Coffee Shop Chapel

July 22

Romans 9:17-18, “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”

Paul has been arguing the fact of God’s election, that God chose some out of Israel to be saved, and that He chose some not to be saved (reprobation). Paul proved his point using the case of Abraham, Abraham’s son Isaac (to the exclusion of Ishmael) and Isaac’s son Jacob (to the exclusion of Esau). Paul raised the question: Is God unjust in so operating? Paul’s answer: “God forbid,” (a more up-to-date rendering of that answer would be: “No, No, a million times No”). In Romans 9:15 Paul proved his denial by quoting from the O.T. (the acknowledged authority), “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Quote from Exodus 33:19). Paul concluded that “it is not of him that willeth [man’s desire], nor of him that runneth [man’s effort], but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16).

The salvation of the elect is the positive side of God’s action. Romans 9:17-18 is the negative side of God’s action (reprobation), namely wrath and judgment. Romans 9:15 begins with the word “For:” “For he saith to Moses.” So does verse 17, “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh.” After the O.T. proof is cited, verse 18 gives a conclusion which is parallel to verse 16; “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”

On the one hand, we have God making His mercy known through saving some, like Moses, and on the other hand, God makes His power known by judging others, the example is Pharaoh.

The text takes us back to Exodus. The first six plagues on Egypt had already taken place, and God sends Moses back to Pharaoh to say that the seventh, an even more terrible plague is coming. The first six plagues had been mild, when we compare them to the last four plagues, and not because God was unable to deal more harshly. God could have destroyed Pharaoh and the Egyptians with one plague, at the beginning of the contest, but God spared Pharaoh, so that God’s full range of power might be known. Exodus 9:15-16, “ For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.”

Boice writes, “That is exactly what happened, of course. With each phase of the king’s resistance, the force of the judgments increased; and with each raising of the ante, God’s power became more visible and his powerful and sovereign name was more widely blazed forth.”

The point is that God raised Pharaoh to his high position of prominence and sustained him in it through the earlier plagues, so God might be glorified in His power. Paul’s point in quoting the text is that God both acts this way, and He is right in so doing.

In studying the doctrine of reprobation, on the one hand, we understand that God’s raising Pharaoh to this position does not mean that God made Pharaoh sin. Pharaoh sinned because he chose to sin, and he resisted God and hardened his heart because it is the nature of sinners to resist God and the nature of sin to harden hearts. But on the other hand, we cannot deny that the text also says that God chose to deal with Pharaoh this way, because He wished to show His power in judgment to the world through Pharaoh. God was under no obligation to save Pharaoh, as He saved the Israelites, and God was not unjust in choosing Pharaoh as the one in whom His justice and power would be known.

Boice summarizes this in three statements: (1) “God is not responsible for the sin of men and women, and He passes by those He has chosen not to save, after the fact of their sin rather than before.” (2) “God retains the freedom to save whom He will and judge whom He will.” (3) “In both cases His name is glorified.”

Ezekiel 28:22, “And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.”

Ezekiel 39:12-13, “And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God.”

Isaiah 49:1-3, “Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a Polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

July 23

Romans 9:17-18, “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”

Jonathan Edwards, that great Puritan preacher from the Great Awakening period, had a sermon on our text. Most Puritan sermons were in three parts: (1) exposition, (2) doctrine, and (3) application. Edwards followed this pattern, though he didn’t spend much time on exposition, treating it as his introduction. He traced Paul’s argument in chapter nine, showing that God deals with people in different ways, showing mercy to some and hardening others, and that the basis of God’s choice is nothing other than His sovereign will and pleasure.

The doctrine section has four parts:

1. What is God’s sovereignty? Edwards described God’s sovereignty as “His absolute, independent right of disposing of all creatures according to His own pleasure.” God is under no constraints from any source, under no obligation to conform to another’s will, and without any obligation to anyone for anything.

2. What God’s sovereignty in the salvation of men implies. It implies that “God can either bestow salvation on any of the children of men, or refuse it, without any prejudice to the glory of any of His attributes.” God’s saving of some does no dishonor to His holiness, majesty, justice, or truth, for He saves them through the work of Christ, whose death for sinners upholds these attributes. God’s condemnation of others does no dishonor to His righteousness, goodness, or faithfulness, because He is under no obligation to them.

3. God actually does exercise His sovereignty in men’s salvation. Edwards shows the many ways God does this: in choosing one nation or individual rather than another; in giving some great spiritual advantages not given to others; in sometimes saving the low and disadvantaged and denying salvation to the wise and great; in bestowing salvation upon some who have been particularly wicked and passing by the righteous and moral; in saving some who have sought salvation but not others who also seem to have sought it.

4. The reason for this exercise. That God might display His glory in each of His many attributes. “It is the will of God to manifest His sovereignty. And His sovereignty, like His other attributes, is manifested in the exercise of it. He glorifies His power in the exercise of His power. He glorifies His mercy in the exercise of His mercy. So He glorifies His sovereignty in the exercise of His sovereignty.”

Edwards closes the doctrinal portion of his message by quoting Romans 9:18, “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”

Next time, Lord willing, we will look at Edwards application of this text.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

July 24

Romans 9:17-18, “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”

Jonathan Edward’s application of our text:

1. We are absolutely dependent on God in this great matter of the eternal salvation of our souls. We are not only dependent on God’s wisdom and power in devising a way to save us, we are also dependent on God to actually save us. We are also dependent on His will to save us, for it is only due to the sheer good pleasure of His will that He saves anyone. Think about the following questions: (i) Why should He save human beings and not the fallen angels? (ii) Why should some people be saved and not others? (iii) Why is it that some should have the advantages of possessing the Bible, being exposed to the ordinances of religion and being able to hear fine preaching, while others have none of these things?

2. We should adore the absolute sovereignty of God with great humility. God’s divine freedom to choose some and pass by others is the very essence of the divine glory. So those He has saved, should give Him that glory. “It is impossible that we should go to excess in lowliness and reverence of that Being who may dispose of us to all eternity, as He pleases.”

3. If you are saved, you are to attribute it to sovereign grace alone and give all praise to God who alone makes you differ from another. When you hear of another’s open sin, you should think of how wicked you once were, how you provoked God by your rejection of His grace, and how He saved you in spite of your sin, according to His own good pleasure.

4. Learn how much cause you have to admire the grace of God, which has stooped to save you. The utterly, unbound, unconstrained, free and sovereign God has stooped to bind Himself to you by a covenant, expressed in solemn promises.

God insists that His sovereignty be acknowledged by us. It is absolutely necessary that we should submit to God, as our absolute sovereign and the sovereign over our souls, as the One who may have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and harden whom He will.

5. We may make use of this doctrine to guard those who seek salvation from two opposing extremes – presumption and discouragement.

“Do not presume upon the mercy of God, and so encourage yourself in sin. Many hear that God’s mercy is infinite and therefore think that, if they delay seeking salvation for the present and seek it hereafter, that God will bestow His grace upon them. But consider that, though God’s grace is sufficient, yet He is sovereign and will use His own pleasure whether to save you or not. If you put off salvation till hereafter [later], salvation will not be in your power. It will be as a sovereign God pleases, whether you shall obtain it or not. Seeing, therefore, that in this affair you are absolutely dependent on God, it is best to follow His direction in seeking it, which is to hear His voice today: ‘Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart.’”

“Beware also of discouragement. Take heed of despairing thoughts, because you are a great sinner, because you have persevered so long in sin, have backslidden, and resisted the Holy Ghost. Remember that, let your case be what it may and you ever so great a sinner, ... God can bestow mercy upon you without the least prejudice to the honor of His holiness, which you have offended, or to the honor of His majesty, which you have insulted, or of His justice, which you have made your enemy, or of His truth, or any of His attributes. Let you be what sinner you may, God can, if He pleases, greatly glorify Himself in your salvation.”

Sinners want to be told that God owes them something, or at least that their destinies are in their own hands. Boice writes, “But even if they hate and heap scorn on these doctrines, that in itself may be a beginning in the matter of their salvation. For it shows that they have at least understood the truth, though they may still be rejecting it. And they cannot accept it until they understand it.”

God is going to be glorified in your destiny one way or another, in your salvation or in your eternal damnation. But if you have begun to see that, it may be an important first step in the surrender of your own will and great pride, and the discovery of God’s mercy in Christ, which is the only thing that has ever saved anyone.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

July 25

Romans 9:19-21, “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” This is devastating truth that Jeremiah proclaimed in this verse, but the human heart is also a very resourceful thing, and it has two ways it expresses its deceitfulness, by dismissing God, or blaming God.

Dr. Boice tells the following story, “Quite a few years ago, my wife and I had a neighbor who seemed to have no interest in God. She had very little morality, was unfaithful to her husband and often boasted about it, explaining to me on one occasion how she was able to squeeze some of her affairs into her lunch hour. But then one day she discovered that her husband was having an affair, too, and she was devastated. The marriage ended in divorce. This woman came to me when she found out about her husband’s affair because I was a pastor, probably the only one she knew. She had not been thinking of God before this, but now she abruptly brought God into the picture. ‘Why is God doing this to me?’ was her question. She considered God to be terribly unfair.”

Paul deals with this type of thinking in Romans 9:19-21, as he continues to teach about the sovereignty of God in salvation. Paul argued in the first half of Romans 9 that in the matter of salvation God operates by the principles of election and reprobation. Paul answered the question, “Is God just in so operating?” Paul showed that God is just, since God owes mankind nothing. Salvation is by grace, and God rightly demonstrates all aspects of His glory, including His wrath and power, as well as His mercy and grace. But now the wicked, who cannot deny God’s sovereignty over human affairs and destinies, or His right to save some and pass over others, tries to deny his or her own responsibility in the matter.

A new question arises, “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists His will” (Romans 9:19). This is one of those questions that we often hear regarding the sovereignty of God and man’s free will. It is a question that can be answered and has been (see Jonathan Edward’s treatise on “The Freedom of the Will.”). Paul does not directly answer the question in our text, as he previously answered it.

For the blame objection to have import, the person making the objection must assume that God determines to condemn some persons without reference to what they are or do as sinners. The objection assumes that God creates some people only to damn them, to send them to hell, and that they are passive bystanders in the whole affair. But that is not what Paul has been teaching. Reprobation means “passing by” or “choosing not to save.” Those whom God passes by or chooses not to save are not innocent persons, but sinners who are rebellion against Him. God does not condemn innocent people, He only condemns sinners. Boice writes, “But God does have the right to save or not to save sinners, as He chooses.”

The question is really an objection to God’s right to do what He does, which is what we have been considering all along, and is why Paul has already answered the question.

Boice writes, “Not all commentators have seen this. J. C. O’Neill writes that ‘The objection is entirely warranted, and the reply does nothing to answer it.’ C. H. Dodd call this ‘the weakest point in the whole epistle.’ But Paul has given answers, and he knows that the objection really rises out of the rebellion of the heart against God’s sovereignty. In fact, the very question is rebellion. For the query ‘Who resists His will?’ is itself resistance. Human beings are sinners, are guilty, and they prove it even by the way they ask their questions. Therefore, Paul answers by reiterating once more that God has a right to do with His (sinful) creatures as He will.”

Verse 19 states the question, in future devotionals we will look at the following: The answer - Verse 20, and the illustration of the answer - Verse 21.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Thanks Dr. Bob.

Looks like I'm going to do the devotionals for Saturday and Sunday, as Sue has a busy weekend. She will be doing them next week as I try to juggle 40+ hours of secular work and help with Vacation Bible School in the evenings.

Dan Todd

 

July 26

Romans 9:19-21, “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

Romans 9:18 states, “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” Paul anticipates his antagonists next question, [my paraphrase from Romans 9:18-19] “If God saves whom He wishes to save, and passes over whom He wishes to pass over, then why am I to blame? I haven’t resisted God, I’m just a puppet doing what God has determined that I will do!”

The answer in verse 20 and the illustration in verse 21 provide contrasts that are intended to put the question in its proper perspective, and human beings in their proper place.

1. Man and God. Verse 20 begins with “O man” and ends with “God.” In today’s vernacular, Paul is sarcastically asking, “Just who do you think you are?” Who are we, we are mere men and women set over against God who made not only us, but all things. Boice writes, “It is ludicrous for creatures as small, ignorant, impotent, and sinful as we are to question the propriety of God’s moral acts.” Most of the time, I cannot even pretend to understand the what’s and why’s of what God is doing, either generally, or specifically. Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” We can ask God to explain what He is doing, if He will, but for us to suggest that He is wrong in what He does is unmistakably absurd.

2. What is formed and He who formed it. The first contrast between man and God stresses the insignificance of one [man] and the greatness of the Other [God]. This contrast stresses that we are mere creatures and God is the Creator. The significance of this contrast is that everything we are and have comes from Him, including [as Boice says] “our ability to ask such questions.”

Robert Haldane writes, “Any wisdom the creature possesses must have been received from the Creator; and if the Creator has the power of forming rational beings, must He not Himself be infinite in wisdom? And does it not insult the Creator to pretend to find imperfection in His proceedings?”

Charles Hodge writes, “Paul does not here speak of the right of God over His creatures as creatures, but as sinful creatures, as He Himself clearly intimates in the next verses.”

3. The clay and the potter. Paul now adds the authority of the O.T. to his argument. There are four main O.T. passages in which the illustration of the potter and the clay is found:

Isaiah 29:16, “Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?”

Isaiah 45:9, “Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?”

Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

Jeremiah 18:1-11, “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”

Paul probably did not quote directly from any of these passages, but his points in our Romans text are exactly what these O.T. passages say: (1) It is absurd for a mere human being to fault God. (2) God has absolute sovereignty over His creatures, saving whom He will and condemning whom He will. (3) This is not an arbitrary selection, since His judgments are based on His justice in condemning sin. (4) Therefore, “return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”

Can you think of anything more reasonable than that? Instead of objecting to God’s actions, we should fear them and allow our fear of judgment to drive us to our knees and to the repentance we need.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

July 27

Romans 9:19-21, “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

What was Paul’s [what was the Holy Spirit’s] object in penning these verses? The answer is found succinctly in Romans 3:19, “That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” If God should reject and destroy us, we would have no argument with Him, considering the way we have behaved towards God, and towards others.

In the message entitled “The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners,” Jonathan Edwards makes four applications that are applicable to our text as well as Romans 3:19. (These applications are addressed to the unbeliever, which each of us were at one time!)

1. If God should forever cast us off, it would be exactly agreeable to our treatment of Him. Instead of our trying to fault God for our sinful condition, we should use the brains God gave us and examine how we have treated God. I am afraid that none of us would stand up very well under such an examination.

We have not shown any particular affection or love towards God. Think about a time when we were first in love with our spouse (if we are married that is). What characterized that relationship? We thought constantly about that person, we wanted to be constantly with that person, we always thought about what we could do for that person. Now I ask, how do those actions relate to how we think of, and treat God? Do we constantly think about God? Do we pray often? Do we attend church often? Do we spend much time in Bible study? I suspect that most of our thoughts about God are to blame Him when things do not go exactly as we would like them to go! If God were to condemn the entire mass of humanity to hell right now, it would be just payment for our treatment of Him.

2. If we should forever be cast off by God, it would be agreeable to our treatment of Jesus Christ. It is not only the Father whom we have rejected, we have despised the work of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father would have been just, if He had rejected us outright, without ever having offered us a Savior. But God did not do that, He provided a Savior for us, a Savior that willingly went to the cross to bear our sin. And how have we reacted to that Savior? We have ignored Him, we are guilty of nailing Him to the cross, we are guilty of His death. Had we been in Jerusalem on crucifixion day, we would have joined with the crowd, crying out to Pilate for His blood. If God should cast us off forever, it would be just payment for our treatment of Jesus Christ.

3. If God should forever cast us off and destroy us, it would be agreeable to our treatment of others. The thing we sinful human beings find easy, is our belief in fair play, doing to others what they have done to us (or more to the point, doing to others before they can do to us.). We appreciate the phrase “poetic justice,” when another sinner gets his or her comeuppance. We say we desire justice for others, and we are arrogant enough to believe that is how we should be treated by almighty God. But if God were to treat us like we treat our fellow man, what would be our just treatment from God? Remember, we have included others in our sin. As parents, we have been poor examples to our children. We have lied about others, gossiped about them, and accused others of the things we are guilty of.

Why does God owe us the favor of salvation when we have been so evil, irresponsible, and harmful in our treatment of others. God would be just in treating us as we treat others.

4. If God should eternally cast us off, it would be agreeable to our own behavior towards ourselves. We cannot save ourselves, but we have failed to do even what we can do. There are many sins we could have refrained from committing, but we instead embrace sin. There are many steps towards God we could have taken, but we turned away from God, alas, we have been like Jonah and run away from God. We could read God’s Word, we could pursue God diligently, we could seek the company of those who know God and speak often of Him.

Boice asks, “Is God obliged to take better care of [us] than [we] are will to take of [ourselves]. Neither [our] responsibility toward God nor [our] legitimate interest in [our] eternal welfare has been enough for [us] to put God and spiritual things before [our] passing pleasures. Is God obliged to do any differently for [us]?”

After presently a lengthy application of his text along these lines, Edwards concludes, “Thus I have proposed some things to your consideration which, if you are not exceeding blind, senseless, and perverse, will stop your mouth and convince you that you stand justly condemned before God.”

Boice concludes his study with these words, “Yet God’s purpose is not solely to condemn. The demonstration of His power and justice in judging sinners is a true part of what God is doing in human history, but it is not the whole thing. God is also making known the riches of His glory in the salvation of some, as these verses, particularly the next verses, show.”

If God only wanted to send people to hell, He would not have given us His Word, the Bible. The Bible contains the message of salvation, the message that God has provided a Savior. The message of salvation is: “Repent, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn from your sin now. Today God is setting the way of salvation before you.”

Now, instead of trying to tell God that what He does is unjust, wisely and rationally seek His mercy through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, where alone it may be found.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Stops and makes me think!!

Dan