind the Christians with Jewish background that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises God had made to their ancestors — the Israelites. Promises that God made to his people are often called covenant promises. In fact, one definition of the word covenant is a “relationship God establishes with people on the basis of his promises.” (Lexham Survey of Theology)

• Examples of covenant promises would include the covenant God made with Abraham — when God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. 
• A covenant promise is what God made with the Israelites after he rescued them out of their slavery in Egypt. 
• God made a covenant promise with David — for God promised to David that — from his line will one day come a King whose reign and rule will never come to an end. Paul even alludes to this covenant promise with David in some of his first words in the letter when he writes…

Romans 1:1–4 NLT

1 This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

And what may be the most familiar covenant promise of all — is what’s called the new covenant.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 NLT

31 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

And — in Jesus — we see the confirmation of all of God’s promises come to fruition. In Christ — God shows us that he can be trusted to fulfill every promise he’s made to us. For from his birth through his death and resurrection — and all that comes in between — Jesus reveals to us the faithfulness of God in fulfilling his promises to his people. 

CHRIST CAME TO SHOW GOD’S MERCY

Which leads us to another reason why Christ came — to show God’s mercy. Let’s go back to verse eight again.

Romans 15:8–12 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”

In these verses Paul quotes from the Old Testament a lot! For example, “I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name” — in verse nine — is a quote of…

2 Samuel 22:50 ESV

50 “For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.

And…

Psalm 18:49 ESV

49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.

David sang these words of praise to his God who had rescued him from the hands of his enemies. Though the “waves of death” nearly overwhelmed him — and the “torrents of destruction” terrified him — David called upon his God for his rescue — for his salvation — and believed that God would deliver him. And it’s in response to being saved that David praises God — and sings songs of praise to God’s glorious and mercifully saving name — and longs for these songs of praise to be sung by people of all nations.

In our verses Paul also quotes…

Psalm 117:1 ESV

1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!

And…

Isaiah 11:10 ESV

10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

The nations, the nations, the nations! 

• People from all nations praising the God who saves. 
• Praising the One who’s a descendant of Jesse — King David’s father. 
• Praising the One who fulfills the promise that God made to David — that he would have a descendant sitting on an eternal throne as King of kings forever and ever. 
• This is the One whom people of all nations will turn to in praise.

And — in this church in Rome — the nations were represented. For many in the church were believers in Jesus who came from Gentile backgrounds. Paul acknowledges this near the beginning of his letter when he writes…

Romans 1:16 ESV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

The gospel — the Good News that God is merciful and saves sinners who put their faith in his Son — the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. People of Jewish background as well as people from all nations.

This is why you’ll often hear that one of our desires — for those who follow Jesus here at Gateway — is that we’d all be Kingdom-minded. Where our desire is for the gospel of Jesus Christ to not only change our community, our state, and our country — but that the gospel would be Good News that changes our world. For that’s what God intends his news to do. For the gospel is news of God’s mercy towards sinners who turn to his Son in faith.

Mercy for all who turn to Jesus. No matter your race or gender. No matter your nationality or socio-economic background. No matter all of the ways the world tries to divide us. Christ came to show all people the mercy of God.

CONCLUSION

And where does all of this lead? That Christ came to reveal God’s truth, that he came to confirm God’s promises, and that he came to show us God’s mercy — where does all of this lead us? What destination have we arrived at? 

To hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives.

In verse twelve Paul writes…

Romans 15:12–13 ESV

12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

The root of Jesse — the descendant of King David — Jesus Christ — is the hope of all who believe in him. For Jews who believe — Jesus is their hope. For Gentiles who believe — Jesus is their hope as well. And — in being our hope — those who believe in Jesus are filled with joy and peace — echoing back to what Paul said earlier are characteristics of what it means to live according to the values of the kingdom of God.

Romans 14:17 ESV

17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

For the Holy Spirit — who lives in the people of God — fills us with joy, peace, and hope — a hope that abounds — or overflows — in our lives because of what Christ has done. And — by hope — Paul doesn’t mean wanting something to be true while being uncertain if it’ll come to pass. No — hope — according to Paul — and all the authors of Scripture — is a confidence in God’s faithfulness to his people. A confidence that his words are true and trustworthy. A confidence that every promise he’s made will be fulfilled. A confidence that he is merciful to all who believe in his Son. A confidence that overflows in a person’s life — changing how they live and how they view the world. Leading to a life that is hope-filled and that exalts — or magnifies — the worthiness and beauty of Christ.

The way we describe this kind of hope-filled, Christ-exalting life — here at Gateway — is a life that worships, connects, serves, and goes.

Though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of worship is much more than just gathering on Sundays with God’s people — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize weekly worship with God’s people who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of connecting to others — or fellowship, as it’s sometimes called — is much more than gathering with God’s people in small groups — what we call Life Groups here at Gateway — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize regularly gathering with God’s people to apply God’s Word to life and care for one another — who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of service is much more than serving God’s people in a local church — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize serving God’s people in a local church who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of going is much more than a local church’s missions program — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize going with people in their local church to proclaim the gospel who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And — like Paul — for in just a few verses he’s about to start name dropping in his letter — naming people who model a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of worshiping, connecting, serving, and going in this church in Rome — it’s tempting for me to want to get ahead of Paul and start name dropping the many of you who are examples of what it means to live hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives here at Gateway. To praise the good works you’re doing to make your Savior look glorious to the world. To tell others of your commitment to God’s truth as revealed to us in his Word. To share stories of your trust in his promises to his people even in the midst of sorrows and tragedies of life. To thank you for displaying God’s mercy to those suffering and in need of care in life’s most sensitive moments.

But — like Paul — I’ll resist name dropping for now. That’ll come when we get to chapter sixteen. Instead — a general thank you will have to suffice for now — a thank you to the faithful ones of our Gateway Church family.

Thank you for worshiping, connecting, serving, and going. Thank you for your commitment to the truth which is God’s Word. Thank you for your trust in God’s promises. Thank you for displaying his mercy to one another. And thank you for living hope-filled and Christ-exalting lives. Thank you — for you are making your Savior look glorious to the world. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for always and only speaking words of truth. For this makes you absolutely and unwaveringly trustworthy. Thank you for guaranteeing that every promise that you’ve made to your people will be fulfilled. This also makes you absolutely and unwaveringly trustworthy. And thank you for being merciful towards us — your people. Mercy is not what we deserve — but mercy is what you’ve chosen to give — making you absolutely and unwaveringly trustworthy.

Holy Spirit, for the truthfulness of your Word to be seen and believed — we first need you to open our eyes and give us hearts to receive. For without you doing so — we remain spiritually blind and cannot see — with spiritually dead hearts that cannot respond. This act of mercy — you giving us eyes to see and hearts to respond — is the fulfillment of a promise given to your people. Open more eyes — give life to more hearts — we ask — so that more might respond and experience your mercy.

And — Jesus — we can confidently and expectantly pray such a prayer because of all that you’ve done for us. You came to seek and save those who were lost. To reveal truth to those who’d fallen for the lies of our enemy. To fulfill promises that would cost you your life — so that — we might live. For the life we live is because of the mercy we’ve received which came at the cost of your death.

But not even the grave could keep its hold on you — for there was another promise to be fulfilled. The resurrection. The defeat of death. The defeat of sin. The defeat of the devil. And the defeat of hopelessness. For your resurrection is the reason why we can live lives full of hope that make you look glorious to the world.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — thank you for truth. Thank you for fulfilling your promises to us. Thank you for mercy. And — friends — “may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / How to Grow booklet)

May you go living hope-filled and Christ-exalting lives. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 5-4-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend — taking a final look at the spiritual gifts that Paul mentions in his letter so we all understand what these gifts are and how they’re to be used in our faith family. These aren’t all of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible — just the ones Paul mentions here in Romans.

So — for the last time for some time — the purpose of the spiritual gifts is this: Spiritual gifts are abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for ministry, both for the edification of the church and for God’s salvific mission to the world. – Lexham Survey of Theology

Here’s what Paul says about the gifts — in Romans chapter twelve — beginning in verse four. There we read…

Romans 12:4–8 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

We took two weeks to explore the gift of prophecy. Then we looked at the gifts of service, teaching, exhortation, and giving. And — last week — we looked at the gift of leadership. Which means that — today — we’re going to look at the final spiritual gift that Paul lists in our verses — the gift of mercy, which he mentions in verse eight where he writes…

Romans 12:8 ESV

8 the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

WHAT IS THE GIFT OF MERCY?

So let’s begin by answering the question, “What is the spiritual gift of mercy?” The definition of this gift that I shared with you a few months ago is…

Mercy

The gift of mercy is the divine strength or ability to feel empathy and to care for those who are hurting in any way.

Like the other spiritual gifts that we’ve looked at — mercy is something that’s both a spiritual gift and is something that all Christians are to practice regardless if we have the gift or not. Which means — no matter if this is a spiritual gift you have — and regardless of your temperament or personality — being merciful towards others is something you’re to regularly practice if you’re a follower of Jesus.

Jesus made this clear when he told a parable — a parable is a short story meant to teach a moral lesson — and the parable I’m referring to is known as the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Luke 10:25–37 ESV

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Jesus purposely made the religious leaders — the priest and the Levite — merciless in the parable. And the individual — who the expert in religious law couldn’t even bear to say who he was — the despised Samaritan — is the one who is merciful in the story. So what’s the point of the parable? 

Jesus is telling us that we can be very religious and — yet — lack mercy. We can do rigorous religious activities and still miss the point of what it means to follow him.

This is what the prophets of the Old Testament had told the Jewish people.

Micah 6:8 NLT

8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

And…

Zechariah 7:9–10 NLT

9 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.

And we’re to be merciful towards others because God has first been merciful towards us. As we also read in Scripture…

Psalm 103:8 ESV

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

And…

Lamentations 3:22–23 ESV

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

And…

Psalm 145:8–9 ESV

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

And possibly the greatest display of God’s mercy is seen when…

John 11:35 ESV

35 Jesus wept.

We worship a merciful God — thus we’re to be people who are known for our mercy.

THE GIFT OF MERCY AND THE CHURCH

Yet — we want to better understand how the spiritual gift of mercy is a benefit to us as a local church. So let’s look at a few examples of this gift in Scripture. But — before we do so — I want to share a quote on mercy that I think paints a clear and compelling picture as to why this gift is so vital to our life as a faith family. Here’s the quote:

Mercy means to be led by God to be compassionate in our attitudes, words and actions. It is more than feeling sympathy towards someone; it is love enacted. Mercy desires to answer the immediate needs of others and alleviate suffering, loneliness, and grief. Mercy addresses physical, emotional, financial or spiritual crises with generous, self-sacrificial service. Mercy is a champion of the lowly, poor, exploited, and forgotten, and often acts on their behalf.

We’ve seen how mercy is something that all Christians are to live out — yet — for some among us — because of the Spirit’s empowering presence in you — you’ve been gifted with mercy in a way where you can’t help but desire to meet the immediate needs of others, to alleviate their suffering, loneliness, or grief. You can’t help it — it’s like you’re compelled — to serve those who are poor, exploited, or forgotten by others. What a needed and necessary gift if we want to be the church that Jesus gave his life for us to be.

THE GIFT OF MERCY IN SCRIPTURE: JESUS

Speaking of Jesus — here’s an example of mercy from his life. One day — as he and his disciples…

Matthew 20:29–34 ESV

29 went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

When you read the gospels — pay attention to how many times Jesus is stopped like this — where his plans are interrupted by the needs of others. And how — instead of moving on to the business at hand — he paid attention to the interruption — for often — the interruption was the business his Father wanted him to attend to.

For those who have the spiritual gift of mercy — you can’t help but read this passage from Matthew and think, “Yup. That’s exactly what you do. You stop and care for the person in need. And how dare the crowd try to get the two guys to be quiet!” If I may tap into your gift of mercy for one moment — for those of us without this gift — let me admit — it’s easy to miss the interruption as God’s business. I know this isn’t good of us — but — when you don’t have the gift of mercy — even when we know the commands about being merciful — it’s easy to be just like — not only this crowd — but Jesus’ own disciples — who once — when they were with Jesus and…

Mark 6:34–37 NLT

34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. 35 Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. 36 Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.” 37 But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”

It’s easy to ask “With what” — or to tell some blind beggars to be quiet — before, “This is an opportunity to be merciful” crosses our mind. We’re working on it — but know that this is why we’re so thankful for the Spirit’s empowering presence in you through the gift of mercy. For those with this gift rarely ask “with what” when told to feed a large crowd — or shush those begging for Jesus to heal them — and this is the Holy Spirit at work in and through you for our benefit — especially when someone’s in desperate need of mercy. 

And — as Paul says — you do so — you show mercy — and you do so with cheerfulness. Meaning — unlike others of us — who don’t have the gift — sometimes our mercy comes off a little less cheerful — or lacks it altogether. But for you — because of God’s Spirit displaying himself through you in this way — you’re able to lift the spirit of those who are suffering. 

Again — we’re all growing together here — and thank you for your patience and mercy towards those of us without the gift.

THE GIFT OF MERCY IN SCRIPTURE: DEACONS

John Owen — a pastor who lived in the 17th century — wrote, “Mercy has to do with man’s misery.” Historically — in the church — the people who have been known as ministers — or servants — of mercy — whose ministry is often called “mercy ministry” — are the deacons. Our deacons have been brought up a few times in these sermons on the spiritual gifts and — as you’ve heard me say before — this is an important group of individuals in the life of our local church. Now we add to our running list of why they’re important: they are our ministers of mercy.

Deacons first appear on the scene in Acts chapter 6. We’ve looked at this passage a few times before — so we won’t turn there now — but here’s a snapshot of what was going on. The church had grown quite quickly and Christians — of both Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds — were all figuring out how to follow Jesus together. But they were still dealing with cultural hangups — like we all do — resulting in some of the widows in the church not having their needs met.

So the apostles — the key leaders in the church at this time — told the people to select individuals who would make sure the widows’ needs were met. Because — not having what you daily need to survive — is a recipe for misery. 

Seven individuals were selected and they are the first deacons — or ministers of mercy — in the church. And their important ministry of mercy continues today.

Here at Gateway we have 15 individuals — men and women — who serve as our deacons. To ensure that everything they’re responsible for is covered — they’ve divided themselves up into four teams. A group of deacons is responsible for preparing the communion elements and cleaning up after our monthly communion services. Each Gateway campus has its own communion team. In a few minutes we’ll be taking communion at both of our campuses and know that a deacon was the behind the scenes hands preparing the bread and juice for all of us. An act of service for which we should all be thankful.

Now — though important — preparing communion doesn’t fit the ministry of mercy that we’ve been looking at today. Again — deacons do many important tasks for us — not all are acts of mercy. But earlier I said that the deacons have divided themselves up into four teams. 

One of those is the Benevolence team which oversees the distribution of benevolence funds to those within our church family who are in need of financial assistance. Priority for assistance is given to church members — specifically those who are sick, handicapped, single parents, or elderly — though other members or active regular attenders may also be assisted through the fund. This is definitely a ministry of mercy.

There’s the Service team which helps with meeting a variety of hands-on, physical needs within our church family. These needs include setting up Kidway spaces each weekend, shoveling church entrances on a Sunday morning, and providing building access for a variety of events held at the church. Additionally, they handle requests for physical help such as yard work, help moving, or light construction work for people in need. There are definitely times when this team does acts of mercy.

Finally, there’s the Food team which is responsible for a variety of food needs within the church. These include funeral meals, as well as food and snacks for volunteer training and church or outreach events. One of our deacons also oversees our Meals Ministry, which comes alongside Life Groups to provide meals to people after a new baby is born, or someone has surgery, when there’s a death in the family, and so on. Again — many times when this is a ministry of mercy.

So that’s a snapshot of what our deacons do — generally speaking. But — specifically — here are some ways these mercy ministers have allowed the Spirit of God to display himself through their acts of mercy for people in our faith family.

There’s the young mom who’s part of our church. Her husband wasn’t able to work for over a year — due to health issues — and her availability to work was limited because their toddler also had health issues requiring regular appointments at Nationwide in Columbus. How did the deacons help this family? They worked with our local partner — the Women’s Resource Center — and got them diapers. One of our deacons gave them some hand-me-down clothes for their toddler. Meals were coordinated. Gas and grocery cards were provided. And the deacons coordinated eight weeks of childcare while the husband recovered from a surgery.

For two elderly men in our congregation — who were both limited by health issues — the deacons lined up people to mow their lawns and take care of yard work. Similarly, the deacons put a team of six people together to do some fall landscaping for one of our elderly couples who aren’t able to keep up with the yard work as easily as they used to.

For one of our single women — who needed a new roof but didn’t have the funds — the deacons helped her to pay for the new roof through our benevolence fund.

For a family who had some hot water issues — one of our deacons helped them out twice. Once to repair their old hot water heater and then — five months or so later — to help them install a new one.

For one of our young families — who needed some financial help — the deacons were able to help them cover some medical and dental bills, provided them with some food gift cards, and helped them with some car maintenance issues. The deacons provided similar help to an international student studying at the University of Findlay who needed some help with their car.

They helped another of our young couples move. And — if all of that wasn’t enough — one of our deacons even went and helped deter a pesky skunk from one of our church member’s property.

And — oh by the way — that’s just some of the ways the deacons have done acts of mercy in the past year. What a group of deacons we have — ministers of mercy who are allowing the Spirit of God to use them to be a blessing for us.

CONCLUSION

Now — as we wrap up this series on spiritual gifts — something that’s been encouraging to me — over the past few months — has been the increase among you all in signing up to volunteer in areas of ministry. The church staff have mentioned that more of you have signed up to serve as you desire to allow the Holy Spirit to use you — with the gifts he’s given you — to be a blessing to the rest of us. This has been such an encouragement to me.

I’ve also been encouraged to hear about many of you wanting to explore what gifts you’ve been given. From asking for advice on spiritual gifts tests and how to discern which gifts you have — I’m thankful for the curiosity and interest in wanting to know how the Spirit of God has gifted you for God’s glory and all of our good. Keep searching. Keep serving in different ways. Keep praying and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you your gifts.

Finally, I want to thank our elders. They’ve made themselves available to pray with you throughout this series on the spiritual gifts. They all serve in many other ways — but they didn’t hesitate to stick around after our worship services to bless you — and lay their hands on you in prayer — as you’ve come forward desiring a particular spiritual gift. And so many of you have come forward for prayer — which has been incredible to see.

Your shepherds pray for you — I hope that encourages you — your elders care about you and there’s no group of men I’d rather have by my ministry side than the men we’re blessed with as our elders. 

Would you please pray with me?

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, you are the God of all comfort who comforts all of us in our afflictions. And your mercies are new to us every morning. There’s not a day that’s gone by that we haven’t experienced your mercy. What a thought to behold. I wonder how we’ve already experienced your mercy today?

Holy Spirit, thank you for empowering some among us with your gift of mercy. A unique and impactful way you use your people in the most difficult days of life. When sorrow abounds — your stewards of mercy bring healing as you use them to lift us up. When the darkness doesn’t lift — your ministers of mercy bring the light of Christ to shine in our dark world. When our grief is an overwhelming burden — too heavy for us to carry — your servants of mercy put their shoulders under our burden and lift it up — giving us some reprieve.

And — Jesus — this is all possible because of the mercy you displayed in giving your life on a cross for our sins. When mercy was the last thing we deserved — you gave it to us anyway. In fact — when we held back mercy from you — you gave us mercy anyway. What a faithful and merciful Savior you are — thank you for your mercy towards us. And — Jesus — if there are any here who’ve yet to receive your mercy — may you faithfully offer it to them again today. 

Right now — Jesus is offering you mercy — forgiveness of your sins — reconciliation, joy, hope, peace — a light shining in the darkness around you. Will you receive his mercy? Will you run to the One whose arms are open — ready to embrace you with unending love?

We pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

‌DATE: 2-2-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

INTRODUCTION

We’re returning to our series in Romans this weekend. And we’re at a pivotal point in Paul’s letter. You see — after eleven chapters of rich theology — explaining to us who God is, who we are, what sin has done to us and God’s creation, and God’s plan to right the wrong we’ve caused — after eleven chapters of rich theology — Paul now turns to the “so what” question. What do I mean?

Here’s what I want you to imagine. After three hundred and fifteen verses explaining the gospel, faith, sin, salvation, and so on — imagine that someone in the back of the room yells out loud, “Hey Paul, so what?” Now — to be clear — Paul wasn’t present. He wrote this letter and had someone take it to the Christians in Rome — but you get the idea. After the first eleven chapters of all of this theology — imagine someone yelling out, “OK. But what now?” Or “Paul, why does any of this matter?” Or “What’s your point?”

A completely understandable and common question to ask: So what?

Let me encourage you to always listen for the answer to this “so what” question in the sermons and podcasts you listen to, the videos you watch, and look for an author’s answer to the “so what” question when you read their book — regardless if what you’re watching, reading, or listening to is Christian or not — everyone’s answering the “so what” question. Fox News and CNN are, Disney is, Mr. Beast does, Joe Rogan — everyone is trying to give you their answer to the “so what” questions of life — which is why this is such an important question for us to not only ask ourselves — but to watch for — and be aware of — what answers are given by others. And — if you really want some extra credit — pay attention to the answers you give to this “so what” question.

But here’s Paul’s response to our “so what” question after all that’s come in the first eleven chapters of his letter. He writes in verse one of Romans chapter twelve…

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

WE’VE HAD SOME STUFF TO DO, BUT NOT MUCH

Up to this point in Romans — the commands have been pretty light. Meaning — things for us to do have been few and far between in all of the theology that Paul’s been explaining. For example, the first command in Romans is found in chapter six. That’s right — it’s not until the sixth chapter that we find the first command for us to obey — six chapters before we find something we’re told to do. Here’s the first command Paul gave us.

‌Romans 6:11 (ESV)

¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

‌And the command is “consider.” Now — for most of us — considering isn’t exactly something to do that we get all excited about. If — at the end of a sermon — the thing for you to do is “now go and consider what you’ve heard” — many of us will think, “Well I hope next week’s sermon is better.”

But — never fear. Though he waited six chapters to give us the first command — Paul gets on a bit of a roll and — two verses later — we find the next two commands…

‌Romans 6:13 (ESV)

‌¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

‌And a few verses later another command…

‌Romans 6:19b (ESV)

¹⁹ so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

So three commands on how we’re to present ourselves — which is another way of saying, “Here’s how you should live. Not as slaves of unrighteousness, but as slaves of righteousness.” 

I guess that’s better than “considering” — but not quite the commands that scratch our “so what” itch. We want something on parenting, or relationships, or serving the poor — but considering and presenting — come on Paul — you got anything better than that? And — if you haven’t liked any of his commands thus far — you have to wait until chapter eleven to get to his next three commands.

Romans 11:18 (ESV)

¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches.

The branches being Jewish people. And…

Romans 11:20b (ESV)

²⁰ do not become proud, but fear.

So — to recap all that we’re told to do in the first eleven chapters of Romans — we’re told to…

• Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
• To not present our bodies as instruments for unrighteousness.
• But to present our bodies as instruments for righteousness — as slaves to righteousness.
• We’re told to not be arrogant.
• To not be proud.
• And to fear.

‌Seven commands. Count ‘em. Seven.

Think about how little there’s been for us to do in the first eleven chapters of Paul’s letter. While — at the same time — there’s been much for us to learn about God, ourselves, sin, salvation, and God’s mercy towards us in Jesus. And Paul does this intentionally — not just here in Romans — but in many of his letters you’ll find a similar format where Paul starts with theology and then answers the “so what” question. 

For example — in Ephesians — the first three chapters are rich with theology and — the final three chapters — are full of implications of how we’re to live because of the truths in the first three chapters. So that great section on marriage — in Ephesians chapter five — is how we’re to live as married Christians because of the theology found in the first three chapters. Or the beautiful picture of what the church can and should be — in Ephesians chapter four — is what we can and should be as a faith family because of the theology we believe that’s found in the first three chapters.

Now — to answer the “so what” question — in case any of you’re wondering, “So what, Josh? Why does any of this matter?” Well — what makes Christianity different from all other religions — and even distinct from what many incorrectly call Christianity — is this: What we do — how we’re to live — is a response to the truths of our faith that we believe. Meaning — truths — theological truths — that we’re to believe come first — and these truths — and our belief in them — shape how we live. 

And when we get this backwards — when how we live shapes our theology — we end up creating our own religion — which often is still called Christianity even though it’s not biblical Christianity. Because we end up — as an example — creating a God who is only love — we’ve even got a Bible verse that we think backs up our claim — because a God who is only love allows me to keep living in sin — living however I want — I can even disobey other parts of the Bible that clearly tell me I’m wrong — because — God is love. Yet the Bible — God’s Word to us — tells us that yes — God is love — but he is also just — and will judge those who live in rebellion against him by unrepentantly disobeying his commands. And this truth — that God is both love and just — just two of his attributes — changes the way you live when you believe it.

So back to Romans. Starting in chapter twelve — Paul’s going to make a significant shift in his focus. There’s going to be less theology for us to learn and a lot more for us to do. And — what we’re to do — is based on what we’ve learned in the first eleven chapters. And I’m going to remind you of this again and again and again because we’re all prone to separating our behavior from our beliefs. But what we believe can’t help but determine the way we live.

But listen to what we’ll be encountering in the weeks and months ahead. And listen for all of the stuff that we’re to do because of the theology of the first eleven chapters that we’re to believe.

Romans 12:9–21 (ESV)

⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Just in these verses there were at least twenty-eight ways we’re to live differently as followers of Jesus because of the truths we’ve learned from the first eleven chapters. Twenty-eight things to do — twenty-eight commands to obey — in thirteen verses — compared to seven in the first eleven chapters! Again — hear me out — because this is so important. 

If Paul would’ve started his letter with the verses I just read — he’d be a moralist. Meaning — if commands are given without being built on theological truth — we’re doing nothing more than tightening our belts and pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. Phrases that mean “to improve your situation by your own effort and without help from others” — including help from God! That’s moralism. Our culture loves moralism — especially when it makes us feel good about ourselves. But moralism is not the direction we’re headed in! 

NOW WE’VE GOT A LOT TO DO…BECAUSE OF GOD’S MERCY

And I want to remind you why we’re to live differently — why we’ve now got things to do — and a lot of things to do. This is why I just warned you about — get ready to be reminded of these theological truths many times in the coming weeks and months. For — the reason why we’re to do the things we just read — and obey the commands in these final chapters — is because of God’s mercy. Back in verse one — Paul writes…

Romans 12:1 (ESV)

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Paul says, “I’m appealing to you because of God’s mercy towards you in Jesus Christ — therefore…”

It’s like Paul is saying, “Having explained to you the depth, and height, and breadth, and width of God’s limitless love for you in Jesus Christ — here’s how you should live…”

Or “Having shown you that — due to your sin and rebellion against God — you deserve his wrath and just judgment — yet because he is kind and gracious he will not count your sins against you — therefore…”

Eleven chapters of trying to get these wonderful truths through our thick skulls and hard hearts so we’re awakened to the beauty that is salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Paul’s been showing us the futility of works-based salvation — of thinking that we can earn God’s love — as well as showing us the folly of chasing after the desires of the world as if we won’t be judged for our sin and rebellion. Paul — in hopes that our eyes have been opened to spiritual reality — and that we’ve responded with faith in Jesus Christ and by repenting — or turning away from — our sins — Paul says — “Therefore…” And he’s going to show us how to now live — not to earn God’s love — but how to live because God has demonstrated his love for us in Jesus Christ.

I hope this all sounds familiar to you. In fact — some of you may wonder why you hear me say something like this all time. I say this all of the time because the order matters. And — it matters so much — because even though I say it all of the time — it’s common for me to hear from you all of how — even though you’ve been here at Gateway for a long time — how you’ve finally heard what I’ve been saying. If you’re a parent — it’s like when your kid comes home and says, “Mom — Dad — you won’t believe what the teacher taught me today.” And then your little one tells you something you’ve told them a thousand times. They’ve heard you say the same thing over and over again — but they never “heard” it until now.

So I repeat myself — a lot. Because our hearts naturally believe, “If I do this, God will love me.” And that’s not biblical Christianity — though it has all of the same elements as biblical Christianity. But — “if I do this, God will love me” — is not biblical Christianity. Instead — biblical Christianity is, “God loves me, so now I will do this.” And the “this” can be the same thing.

• “If I come to church to worship him, God will love me.” Not biblical Christianity.
• “Because God loves me, I go to church to worship him.” Biblical Christianity.
• “If I’m generous with my money, God will love me.” Not biblical Christianity.
• “Because God loves me, I’ll be generous with my money.” Biblical Christianity.
• “If I serve others, or stop cursing, or read my Bible, or pray or ___ (fill in the blank), God will love me.” Not biblical Christianity.
• But “Because God loves me, I will serve others, stop cussing, read my Bible, pray, and ___ (fill in the blank).” That’s biblical Christianity.

‌Bible scholars call this the difference between the indicatives and the imperatives in the Bible. The what and the what? Imperatives are commands in the Bible — things we’re to do. Whereas indicatives are statements of objective facts. And here’s what you find in the New Testament and especially in Paul’s writings — I mentioned this earlier — but let’s flesh it out.

Indicatives — objective facts — come before imperatives — the commands we’re to obey. Remember — eleven chapters with seven commands — seven imperatives — but full of indicatives — full of theological truths — over thirty of them in fact. Objective facts like…

Jesus is the Son of God (1:4)

And that God’s kindness leads us towards repentance (2:4)

And all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (3:23)

And since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (5:1)

And God has demonstrated his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8)

And sin is no longer your master (6:14)

And the wages of sin is death (6:23)

And you died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another (7:4)

And there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (8:1)

And that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us (8:18)

And salvation depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy (9:16)

And if you confess and believe you will be saved and justified (10:9-10)

And at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace (11:5)

And — in response to these truths — and many more — Paul says — here’s how you’re to live. Because — you can’t believe all of this — and not live differently. These are such glorious truths that they change the way a person lives who believes them. 

THE THEREFORE LIFE

This change — this difference — we’ll call — the “therefore life”. Back to verse one for the last time.

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

These two verses are a summary of all that’s going to follow. So — everything else in Romans is essentially a picture of the “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” pleasing life of those who follow Jesus. But notice what Paul emphasizes at the very beginning: Don’t be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. 

The word “conform” — in the original language — means to “model after, to assimilate one’s self to.” And we’re told to not conform to the world. What might this look like?

• Conforming to the world could mean allowing yourself to be assimilated into the rat race of chasing after social status, or achieving a certain level of material comfort — working long days or filling your family calendar with activities for your kids that cause you to sacrifice time together as a family, your church involvement, and so on.
• Conforming to the world could mean adopting unbiblical behaviors at work — gossiping about coworkers, making unethical decisions, flirting with others even though you’re married.
• Conforming to the world could mean modeling how our culture celebrates division and anger and degrading other people.
• Recent studies on pornography use, divorce rates, living together before marriage — and so on — indicate that many people — who call themselves Christians — have conformed to the world.
• As does the rise in acceptance and approval of LGBTQ+ lifestyles — more evidence of conforming to the world and disobeying one of the first commands that Paul gives us after eleven chapters of theology.

‌Instead of conforming to the world — we’re told to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And our minds are renewed — or renovated — by God’s Spirit as he uses God’s Word to transform us. And — listen — we will not live — and to be clear — you will not live the transformed life without first having your mind renewed by the Word of God. That’s why Paul started his letter with theology. Because “what we believe about God and life informs the direction we choose to pursue and impacts our response to our world.” That’s not original to me — that’s a statement written by someone who’s spent a lifetime counseling people from Scripture. Here’s the quote again — it’ll be on the screen.

What we believe about God and life, informs the direction we choose to pursue and impacts our response to our world.

So what we believe — that’s what our verses in Romans are focused on — this is the renewing of our minds that Paul’s talking about. But the obvious next question is: What we believe about what? About God and life. That’s what Paul’s been covering for eleven chapters. Now — he hasn’t covered everything about God or life — but with the rest of the Bible — it’s all covered.

And what we believe about God and life informs the direction we choose to pursue. And I hope you see how this is true for Christians and non-Christians alike. Our beliefs inform what we do. What you believe determines the direction of your life. And our beliefs also impact our response to what we experience in the world — both when our experience agrees with our beliefs and when our experiences counter what we believe to be true.

Here’s one example — we’ll use someone other than Paul this time. The apostle Peter writes this.

1 Peter 5:6–8 (NLT)

⁶ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. ⁷ Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. ⁸ Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

Since we’re jumping right into Peter’s letter — know that he’s writing to Christians who are being persecuted and who are experiencing much suffering. But what I want you to notice is what Peter tells us about how a Christian is to respond to suffering. You see — it’s very common in seasons of suffering for Christians — and non-Christians — to experience anxiety — to worry — and to have concerns. And what does Peter tell us to do with our anxiety? We’re to give all of our worries and cares and concerns to God because he cares about us.

This objective fact — God cares for his people — and your belief — that God cares for me — informs the direction we choose to pursue — we give our worries to God. Our belief — that God cares for us — also informs the direction we choose to pursue in staying alert — and watching out for our enemy — who we know uses seasons of suffering to attack and try to devour us. And our belief — that God cares for us — which informs the direction we choose to pursue — to give him our worries and to watch out for our enemy — impacts how we respond experientially and emotionally to our suffering.

CONCLUSION

That’s just one characteristic of God — that he cares for you — and look at how believing that he cares for you can change the way you respond to suffering and everything that comes with it. Renewing our minds — with God’s Word — believing who he says he is — as revealed in Scripture — and who we are, and what he’s doing, and what his plan of salvation is, and what it means to follow Jesus — and so much more — renewing your mind with the truths of God’s Word will change the direction of your life.

Now — if you don’t know where to start — maybe you’re feeling convicted, or inspired, or compelled to do something — but aren’t quite sure how to allow the Bible to renew your mind — I’ve written this booklet on how to make the most of your devotional time. I explain what I’ve been doing for years to renew my mind with God’s Word. We’ve got free copies of it at the Resource Center at both of our campuses — hopefully some copies made it to Bucyrus as well — you can also find it on our church website — gatewayepc.org/booklets. But get a copy and begin the journey — or revive your journey — or refine your journey — of having your mind renewed by the Word of God so the direction of your life is a “therefore life” — a life being transformed by the gospel. Because what you believe about God and life will inform the direction of your life. And the truth we believe — the gospel — is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And believing it — will transform your life. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Gracious Father, thank you for your Word that you’ve given to us. A powerful Word. A mind-renewing Word. A life-changing Word. A Word that raises the spiritually dead to new life. A Word that is to be believed because it is your Word.

Holy Spirit, what we believe determines how we live. We ask you to take your Word and renew our minds with it so we live more faithfully as followers of Jesus. For what we believe about God and life informs the direction we choose to pursue and impacts how we respond to our world.

And Jesus — to you our Savior and Lord — what you believed about God, yourself, and mankind set the direction of your life while here on earth. Your belief is what empowered you to defeat the devil when he tempted you in the wilderness. You didn’t allow your circumstances — being physically weak due to a forty day fast — to be an excuse for unfaithfulness. Instead — what you believed — determined how you lived. And how you lived is the hope of our salvation — for you lived the perfect life in our place and died the death we all deserve.

So we thank you — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We thank you for revealing to us who you are, who we are, your plan of salvation, and for calling us to be a people who live transformed lives. And — may you draw many to yourself — and transform their life today. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 11:25-36 (ESV)

‌DATE: 1-19-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend. And — we’re at a pivotal point in Paul’s letter — as we’re nearing the end of the first eleven chapters which are theologically focused. Since chapter nine — we’ve been going through Paul’s defense of God’s sovereign right to be merciful towards whomever he chooses. Meaning no one deserves mercy — because of our sin and rebellion against God — yet God graciously bestows his mercy on those he has chosen.

And this was a challenging idea for Paul’s original audience as much as it is for us today. For Paul’s audience — many who were Jews — couldn’t understand why so many of their friends and family members had rejected Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promised Messiah — a word that means Savior. For the Messiah was a promise God had given to the Jews — yet — when Jesus came — the vast majority of the Jews rejected him — ultimately having him murdered on a cross.

‌And we’re finishing up Paul’s answer as to why this happened — why did the Jews — overall as a people — reject Jesus? Now the thrust of Paul’s argument has been that God had made a promise to keep for himself a remnant — an Israel within the nation of Israel — to be his faithful people. But this faithfulness was never a guarantee to the entire nation of Israel. Yet — Paul himself was a Jew — an example of God’s promise to Israel being fulfilled — for Paul believed in Jesus. But now — Pauls says — the people whom Jesus came to save — are people of all nations. Jews — yes — but gentiles — or non-Jews — as well. For believers — whether Jewish or not — have all been united to Jesus through faith. Thus he’s the root of this spiritual tree that has branches — or believers — that are of Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds.

‌Which leads us to our text for today. If you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter eleven. We’ll be in Romans chapter eleven — beginning in verse twenty-five. There we read…

‌Romans 11:25–36 (ESV)

‌²⁵ Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; ²⁷ “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” ²⁸ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. ³² For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. ³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” ³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” ³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

‌We’re going to briefly look at this mystery that Paul refers to. Then we’ll consider God’s wisdom and knowledge. But the majority of this sermon — will focus on Paul’s conclusion of — not only our verses — but of the first eleven chapters of his letter.

THE MYSTERY OF HARDENING, ELECTION, AND SALVATION

First — let’s look at this mystery that Paul refers to. A mystery of hardening, election, and salvation. We’re in verse twenty-five.

‌Romans 11:25–32 (ESV)

‌²⁵ Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; ²⁷ “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” ²⁸ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. ³² For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

‌Paul begins with a good reminder: “Lest you be wise in your own sight.” That’s another way of saying, “Because I don’t want you to be conceited, or proud, or arrogant…I want to make sure you’re not ignorant of this mystery.” What mystery, Paul? 

Mystery is one of Paul’s favorite ways of referring to the gospel — the message of salvation. And — if you remember from last week — Paul’s concern was that gentile believers in Jesus might become arrogant in hearing that the Jewish people had been cut off from Christ. Not every single Jew was cut off — for Paul himself was a Jewish believer in Jesus — but — overall as a group — the Jews had rejected Jesus as God’s promised Messiah. And their rejection of Jesus resulted in the gentiles believing in Jesus and being united to him and welcomed into the family of God. The outsiders are outsiders no more. Those people once called “not God’s people” are now called “the people of God.”

‌Yet even with new hearts — hearts made alive to God by the Spirit — we can still revert to the desires of our flesh and allow a wonderful mystery — our salvation — to become a point of sinful pride and arrogance. Thus Paul begins with this warning as a reminder. A partial hardening has come upon Israel. Partial because there are some — like Paul — who are Israelites — and yet they believe. And this hardening will continue until the full number of gentiles believe in Jesus. Which tells us that there’s a set number — determined by God — of people who will come to faith. And this is meant to stir great hope in the people of God — yet I find that this truth often disturbs God’s people.

‌For we view this as God having limited who will believe in Jesus — versus — seeing it as sweet grace — undeserved mercy — in that God has ensured that many will believe in his Son. For we must remember what Paul’s already told us: If it weren’t for God preserving — or keeping — for himself a people who are faithful to him — none of us would remain faithful. A humbling truth — yes — but what an assuring truth. God will keep you. He will preserve you. You don’t have to keep or preserve yourself — though — knowing that you’re so loved by God that nothing can separate you from his love — your life will be a response of gratitude and thankful obedience to the God who loves you in this preserving way.

‌Paul then goes on to say, “And in this way all Israel will be saved.” A phrase that’s stirred up much debate in church history. Is Paul saying that all — many every single Jewish person — will ultimately be saved? He can’t be. For he’s already pointed out that ethnicity means nothing in regards to salvation. And he’s already pointed out that — in the past — all Israelites believed they were right with God when only a remnant — or the true Israel — was actually right with God. And there’s no indication that Paul’s suddenly changed his mind. Thus we must keep in mind — and not take out of context — what Paul is saying here. Especially when we remember the question of his original audience: If the Messiah was promised to Israel — why did the vast majority of the Jews not believe in Jesus?

‌So it’d be quite odd for Paul to argue for two and half chapters that the reason why not every single Jew believed in Jesus is because the promise of the Messiah was given only to the Israel within Israel — the remnant — only to do a one eighty turn with no theological clutch and say, “Just kidding. Every single Jew is gonna be saved.” So here’s the promise: every true Israelite — every individual who God has chosen to be part of his remnant — including every Jewish person chosen to be part of the remnant — will be saved. For the gifts to the true Israel — and God’s calling upon them — are irrevocable — they won’t ever be taken away.

‌Those gifts that Paul reminded us of way back in the beginning of chapter nine. The gifts of adoption and the covenants. The law, the patriarchs, and the Messiah. These are the gifts that are irrevocable — gifts that God will never take back or rescind. And — through these gifts — God will draw his people to himself through his mercy. 

GOD’S WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE

And — in response to this now revealed mystery — Paul says…

‌Romans 11:33–35 (ESV)

‌³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” ³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”‌

I appreciate how another translation of the Bible expresses verse thirty-three.

‌Romans 11:33 (NLT)

‌³³ Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

‌Though we can understand many things about God and his ways — we’d be fools to think that there’s not a severe limitation in our understanding. Yet even our limited understanding of him is quite amazing. Which is all the more reason for us to praise and worship God and to live for him alone.

‌Pastor James Boice rightly points out, “No people ever rise higher than their idea of God.” As one Bible scholar explains, “The gods of the Assyrians were cruel, and the Assyrians were cruel. The patron deity of Rome was Jupiter. He gave laws and social order, and the Romans loved law and order. But since the Lord is just, merciful, and faithful, his followers admire those traits and strive to embody them, and this enables disciples to rise higher than those who follow lesser deities.” (Daniel Doriani, Romans, 406).

‌The principle is this: You and I will never rise higher than what we believe about God. How great is the wisdom and knowledge of the God you believe in? Is the wisdom and knowledge of your God based on what’s been communicated to us in the Bible or is it based on some other source? To ask these questions another way: How great is your God? And how do you know that he’s that great? And — if your answer doesn’t come from this book — then — I hate to tell you, but do so in love — your god is quite puny.

‌The lesser gods of our day are not what the Assyrians and Romans worshipped — but the world of our day hasn’t abandoned the worship of false gods. For people — especially in our country — are still trying to “rise to the height” of the gods they worship. Gods like self-autonomy — my body, my choice — whether the choice be to abort a baby or to live together before marriage. This is sanctity of life Sunday after all — so let’s depart from Romans for a minute to see how the worship of self-autonomy leaves no room to worship and obey the God who is rich in wisdom and knowledge. For divine wisdom and knowledge tells us that the unborn child is a person made in the image of God.

‌Luke 1:41–44 (NLT)

‌⁴¹ At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. ⁴³ Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? ⁴⁴ When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy.

‌Now the same Greek word — translated as the child in Elizabeth’s womb — is the same Greek word used in this familiar Christmas passage.

‌Luke 2:12 (NLT)

‌¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

‌Whether in or out of the womb — Luke — a medical doctor by the way — uses the same word to describe a child. Something the secular religion of “my body my choice” doesn’t do. Will we submit to God’s wisdom and knowledge — as revealed in his Word — or submit ourselves to the wisdom and knowledge of a false religion? And not just — will we — but will you?

‌Again — it’s sanctity of life Sunday — the word sanctity means “holy, sacred, saintly.” And the holy living that we — God’s holy people — have been called to isn’t limited to the topic of abortion. For God’s wisdom and knowledge also defines for us what marriage is, what it isn’t, and why living together before being married is a sinful act. We Christians have been bombarded with new definitions of marriage that are contrary to what God — who is rich in wisdom and knowledge — has defined marriage to be.

• This would include so called same-sex marriage — which is not marriage as defined by God.
• This would also include unbiblical divorce — which is a much more personal issue of obedience to God’s Word for the majority of Christians in the US — than is being married to someone of the same sex.
• As is living like you’re a married couple before you’re married — living together, sleeping together — all of those married couple things. Our culture has so watered down what a relationship is — that I now hear people calling their live-in partner their husband or wife. And when asked, “Are you married?” They reply, “No. But he’s still my husband. Or she’s still my wife.” And I’m like, “Huh?” Do you just go around pointing at random kids and say, “That’s my son or she’s my daughter?” You don’t. Why? Because that’s not what the words mean. 

‌

Seriously folks — to believe in Christ means we forgo the arrogance all around us of claiming to be all wise and all knowing and — instead — recognize the incomparable wisdom and knowledge of God and listen and obey him as he’s spoken to us in his Word. And these are just two issues in our day — life and marriage — and I hope this is obvious — but God’s infinitely rich wisdom and knowledge isn’t limited to these two topics but is far greater than any other wisdom and knowledge of all topics. He is God after all.

‌To paraphrase Paul — he basically asks, “Tell me. When’s the last time God had to ask you for advice?” Ever had God call you up on the phone or send you a DM saying, “Hey, God here. I’m stuck and need some advice. What do you think I should do?” I’ll tell you when that last happened — never! But when’s the last time you didn’t know what to do? When’s the last time you needed God’s advice? Did you seek his rich wisdom and knowledge or settle for the wisdom and knowledge of someone far less in the know than the One who knows all things?

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Speaking of God’s rich knowledge and wisdom — in response to writing about God’s incomparable wisdom and knowledge — Paul can’t help but burst forth in praise with the words…

‌Romans 11:36 (ESV)

‌³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

‌Paul ends this lengthy section of his letter with a statement of praise. All things — Paul says — are from God and through him. Nothing happens that he isn’t aware of. This is what it means for him to be sovereign — to be God — and for us to be part of his creation. For even our actions and decisions and free will are from him and through him and subject to his sovereign authority.

‌Yet Paul’s statement of praise isn’t simply based on the few verses we’ve looked at today — his praise is a response to all that he’s written up to this point in his letter. Statements like…

‌Romans 1:16–17 (NLT)

‌¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — the Jew first and also the Gentile. ¹⁷ This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

‌Paul praises God because of how he — God — makes us right — or righteous. And — after reminding his readers of who they are in their sin and rebellion against God — he says…

‌Romans 2:28–29 (NLT)

‌²⁸ For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. ²⁹ No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

‌As we’ve been learning — ethnicity means nothing when it comes to a person being right with God. What matters is the spiritual condition of your heart. And — because of sin — we’re all born with hearts in need of a radical change. A change of our heart done by the Holy Spirit. A change which results in a new way of living for those given this new spiritually alive heart. More reasons for Paul — and us — to praise God.

‌Paul writes statements about God like…

‌Romans 3:3–4 (NLT)

‌³ True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? ⁴ Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”

‌God is always faithful. He only speaks words of truth. And he will be proved right in the end. Reasons for us to praise God. Just as the hope-giving words of…

‌Romans 4:7–8 (NLT)

‌⁷ “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. ⁸ Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”

‌What joy — what blessing — it is to be forgiven. What joy — what blessing — to have God declare you clear of all sin charges against you because of what Christ has done. What reason to worship your forgiving God. Or the fact that…

‌Romans 5:1 (NLT)

‌¹ Since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

‌God — who makes us righteous by our faith in Jesus — who gifts us with the faith that is the means of our righteousness — declares that we’re now at peace with him. Enemies no longer — now friends — adopted children — at peace with God because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. More reasons for us to praise and worship our great God. Or how about this soul-lifting truth?

‌Romans 5:8–11 (NLT)

‌⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

‌Do you need proof that God loves you? He sent Jesus to die for you while you were his enemy. As I said a moment ago — enemies no longer — through faith in Christ you’re now called a friend of God. Praise God from whom all of these blessings flow! And there are even more blessings such as…

‌Romans 8:1 (ESV)

‌¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

‌And…

‌Romans 8:28 (NLT)

‌²⁸ …we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

‌Why? Because…

‌Romans 8:29–39 (NLT)

‌²⁹ God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. ³¹ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? ³² Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? ³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one — for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one — for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. ³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. ³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

‌Think of all of the reasons we have to worship and praise our great God! The God who is sovereign — who reigns and rules over all of his creation. Our great God who ensures that he always has a faithful remnant of people who worship and follow him. Our great God who says to those who were once not his people — “now — you are my people — now — I call you my beloved.” Our great God who guarantees his promise that…

‌Romans 10:9–13 (ESV)

‌⁹ If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

‌And those who call on the name of the Lord — in true faith — those who will never be put to shame — will never be rejected — will never be turned away. For they’ve been united to Christ — who’s the root of a glorious tree of spiritual life. And all who are united to him — who are a branch connected to him — Jew or Gentile — will flourish now and for all eternity.

‌CONCLUSION

‌What reasons we have to praise and worship our great God. For to him be the glory forever — and ever. Amen. 

Do you realize that this is the reason why you exist — to give God glory? You exist to make God look glorious — that’s what it means to glorify God? If you’re a Christian this is why he’s saved you — to make him look glorious to the world. And — not only you — but all of creation exists to make God look glorious. This isn’t because God has a big ego or is self-centered — remember he’s holy and without sin — which tells us his motivation is not like ours. For — in being God — everything else in all of creation must be meant to make him look glorious. For — if not him — who or what else would deserve glory?

‌And do you want to know something awesome? This is where history is headed — the eternal glory of God. Where God’s rescued people will praise him forever and ever. Never ceasing to give him the glory that he alone deserves. Does this excite you — I hope it does. I hope that you see what Paul’s been showing us for eleven chapters — that Jesus came to restore what had been lost due to our sin and rebellion against God: Our ability to give God glory. So often we think of our salvation in terms of what it means for us — “I’m saved — I’m going to heaven” — but Paul ends by showing us what our salvation means for God: It means that he receives our glory. That he receives our worship. That he receives our devotion and praise. Not some day in the future — not only in eternity — but now. Today. For this day — and every day of your life — is meant to bring glory to God.

• So when you leave here today — go with the purpose of living a life that gives glory to God. 
• And when you wake up tomorrow — wake up with the purpose of bringing glory to God. 
• When you sin — because we all will — repent and do so because you know that it brings glory to your God. 
• Parent your kids for the glory of God. 
• Love your spouse for the glory of God. 
• Respect your parents and others who are in authority over you — for the glory of God. 
• If you’re not married — glorify God in your relationships. 
• Fight for the lives of the unborn for the glory of God. 
• Foster children in need of care and — do so — for God’s glory.
• For — as Paul says — “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10.31b)

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Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, our God who is rich in mercy and kindness — who’s rich in wisdom and knowledge — how impossible it is for us to fully understand who you are and your ways. We want to understand — but we’re in way over our heads. Thank you for stooping down to our level and giving us a glimpse understanding who you are and your mystery of salvation.

‌Spirit of God, increase our glimpses and do so by your Word. For we want to know the true God — who you are, what you’re like, how you work — and not settle for some false, powerless, unable to give hope or joy — puny, poor substitute for you. So many worship these false gods of our day to their eternal demise. So awaken our hearts to your love for us and the truth of who you are as you’ve revealed in your Word.

‌And — Jesus — you came to earth to show us what our God is like — for you are God in the flesh. In you we see the mercy of God, the kindness of God, the truthfulness of God, the justice of God, and the joy that can be experienced in knowing the true God. Jesus you know how those listening to me have come here with such numerous and diverse needs and desires — coming here thinking they know what they need most. Maybe they’re right — maybe they’re not — but may you open all of our hearts so that — no matter what we came here hoping to get — what we leave here with is a deeper, more intimate, more life-giving, hope-fueling, joy-inducing relationship with you. For some this will be a new relationship with you. For many — this will be a renewing of their relationship with you. Regardless — all of our lives have room to grow in bringing you glory.

‌So Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — that’s our prayer — that you will be glorified in each of our lives. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

As you go — may all that you say and do be done for the glory of God. Amen.

‌God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 11:11-24 (ESV)

‌DATE: 1-12-25

It’s good to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And — if you happen to be worshiping with us for the first time — or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend — looking at Paul’s letter to Christians living in Rome last week. Paul’s never met these Christians. He hopes to visit them soon — as we discover near the end of his letter — but since he hasn’t been able to meet them face to face — he writes them this letter — a letter many consider to be Paul’s greatest contribution to our faith.

And we’re nearing the end of Paul’s answer to a question his original readers were asking. A question that may not seem all that relevant to us today but — as I hope you’ve seen — ends up being very practical for us. Their question is this: If God’s promised Messiah — or Savior of the world — was a promise given to the Jewish people — why did so many Jews not believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise to them? To ask the question another way: Why did the vast majority of Jews reject Jesus as the promised Messiah?

This was a heart wrenching question for Paul’s readers because many of them were Jews. And they had friends and family members who — though Jewish — had rejected Jesus. And Paul’s readers couldn’t understand how this had happened. You see, the Jewish people had this assumption that — when God’s Messiah came — all Jews would recognize him, believe in him, and definitely not reject him. They lived with an assumption where — to be Jewish meant that you’d receive God’s Messiah when he appeared. Yet that’s not what happened. So Paul gives a lengthy three chapter response to their question.

And we’ll continue to explore Paul’s response in our passage today. If you have your Bible, please turn with me to Romans chapter eleven. We’ll be in Romans chapter eleven — beginning in verse eleven. There Paul writes…

Romans 11:11–24 (ESV)

¹¹ So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. ¹² Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! ¹³ Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. ¹⁹ Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. ²² Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. ²³ And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

The key verse of our passage — the verse the title of this sermon is based on — is verse twenty-two — where Paul writes…

Romans 11:22 (ESV)

²² Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

• Notice the kindness and harshness of God. (NET) 
• Consider the kindness and sternness of God. (NIV) 
• Notice how God is both kind and severe. (NLT) 
• Stay alert to these qualities of gentle kindness and ruthless severity that exist side by side in God. (MSG)

God’s kindness — something that — Christian or not — we expect and hope for. A simple definition of kindness is, “Showing mercy and doing good even to people who don’t deserve it or who deserve the opposite.” But his severity or harshness — well — I think the Bible says somewhere that God is love so there’s no way he can also be severe, right? Or maybe God is harsh towards really bad people — but not towards someone — I don’t know — like me.

This is the assumption that the people of Israel had begun to believe. That God would only be kind towards them and there was no possibility of them experiencing his severity. Thus Paul — who we can’t forget is Jewish — wants to make clear to his original audience — and to us — the futility in their assumption. For God is kind — a wonderful truth I hope we’ll all leave here believing — and — he is severe — a sobering truth I also hope we will all leave here believing today. But — even in this truth — that God is severe — we find mercy. For — even in Israel’s fall — there is hope. To this hope and mercy we now turn.

WHY ISRAEL FELL

Let’s return to verse eleven. There Paul writes…

Romans 11:11 (ESV)

¹¹ So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.

Did Israel stumble? Yes! Did they stumble in an irredeemable way? Not at all! 

First, no one can argue that Israel didn’t stumble. The Jewish people had God’s Messiah murdered. If that’s not stumbling then nothing is. But the Bible makes a distinction between stumbling and irredeemable stumbling. For example, the book of Psalms states…

Psalm 27:2 (NLT)

² When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.

A few psalms later we read…

Psalm 37:23–24 (NLT)

²³ The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. ²⁴ Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Evil people — according to the first psalm — stumble and fall. Godly people — according to the second psalm — stumble and yet never fall. Why? For the Lord holds them by the hand. God keeps the godly from falling. Both the godly and ungodly stumble — yet — it’s the godly who do not fall because the Lord keeps them from doing so.

Applying this biblical principle to Paul’s words in verse eleven means that Israel — as a nation — has stumbled. The Jewish people as a whole have stumbled — again — they murdered Jesus. Yet — the true Israel — the remnant as Paul has called them — those of Jewish background who did — or will — believe in Jesus — stumbled but did not fall.

Yet Paul goes even further. For he explains that God’s purpose in the nation of Israel stumbling is that — through their stumbling — through their rejection of Jesus as God’s Messiah — salvation has come to the gentiles or the nations. And don’t miss this: the salvation of the nations is meant to stir jealousy among the Jews. What does Paul mean by that? He goes on to explain this in the next verses. 

THE HOPE FOR ISRAEL

We’re in verse twelve.

Romans 11:12–15 (ESV)

¹² Now if their (Israel’s) trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! ¹³ Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

Paul says that the stumbling of the Jews means riches for the world and riches for the gentiles. And — by this — he’s saying that now — people of all nations — people of the ends of the earth — experience the benefits of salvation. 

• Reconciliation with God. 
• Peace with him. 
• Assurance. 
• Purpose. 
• Joy. 
• The hope of eternal life. And so on. 

And these benefits of salvation will be a blessing to the world — because — followers of Jesus are to be a blessing to the world. 

• We’re to be selfless in a selfish world. 
• We’re to be generous in a greedy world. 
• We’re to look out for the interests of others in a self-centered world. 
• We’re to care for the poor and vulnerable in a dog eat dog world. 
• We’re to be sexually pure in a sexually immoral world. 
• We’re to be holy in an unholy world. 
• And when Christians live as Christians have been saved, empowered, and called to live — the world benefits — this is what Paul is saying.

And — here in Paul’s day — he says that when the gentiles live in this way it will not only be a blessing to the world — but will make Israel jealous. For the Jews will see God’s blessing, favor, kindness, and mercy clearly being upon people who they don’t think deserve it. And Paul hopes this will stir in the Jews a jealousy that leads to faith in Jesus.

Now — how does something like this apply to us today? In this way: How are we displaying the benefits of salvation to the world? To our community? To our co-workers and spouses and children and classmates and friends? 

How are you — if you believe in Jesus — showing others the riches of salvation in your life that’s a blessing to them? Those benefits I mentioned earlier are so distinct from the world in which we live: selfless, generous, looking out for the interests of others, caring for the poor and vulnerable, being sexually pure, and living holy lives. 

Not picking and choosing from this list — which isn’t exhaustive, by the way — but living the “saved by grace” life. The “I’ve been blessed with the mercy of God” life. The “I’m loved by the One who created everyone and everything, have been called by him out of the darkness of spiritual death and into the eternal light of his glorious presence and now live accordingly” kind of life. The “I was blind but now I see. I was lost but now I’m found” kind of life.

“Well, Josh. That sounds like an impossible life to live.” Jesus’s disciples said a similar thing to him once. They said, “Who then can be saved?”

Matthew 19:26 (ESV)

²⁶ But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

With God all things are possible — including living the saved life. But only “with God” is this kind of living possible. Without him — Jesus says — it’s impossible. That’s what Israel failed to understand. They tried to live a life pleasing to God without him. For — in rejecting Jesus — they rejected the One whose name means “God with us.” And many follow in their steps of eternal futility today — trying to live a life pleasing to God without Jesus. And that’s impossible.

But don’t miss the other half of Jesus’ response to his disciples: With God all things are possible. With Jesus you can be selfless. With Jesus you can be generous. With him you can look out for the interests of others. With him you can care for the poor and vulnerable. With him you can be sexually pure. With him you can live a holy life.

With Jesus you can give up that bitter attitude. With Jesus you can put to death that addiction. With Jesus you can have joy. With Jesus you can forgive those who’ve sinned against you. With Jesus you can do everything that God asks of you and commands you to do in his Word and repent when you don’t. Man what hope we have — we who’ve experienced God’s kindness — what hope we have who have God with and always present with us.

THE ROOT AND THE BRANCHES

And — to keep us all humble — to keep us from thinking highly of ourselves — Paul emphasizes that it’s because of our connection to Jesus that we have this hope. In verse sixteen he writes…

Romans 11:16–24 (ESV)

¹⁶ If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. ¹⁹ Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. ²² Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. ²³ And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

Now there’s a lot to unpack in these final verses of our passage.

So — first — know that the holy root leads to holy branches. Jesus is the root of the olive tree. And only those who are grafted to him — using Paul’s olive tree illustration — are those who are holy — for Jesus is the Holy One of God. We — Christians and not — have no holiness in and of ourselves. To be holy means to be without sin — to be pure. We’ve all sinned — Paul said back in chapter three — thus we’re all unholy. Thus all — and only those — who are united to Christ are those who are holy.

Second — and related to point one — gentiles now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree. Gentiles — non-Jews — have been grafted into the tree and are connected to the root. Which means ethnicity plays no part in an individual’s holiness. Gender plays no part. Your intellect plays no part. All of the ways we divide ourselves up into groups — the perceived good guys and bad guys — none of that matters. The only thing that matters is being united to Christ by faith. 

Which means — third — there’s no room for pride or boasting. Paul tells us to remember that we don’t support the root — the root supports us. We don’t support Jesus — Jesus supports us. And those who need to be supported have no reason to boast about themselves. You don’t go to Valvoline to get your oil changed and then brag about getting your oil changed. “Man, I pulled into their garage like a pro! I mean — they did point to the left and the right a bunch of times so my tires didn’t drive into the hole — but man I’m awesome — my oil is changed!”

Fourth, we’re to stand fast by faith — because — where our focus is — so shall we put our faith. What is your life fixed on? For the joy set before him — Jesus endured the cross. And — in response — we’re told to…

Hebrews 12:3 (ESV)

³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Our enduring comes from our considering all that Jesus endured — by keeping our eyes fixed on him. And the means to fix our eyes on Jesus that God has graciously — and in his kindness — given to us — is his Word — the Bible. I know, I know — “Here goes Josh again with reading our Bibles.” Read it. Meditate on it. Memorize it. Study it. Discuss it. For in it you discover who Jesus is, what he’s done, and what he’s promised to those who follow him. So — yes — I’m the Bible guy — for this book is how we fix our eyes on the One who loves us in a world that’s constantly trying to distract us from his love.

And — Paul is clear — what makes a person right with God is not our power — not what we’re able to do in our own strength — what makes us right with God is his kindness to us. Earlier Paul calls this God’s mercy. In other places he calls it God’s grace. Regardless — all of it is unearned favor and blessing from God. God’s kindness is never earned. His mercy is never deserved. Grace isn’t opposed to effort — but it is opposed to earning. Thus — when someone experiences God’s grace, kindness, and mercy — all which are undeserved — they will begin to live differently. As we read throughout the New Testament…

They put to death the sinful desires of their flesh. (Col. 3:5)

They live according to the desires of the Spirit — not of the flesh. (Gal. 5:16-26)

They discipline their desires and keep them under control (1 Cor. 9:27)

They consider the interests of others and not just their own (Phil. 2:4)

They rejoice always and pray constantly (1 Thess. 5:16-17)

They control their words (Eph. 5:4; James 3:1-12)

They love their wives as Christ loved the church and submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ (Eph 5:22-33)

They live in a way that requires great effort on their part — as they live by the power of the Holy Spirit and under the authority of the Word of God — not going through life on auto-pilot — Instagramming, Facebooking, and TikToking away their lives while saying they don’t have time to read their Bible. For they believe that God is both kind and severe — and his severity keeps them sober-minded. For remembering his severity fuels their discipline. Reflecting on his harshness is like a guardrail that keeps them from veering off into the abyss of being cut off from Jesus. Only someone full of themselves — what the Bible calls pride — would respond any other way to God’s harshness or kindness. 

And now — fifth — we come to the key verse of our passage — where Paul writes…

Romans 11:22 (ESV)

²² Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

After mentioning both God’s kindness and severity — Paul emphasizes God’s kindness — and adds, “Provided you continue in his kindness” mentioning nothing of God’s severity. Meaning — there’s no, “Provided they continue in his severity.” Which tells us the goal of God’s severity in the life of the follower of Jesus: God’s severity — his harshness — his wrath — his just judgment which will come to those who rebel against him — is meant to keep God’s people in his kindness. For — when we don’t ignore God’s harshness — when we don’t theologize away his wrath — instead — those who’ve been spiritually awakened by the grace and mercy of God flee from his severity. That’s what we did when we first experienced God’s mercy in awakening us from our spiritual death. We saw that we were children of wrath, living under the just judgment of God — and — having been awakened we ran to his kindness, grace, and mercy. We ran towards his open loving arms. We drew near to him because he first drew near to us.

Finally, there is hope for Israel. If God does not keep his promise to Israel then none of his promises can be trusted — that’s the point Paul’s been making. Yet Paul’s point is that God has kept his promise to Israel which means we can trust all of his promises to us. Thus — when God’s saving people from all nations is complete — the hardening of Israel will come to an end. Jesus alludes to this in Matthew’s gospel.

Matthew 24:3–14 (ESV)

³ As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. ⁹ “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. ¹² And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world — the gentiles will call on the name of the Lord and believe in him because they hear the gospel proclaimed by those who are sent out — and when the last person ordained to believe in Jesus does so — the end will come. The hardening of Israel will be over. And Jesus will return.

A few verses later Jesus says…

Matthew 24:22–31 (NLT)

²² In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones. ²³ “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. ²⁵ See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. ²⁶ “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! ²⁷ For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. ²⁸ Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near. ²⁹ “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world — from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

And he concludes with…

Matthew 24:36–51 (NLT)

³⁶ “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. ³⁷ “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. ³⁸ In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. ³⁹ People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. ⁴⁰ “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. ⁴² “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected. ⁴⁵ “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. ⁴⁶ If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. ⁴⁷ I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. ⁴⁸ But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? ⁵⁰ The master will return unannounced and unexpected, ⁵¹ and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Now I know — I know — here we are again — who wants to talk about a judging, severe and harsh God. “Josh, don’t you know people stopped talking about God’s wrath, and judgment, and harshness decades ago?” I appreciate what one theologian said about such things: “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through…a Christ without a cross.” When we reject the wrath of God, we also reject the sin of man, which means there’s no reason for Christ to die on the cross — which is not Christianity regardless of what it’s called.

Yes — God’s wrath and judgment are uncomfortable topics and stir fear inside of us. But think of the alternative: what happens if there is no wrath and judgment of God? Then everything is permitted, right? If there’s no eternal judgment — no eternal wrath — or as the godless world says “survival of the fittest” — then there’s no justification for human rights. How can you say anything is wrong and that the guilty should be punished and then dismiss God’s right to do the same? Does justice really end with us? You know it can’t. For who wants the unrepentant, shows no remorse — rapist, or child molester, or war criminal — fill in the blank with who you think is a really bad person — to go unpunished?

Yet — at the same time — do you want the repentant, remorseful, have put their hope in Christ — rapist, child molester, war criminal — fill in the blank with who you think is a really bad person — to receive God’s kindness? Remember — we’re told to note the kindness and harshness of God. Not one or the other — but both.

CONCLUSION

So — keep watch! For you don’t know what day Jesus is coming. Don’t live as if today you can ignore what Jesus has commanded because you’ll have tomorrow — or some day in the future — to straighten things out. Respond to his kindness to you today — for he is being kind to you. You’re alive, he’s being patient with you, he’s endured your sin, he’s giving you time to repent, and he still holds out his hand of mercy and forgiveness to you. Respond to his kindness today. 

Or — I should say — you are responding to his kindness. Either in gratefulness or presumption. Either in gratitude or in arrogance. How are you responding to God’s kindness to you? May you take note of his kindness to you and respond to his kindness with faith in Jesus — the kind and merciful Savior. May we each count God’s kindness towards us as a gift every day of our life. Think of your sins, think of your flaws, think of your selfishness and then marvel at God’s kindness and mercy towards you. And thank him for his mercy. Praise him for his grace. Worship him because he is kind. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, you are kind and you are severe. And we thank you that you are both. Your severity is what we all deserve — for you are just and we have disobeyed your commands. Yet your mercy is what many experience because you are kind — not counting our sins against us — but crediting Christ’s sacrifice as the payment for our sins.

Spirit of God, give us eyes that see things as you see them. Often we mistake your kindness for your severity. That loved one who suddenly died — a seeming harshness — you knew was an act of kindness as you spared them and us the misery of an incurable cancer. Or something that looks like your kindness — an unexpected large sum of money — can often be the means by which we experience your judgment — for how many are ruined by their love of money? We’re incapable on our own to discern such matters and we’ll all be better off if we just admit how often we inaccurately interpret events as your kindness or harshness. Instead, help us to trust that all things in our lives are being used by you for our good. The kind things and the harsh things. For — when we believe that it all is being used for our good — we will endure with hope.

And — Jesus — you not only endured the harshness of your fellow man — who killed you on the cross — but you experienced your Heavenly Father’s severity when he received your sacrifice as an offering for our sin. You experienced the just punishment that all who put their faith in you deserve. We fool ourselves into thinking we’ve begun to fathom the depth of the misery you experienced or the love that you displayed on the cross.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — help us all — Christian or not — right now — to take note of your kindness and severity. And may they both turn us to you and be the means by which we trust in you for our hope, life, joy, and peace. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May you go taking note of the kindness and severity of God — and may they draw you closer to him. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

‌‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 9:30-10:4 (ESV)

DATE: 11-24-24

It’s good to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And — if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — are joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

After a three week break we’re returning to our series in Romans. And we’re in the middle of Paul’s answer as to why so many Jews — even though they were God’s chosen people — why did so many of them reject Jesus as the promised Messiah? And — in answering this question — Paul showed us that their rejection of Jesus was not because God’s Word had failed. For the promises to the Jewish people — according to Paul — had been promises given to the true Israelites — not to all who were ethnically Jews — they were promises given to a chosen remnant among the Jews. 

Paul then goes on to defend God’s sovereignty in choosing some to be part of this remnant — what he calls the children of the promise. For God chose Isaac — not Ishmael. He chose Jacob — not Esau. He chose the enslaved Israelites — not Pharaoh. God — in his sovereignty — chooses those whom he will save to be his people.

‌Which leads Paul to respond to our next question: Does this mean that God is unfair? Does the fact that God chooses some — and not all — to be children of his promise of salvation — does God choosing some — and not all — make him out to be unfair? “Absolutely not” according to Paul.

‌To which Paul — knowing what our next question will be — makes it clear that — though God chooses those who will be children of the promise — those not chosen are still responsible for their sin and rebellion. Paul’s pushing against an idea that’s common among us. The idea where we think that God — if he’s going to be merciful towards some people — is required to be merciful towards all people. So Paul makes it clear that God isn’t required to be merciful towards any of us — for we’ve all sinned and fallen short of his glory — therefore we all deserve his judgment. And — if we want to talk about fairness — us all experiencing God’s judgment would be the only fair option. 

Thus — what should astound us isn’t that some are judged by God because of their sin — instead — we should be amazed by God being merciful towards anyone. Yet — God being merciful towards some and not all — often doesn’t sit well with us — even those of us who have a high view of Scripture. Yet our being disturbed by God’s sovereign mercy is due more to secular thinking than what we read in God’s Word. For secular thinking tells us that we’re the final judge of how things should be. So we switch roles and play judge of God — questioning him for being merciful only towards some — as if his mercy is something we all deserve.

‌And — yet — and please don’t miss this — though none deserve mercy — God’s mercy is something that many do experience. Again — can we marvel at how amazing it is that any of us experience God’s mercy? And that — as Paul’s told us — the reason that any of us do is because God — though sinned against by us who he created to glorify him by living in obedience to his Word — and though it would be right for him to only dispense his judgment upon all of us — instead — God has said to his chosen people, “You are my beloved. Yes — you — though you don’t deserve it — you will be called my people.” 

For here is our humbling and sobering reality: If God did not keep for himself a remnant — none of us would be saved. 

‌Which leads us to our verses for today — where Paul now turns to the responsibility of those who reject Jesus. We’ll be in Romans chapter nine — beginning in verse thirty and reading through verse four of chapter ten. We’re in Romans chapter nine — picking up Paul’s thought in verse thirty — where he writes…

‌Romans 9:30–10:4 (ESV)

‌³⁰ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹ Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. ² For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³ For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

A FUTILE PURSUIT

As you may have noticed earlier — I’ve titled this sermon: When passions and achievements aren’t enough. This title is based on two ways we can pursue being made right with God as found in our verses. Now I know not everyone is concerned about their relationship with God — but ultimately — most people instinctively — or naturally — operate under a default pursuit — where they’re trying to be right with God in a way that’s futile. 

We find this in people who want nothing to do with religion — but claim to be spiritual. They’re pursuing a relationship with God based on their own wisdom or folly — intuition or self-deception — or maybe worst of all — because some celebrity or influencer — who knows nothing about the things of God — has led them down a path of ignorance.

‌But this isn’t just an outside the church problem — even those who are active in a local church can pursue trying to be right with God in a way that’s futile. This is what Paul says the Jewish people in his day were doing when he writes…

‌Romans 9:31–10:3 (ESV)

‌³¹ Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹ Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. ² For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³ For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

‌I want you to notice what Paul says about the Jewish people’s pursuit of righteousness. Now — this wasn’t the case for every individual Jew — but this was the case for the Jews who rejected Jesus. Paul says they pursued righteousness — they tried to be right with God — through the law and their works — and not through faith. So they pursued righteousness — or being right and acceptable to God — by means of their own achievements. And Paul says they did so zealously and with lots of passion. And — the real kicker — Paul says — is they did all of it ignorantly. 

This is the pursuit of righteousness that is futile. This is the attempt of being made right with God that is hopeless.

‌Now — what makes this so challenging — is that we live in a culture where our value is determined by our achievements — by what we’ve accomplished and done. When we meet someone new — what’s one of the first questions we ask each other? “What do you do?” This tells us something about how we define our self-worth — and the worth of others — by our achievements.

‌When I was in the Army — your achievements determining your worth — was in your face on a regular basis. We got evaluated all of the time. Peer performance evaluations — where — say there were ten soldiers — you would rank everyone from one to ten — from who’s the best soldier in the group to who’s the worst — including yourself. Then you’d be told, “Your fellow soldiers ranked you ___ out of the ten of you.” 

Sounds fun, right? But that’s not all. Then your chain of command evaluates you. And you get an evaluation report that would say something like, “Of the ____ number of soldiers under my command — you’re number ____ in the ranking.” And this was official record stuff — meaning these documents would be taken into consideration for future promotions.

‌But it’s not just the military who dishes out this kind of “here’s what you’re worth to us based on what you do” evaluation. Think of the jobs in our country that are paid the most compared to jobs that are paid the least. Now I know this is an incredibly complex subject so — to narrow our focus — let’s take jobs that require a college degree.

‌The highest paid jobs in our country probably don’t surprise you. Being a CEO, a medical doctor, a psychiatrist, a pilot, a lawyer — no real surprises. I’m not knocking anyone who has one of these jobs — by the way — this is just an illustration. Those are the top paid jobs in our country with a college degree.

So what about the lowest paid jobs that require some kind of formal education beyond high school? And — I promise I had no idea what number one would be — but according to two separate websites — the lowest paid job is that of priest, pastor, or rabbi — folks who have a theology degree of some kind. Journalists make the lowest paid jobs list — which may explain why it’s so hard these days to figure out what’s true or not and why so much reporting seems to be more opinion than fact-based — but I digress. Paramedics make the list — that one is kind of concerning — especially when I think we’d all like to actually make it to the doctor if we’re having an emergency. And — to no one’s surprise — teachers.

‌Now — salary isn’t the only measure of how much we value what someone else does — but it’s quite telling — isn’t it — that paramedics — who most of us will never be in need of their service — are on the lowest paid list. Much less teachers and journalists or — how the rise in psychology as a means to help people sort out issues — is now one of the highest paid professions — even though their field was once reserved for pastors — a profession often called “doctors of the soul”. 

Regardless of what you think a doctor, paramedic, teacher, or pastor should make — it’s obvious — isn’t it — that our culture has an inconsistent principle in determining the value it gives people based on their achievements and what they do. Stay at home moms might even make CEO kind of salaries if things weren’t so twisted. 

And — yet — even with all of the distorted values we give each other — just like the Israelites — we think this is how our relationship with God works. And here’s what usually ends up happening.

‌In believing that what we do is what will make us right with God — we become like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. If you’re unfamiliar with the Pharisees — their greatest mistake — like any of us who believe that our achievements are what will make us right with God — their greatest mistake was that they wrote their own rules — their own playbook on how to be right with God. And — when we do this — just like them — we end up hearing Jesus say something to us like…

‌Matthew 23:23–24 (NLT)

‌²³ “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. ²⁴ Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!

‌The Pharisees had defined being right with God to include tithing — or giving ten percent — not just of their income — but even down to ten percent of the herbs that grew in their garden. And notice that Jesus doesn’t dismiss the act of tithing. What he dismisses is the idea where — obeying a religious rule over here — releases you from the obligation to obey what God has said over there. Again — the issue isn’t that they’re obeying God’s command to tithe — the issue is that they’re using their obedience of one command to be the achievement that makes them right with God — even when they’re disobeying other commands God had given them. 

‌Now — far too often — being more like the Pharisees would be a step in the right direction for some — not in being made righteous by what we do — but in making what you do align with God’s commands. Usually the rules we think that will make us right with God have little to do with his Word. But — never forget what God’s Word says about the law — the commands that we’re to obey. 

For example, the book of Psalms begins with…

‌Psalm 1 (NLT)

‌¹ Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. ² But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. ³ They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. ⁴ But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. ⁵ They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. ⁶ For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

‌God’s law — his Word and commands — how he tells us to live — is to be our delight. Not because it tells us that what we do will earn God’s favor — not because it lists the things we’re to achieve in order to be right with God — but because those who recognize what God has done for them in sending his Son — Jesus Christ — who realize that their achievements and passions will never be enough — and — instead — put all of their trust in what Jesus has accomplished on their behalf — these are the people for whom the law is no longer viewed as a means of salvation — but instead is seen as the way those loved by God — and who love him in return — are to live.

‌We know the Pharisees didn’t understand this about the law because they did what we all like to do: Instead of delighting in God’s law — we make a bunch of rules that are sure to tip the scales of the law in our favor, right?

‌We know the rules that we’re good at following — so we tell ourselves that following these rules — and only these rules that we’re good at obeying — is what makes us right with God. And these can be good, moral — even biblical — rules. Like reading our Bibles and showing up to church. Or giving money to charity or volunteering our time at a local homeless shelter. The options are nearly limitless to the kinds of rules we’ll use to say, “What I’ve achieved has made me right with God.”

• Like always voting for a certain political party — because we all know that the ballot we cast is what makes us right with God. 
• Or not watching anything above PG-13 or — if you do — make sure you squint your eyes when too much skin is shown — because we all know that squinting our eyes is what makes us right with God. 
• Or being so theologically refined that you’re ready to correct the slightest mistake anyone else says in Life Group — that definitely makes you right with God.

If you want to pray a dangerous prayer — ask God: God, how am I trying to be righteous by my achievements? What list of rules — that I’ve picked to be in my favor — am I following — convinced that my obedience will make me right with you? Or — like the Pharisees — what of your Word do I ignore because — if I didn’t — I’d clearly see how the scales are not tipped in my favor?

‌Here’s another way to think of this. 

On a bad day — a day where you miss your alarm, are late to class or work, yell at your spouse or kids or best friend on your way out the door, say a four letter word when a car swerves in front of you causing you to spill scalding hot coffee all over your shirt on your way to Life Group — on a day like that — how much does God love you? 

Compared to a day when you wake up fifteen minutes before your alarm and spend that extra fifteen minutes in prayer for every co-worker by name, and then complete your BSF study on Revelation, and as your driving your kids to school you have the sweetest time of worship because K-Love played all the right songs as if the Spirit of God chose them just for you, and while grocery shopping you pay for the groceries of the person in front of you who couldn’t find their wallet, and — in the afternoon — you hand out water bottles to the students running around your neighborhood for cross country practice — on a day like that — how much does God love you?

‌We’re so used to the conditional love of others — where we’re loved because of what we achieve. And simultaneously we’re used to — when we don’t meet someone’s expectations — they abandon us. And — because of both of these — being loved because of what we do and being abandoned when we fail to meet their expectations — we confuse God’s unconditional love as if his love for us is based on what we achieve for him.

‌And we Christians — and you don’t have to be a Christian to do this — but I’ll just pick on my people right now — we Christians can be silly when it comes to saying that following my list of religious rules is what makes a person right with God and earns his love. And I wish silly was where it ends — but we can be divisive because of our rules, proud because of our rules, unloving because of our rules, and self-deceived because of our rules. Much less the unbearable burden we carry everywhere we go because we believe that our achievements are what will make us right with God.

‌And — then add to all of this — as Paul says — how we pursue being right with God — based on our achievements — and do so with great passion and zeal. In verse two of chapter ten he writes…

‌Romans 10:2 (NLT)

‌² I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal.

‌And — passion — or enthusiasm — especially in our culture today — is viewed as the trump card — as the determining factor — for whether or not something is true, authentic, and valid. Yet — just like the Israelites in Paul’s day — passion without knowledge — is just overzealous ignorance.

‌Again — Paul says it this way.

‌Romans 10:3 (NLT)

‌³ For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.

‌And there’s a lot of ignorance going around these days — a large amount of “refusing to accept God’s way and clinging to their own way” when it comes to what makes a person right with God. Oh it’s full of passion — but that doesn’t make it any less ignorant. And I say this — not to be proud — but because passionate ignorance is eternally damnable. I don’t care how passionately you believe something — that doesn’t make what you believe to be true. And — in our day — there’s a pursuit that’s nothing more than an act of futility: Thinking that our achievements and passions will make us right with God.

A RIGHTEOUS PURSUIT

Which leads us to the counter to this pursuit of futility — meaning — get this: There is a right way to go about pursuing a relationship with God. And — given what we’ve seen — that righteousness is not to be pursued by our achievements — no matter how passionate we may pursue them — how are we to pursue being made right with God? 

Paul tells us — wasn’t that kind of him? In verse thirty he writes…

‌Romans 9:30 (ESV)

‌³⁰ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;

‌In verse thirty-three he says…

‌Romans 9:33 (ESV)

‌³³ as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

‌And in verse four — of chapter ten — he writes…

‌Romans 10:4 (ESV)

‌⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

‌The only way to pursue being right with God is by faith. Faith in who? Not in ourselves. Not in our achievements. Not in anything we do. For it’s faith in the stone — Paul says. The Rock. The One who — when believed in — means a release from the shame so many carry with them everywhere they go because of all the things they’ve failed to achieve. 

This is faith in Jesus Christ — for he is the end of the law. That’s Paul’s way of saying that Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law and achieved what none of us could do. And he did so without tipping the scales of the law in his favor. He obeyed it all — everything we read in the law — and he did so perfectly. And — that means — Jesus is right with God his Father.

‌Now back to the idea of promises and truths that should floor us and cause us to drop down to our knees in thanksgiving and wake up to the reality of the futility of making up our own set of rules and spending so much time judging others for how crappy they are at keeping our rules instead of facing how crappy we are at keeping God’s rules: All who believe in Jesus are given his righteousness. Through faith in him — God the Father credits you with the righteousness that Jesus achieved.

‌In another place Paul says it this way.

‌2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)

‌²¹ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

‌On all of the peer evals — Jesus always ends up on top — number one — and it’s not even close. And though he has every right to take what he’s earned and keep it all for himself — which is exactly what we’d all do — in fact — we’re often quick to take what we haven’t earned and keep that for ourselves to — thank you very much. But not Jesus.

‌In love for you — in love for his people — in love for the children of the promise — the remnant he’s chosen — he blesses his people with his righteousness because they believe in him. And — in being blessed with his righteousness — in being loved by him — we pursue obedience to all that he’s commanded. We work — yes! But we work because we’re loved — we’re loved — we’re loved. We pursue obedience — absolutely! But we do so — you do so and I do so — because I am loved by God. Would you say that out loud right now? Say “I am loved by God.” 

Say it again. I am loved by God.

One last time. I am loved by God.

I hope you believe what you just said. For it will change your life.

CONCLUSION

One final thought — and this takes us right back into the middle of the tension we’ve been in and where we’ll continue to be in these chapters. Paul’s explained why the Israelites — God’s chosen people — have — as a group — not every individual Jew — but overall — he’s explained why they rejected Jesus as the Messiah.

• He’s defended God’s sovereignty in his plan of salvation. There’s always been a true Israel — a remnant — within the nation of Israel.
• He’s defended God’s sovereignty in his plan of salvation for individuals. Isaac not Ishmael. Jacob not Esau.
• Paul’s defended God’s sovereignty in his choosing to be merciful towards some and not others — not based on what a person does — but is a decision solely up to God.
• And — now — in demonstrating a path of futility that many are on — of pursuing a right relationship with God based on what they do — Paul — and again here’s the messiness of all of this — Paul prays that they might be saved. 

Did you catch that? 

In verse one of chapter ten Paul says…

‌Romans 10:1 (ESV)

‌¹ Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.

‌Do you remember how Paul began this section of his letter? By demonstrating a deep love for those who are lost — for those who don’t yet believe in Jesus. And here — once again — we see his love for them. For his heart’s desire is that they may be saved. This is what he prays about — the salvation of those who are caught up in a pursuit of being made right with God based on their achievements and passions — and he prays that God would save them from their futility.

‌Which means that we too — can believe in God’s sovereignty in salvation as we love people — and desire for them to understand how to be made right with God. Not based on their achievements — no matter how passionate they may pursue them. And not based on a set of rules that they — or others — say will make them right with God. But that they would understand that the only way to be made right with God is by faith in Jesus Christ. 

Know that you are loved by God. And may his love for you ignite in you a desire to see others saved by our merciful God. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

God, this never-ending cultural treadmill — of our value being determined by what we’ve achieved — is so exhausting. So many are desperate to get off of it — but they know of no other way to live. Yet you’ve offered another way: Resting in who you say that we are — trusting in what Christ has achieved on our behalf.

‌Holy Spirit — the treadmill we’re on is going so fast that — if we’re honest — it’s scary to think of how to get off of it. Maybe we’ll go flying off the back in a mess of a crash. And at least — for now — we’re keeping up. Would you give us a confidence and trust in you so that we’re willing to crash? Not that we will crash — but may our fear of crashing be swallowed up by our trust in you.

‌And — Jesus — when we really ponder what you’ve done — especially compared to what we’ve achieved — it does seem quite ridiculous to think that somehow we’ll out perform you. Why even try — that’s the question. Not in a sense of hopeless self-defeat — but in a hope-filled sense of victory. For your works and achievements — perfect obedience — a life pleasing to your Father — a sacrifice made for our sin — the defeat of Satan, death, and Hell — is what you give to your people. Thus there’s no need to pretend that we’ve done or earned anything. What freedom — there’s no need to pretend. What sheer joy because of your love for us.

‌Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — may you draw more and more people to your love for them so they might experience the joy of what Jesus has achieved on their behalf. Life to its full. And we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May you go trusting in Christ’s work on your behalf — experiencing the freedom of God’s love for you — not because you’ve earned or deserve it — but love that he’s said is yours. Amen.

‌God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

The call to be an example to other Christians. In your speech, conduct, love, and faithfulness. In your patience, joy, teaching, and prayer. In your relationships, mercy, gentleness, and pursuit of truth. Be an example. For this is your calling.

‌‌‌SCRIPTURE: Multiple (ESV)

‌‌DATE: 11-17-24

As always it’s good to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’ve been doing something different for a few weeks. We’ve been taking time to do what Paul did in his first letter to the Corinthians. Apparently, the Corinthians had sent Paul some questions. In fact, six times Paul appears to respond to questions they’d asked him. And — over the past few weeks — you have been asking some questions and I thought it’d be good to take time to respond to them.

‌The questions you’ve been asking are — one — what does it mean to hear from God and two — what is man’s free will in light of God’s sovereignty? Two weeks ago — I answered the first question and — today — I’m answering your question about our — humanity’s — free will — which we also looked at last week.

‌In previous weeks you’ve heard me mention that I answer questions like these on our church podcast and — in fact — have answered questions on God’s sovereignty and our free will previously on the podcast. So — if you’re not a regular listener to our church podcast — you can find it on our website — gatewayepc.org — if it interests you.

‌Now — today’s sermon — is a continuation of last week’s sermon where I introduced the ideas of free will, liberty, and both the physical and spiritual effects that we’ve experienced due to sin. And — in regards to our free will and liberty — what we saw last week is that — due to sin — we didn’t lose our free will — what we lost was our liberty. Our wills are now bound to choose what our hearts desire most. And — being born with a sinful nature — we’re free to make choices — but our choices are limited to our nature. Or to say it another way — in being spiritually alive to sin and spiritually dead to God — we live accordingly — we choose to live for sin. Thus what we need is spiritual liberty — or freedom — a rescue from our enslavement to sin and a resurrection from our spiritual death.

‌I don’t have time to defend all that I just said from scripture today — you’ll need to go listen to last week’s sermon if you weren’t here to get caught up. Obviously I hope you won’t do that right now — some other time — but there was so much more that I wanted to say last week that this has become another case of what I thought would be one sermon turning into two. So think of this as part two of one really long sermon that I spared you from sitting through in one sitting last week. You’re welcome.

God’s Sovereign Mercy is Our Only Hope

So back to the idea of this liberty — this being set free — this spiritual resurrection that we all need. This is what theologians call regeneration. Others call it the new birth or being born again. And regeneration is needed because — in order to choose the things of God — we need to be set free from our sinful spiritual nature — for we’re bound to choose according to what it desires. Thus we need a radical change to our spiritual nature. 

So far — Christians — no matter their particular theology of salvation — agree. But — now — the question becomes: Does this radical change to our nature come before or after a person believes in Jesus?

‌And — know that — at this point — we’re having to infer from what Scripture teaches. Meaning there’s not an explicit verse that makes the answer to our question so clear that there’s no room to debate. Otherwise there’d be no debate among Christians. I should probably take that back — we’d probably debate it anyway.

‌Anyhoo…some Christians say this radical change to our heart’s desire comes after a person believes in Jesus. That — because a person has believed in Jesus — God gives them a new heart or a new spiritual nature. If this is you — the question you need to be prepared to answer — with Scripture — is, “How did this person choose to believe in Jesus when their spiritual nature is sinful and opposed to God?” To choose Jesus is to choose contrary to what our sinful nature desires — the nature we’re born into this world with and are enslaved to. And — it would seem impossible for people — who are enslaved to their sinful nature — and are declared spiritually dead by Paul — to choose contrary to their nature and believe in Jesus. 

But not only does this seem impossible — to choose contrary to the sinful nature we’re born into this world with — Jesus says it is impossible.

‌John 3:1–6 (NLT)

‌¹ There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. ² After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” ³ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” ⁴ “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” ⁵ Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

‌“Unless you are born again — you cannot see the Kingdom of God,” Jesus says. Being “born again” is the spiritual resurrection I’ve been talking about. Where — individuals who are spiritually dead — experience a spiritual resurrection. But did you notice how Jesus ends his statement about being born again with, “Only the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life” — meaning — we can’t born again ourselves. We can’t spiritually resurrect ourselves. And — you may agree with me — and still mean, “The Spirit gives spiritual life in response to those who believe in Jesus.” Meaning — belief comes before regeneration. To which — Jesus again — says something different.

For later in John…

‌John 6:41–51 (ESV)

‌⁴¹ the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ⁴⁶ not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

‌And here’s where things get good — for Jesus says that we do actually believe — we do make a choice — so there’s our free will in action. But he also says that no one comes to him — or believes in him — unless the Father draws him — there’s our liberty being restored. 

So — first — know that believing in Jesus is really something we do. It’s a choice a person makes. It’s a decision on our part. It’s an option we choose according to our free will.

‌And second — as I’ve already brought up — in verse forty-four Jesus says…

‌John 6:44 (ESV)

‌⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

‌This is our liberty being restored so that we can freely choose to believe in Jesus. 

Now the word draw — in the English language — has been the focus of much emotionally charged discussion among Christians. The Greek word translated as draw — where “no one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws that person to Jesus” — the Greek word is used six times in the New Testament. We don’t have time to read all of them — but here are examples that’ll show you the meaning of the word — and this is its consistent meaning among all its uses in the New Testament. Two examples are from John’s gospel — these will show us how John uses the word. 

‌John 18:10 (ESV)

‌¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

‌In case you missed it — Peter drawing his sword out — that action — is the same Greek word in the phrase, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” 

At the end of John’s gospel — some of the disciples are fishing when the resurrected Jesus appears to them and tells them to throw their net on the other side of the boat. And — when they did — they caught a massive haul of fish.

‌John 21:11 (ESV)

‌¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

‌“Hauled” is the same Greek word translated as “draw.”

‌One last example — not from John’s gospel. When Paul and Silas were in the city of Philippi — they were harassed by a girl who was demonized. Paul gets so annoyed that he eventually commands the demon to leave the girl. Now — you need to know that this girl was being exploited by folks who were using her demonic situation for financial gain — but with the demon gone — so was their source of income. And…

‌Acts 16:19 (ESV)

‌¹⁹ When her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

‌“Dragged” is the same Greek word translated as “draw” in the phrase, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” 

Now I took us on this little word study expedition so we’re all cautious to say — as some do — that “what Jesus meant by saying the ‘Father draws people to himself’ is that God woos people or tries to win them over” or something like that. 

You don’t woo a sword out of its sheath or a net full of fish over the side of a boat. And it doesn’t seem like the owners simply tried to win Paul and Silas over to get them into the marketplace, does it?

‌Can words have an exception to their general meaning and definition? Absolutely! But it’s up to those who defend the exception to make it clear why the exception is to be granted. Especially when the word is used multiple times by the same author with the same meaning in mind. And — given what we learned last week about our spiritual condition due to sin — that we’re spiritually dead, impure in our nature, defiled, enslaved to Satan, and so on — does God wooing us appear to be the kind of rescue that we need? 

Or — as an admittedly in your face question: Did the crowd crucify Jesus simply because he failed to win them over? Is that all that happened?

‌My answer is no. 

‌Being born with sinful natures — and as God’s enemy — what we need is not to be wooed or won over — what we need is a direct, certain, and — what may appear to be — a violent rescue. Like the parting of the Red Sea. Or an earthquake releasing prisoners. The resurrected Jesus showing up a blinding a guy who was making his way on a road to Damascus to arrest Christians. Plagues and the sort. 

Fulfillment of the biblical visions that describe what God will do to rescue his people: A valley of dry bones who have flesh put back on them as they’re resurrected back to life — and not just physical life — but a resurrection where the Spirit of God removes the dead, stone-like hearts of individuals and replaces them with hearts that are alive to God. It’s the authoritative command, “Lazarus, come out of the tomb” and a previously dead for four days man walks out alive. It’s the words “be still” — which calm a raging sea. The veil of the Temple being torn in two. The shout of victory, “It is finished!”

‌But it’s up to you to — not to simply agree or disagree with me  — but to do the work, the diligent study, opening God’s Word and asking his Spirit to lead, guide, direct, and refine your thoughts on what it means for sin to have entered the world causing every single man, woman, and child to experience both physical and spiritual consequences to their nature — and what this means in regards to our freedom and liberty.

But What About?

“But, Josh. What about passages that speak about us choosing God? What about passages like…”

‌Joshua 24:15 (ESV)

‌¹⁵ And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

‌Or…

‌Revelation 3:20 (ESV)

‌²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

‌Or the many other passages like these? 

It’s important to pay attention to who these words were said to. Are they to humanity — in general — or to people whom God had already rescued and chosen? “Choose this day whom you will serve” was said to the children of those who God had rescued out of slavery in Egypt. They had free will — as slaves — but they didn’t have liberty. So God rescued them and gave them liberty. 

The words from Revelation were written to a local church — a letter written to people who already believed in Jesus. They’re not perfect people — they were using their liberty to sit on the fence spiritually speaking — but these are words written primarily to people who had already been rescued from enslavement to their sin and corrupted nature.

‌Or “Brothers, what must we do” was said by a crowd who’d just witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit come upon the first followers of Jesus. It was a question in response to witnessing God at work — to which Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized.” In other places people are told to “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Belief and repentance are part of the theological doctrine known as conversion. Conversion is where we make the free choice to believe in Jesus and to repent of — or turn away from — our sin. And — again — the debate among Christians isn’t whether or not someone really believes and repents — it’s whether our conversion — our belief and repentance — precedes our regeneration — our being born again — or if conversion comes after our regeneration.

‌Now — earlier — I made the biblical case that regeneration comes before conversion. Which leads us to the question we’re ultimately trying to answer: Why does the Father draw some to Jesus and not others? Why does God save some people and not others? Why do some believe in Jesus and not others?

‌And know that we’re now on holy ground where it’s best to follow James’ advice and “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” For God’s Word tells us why some believe and why others don’t in verses that we looked at a few years ago during our time in Romans chapter eight.

‌Romans 8:29–30 (ESV)

‌²⁹ For those whom he (God) foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

‌Many take this to mean, “Those whom God knew would choose to believe in Jesus are those he predestined.” The problem with this interpretation is that the Greek word translated as “foreknew” is found five times in the New Testament. Once Peter uses the word to mean “knowledge that is known beforehand” — Luke does so once as well in the book of Acts. This is important to acknowledge because this is the definition used by those who interpret Romans 8:29 as, “Those who God knew would choose to believe in Jesus are those he predestined.” Yet Peter and Luke use the word foreknew — with the meaning of “knowledge that is known beforehand” — only when speaking of humans. And this meaning of foreknew is never used in the Bible when referring to God. Not once.

‌Instead — the two times Paul uses the word — and the one other time Peter uses it — the meaning of foreknew — in referring to God’s foreknowledge — is that of a “friendship with someone — and it implies exclusivity of choice.” An eternal friendship between God the Father and God the Son — and a relationship between God and Israel — a relationship that was God’s exclusive choice. This definition means that — Romans 8:29 — is God saying something similar to, “I’m choosing to be friends with these specific people and this is my exclusive choice.” A choice not based on knowledge of what the individuals will or won’t do in the future — for that definition of foreknowledge is only used when speaking of humanity in the Bible — not of God.

‌So be careful and allow God to speak for himself. Our role is to submit to his Word — not to reinterpret it to fit what we believe to be true or want to be true. And know that — according to Paul — predestination — or God’s choosing — is not meant to stir up great theological debates. And predestination is not meant to cause us to question if God is good or not because he doesn’t choose everyone — instead — predestination is meant to cause us to praise God. For he writes…

‌Ephesians 1:3–14 (NLT)

‌³ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. ⁴ Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. ⁵ God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. ⁶ So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. ⁷ He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. ⁸ He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹ God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. ¹⁰ And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. ¹¹ Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. ¹² God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. ¹³ And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. ¹⁴ The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

‌When’s the last time you praised God for deciding in advance — before he made the world — to choose you in Christ? When’s the last time the doctrine of predestination has led you to worshiping God? Or — maybe I should ask — has the doctrine of predestination ever caused you to praise God like Paul — regardless of how you define predestination? If it hasn’t — your doctrine — what you believe — isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do. For the purpose of our theology — what we believe about God — is to lead us to praise him.

‌And did you notice the language of God’s freedom in choosing and adopting and making a family for himself in Paul’s words? Did you notice that this doesn’t mean that God isn’t kind — but — instead — predestination is evidence of God’s kindness and grace and forgiveness? For — according to Paul — this has always been God’s plan — from eternity past — when the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit determined to rescue a people who would be set free from their enslavement to sin, who would be resurrected from spiritual death, who would be given new hearts — a new nature — who would be made holy and pure by the blood of Jesus Christ, and who would be guaranteed eternal life where they will live in the presence of their God forever. For the curse of sin will be broken because God has determined it will be broken. And the separation of God and man — lost in the garden — will be restored — for God has determined that it will be so. And people will be drawn to believe in Jesus — for the Father has determined that they will believe. And those whom God rescues will praise him forever in eternity.

CONCLUSION‌

But — until that day — why does any of this matter?

‌First — if you’re not a Christian — you may have heard quite a bit that you disagree with over the past two weeks — about our freedom, our liberty, our nature, and so on. Know that — for the Christian — God’s Word is our final authority on these issues. You can disagree with us — but know that our submission to God’s Word is why we — those who follow Jesus — have certain beliefs about our nature as human beings. To throw in a controversial subject at the end of a short series of sermons on controversial subjects — it’s why we believe being male or female is bound to our physical nature and that we’re not free to choose whether we’re male or female. For — we submit to God’s Word which tells us that we’re bound by our physical nature — that we don’t have the liberty to choose if we’re male or female — even though we have free will. 

Have the effects of sin caused serious disruptions to our physical nature — even in regards to sexuality and gender? Absolutely! This is why we acknowledge that — for some — there’s a misalignment between their physical body and the way they view themselves. Yet — we’re still bound by our physical nature — free to be men if men and women if women — but not free to choose whether we’re male or female. Again — if you’re not a Christian — I understand why you may disagree with me — and even do so with much passion. But I hope you also understand why I — and other Christians — believe what we do about our physical nature.

‌And — if you’re a Christian and quick to say “yes and amen” to what I just said about us being bound to our physical nature — I should probably apologize to you — because I set you up if you’ve disagreed with what I’ve said about us being bound to our spiritual nature. For it’s hard to argue that our physical nature is bound — that a person does not have the freedom to choose contrary to their physical nature — if we deny that our spiritual nature is not also bound — and that we’re unable to choose contrary to it as well. For the fall has affected all of who we are — both physically and spiritually.  

And — though we’re free to choose according to our nature — whether physical or spiritual — we’re not at liberty to choose contrary to what our heart desires most. And — those who’ve not had their heart of stone replaced with a heart of flesh — by the Spirit of God — are bound to follow what their spiritually dead heart desires. So watch giving the advice to follow your heart to people. For — if their heart has not been made alive to God — following their heart will lead to their eternal destruction.

‌Why does this matter? Second — for those of us who are Christians — we’ve seen a reason for us to share the gospel with confidence. For it is the Spirit of God who gives life — not us. We’re just the vessels he uses to proclaim his Good News. And it’s through hearing the gospel proclaimed that the Spirit resurrects spiritually dead hearts. And — as we saw last week — God uses people who have faith — to bring their friends to Jesus. And — through your faith in Jesus — God will draw others to believe in his Son. 

So — with confidence — for God is on our side — we proclaim the news that God saves sinners. And when asked, “What do I do?” We respond with, “Repent and be baptized — and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” And we do so trusting that God is faithful and his life-giving Word will not return empty-handed.

‌Third, we must remember that our sin is what got us into this mess — and we can’t get ourselves out of it. So let’s find joy and satisfaction in God’s plan of rescue — for he’s done for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. Praise — as Paul shows us — is the response to God’s plan of salvation — praising our God from whom all blessings flow — including the blessing of salvation.

‌And — finally — this truth should give us a deep appreciation as to why we gather together with fellow Christians to worship our God and Savior. As one pastor has said, “The whole Christian battle is a battle of the will. It is a battle to overcome a will that is by nature bent in the wrong direction…[And] we come to church so that our souls can be nurtured and be instructed in the things of God in a way that is going to change our lives.” (Sproul 235)

‌The nature we’re born with — what is natural to us — is bent in the wrong direction. The world is bent in the wrong direction. Culture isn’t leading us towards Christ — but away from him. Day in and day out we’re bombarded with ideas, concepts, thoughts, philosophies, religions, and so on that are bent in the wrong direction. So we gather together — with God’s people — to hear from God — as his Word is preached — and to praise him for redirecting our lives back towards him — the One who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing — including being recipients of his sovereign mercy. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we confess that the journey we’ve been on the past few weeks has been one that challenges what we naturally think and believe about you, ourselves, and how things work in this world. But we come before you confessing that our desire is to submit our thoughts on salvation, our freedom, and our nature — both physically and spiritually — to you and your Word. May we — your people — not reject your Word — but respond to it with praise. For we were dead — but now are alive. We were lost — but have been found. We were blind and you have caused our spiritual eyes to see. And this is not our doing — but is the work of you — our merciful God.

‌Spirit — you are the One who speaks life into dry bones. You replace dead hearts with ones that are spiritually alive. You give life to our spirit and set us free from our bondage to Satan and sin. For this we praise you and ask you to give life to even more people who’ve yet to believe in Jesus. Use us — we humbly ask — to be the means by which you speak words of life into the hearts of those who are currently following a path bent — not towards freedom — but away from it.

‌And — Jesus — you demonstrated the mercy of your Father and your great love for us when — while we were your enemies — you gave your life for us. While we hated you — you shed your blood. While our spiritually dead hearts refused to believe — because we were bound to our sinful nature — you said, “Father, these are mine. I give my life in love for them.” And now — not because we’ve earned it — but because of your mercy — we’ve been given a new nature — a spiritually alive heart that now proclaims you as our Savior and Lord.

‌Therefore Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — we praise you — along with Paul. We give thanks to you for your kindness and mercy towards us who believe — as we anticipate seeing your kindness and mercy be experienced by those who’ve yet to believe. Call people out of darkness — even now — we ask. Give them new life — new hearts — turn them from the bent path they’re on and place them on the path of righteousness that leads to everlasting life with you. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May you go knowing that God’s sovereign mercy is your only hope — and may you go praising God for all he has done for you. Amen.

‌God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

‌‌‌SCRIPTURE: multiple (ESV)

‌‌DATE: 11-10-24

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And — if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — are joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re doing something different for a few weeks. I’m taking time to do what Paul did in his first letter to the Corinthians. Apparently, the Corinthians had sent Paul some questions. In fact, six times Paul appears to respond to questions they’d sent to him. And — over the past few weeks — you’ve been asking some questions and I thought it’d be good to take time to respond to them.

The questions you’ve been asking are: What does it mean to hear from God and what is man’s free will in light of God’s sovereignty? Last week — I answered the first question and — today — I’m answering your question about our — humanity’s — free will — which we’ll also look at again next week.

Usually I answer questions like these on our church podcast — in fact we’ve answered questions on God’s sovereignty and our free will previously on the podcast — but I know not everyone listens to the podcast. And the episodes — plural — on this topic are over an hour long — and who’s got time for that? 

But — first — some reminders. When we returned to Romans — back in September — you may recall me saying that “resting in and receiving great big promises and truths from God are going to be what we’re to do. I know we American Christians love stuff to do — but in Romans chapters nine through eleven — there aren’t many commands. In fact there are only three — which we won’t come to until chapter eleven.” And — even with this warning — it only took four sermons on God’s sovereignty for us to start asking, “But what about what we do?”

Now — without dismissing your question — I am taking time to answer it today — I want us to consider something: If I preached four weeks on stuff we’re to do — commands we’re to obey — topics like steps to a happier marriage — or how to raise your kids in today’s culture — or who to date — or whatever — after four weeks of sermons on what we’re to do — how many of us would be raising our hand to ask, “Hey Josh. What about God’s sovereignty?” Very few — if any of us. And that should tell us something about ourselves: How us-centric we all are.

Yet the central point of everything — according to the Bible — is God — not us. And I’m saying this to myself as much as to any of you. Because it’s easy for me to read the Bible as if it’s me-centric instead of God-centric. May God — in his mercy — forgive me — and us — for such thoughts.

My second reminder is that — if you missed Justin’s sermon last Sunday evening — I want to encourage you to give it a listen as his sermon — based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism — covered the providence of God. A topic related to the question we’re looking at today.

What Do We Mean By Free Will?

‌Now to begin answering your question — what is man’s free will in light of God’s sovereignty — we have to take a step back and ask, “What do we mean by free will?” If you do listen to our podcast — you may remember that — around the time we returned to Romans — we returned to our podcast series on the Westminster Confession of Faith. One episode covered chapter nine of the confession — which covers the topic of free will. And — on the podcast — I’ve been quoting quite a bit from RC Sproul’s book Truths We Confess.

On the topic of free will, Sproul writes, “If there is any place where secular humanism has undermined a biblical view of human nature, it’s with respect to the idea of free will. The prevailing view of free will in the secular culture is that human beings are able to make choices without being encumbered by sin.” (Sproul 232)

So — one view of humanity’s freedom — is that human beings are able to make choices without being encumbered — or hindered or limited or constrained — by sin. That’s the secular humanist’s view of free will. This view of humanity’s free will is why many today say that men can be women and women can be men and so on. For — with sin out of the equation — gender is simply a choice a person can make because of free will. 

Let me say that again. According to secular humanism — our choices cannot be hindered or limited or constrained by anything — even sin — otherwise — we’re not really free.

Now — if you’re not a Christian — I’m going to suppose this is the definition of free will that you agree with — even if you’re not sure about men becoming women and such. And — what I hope you’ll take away from the rest of this sermon — is an understanding as to why Christians believe differently about the nature of our will.

Which leads to two ideas for those of us who do believe in Jesus. First, though this isn’t a sermon specifically on predestination — predestination is often brought up in this kind of discussion. And something important to note is that predestination is a word in the Bible. It occurs six times explicitly — not to mention related words like destined, election, and chosen — where God is doing the action. On the other hand — the word free will — in relation to humanity’s will — is not found in the Bible. 

Now — a word or phrase not being found in the Bible doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not true — the word Trinity isn’t found in the Bible — as an example — but it’s true. However — when forming our theology — we should take what the Bible explicitly says and use that to interpret what it doesn’t explicitly say. 

So — in this case — the Bible’s use of predestination should interpret what we mean by our free will and not what we believe about free will to interpret the Bible’s use of predestination. See last week’s sermon on the Bible being our final authority on all things.

Enough about that — on to number two. Jonathan Edwards — who many believe to be America’s greatest theologian — said, “Free will is freedom to choose what we want — the ability to choose according to our own inclinations. Not only are we able to choose according to our strongest inclinations, but, in a very real sense, we must choose according to our strongest inclination in order to be free.” (Sproul 233)

Why do I bring up this quote? Because Edwards distinguishes for us the difference between our free will — with sin in the equation — compared to secular humanism’s definition of free will. 

And his quote brings up a distinction that theologians have made between free will and our liberty — a distinction that’s been made for centuries — though today the two ideas are viewed as synonymous. For instance, Augustine — who lived in the fourth and fifth century — said that — after Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden — we maintained our free will but lost our liberty. 

So what’s the difference between our free will and our liberty? Free will is about our ability to make choices. Liberty is about what options we have to choose from. For example, if you go to Chick-Fil-A — you have the freedom to choose — so this is free will — anything on the menu. You can go with a spicy chicken sandwich or a twelve count nugget meal. But you don’t have the liberty to choose a hamburger. You have free will — you do make a choice — but your liberty is limited — no hamburger! 

Now — no illustration is perfect — someone might have just thought, “If I want a burger, I won’t go to Chick-Fil-A.” That’s the limitation of the illustration. A more accurate illustration would be, “There are no cows.” Now your liberty to have a burger is gone though you have the freedom to choose what you want to eat.

Everyone following the difference between free will and liberty? Great!

Our Nature

‌Now — we have to talk about our nature — meaning our condition due to sin entering the world. What happened to us when Adam and Eve disobeyed God? We’ll mainly talk about our spiritual condition — but know that I’m going to bring up our physical nature — or condition —  as well. So let’s dive in. 

When God created Adam and Eve — he declared that — along with all of creation — they were very good. They were sinless, innocent, they had free will and liberty.

Now — as you may know — God put a tree in the Garden that they were not to eat from. The choice was theirs to make — a free choice. Yet God gave them a warning — which hints at what will happen to their nature if they disobey him.

Genesis 2:17 (ESV)

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

Adam and Eve were given the choice — and they had the liberty to choose whether or not to obey God’s command. This is so important I’ll say it again. 

Adam and Eve were created with both the freedom and the liberty to choose good or evil — they could obey God or disobey him. Their obedience would be a sign of their love for him — their trust in him — their belief that he knows best and only commands what is good — and that — as Jonathan Edwards said — that “God was their heart’s inclination and strongest desire.” 

But — if you’ve never read the Bible — spoiler alert — in Genesis chapter three they eat from the tree and rebel against God — showing that they gave themselves over to another — stronger — desire of their heart.

So what happened to Adam and Eve — and to all of us — when they chose to rebel against God in the Garden? For starters, death became our enemy — just as God warned that it would. For Adam and Eve — and the rest of humanity — because we’re their offspring — got kicked out of the Garden and cannot eat from the tree of life. 

Listen carefully: We lost our liberty to eat from the tree of life — it’s not an option. So we age. We get sick. We get all wrinkly. We get cancer. We die.

Additionally, a war broke out between the Serpent — Satan — and humanity. Since humanity was deceived by the Serpent — a human would have to defeat the snake to set things right. That’s the hope found in God’s judgment on Satan when…

Genesis 3:14–15 (ESV)

14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

A future descendant of the woman will one day crush the head of the snake securing victory over humanity’s Enemy — which is fulfilled on the cross by Jesus Christ.

God speaks of other physical consequences due to Adam and Eve’s sin. Increased labor pains. Relational conflict. Painful work and exhausting days. And — as we’ve seen — death.

Those are some of the consequences and changes to our physical nature. But what about spiritual consequences? How did the fall of Adam and Eve change their — and our — spiritual condition? 

And — because this is spiritual — this is where disagreement lies. For it’s hard to debate the physical effects of the fall — at least among Christians — but we can’t see the spiritual effects of the fall — so we have to go to the Bible for our answer.

‌What are the spiritual consequences for Adam and Eve? For starters, they’re cast out of the Garden which also represents their relationship with God is broken. They lived in God’s dwelling place and now they’re cast out of the Garden and into the wilderness to live in separation from him. Yes — God will visit humanity — from time to time — but occasional visits from God and living continually in his presence are vastly different.

‌But something else happens to Adam and Eve and to their offspring. In the next chapter of Genesis — one of their sons murders his brother. And — before he murders his brother…

‌Genesis 4:6–7 (ESV)

‌6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

‌A sinful desire is stirring in Cain’s heart. And — remember Jonathan Edwards words — we can’t help but choose what our heart desires most. We haven’t lost the freedom to make choices — but we’re bound to choose what our heart desires most. And look at what Cain does. Even with this gracious warning from God.

‌Genesis 4:8 (ESV)

‌8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

‌Sin didn’t just affect Adam and Eve — even their sons — who were conceived outside of the Garden — are born with sinful natures. Thus Cain gives into his heart’s strongest desire and murders his brother Abel. And not just Cain. Fast forward a few centuries and…

‌Genesis 6:5 (ESV)

‌5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

‌Do you see the spiritual condition of humanity? This is not liberty. What’s being described here isn’t unhindered freedom to choose good or evil. Are they making free choices — yes — but doesn’t the spiritual condition of their heart sound more like bondage to evil than freedom from it? 

The only way to avoid this conclusion is to interpret the passage metaphorically or as an exaggeration. 

But the text doesn’t say that “some of their intentions were evil.” Or that “occasionally the people of the earth had evil thoughts.” It says that “every intention of humanity was evil all the time.” To do evil was their heart’s strongest desire and they freely chose accordingly. 

“But Josh, what about Noah?” Sin had also affected Noah and his family. They were just as corrupted by sin as those who drowned in the flood. Yes he’s called a righteous man — but don’t forget how quickly he got drunk as a skunk once he was back on dry land. Which should tell us something about what the Bible means when it calls someone righteous — it’s not based on what they do. You see, the flood didn’t fix humanity’s sinful nature because it wasn’t meant to. It was meant to reveal our sinful nature to us.

‌If we fast forward a few hundred years — we come to King David who — after committing sins of adultery and murder — said…

‌Psalm 51:4–5 (NLT)

‌4 Against you (God), and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. 5 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.

‌Sin has so affected our nature that — according to God’s Word — we’re born sinners. Yes — we do sin — we lie, we hate, and so on — but we do so not solely because of our environment — we do so because it’s our spiritual nature to sin — it’s what we desire to do. This is why no parent has ever had to teach their toddler to be selfish or to bite another kid — we’re all born with a sinful nature.

‌Turning to the New Testament — the apostle Paul describes our spiritual condition this way.

‌Ephesians 2:1–10 (ESV)

‌1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

‌Paul describes the spiritual nature we’re born with. 

• We’re born spiritually dead in our sins. 
• We followed — past tense — because Paul is writing to Christians — we followed the course of the world — meaning we’re born with the desire to follow all that opposes God. 
• We followed Satan — the prince of the air — and following him was our own choice. 
• We lived in the passions — or desires — of our flesh — our sinful nature. 
• And we were by nature — there’s our keyword — children of wrath — like the rest of humanity. 
• This is the spiritual condition that every single person is born into this world with — just like we’re all born with the physical condition of mortality.

And — yet — mercy is found in the words, “But God” of verse four. God — though not obligated to do so — but because he is rich in mercy and because of the great love with which he loved us — even while we were dead in our sin — even while we were his enemy — even when our heart’s desire was opposed to him — he saved us. He made us spiritually alive — and not just spiritually alive in any old way — but alive with Christ. 

Thus there is no spiritual resurrection — no spiritual life, no end to being God’s enemy, no freedom from Satan, no being a child of God — unless you’re made spiritually alive by God. There is no spiritual neutrality. It’s either spiritual death or spiritual life. Child of wrath of child of God. Enslaved to sin or set free‌. Or as Paul writes to Titus…

‌Titus 1:15 (ESV)

‌15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

The spiritual nature we’re born with is a nature that’s defiled — impure — unholy. 

So clearly something happened to our spiritual nature. For God did not create Adam and Eve with a defiled, impure, and unholy spiritual nature — their choice to sin against God made them defiled, impure, and unholy. 

And surely there’s a difference between Adam and Eve’s spiritual freedom — or liberty — in their condition of sinless purity  — and their — and our — spiritual liberty — in our condition of sinful impurity.

‌‌One last example. In explaining why some people believe the gospel message and others don’t, Paul writes…

‌1 Corinthians 2:14 (NLT)

‌14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

‌Notice the word “can’t” — it’s used twice. 

Those who aren’t spiritual — meaning they’re spiritually dead — they can’t receive the truths of the gospel from the Holy Spirit. They can’t understand it — for only those who are spiritual — who are spiritually alive — can.

‌So — it’s not that humanity doesn’t have free will — we do. It’s that our spiritual liberty has been lost. For just as physical death entered the world — due to sin — so did spiritual death. And our desires have been distorted by sin — from holy desires to unholy desires — pure desires to impure desire — godly desires to demonic desires — according to Paul. 

We’re free to make choices — but our choices will always be — because they must be — according to what our heart desires most. And — for those who are spiritually dead — their heart’s can’t desire “these truths from God’s Spirit” Paul says. “What truths Paul?” Christ and him crucified — for that’s what Paul is writing about in this section of his letter.

Now — at this point in the sermon — a light-hearted illustration may help us catch our breath. Like the Chick-Fil-A illustration — this one isn’t perfect either — but I hope you’ll see its point.

O-H. 

There are some of my Ohio State fans. I hope those at our North Main Campus and in Bucyrus played along. In case you weren’t sure if you could shout out in church — let’s try it again. 

O-H.

Now let’s do a little experiment to test your free will and liberty. Michigan fans — just sit back and enjoy the show. Though you can play along — just do the opposite of what I say. You’ll quickly catch on.

Ohio State fans — I’m not talking to you fair weather fans — I’m talking to those who bleed OSU football — I want you to choose right now — because you have a free will — choose to be a Michigan fan. Believe it or not — I’m not asking you to sin — just make the choice to be a Michigan fan. And some of you are like, “Forget free will — it ain’t worth it.”

Now for those of you still playing along — don’t just check the box — “I’m a Michigan fan — ha ha — Pastor Josh” — prove to yourself that you’re really a Michigan fan by delighting in Michigan football right now. I mean — cause your heart to stir with joy and excitement as you imagine Michigan upsetting — in a soul crushing way — all of those pathetic Ohio State fans in a couple of weeks. I mean — that’s what a true Michigan fan’s heart desires most, right? For Michigan to crush the dreams of all of those pathetic Ohio State fans on the football field. 

Alright. Experiment’s over. 

What did you learn about your heart’s desire and your ability to make choices? 

Probably that pretending to be a Michigan fan — and being an actual Michigan fan — are two very different desires of the heart, right? 

Now — if we can’t instantly switch our heart’s desire — when it comes to something simple like what college team we find delight in — why would we think we can do so in regards to what our heart spiritually desires — especially after having looked at all of the passages we’ve read today — including — “people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive” the truths about Christ and him crucified.

Again — it’s not that we’re not free to make choices — it’s that we’re free to choose what our heart desires most. And the unbeliever’s heart does not — for it cannot — desire God. Not without God first pouring out his mercy on the individual — giving them a new heart — a spiritual resurrection — and a desire for him.

The Mercy of Jesus

And this leads us to the tension that our time in Romans has created. 

• If God makes some alive — why doesn’t he make everyone alive? 
• If he sets some free — why doesn’t he set all free? 
• If he’s merciful to some — why isn’t he merciful to all. 
• We feel this tension when we talk about our spiritual condition because of sin — but let’s step back and return to our physical condition. 

In John’s gospel we catch a glimpse of God’s mercy on display as Jesus helps someone who’s experienced the physical consequences of sin.

John 5:2–17 (NLT)

² Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. ³ Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. ⁵ One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” ⁷ “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” ⁸ Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” ⁹ Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, ¹⁰ so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” ¹¹ But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” ¹² “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded. ¹³ The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. ¹⁴ But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. ¹⁶ So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. ¹⁷ But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”

Because of sin entering our world — physical conditions like blindness, deafness, paralyzation, and so on — are what some experience. People who’ve physically lost their liberty — to walk, or see, or hear, or speak. They’re able to make free choices — they still have a free will — but are bound — limited — in what they can choose because of the physical consequences of sin in our world. 

Now — this isn’t always due to sin they’ve committed — though that’s probably the case for the man in our story — but there are physical consequences for all of us living in this sin-stained world. Some just experience the pain of sin — physically — more than others of us. 

But what beauty — what mercy and power we see when Jesus approaches this man — who’s been paralyzed for thirty-eight years — and says to him, “Would you like to get well? Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

The man couldn’t approach Jesus — he was paralyzed! The man didn’t even know who Jesus was — he makes this clear when questioned by the authorities. This was Jesus’ choice — to do the work of his Father — which in this case was to be merciful to this one man.

I’m going to say that again. 

This was Jesus’ choice — to do the work of his Father — which in this case was to be merciful to this one man. But there were crowds — plural — of sick people who Jesus did not heal that day. We know this because it’s right here in the text. 

So let me ask you a question: Does the fact that Jesus doesn’t heal everyone decrease the beauty of his mercy towards this one man? Of course it doesn’t! That’s why — if you’ve ever read this story — you’re amazed by — you marvel over — Jesus’ mercy to this man. You don’t get angry at Jesus for only healing one guy — you’re amazed that he heals the man. You don’t question Jesus’ mercy for healing one guy — you marvel at his mercy in healing the man.

Now — if this is how we view Jesus’s mercy — when it comes to God reversing the physical consequences of sin — even when it’s towards one man and not something he does to all who were present and in need — why would we view God’s mercy any different when it comes to him reversing the spiritual consequences of sin — even if it’s to one person — and not to everyone who’s in need?

Yet — even the paralysis of the man fails to equate to what we’ve seen is the spiritual condition of everyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus — though it does help clue us in. For we all know — don’t we — that the paralyzed guy wasn’t going to make his way to Jesus — he couldn’t. He might’ve been able to see Jesus from a long way off — but his liberty was limited and it kept him from Jesus. On his own — this man couldn’t get to Jesus — he needed Jesus to come to him.

Yet there’s a story in Jesus’s life that involves another paralyzed man. 

Luke 5:17–26 NLT

17 One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, 19 but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” 21 But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 23 Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” 25 And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!”

Another beautifully merciful story. A man paralyzed — his liberty is bound — physically he couldn’t make his way to Jesus even if he wanted to. And — yet — what faith we see in his friends. 

And — if you’re a Christian — I hope this will fuel your hope in God’s mercy and stir in you a boldness to share your faith with those who don’t yet believe. For his friends — of their own free will — with a physical liberty that wasn’t bound like their paralyzed friend — and — we can also infer — a spiritual liberty that wasn’t bound — for we read that Jesus saw their “faith.” And they use their free will and their liberty to bring their friend to Jesus. 

And their friend experiences the mercy of God — for he’s healed physically — his physical liberty is restored. And he’s healed spiritually — for he left there praising God — his spiritual liberty is also restored. All because his friends used their free will and their liberty to bring someone they loved to Jesus.

CONCLUSION

Friends, this is why we share the gospel with confidence. 

• For our God is merciful — even when one is healed in a large crowd. 
• Our God is merciful — when we use our liberty to bring others to Jesus. 
• Our God is so merciful to us — even though our sin is what got us into this mess. 
• And — our God is so merciful to us — that Jesus — knowing we couldn’t get ourselves out of our mess — Jesus came to give his life as a sacrifice for our sins — he came to rescue us out of the mess we made. 

So let’s find joy and satisfaction in Jesus and in his Father’s mercy. For he’s set us free — he’s restored our liberty — so our heart’s desire can be satisfied in him. So our hope is in him. So our joy is in him. So every choice we make can be made out of our love and gratitude to him. 

Though we were lost — we’ve been found. Though we were once spiritually blind — our eyes have been opened and we can see. Though once bound by our sin — our liberty has been restored. What reasons we have to thank and to praise our merciful God. Let’s pray together.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we confess that the journey we’ve been on today has been challenging. Indeed your ways are not our ways — your thoughts are not our thoughts. So we submit our thoughts on our freedom and nature — both physically and spiritually — to you and your Word. May we not reject your Word — but respond to it with thanksgiving. 

Spirit — you are the One who calls us out of spiritual darkness and into your light. You replace our dead hearts with ones that are spiritually alive. You are the One who gives life to our spirits and sets us free from our bondage to Satan and sin. For this we thank you and praise you and ask you to set free more who are in bondage.

And — Jesus — to you our Savior, Redeemer, Rescuer, and Friend — in love — you died for us while we were your enemies — while we hated you — while we yelled, “Crucify him. Crucify him. Crucify him” with our spiritually dead hearts. That was who we were when bound to our sinful nature. And now — because we’ve been given a new nature — the One we crucified is now who we believe in and call our Lord. And you are who our heart’s now delight in. A radical change because our nature has been made new by your sacrifice on our behalf.

Therefore — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — we praise you like the paralyzed man whose friends brought him to Jesus. We thank you for your kindness and mercy towards us who believe as we anticipate seeing your kindness and mercy be experienced by those who will believe some day. And may that day be today for some who hear my voice — may today be the day of their salvation. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May you go knowing that God is good and that he is merciful. Amen.‌

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: Romans 9:10-18 (ESV)

‌DATE: 10-6-24

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in the book of Romans this weekend. We returned to Paul’s letter three weeks ago having made it halfway through Romans — a couple of years ago — before taking a break from it. And our goal now is to finish it. And — unlike the last two weeks — we’ll be in some new verses today. But first — a quick reminder.

After demonstrating to his readers — and us — of his love for his fellow Israelites — a love so deep that — if it were possible — Paul would’ve gladly gone to hell on their behalf in order to save his fellow countrymen. And then — having reminded us of the undeserved blessings God had bestowed upon the Jewish people — and that — even though they — as a people — had rejected God’s blessings — God’s Word did not fail — Paul will continue his explanation as to why so many of his fellow Israelites had rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah — a word that means Savior. For the Messiah was a promise to the Jewish people — and yet they — overall — rejected Jesus. They had him killed. They opposed him while he was here on earth. Not all of them — but overall — as a people — they did not receive him as the fulfillment of God’s promise.

And — remember — this is personal for Paul’s audience. Most of them were Jews and they had family members and friends who didn’t believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah. And they don’t understand how this has happened because — according to their beliefs — when the Messiah came — all Jewish people would recognize him and receive him as their Savior. And that didn’t happen. And what Paul is doing is explaining to his readers why that didn’t happen — why did so many Israelites not believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise God had made to them?

Again — keep that in mind as it’s so easy to read the Bible without taking into account what was going on and what was actually being addressed. For centuries the Jewish people assumed that all Israelites would recognize the Messiah and receive him as their Savior — and that didn’t happen. So their question is our question: Why not Paul? Why did so many Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah?

And — with that as our introduction — let’s turn to our verses for today. We’ll be in Romans chapter nine — looking at verses ten through eighteen. The verses we’ll focus on today are found in Romans chapter nine — verses ten through eighteen — but we’ll start a few verses earlier so we follow Paul’s thought. We’ll start back in verse six where — after listing out the promises and blessings God had made to the Israelites — Paul writes…

Romans 9:6–18 (ESV)

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad — in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls — ¹² she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” ¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 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 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

IS GOD UNFAIR?

Is God unfair? That’s the question we’ll be exploring today because this is inevitably the question we all must face given Paul’s answer as to why so many Jews had rejected Jesus. We won’t get to our answer until later but — for now — think of your answer to our question: Is God unfair? 

It’s an uncomfortable question, right? Or it should be. If you’re comfortable with the question because you think you’ve figured God out — and how he works — my guess is you’ve never experienced something like being with grieving parents when — after a completely healthy pregnancy — their baby unexpectedly dies during birth. Early on in ministry — there were two stillborn deaths in the same week in the church I was on staff at. And all I can remember is it didn’t feel very fair to the parents — especially for the couple who previously had multiple miscarriages and were so excited to have finally had a healthy pregnancy go full term. Two sets of parents — in one week — left to grieve while I went home to my kids.

Now — as hard as those kinds of situations are — Paul’s going to an even more unsettling place. Remember — he’s been defending God’s Word — that it cannot fail even when God’s people reject it — and their question — if you can put yourselves in Paul and his audiences’ shoes — is this: Why did so many Jewish people — who are part of God’s chosen nation — reject Jesus? And Paul’s answer — an answer inspired by the Spirit of God — is disturbing.

As Paul continues down the patriarchal history of the Israelites — he first says that ethnicity is not what makes a person a child of the promise — meaning — those who receive Jesus as the Messiah. Paul says…

Romans 9:6b (ESV)

⁶ For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,

Not every ethnic Jew was a child of the promise — even though this is exactly what they all had assumed. Though the Israelites were given promises as a nation — the promises were only for those who were children of the promise. 

For decades — here in the US — to be a US citizen was nearly synonymous with being a Christian. But never in our nation’s history has it ever been the case that every individual citizen was a true follower of Jesus. Not even all who claim to be a Christian today are true Christians. Our ethnicity, national citizenship, and self-proclaimed religious identity bear no weight on whether or not someone is actually a child of God. And this is the first blow to our pride.

Paul says not every Israelite was actually a child of the promise — the promise being referred to is God’s promise to Abraham — that he would be the father of a people who are the children of God. You see, Abraham had two sons. Ishmael — though the oldest son — was not the child of the promise. Isaac — the younger son — was the child of the promise. But — in this first example — Paul gives no reason as to why it was Isaac and not Ishmael — or why it wasn’t both boys — other than quoting from the twenty-first chapter of Genesis when God said to Abraham…

Genesis 21:12b (ESV)

¹² “for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

That’s Paul’s defense in this first example — God’s Word simply says that Isaac was the child of the promise. We can conjecture all we want about why it was Isaac and not Ishmael — but Paul doesn’t. He just quotes God’s Word.

NOT BECAUSE OF WORKS

But now — in our verses — things get both more detailed and more disturbing at the same time. We’re in verse ten.

Romans 9:10–13 (ESV)

¹⁰ And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad — in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls — ¹² she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

And — in verse sixteen — Paul says…

Romans 9:16a (ESV)

‌ So then it depends not on human will or exertion…

And now we come to the second blow to our pride in answering the question: Is God unfair? The second blow to our pride is this: Our works — what a person does — is not what makes a person a child of the promise. What we do — for either good or bad — means nothing as to whether or not someone is a child of God.

Twice in verse eleven Paul makes this clear in writing, “Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad…” and later when he says it was “not because of works…” Yet — here’s the situation: we’ve got a set of twins — Jacob and Esau. And one is a child of the promise and the other isn’t. They both have the same father Isaac and — remember — he was the child of the promise — his brother Ishmael wasn’t. But since Paul has ruled out ethnicity already — his readers — like us — are thinking, “Well, since they both have the same dad — and he’s the original child of the promise — maybe the reason why Jacob ends up being the chosen one and Esau doesn’t is because of something they did — aka — their works.”

The argument being something like, “You know — maybe God knew that Jacob was going to grow up to be a moral guy, who followed all of God’s commands, never cheated anyone, the kind of guy you’d want your daughter to marry, and so on — while he knew that Esau was going to be a real creep, cheat, scoundrel, the kind of guy you dread your daughter bringing home. Surely — right — surely the reason why Jacob’s the child of the promise and Esau isn’t is because of their decisions — their choices — their actions.”

Having said that — the biggest hiccup for most of us are the words, “‌Esau I hated.” Another Bible translation says, “Esau I rejected” — which — though somewhat softer to our ears — regardless if hated or rejected is used — the implication is, “Esau wasn’t chosen by God.” Which goes back to God’s reason for choosing Jacob and not Esau — was it based on something either of them were going to do? And Paul says, “No! Being a child of the promise — or not — has nothing to do with our works.” 

And this is incredibly unsettling for most people because we live in a works-based culture — which is nothing new. It’s where your value is based on what you do. And this is why our society is so busy, it’s why you’re so exhausted, it’s why your marriage is miserable, why you hate or love what you do, it’s why we dread aging and idolize youth — because we’re just breathing in and out this lie that “our value is based on what we do, on how we look, and on what we accomplish.” And this thinking made its way into the evangelical church decades ago — but know that this has been an enemy of the gospel since Paul’s day.

I’m going to ask you to do something that’s going to feel odd, are you ready? Question why you so easily believe that what you do is what defines you. We all struggle with this because — works-based salvation — at its core — believes that our salvation is earned and kept because of what we do. It’s the religious version of the secular definition of self-worth. The religious version is this: If I do a lot of good things today — I’m saved — but if I have a bad day — maybe I’ve lost my salvation?

Now — a little church history for you: works-based salvation was declared a heresy way back in the fifth century— the heresy is called Pelagianism after the guy who taught it. And this ugly heretical snake just won’t die. Martin Luther — of the protestant reformation — said this about works-based salvation. He called it “the most damnable and pernicious heresy.” (Ron Rhodes, 1001 Unforgettable Quotes about God, Faith, & the Bible; Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2011).

Yet when we take into consideration what God’s Word says about us, sin, and salvation — we remember statements like…

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

And we remember…

Galatians 2:16 (ESV)

¹⁶ Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Did you catch what Paul is saying? Salvation is by grace — through faith — and even the faith we have is a gift given to us by God. Faith isn’t even a work we do — because salvation isn’t a result of works. 

And then — in Galatians — Paul makes it clear that not even doing the works of the law can save you. And if doing God’s law — think of the Ten Commandments — if obedience to the Ten Commandments is not something that can save us — then what set of rules that we make up do you think can? 

And that’s all that living according to a works-based salvation is: making up your own set of rules to live by. Then we divide ourselves up into tribes who agree with our works-based view of salvation. And our group are the good guys — the saved — those on the right side of history or whatever you want to call it. And — unless you convert to my group — you’re the other, you’re the opposition, you’re the enemy. 

Maybe a somewhat gross illustration will help us understand how futile all of this is. Say you’re coming over to my house and we’re doing a breakfast for dinner deal. As you’re scooping some scrambled eggs onto your plate, I just happen to mention that a few of the eggs were rotten but — don’t worry — most of the eggs were good — just a few rotten eggs thrown in. That’d be gross and you’d be right to be disgusted with both the eggs and me for serving them to you. But imagine that I get all mad at you for being such a stickler about the eggs. 

Now — if we’re that picky about eggs — and you know that you are — why would any of us think that God looks at our works — which are tainted by our sin — and think, “What’s the big deal?” Do any of us want to worship a God who has a lower standard for what he accepts from us than we do for the quality of eggs we eat?   

Which shows us why the whole dividing people up into good guys and bad guys is both incredibly sad and ironic at the same time. Because — when it comes to good guys and bad guys — Paul’s made it clear that we’re all lumped into the same category: those who oppose God — those who don’t seek him — those who gossip and lie and steal and are greedy or — to sum things up — those who are his enemy. Which means — it should astound us that Isaac was a child of promise — same for Jacob — because neither were perfect men — they were just as imperfect as Ishmael and Esau and you and me.

BUT BECAUSE OF GOD’S MERCY

And — now — we’re getting into some really disturbing territory, right? Because — as we’ve learned — it’s not ethnicity that saves a person and makes them right with God — nor is it what we do. So being born into the right family or nation means nothing — as does all of the ways we like to compare ourselves against each other to make us feel good about how “not as rotten as those people” we are. None of this means anything in regards to our salvation and being right with God.

“So where are we going to go from here Paul?” We’ll skip his punchline for now — but in verse fifteen he writes…

Romans 9:15–18 (ESV)

¹⁵ For he (God) says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Something challenging — about reading these verses — is that we do so having quickly forgotten what Paul’s already told us: Both ethnicity and what we do mean nothing in regards to our salvation and being right with God. And — why this is so hard — is because if I was the one saying, “I’ll have mercy on whom I have mercy — and I’ll have compassion on whom I have compassion” — I can’t help but read these words through some kind of filter like, “I’ll have mercy on my kind of people” or “I’ll have compassion on people based on what they’ve done.” You see — I can’t help it — maybe you can — but I can’t help but read these words through the two lenses that Paul’s already said have no influence on a person being made right with God.

Instead — verse fifteen — is meant to be read this way — and this is God speaking: “I have mercy on whom I have mercy and I have compassion on whom I have compassion. And — in case you’re hearing me say, ‘I do so based on the group they’re part of — or because of what they’ve done’ — you are not hearing me correctly. Regardless of a person’s group — and regardless of what they have done, are doing, or will someday do — to some people I give my mercy and compassion and to others I don’t.”

What a blow to our pride. What a statement about who God is. What a statement about what it means for God to be sovereign — in control of all things. What a statement about how dependent his creation — including all of us — are upon him. 

Yet — and be honest — this stirs up inside of us and reveals a detestable disease we’re all plagued with: Our desire to be our own savior — even our own god. Yet — being a child of the promise — someone who’s made right with God — Paul says, “Depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” Or said another way…

Romans 9:16 (NLT)

¹⁶ It is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

To which Paul gives another example. We’ve looked at Isaac and Ishmael — we’ve looked at Jacob and Esau — now Paul turns our attention to Pharaoh — the great enemy of God and his people when they were slaves in Egypt. And — in defense of God’s sovereign mercy — Paul quotes Moses again. Earlier he quoted from Genesis — now he quotes from Exodus. To Pharaoh God said…

Exodus 9:16 (ESV)

¹⁶ But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Some of us are familiar with Pharaoh’s story — others may not be. His story ends with his death as the waters of the Red Sea drown him and his army while chasing after God’s people. The Israelites were shown mercy. They were rescued — not because they deserved it — not even because they would be recipients of God’s promise — for — if you know their story — you know that this group of Jews will all die in the wilderness because of their unbelief. It will be their children — not them — who experience the fulfillment of God’s promise of entering the Promised Land. 

But — back to Pharaoh: God tells Pharaoh that he has raised him up — meaning God had orchestrated the events in Pharaoh’s life to lead to this moment so that God’s power would be displayed in the rescue of his people and the judgment of their enemy.

Back to my egg illustration. Was Pharaoh a rotten egg? Absolutely! Were the Israelites all good eggs? Absolutely not! They’re rotten eggs too. Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Esau, Pharaoh, the Israelites — none are good. None are righteous. All are rotten eggs. None deserve mercy — because mercy isn’t deserved — it’s not earned — it’s given to whomever God chooses. This is what Paul says in verse eighteen when he writes…

Romans 9:18 (ESV)

¹⁸ So then he (God) has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

IS GOD UNFAIR?

Which leads us to our original question. Here’s how Paul asks it.

Romans 9:14a (ESV)

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part?

Here’s another way of asking the question.

Romans 9:14a (NLT)

¹⁴ Are we saying, then, that God was unfair?

Or how about this one.

Romans 9:14a (MSG)

¹⁴ Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair?

So what’s your answer?

Let me say something important here: I understand why you might answer with something like, “Well it sure seems like God’s unfair” — especially if you’re not a Christian. But — even if you are a follower of Jesus — I understand the tension you’re feeling. This all seems so out of our hands, doesn’t it? Completely out of our control. If what Paul’s saying is true — then there’s nothing we can do to become a child of the promise and this is really all up to the mercy of God.

And now we’re getting somewhere — getting exactly to where Paul is wanting us to get to: God’s mercy. You see, our understanding of the word unfair sets us up to be unsettled and disturbed by all of this. Even our definition of the word injustice leads us astray. You see — what Paul is asking is this: In all of this — in God choosing Isaac and not Ishmael — in God choosing Jacob and not Esau — in God choosing the enslaved Israelites and not Pharoah — in all of this — has God acted unrighteously? That’s what the words injustice and unfair in our English Bibles are implying: Has God acted unrighteously?

Which means we have to allow the word unrighteous to be our definition of injustice and unfair — so what does it mean to be unrighteous? To be unrighteous is to be sinful — it means to be unholy — to be wicked — to be evil. And what’s Paul’s response to his — and our — question?

Romans 9:14 (ESV)

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? (Is God unrighteous?) By no means!

Romans 9:14 (NLT)

¹⁴ Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? (In choosing some and not others — has God done something unholy or wicked?) Of course not!

Romans 9:14 (MSG)

¹⁴ Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair? (The fact that God is merciful towards some and not others — does that mean he’s evil?) Not so fast, please.

Which means our definition of God’s mercy is way to puny. For we all naturally lean towards defining God’s mercy to be something he owes  us — or his mercy is something a person can earn — or not earn — by what they do. Yet — what we’ve learned about God and his mercy today — is that he doesn’t owe it to anyone — it can never be earned. Which is exactly what Paul wants his Jewish readers to understand. His mercy has always been his to give to whomever he chooses.

CONCLUSION

Which leaves us with some big unanswered questions and with an assurance that no philosophy of this world can give. What’s the big unanswered questions? Why Isaac? Why Jacob? Why be merciful to the enslaved Israelites if they’re all going to die in the wilderness? Why you and not him? Why me and not her? What about my child who’s running hard away from you God? Why, why, why?

Which is why we can’t forget where Paul’s thought began. Has God’s Word failed? With all of the promises God had made to the Israelites — and yet so many of them rejected Jesus and have him killed — does this mean God’s Word can’t be trusted? And Paul’s answer is, “Absolutely not! For God’s mercy has always been his to give to whomever he chooses.” 

And this same merciful work of God continues today. Why Isaac? Why Jacob? Why me? Why you? Because God is merciful. Not because he has to be — but because he chooses to be. And it’s his choice — and — to paraphrase what Paul will say to us soon — who are we — a bunch of rotten eggs — to question the sovereign mercy of the God who does no wrong. Who are we — who are sinfully biased in our giving of mercy — to judge the One who shows no favoritism? Who are we to say that God cannot be merciful to whomever he chooses — or be compassionate to whomever he wills? Who are we to say that for him to do so is for him to be unfair? And questions like these reveal to us something quite unexpected — and that is how humbling it is to be a recipient of God’s mercy. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father, forgive us for playing judge and jury of you and your mercy. For you are the God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. (Ex 34.6) Because you are merciful — you don’t forget the covenant you’ve made with your people. (Ex 4.31) When we repent, your Word tells us that you are “gracious and merciful and that you will not turn away your face from us.” (2 Chron. 30.9) That when — like David — we cry out to you, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions” — you hear and answer our prayer. (Ps 51.1)

Holy Spirit, we ask you to wash us clean — to give us new hearts — to renew us — not because of the works we have done or will do — but to do so according to your mercy. (Titus 3:5)

And — Jesus — to you — along with so many in the Bible, we cry out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David. Have mercy on us.” (Matt 9.27) And — in response to your mercy — we agree with Paul and say “But I have received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the worst of sinners, you might display your perfect patience as an example to all who will believe in you for eternal life.” (1 Tim 1:16)

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God, we thank you for your mercy. And we ask for even more of your mercy — knowing we don’t deserve it — but we ask knowing that it is yours to give. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May God’s mercy towards you be the foundation upon which the hope of your salvation is built. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.