Transcription
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Title of today's message is God's Word never fails. God's Word never fails. Have you ever thought something? Have you ever thought something? This is kind of a DIY question. Have you ever thought something was taken care of only to find out that it wasn't? Have you ever heard so? I can think of multiple scenarios from real life that where I thought something was taken care of, but it wasn't taken care of.
And recently, we were before the tundra like cold set in in the Ozarks. Owen and I were out in the garage and we were getting things cleaned up. And it's one of those scenarios, you know, like where you feel like right after you clean your garage, you should take a picture of it and post it on Instagram because it's never gonna be that clean. At least for like four months because it's like three hours later, the garage is not what you, you know, the product of your labor is no longer visible.
So Owen had for a long time. Owen's our oldest son. He had wanted his bike hung up because we had hung my bike up and Becky's bike up to the ceiling. And so we are kind of looking for where can we hang his bike up. And because he had gotten a new bigger bike and so we were looking and we kind of used up all of our wall space. But there was a space. There was a space in between the two garage doors. And so we had one of these hooks that grabs the front tire and the bike stands up. There was no stud there. But I thought, no problem. We'll, you know, we'll get things going. You know, DIY, do-it-yourself. We, you know, so son, come here. Let me show you how this is done. Let's get the tools out and everything. And so we got everything we needed and we put it in. We put the screw in the wall and it was reinforced by an anchor. And we were feeling so good. And so we tested the bike rack and it felt, it felt very sturdy. And so Owen brought his bike over and, you know, he's just like, yeah, this is gonna be awesome. And, you know, it's the little things in life. It's the little things. A bike rack. And so he, he puts the front tire. We put it up there and we stand back to look at it. And all of a sudden, it pulls away from the wall. It pulls the wall, that part of the wall out of the wall and falls backward. And we're just, he's looking at me and I'm looking at him. And he goes, is that not good? I said, no, don't tell Mommy. We'll fix it first. So she was like, this last night, we were, I was talking through the message and she goes, what? Yeah, that happened. So it's, it's fixed. We painted it and everything. It's all good.
So but have you ever thought something was taken care of only to find out that it wasn't? And in some ways, on a much more serious level, this is the question that the Apostle Paul is confronting in Romans chapter 9, verses 6 through 18. Because as he comes to Romans 9, he is dealing with the objections, the questions of people who have heard what he said up to this point, but are wondering how that works itself out. How does this actually work? And so we're gonna pick it up in Romans chapter 9 and verse 6 as we read the passage.
But it is not as though the Word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. And not all who are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but through Isaac shall your offspring be named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise who are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son." And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet even, not yet born or had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose and election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls. She was told, "The older will serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means. For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. For 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." So then, it is he, so then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
Now, there's probably not another passage or at least chapter in the entire Bible that has been the subject of more theological inspection or exegetical speculation. There are some people who use this passage, there are many who use this passage to build, you know, they would teach on it to build a doctrinal position. Or there are some who chalk it up to what? Well, there are parts of scripture we just don't know what God is talking about. And so, you know, I talked to somebody and they said, you know what? Next to that passage, I just put a big question mark and went to the next one because I don't really know what to do with that. I don't know what Paul is saying here.
But the reality is this, that we know what we know, that the Word of God is living and active, and it is sharper than any double-edged sword. That it cuts to the heart of the issue. Paul says to Timothy that all scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in godliness. That the person who's following Jesus would be equipped for every good work. That means that there's no part of scripture that God doesn't want to use to strengthen and build your faith, to strengthen and build my faith. Even a text like this that we're like, on the surface, I don't really know what to do with that.
And so this morning, we're going to continue doing what we've been doing through the entire book of Romans, and that is going verse-by-verse to unpack what the Apostle Paul wrote under the inspiration and the authority of the Holy Spirit. And the reason he's writing these verses is that he said some amazing things in chapter 8. In chapter 8, he's given us these incredible promises. And in chapter 8, verse 28, he says this: "And we know that those who love God, for those who love God, all things work together for the good, for those who are called according to his purpose." That's an incredible thing. We looked at that just a couple of months ago. And then he goes on from there to verse 37 where he says, "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
And then last week, we looked at the beginning of Romans chapter 9, verses 1 through 5. And here's where the problem comes into play because in Romans chapter 1, verses 1 through 5, we, we looked at Paul's heart for the lost, namely for so many Jewish people, so many Israelite people who had not trusted Jesus, who have not put their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And so are separated from God. And so Paul, at the beginning of Romans 9, verse 6, he is answering the question, "What about that, Paul?" Okay, Paul, I know you made these spectacular, mind-blowing, earth-shattering, faith-building promises at the end of chapter 8. But God's chosen people aren't even experiencing those promises. At least lots of them aren't. There are a lot of people who were part, they're part of Israel, but they, they aren't walking with God. They aren't experiencing his goodness. They aren't walking in those promises. And you said nothing could separate us from the love of God, but they're separated. What do we say about that, Paul? If it didn't work for them, will it work for me? If God's promises don't seem to be effective for them, will they be effective for me? God promised that he would get me across the finish line, that ultimately I would be glorified. But will that happen? And if it will happen, why should I have assurance? Why should my faith be confident? Why should I be hope-filled about what God has in store for me as his child? How can I have confidence in his promises?
And Paul here gives us three arguments concerning why we can have confidence in the promises of God. And we're talking about those promises, he's mainly talking about what we read at the end of Romans chapter 8. And so now he begins to walk us through three arguments about our surety in God's Word. Here's why God's Word has not failed, does not fail, and will never fail. And the first is this: God's promises are for his people. God's promises, Paul said, are for his people. And you see this Paul writing this in verses 6 and 7 of chapter 9. He says, "But it is not as though the Word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel, so notice that phrase, descended from Israel, belong to Israel. And not all who are children of Abraham because they are not all who are children are and because they are his offspring."
So what's Paul doing there? He's setting up a division in our minds. What he wants us to understand is that there's this group who are physically, DNA, they're in the gene pool of the Israelites. They are physically Israeli. They are physically Jewish. They descended from the line and the nation of people, God's chosen people, Israel. But Paul says, "Not all who are descended from Israel." So not all of the physical descendants belong to Israel. In other words, what he's saying is that there are people who externally, they're part of Israel, but internally, they're not. Externally, they're part and externally, they've got the DNA, the DNA line, they're they're part of, they're in the gene pool, they're part of physically, they're part of God's people, they're part of the Jewish race. But there's something missing. There's something internally that's not going on. And that is only that internal reality is what causes certain people within the descendants to belong to Israel. It's the same as saying this: Just because you go to church doesn't make you a Christian. That's what Paul is saying. Saying, okay, just because they're part of, they've got all the physical attributes doesn't mean they have the spiritual attributes. And it's only, it's not, this isn't what qualifies you to receive the promise. This is what qualifies you to receive the promise. It's not just, God's not only concerned about the external, he's first concerned and always concerned about what's happening inside. God's concerned about the internal reality. But because we're Christians, not from the outside in, we're Christians from the inside out. You're a child of God, not from the outside in, but from the inside out. This is the point that Paul is making. It is God's people who are the recipients of his promise.
But Paul adds to this now in what he says in the rest of verses 7 through 9. It says, "And not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but through Isaac shall your offspring be named." This means that it is not the children of the flesh, children of the flesh, who are the children of God, but the children of the promise who are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son." In other words, what Abraham said, or what Paul says is, I want to build this out for you in your understanding and your mind to see how God does this. What, what makes a child of God a child of God internally? How does that happen? And so he takes us to this story about Abraham's family. And so we're gonna go there to Genesis 17, where Paul is, Paul is quoting from actually Genesis 21. We're going to back up a bit and look at Genesis 17 because what Paul is doing there, what he's doing in this passage, is he's pointing to the reality that something happens in the human heart that changes a person that makes them a child of God.
So what, just for a little context, when you come to Genesis 17, you've got two people. You've got a guy named Abraham and you've got his wife named Sarah. And Abraham and Sarah have tried to have children. They've tried and tried and tried and tried and they just can't have a baby. And so in order to further the family line, Sarah comes up with an idea and she says, "Hey, you know, it wasn't uncommon in that day for people, for for men to have more than one wife. It wasn't God's plan, it wasn't God's desire." But Sarah says, "Let's do what other people do and you, you take somebody else and we'll further the line that way." And so Abraham has a baby with a woman named Hagar. And the baby born is named Ishmael. But after Ishmael has started to grow up, all of a sudden God shows up and does a miracle. And that's where we pick it up in Genesis 17.
"And God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.' And then notice, notice how many times God says, 'I will, I will bless her. And moreover, I will give you a son by her. And I will bless her, and she shall become nations. Kings of people shall come from her.'" Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?" In other words, if this happens, it ain't gonna be natural. You know, they, that's what Abraham's thinking. There's no way I, a man, man. Now he says, "Shall Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child?" God, this is, there is no way, no how that this is gonna happen.
Which is precisely Paul's point in using this story. What he's saying is that if this baby was going to come into being, it wouldn't be a baby of the flesh. It wouldn't be just because two people decided to get together and have a baby. It would be, in the truest sense, a miracle baby. That's what. And Paul's saying, anybody who is a child of God is not only, not only has something happened in their heart, but the way something happens in their heart is that God has done a miracle. It's a miracle anytime anybody becomes part of the family of God. It's not natural, it's supernatural. God did a work in their heart.
And Paul's first argument here is that God's promises are for his people. And his people are not those who look like it on the outside. If there are people, those who have been transformed and changed on the inside. And in case where we're thinking, well, this sounds like kind of an abstract argument, theological argument about the Jewish people. The answer is, it's not. Because there are people who show up in church and they say, "Well, you know what? Because I go to church, God and I are good. Because I give in the offering, because I'm generous, because, you know what? Because I've been faithful to my wife and because I've been, I've tried to be a good husband and a good father, I try to be a good mom or and a good wife, or I try to be a good person. And just, I just try to do what's right. I try to be kind. I recycle. You know, I do, I do things. And I think because of that, God should, you know, I think when it all comes, when all shakes out in the end, God will be like, 'Yeah, you tried hard, so, you know, he'll let me in,' or that makes me right with God."
And Paul is saying, "Now, it doesn't, it doesn't matter if you're kind to animals, and you're, if you're a good husband or father. It doesn't matter if you tried really hard, or if you're really generous, or if you go to church every time the doors are open. The only way a person becomes part of the family of God is a transformation at the core of who they are. That's the only way it happens. Something internally has to change as God does a miracle in your heart and changes you from the inside out." That's how the Bible describes salvation, by the way. The Bible says, "The old is gone, the new has come. Everything is made new." The first argument Paul makes is that God's promises are for God's people, and God's people are defined by what's going on internally, not externally.
The second argument that Paul makes is that we aren't oh, the second argument is that God's promises are secured through election. God's promises are secured through election. What's the word election? We're going to get to that here in just a moment. We want to read to you first where Paul goes in this argument, starting in verse 10.
"And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 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. She was told, 'The older will serve the younger.' As it is written, 'Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.'"
Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. Here's what Paul's doing right here. He's given us the first argument, which is that God's promises aren't for his people. So you can be confident. You don't need to be destabilized. First and foremost, because if you say, "Well, man, I see all these Israelite people and they're not experiencing God's promises, so how can I be confident?" Well, you need to know first and foremost, God's promises are for his people. Secondly, Paul says, God's promises are secure through election. They're secured through election. And now he's gonna build this case for us by taking us into another story in the Old Testament, namely the story of Jacob and Esau. Because he anticipates that the Jewish reader might say, "Well, I know I've got some objections to the Ishmael-Isaac story." And so he says, "Okay, well, let's move forward. Let's talk about Esau and Jacob."
But before we look at the particulars of Paul's argument, I think I really need to deal with the line down here that some of you are looking at and going, "What? Why does it say that?" You know, like, why does it say he he loved Jacob and hated Esau? We're gonna unpack that. But first, you know, needing to know that the word "hate" there is not hate in an absolute sense. So it's not, you know, a, you know, Jesus and here's here's the perfect example. You go to Luke chapter 14, verse 26. Jesus uses this same Greek word, misayo. And look at what he says: "If anyone comes after me and does not hate misayo his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Is Jesus saying that I cannot follow him unless I hate Becky? Knowing the answer is no. And yes, how is that? What do you mean, hate? There, this word misayo, the way that Jesus is using this is not in an absolute sense, it's in a relative sense. What does that mean? It means in comparison to my love for God and my passion to follow him, every other relationship, even the closest relationships in my life, guess what they would look like? Hatred. If, if my love for God were measured, it would be so over the top, my life would be so about serving him, following him, loving him, pursuing him, that everything else by comparison would fall way, way behind. Jesus says that's the kind of love that you need. Like it's, it's love that would lay down your life. It's love that would pursue me no matter what. It's love that would follow me and put faith in me and trust me. And so what Jesus is saying is that it's a comparative. That by comparison, it would, everything else would look like hate. That's the same sense in which we read what we find in Romans chapter 9 and verse 13: "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." It's that same Greek word. In other words, God says, "I have set my special affection, I have inordinately and especially and specifically loved Jacob. I have chosen him to set my affection on him, to love him, to be in relationship with him." That's what God is saying.
Why though? I think the question that might arise out of that is, why would God do that? Why is it that God would choose Jacob and not Esau? I mean, why would God do that? We've got to go back to what Paul says here. He says in verse 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." She was told, "The older will serve the younger." Paul, he strips away some of our objections here because we could say, "Well, the reason God did that is because he knew he looked at Jacob and he said, 'Man, that guy's a peach! Like, I just love him and he's really great to hang out with him.'" But Paul says, "No, that's not it, because they hadn't done anything good or bad."
Well, it could be like, well, Esau, the trajectory of their life, and he saw that, you know, Jacob was making good decisions, Esau was making crummy decisions, and so he said, "I'm gonna pick Jacob." Paul says, "No, they weren't even born yet." Not, not born. This is pre-birth. This is pre the opportunity to do anything good or bad. He says, "It's not by works." It's not by works. Instead, he says, "in order that God's purpose of election might stand." In other words, God looks at Jacob and Esau pre-birth, knowing that they're gonna be born, and he says, "I am choosing Jacob. I'm choosing to set my love on him, my affection on him. I am choosing him."
And if you're a follower of Jesus, if you're walking with God, you might say, "So you're saying that God chooses people?" Yes. And you're saying that God, if I'm following Jesus, that God chose me? Yes. Absolutely. I am, I am saying that what Paul is saying is that God looked at you and he said, "I love that person, and I'm gonna set my affection on that person, and I want that person to walk in relationship with me, and I wanna, I want to watch them, I want to watch them fulfill my purposes and my calling and my plan for their life because I'm gonna do something in them that they could never do for themselves." That's what Paul is saying. That's what he's getting at.
And this is what theologians call the doctrine of election. And actually, we looked at this in detail when we were studying Romans chapter 8, because this shows, this is really Paul's just retreading ground that we've already tread when we were in Romans chapter 8, because he talked in Romans chapter 8, you'll remember, about the word predestination. In the Bible, predestination and election go hand in hand. The doctrine of election, as just defined by theologians, as defined by what we see in the pages of scripture, the doctrine of election is defined this way: Election is an act of God before creation in which he chose some people to be saved. And some of you are going, "Whoa, hey, okay, just hold on a second. Let's go back to the Bible. Let's go back to the Bible."
As we go to the Bible, though, you need to know this, that this is not new. Like, this isn't made up yesterday. This isn't some new teaching, new doctrine. This was taught by the early church fathers. Augustine taught it. The early church father in the earliest centuries of the church, Augustine was teaching on the doctrine of election. This was taught by all of the reformers, thinking of Luther and Calvin and Zwingli and Melanchthon. This was taught by the Bible translator, William Tyndale. It was taught by John Huss and John Knox. It was taught by the hymn writer, Isaac Watts. The first Great Awakening preacher, George Whitefield, and the first Great Awakening preacher, Jonathan Edwards. All of them taught that the Bible teaches that God chooses people to set his affection and his love and passionately to walk with them, to see them come and walk in his purpose and his power and His grace and his might, that they might be right with him.
And so where do we see this play out in scripture? Well, I said that just a moment ago, we see it in Romans chapter 8. So go to Romans chapter 8, in verse 28, and look at what Paul writes: "For we know that those who love God, for those who love God, all things work together for the good, for those who are called according to his purpose." For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. Then Paul writes in Timothy, 2nd Timothy, "Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began." He called certain people. His calling went out. His effectual calling went out before time began. He sent his affection on people. And then Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4: "Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will." That is what Paul is talking about when we get to Romans 9. This is what God has been doing before time.
And so I think this leads to some people to go, "Okay, so am I chosen? Am I chosen?" And in response to that, I would say, "If you want to know if you're chosen, call him." God says this: "I stand at the door and knock. Anyone who opens the door, I will come in." You're saying he'll come in if I, if I open the door of my heart to him? Absolutely. He will absolutely. Oh, you say, "So did I choose him, or did he choose me?" Both. How great is that? That he's working and you're saying, "Well, I don't know. Okay, I'm gonna crawl under my chair. I don't really know how to process that." This is the mysterious cooperation in scripture that we hold in tension between God's will and our will. That God is working according to the purpose and the counsel of his will, and that he is working in tandem with our will as we reach out and by foot, by faith, put our trust in him. God is at work.
Say, "Well, I did, I choose him? He choose me?" You're not gonna solve that on this side of eternity. The answer is just yes. The answer is yes. That's what Paul is saying. But Paul wants us not to get sidetracked and say, "Okay, well, if I extrapolate that out, here are all the philosophical questions I run into." Here's where you need to pause and know this, that the Bible, when it talks about election, it only talks about it in a positive sense. So we want to say, "Well, this means here's the negative side of that coin." The Bible doesn't do the negative side of the coin. The Bible only presents God's free love that chooses people before they were even born. To which I say, that's really good news. That's really, really good news. That God loves people that much that my experience of God's promises is not contingent upon me doing all the right things, for me being perfect, me earning the promises. You know what? God's promises don't fail because Israel failed, or because you fail, or because I failed. God's proud, God's promises stand according to his purpose in election. That's an amazing thing. That's an amazing thing. There's very, very, very good news.
Last, what Paul wants us to see right here, that God is doing something bigger than your mind can comprehend, bigger than you can process. And you're saying, "Well, I know you're saying that the Bible doesn't speak about it negatively, but like, there's a Pharaoh part buried in here that we haven't gotten to that yet." And we're gonna go there. We're gonna go there. But right now, it's important. This part of Paul's argument is that God's promises are secured through election according to his purpose. That everything related to your full, final salvation and your glorification is secure because of his promise and his purpose in election. To which some would say, "That's not fair. That's not fair. I don't think I don't like that." And it's not fair. You know what? Here's the good news. Paul's way out in front of you. Go to verse 14.
Verse 14: "What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part?" By no means. And here's where Paul enters into argument number three, namely that the promises of God are experienced. How are they experienced? Because of his mercy. The promises of God are experienced because of his mercy. So I want to, I want to work our way through these final verses. And here's what Paul says as he throws out this question: "Is there injustice on God's part?" We're gonna jump down to verse 17. And it says this. Paul writes, "For the scripture says." Now, I want you to stop right there. When we're when we're thinking about this, this whole train of thought, verse by verse, and the Apostle Paul, here's what Paul says: "This isn't my opinion. This isn't my theological position. This is in conjecture. I'm just gonna teach what the Bible says." So here's where all of us need to be on this. Let's just be where the Apostle Paul is. You know, it's not my opinion that matters. It's not the preacher down the street's opinion that matters. It's not the preacher on TV that matters. It's what the Bible says. What does God's Word say? If it says it, I believe it. I'm gonna walk in it. That's Paul's out. That's where I want to be on. That's where you should want to be on. I want to be fully embracing exactly what the Word of God teaches.
He says, "For scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up.'" What does it say? "I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then, "he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills." Okay, what do we, what do we do with that? Well, first, before we talk about Pharaoh, you need to understand something about this, because this is a major hang-up for some people. They're saying, "So you're telling me that God created Pharaoh just to destroy him?" And the answer to that is no. That phrase, "raised him up," it's not a phrase. This isn't a phrase about creation. This is a phrase about God sovereignly placing somebody in human history at a certain point in human history and elevating them to accomplish his purpose. How was Pharaoh elevated? He was elevated as the ruler over Egypt at a certain point in human history for God to accomplish his redemptive purpose. That's what Paul is saying.
So now let's read the rest of it. Paul says this, "that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then, "he has mercy on whom he wills, and he hardens whom ever he wills." Paul is quoting from Exodus chapter 9. And in Exodus, there's at least 10 times we're told that Pharaoh's heart is hard, hardened. And some of those times, we're told that God does it, and some we're told that Pharaoh does it. So Exodus chapter 4, Exodus chapter 4 says, "And then the Lord said to Moses, 'When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power, but I will harden his heart.'" In other words, God's doing it. God's effecting that hardening. But then when you go to Exodus chapter 8, we get a different version. It says, "But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said."
What's going on there? So here's the question: Did God harden Pharaoh's heart, or did Pharaoh harden Pharaoh's heart? Yes. The answer is both. Well, how could that be true? How can Pharaoh harden Pharaoh's heart, and God harden Pharaoh's heart? And how, if that is true, how does God affect the hardening of the heart? Did God just say, "Your heart's hard"? How does God do that? Here's what we need to understand in scripture, that there are a number of ways in which God affects the hardening of the heart. And he doesn't do it by causing objectively causing the heart to be hard. He does it by a number of things, namely, removing himself and allowing somebody to do what they're already wanting to do. Because Moses comes to Pharaoh again and again and again. He says, "Let his people go." Do what God says. And again, again, again, what is Pharaoh say? No.
So how, but you say, "Well, okay, but how is God interactive in that?" There are at least three ways in which God hardens people's hearts. How does God harden people's hearts? Number one, God can remove the restraining power of common grace. What is common grace? Common grace is the grace of God that allows for His goodness to pervade the lives of every person on this planet. There are lots of people on planet Earth who don't love Jesus, aren't walking with Jesus, aren't pursuing the things of God. And guess what? It still rains on the just and the unjust. People there are people who don't know Jesus, beautiful families, and wonderful jobs, and really nice houses, and are experiencing a lot of good things in life. Guess what? All of that, their experience of any good thing in life, it's a product of God's common grace. And anything that they're doing, anything that any person is doing that is a reflection or like seems like they're making the right decisions, it seems like they're doing the right things, that's a reflection of their experience of God's common grace. But at times, God pulls back his common grace in the lives of people to allow them to do to pursue what they're already pursuing. That's what Romans chapter 1, verse 24 says: "Therefore God gave them up." He gave them up. What did he do? He said, "Okay, you want to do that? I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna restrain you by common grace. I'm gonna let you do." "I'm gonna give you up to the lusts, the lusts of their flesh, and the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves." In other words, I'm pulling back the restraints. And that contributes to the hardening of heart.
Number two, though, how else does God harden heart? He shows his perfect righteousness through the law. In other words, when God shines the light on his perfection in the law, and he does that in front of a sinner, it can have the effect of hardening the sinner's heart. This is what Romans 8:7-8 says: "But since seizing an opportunity through the commandment, through the law, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead." There's something about the law of God and perfect righteousness and holiness of God that aggravates the human heart and causes it to harden at times. This is the second way that God hardens hearts.
The third way that God's got hardens hearts is he displaces mercy. What does that mean? Think of Jesus and the Pharisees. Jesus, you know, there's nothing more maddening in Jesus' earthly ministry to the Pharisees than when he would sit down and hang out and have a meal with tax collectors and sinners. And they were just like, "I do not get this." And guess what that produced? Why was Jesus having meals with sinners? Why was he hanging out with sinners? Because he's a God of mercy and grace. And when the Pharisee saw that, they said, "I don't like that." And their heart hardened to Jesus and to the things of God. Sometimes hearts harden because of the display of God's mercy.
But as we close, I want you to notice where Paul is taking us in these final verses. And the team can come back. Here's where Paul, here's where Paul goes. Because when you go back to verse 14, Paul says, "Is there injustice on God's part?" When you read all of this, when you think about election, does that make God unjust? Paul says, "By no means." And then look at what he says: "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I have compassion." So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. In other words, what Paul is saying to you and me this morning is this: This isn't an issue. Let's take this out of the realm of fairness and justice for just one second. Why? Why do we not want this in the realm of fairness and justice? Because if God just does what's just and God does what's fair, then all of us are headed to an eternity in hell. The Bible says in Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death." It's death. Paul says, "No, no, you don't want." Guess what? Hey, I know you're asking the justice question. I know you're asking the fairness question. You don't want justice. You want mercy. You don't want God to be fair, because if God's fair, you're in big trouble. If God's fair, I'm in big trouble, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I don't want God to be fair. I want him to be merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love. That's what I want God to be. And the good news is, God says, "That's who I am. I'm a God of mercy. I'm a God of compassion. I'm a God who's reaching out to you before you ever reach out to me. It's my kindness that leads you to repentance." That's who God is. I'm a God of mercy and compassion.