What’s the Purpose?
Many people now assume the purpose of the church and of Christ, of God, is to help the family or their marriage. Right at the heart of what is wrong with us, as sinners, is that our sense of purpose is so twisted that we take things that are good, like careers, businesses, relationships, money, sex, sports, fatherhood, family – and make it our ultimate purpose. We even use religion to support those distortions of purpose.
What’s the purpose of Romans 9? Some say it’s not about salvation. In our first lesson, “What’s It For,” we saw that’s not true. Romans 9, like the rest of Romans, is about salvation. In our last lesson, “What’s the Key?,” we see the key to unlocking Romans 9 is in the heart of the chapter (verses 14-18.)
Here, overlooking the entire chapter, in Romans 9 we find four questions answered, each showing purpose. Four purposes, in four paragraphs: first, (1) What about Israel?, their purpose; second (2) Has God’s promise failed? God’s purpose in election; third (3) Is God unjust?, the purpose for unbelievers; finally (4) Why does God still blame? His purpose for His people. If you want to know the purpose of Israel, of election, of unbelievers, and God’s people, listen:
What About Israel? (9:1-5)
Paul has been showing that people are made right with God by simply believing, not by earning it or deserving it. If that’s the case, then what about Israel? “No one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly” (Romans 2:28). Being one of God’s chosen people is a matter of your heart. You can’t inherit it just by being born into the right family. That’s why we don’t baptize infants.
Jesus is “God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” (9:5)
The King James Version mistranslates this verse, missing the affirmation of the divinity of Christ. The Jehovah Witnesses deny that Jesus is fully God. The Mormons say He’s just another god over this planet, as we all (men) can be. Here, the Bible says He is the one “God over all.” Make sure your church teaches the divinity of Christ.
Has God’s Promise Failed? (9:6-13)
People who are physically descended from Abraham, Jewish by ethnicity, but don’t believe in Christ, are not real children of Abraham. The question is, ‘Did God’s promises about Israel being blessed by God fail because they don’t believe and aren’t getting all those blessings Paul was celebrating at the end of chapter 8?’ No. Because the purpose of those promises were never for them. They aren’t Israel. They were never intended on being the people who got those promises.
Dispensationalism teaches that God has two people: an earthly and a heavenly. The promises to “Israel,” according to dispensationalists, were for the physical descendants of Jacob. We see in Romans 9 that that is not true; that God’s promises are for the true Israel, the elect, the people on whom He’s chosen to have mercy. God has only one people: the church.
“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
God’s Word succeeded. God’s promises accomplished exactly what God intended for them. God choice of Isaac, not the others, shows that descending from Abraham was not enough. When Isaac and Rebecca twin boys why were not both “children of the promise”? Some say because Esau was bad and Jacob good. But God’s selection of Jacob was before they had done anything good or bad (9:11). It wasn’t because of something in them but because of something in God: love (9:13). Why? Because God has a “purpose in election.”
Is God Unjust? (9:14-18)
The purpose of the covenants, law, worship, and promises was to have mercy. Because God is in control of who gets mercy, becoming a child of God depends on God (9:16).
What’s the Purpose of Him Not Having Mercy on Everyone?
God is glorified as powerful, by His awesome ability to harden and display His power. (17). He shows that He is not under our control, that we can push His buttons to get what we want. God’s purpose is to glorify Himself and to make children of the promise who worship Him.
Why Does God Still Blame? (9:19-29)
The question is why God condemns some people if their salvation depends on His mercy, not on their will or effort. We naturally think we can question God; put Him on trial. But we are on trial. If God – like a potter – wants to make a pot for any purpose, He can do that. Even the pots for destruction, He is patiently enduring (9:22). All is mercy this side of hell. He bears patiently with these “vessels of wrath” so we will know “the riches of His glory”.
He gives us glory and is preparing us beforehand for glory. What’s the potter’s purpose? To make a people out of all kinds of people (9:24-29.) With all the riches of glory He’s sharing with us, we won’t think to ask why does He still blame those He condemns. He has a people He has decided to have mercy on, into which He can pour His glory. So we’ll ask, “Amazing love, how can it be?!”
Covenant Reformed Baptist Church is Caswell County’s/Danville’s Reformed Church.