Writing to the Church in Rome, the apostle Paul addresses the doctrine of election as it relates to national Israel, which had rejected the Messiah with some notable exceptions. “Away with Him,” the Jews cried. “Away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15). Without mercy the Jews killed Jesus. It was with wicked hands the people crucified the Nazarene.
Twenty-three years later, in AD 55, the question of Israel’s relation to God was being reviewed. Officially, Jesus had been rejected as the Messiah. How was that to be reconciled with the promises of God to the people of His covenant with Abraham? Has the word of God failed (Romans 9:6).
Paul responds to this rhetorical question in a logical manner.
First, the apostle points out that not all Israel is Israel. There are three Israels.
Racial Israel. There are Jews who are direct descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Well-kept genealogies testify to a racial identity.
Religious Israel. Proselytes were welcomed into the Jewish culture, especially those who honored the Torah. In the generality of Jesus, we find a Gentile harlot named Rahab, and a Moabite named Ruth who embraced the God of Israel and kept the Law, while observing the holy days.
Regenerate Israel. Those who looked for the Messiah were of true Israel, as well as those who rejoiced when He was found.
The Coming King
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
The battle bow shall be cut off.
He shall speak peace to the nations;
His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
~Zechariah 9:9-10
The Triumphal Entry
Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”
All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
Tell the daughter of Zion,
“Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.”
So, the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”
And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”
So, the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee” (Matt. 21:1-11).
Second, having identified “true Israel” the apostle moves to identify the “true children” of God. The true children of God are not those who are children of the flesh, but the children of the promise. Only they are counted as the true seed.
But who are the children of promise who are counted as the true seed of Abraham through Sarah?
The answer?
Those who God has sovereignly chosen, are children of the promise, illustrated in two individuals, Jacob and Esau.
Both children were born to Isaac and Rebecca but, only one was counted to be the true seed of promise.
Notice, they were not both chosen, though they were twins.
Only one was chosen by God.
Only one is said to be loved by God.
Only one is said to be chosen and loved by God before either one was born.
Only of one was it said, “The older shall serve the younger.”
Why? Because, “As it is written, ‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau I have hated’” (Rom. 9:13).
Nothing is said about foreseen faith.
Nothing is said about free will or prevenient grace.
Nothing is said about the moral character of either person.
Nothing is said about two nations being represented.
Nothing is said about either child being good or bad.
Nothing is said about a philosophical discussion on Israel and Edom.
A historical fact is stated. God did love Jacob. God did reject Esau and called him a profane man (Heb. 12:16). Paul was not discussing two nations but two persons within Israel: Jacob and Esau, and Esau was a profane man by nature, and later by choice.
Esau was a profane man because he inherited the sin nature of Adam.
Esau was a profane man because he had murder in his heart.
Esau was a profane man because he despised his birthright.
Esau was a profane man because he disregarded spiritual blessings in favor of immediate, physical gratification.
Esau was a profane man because, of his own free will, he rejected the Covenant of Grace.
The word profane referencing Esau is bebelos, implying someone who is heathenish, wicked.
What is asserted in Romans 9:13 is that God set His unique love on Jacob. He preferred Jacob, if you will.
Despite the language the doctrine of divine election is established.
Third, having established the doctrine of God’s sovereignty in election, Paul addresses a natural inquiry. An emotional question is raised, filled with a sense of unfairness.
Is God’s sovereign election an act of unrighteousness?
Certainly not! For the Lord said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion” (Rom. 9:14, 15).
Because the doctrine of election is so controversial, one might ask why Paul brings it up? There are several answers.
First, it is not Paul but the Holy Spirit who ultimately is responsible for this doctrinal teaching because all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it is profitable (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Second, the doctrine of election is designed to proclaim the power of the Potter over the clay (Rom. 9:16-21).
No man can boast that he is the captain of his soul, and the master of his own fate. God knows how to humble the proud. It is the purpose of God which stands, not the vain imagination of the creation.
Third, the doctrine of election is set forth in Scripture that God, “Might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory” (Rom. 9:23).
The vessels of God’s glory include the salvation of Jews and Gentiles.
As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”
Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”
And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah” (Rom. 9:25-29).
What is unfortunate is that so much hostility and controversy surrounds the doctrine of election which is set forth in Scripture to humble the proud, glorify the Father, and produce gratitude in the hearts of those who come to Christ as Lord and Savior.
The doctrine of election, and thus salvation, is not on the basis of human will, but on God who shows mercy (Rom. 9:16).
This does not mean a person is saved against their will. It does mean that God creates a new nature in a person with a new will that is inclined to believe the gospel when it is preached. The instrument which God creates faith in the elect is the Word of God. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17).
Not only is the softening of a stoney heart attributed to God so that the heart is made willing in the day of salvation (Eph. 2:10), the hardening of the heart is also a divine undertaking. God wills to harden individuals. The classic example is the Pharaoh of the Exodus Generation.
“For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth’” (Rom. 9:17).
The Bible does not identify the Pharaoh of the Exodus Generation. However, there are some rulers of Egypt identified in Scripture.
- Pharaoh Shishak 943-922 BC 1 Kings 14:25; 2 Chronicles 12:2-9
- Pharaoh Necho II 610-595 BC 2 Kings 23:29-35; Jeremiah 46:2
- Pharaoh Hophra 589-570 BC Jeremiah 44:30
- Pharaoh Tirhakah 690-664 BC 2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9
Whether a person’s heart is softened by the gospel, or hardened, God exercises His sovereignty in the eternal salvation of men. Paul argues that God is not a passive spectator in the affairs of the heart. He actively engages in the soul of every person for His own purpose.
In this discussion, there is a pastoral concern.
If God chooses according to His sovereign will, and that divine choice precedes a person’s birth, what part does a person’s response to the gospel play?
How can a person know if they are among the chosen?
According to the great theologian Jonathan Edwards, the signs of genuine conversion include religious affections. The new heart in Christ loves God and desires to do His will. There is a natural hatred of sin and a willingness to repent and forsake evil. Satan and his works are renounced. The heart desire to be pure in the sight of God. There is an earnest striving after righteousness, not out of a religious obligation, but from genuine affection for what God in Christ has done in securing salvation.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.~Isaac Watts
Genuine grace in a person’s life is the result of divine election, but not the cause of it.
The larger question to resolve is what is the ground of one’s salvation?
Is that ground a decision?
Is that ground a life of good works?
Is that ground a honoring of the sacraments?
Is that ground a membership in a local church, be it Catholic or Protestant?
Or,
Is the ground of salvation the sovereign choice of God?
The Biblical answer is that the ground of salvation is God’s loving mercy, sovereignly bestowed, unconditionally, preceding any merit or foreseen decision.
That is the Biblical doctrine of election.
The practical application of this doctrine must be noted lest anyone despair or assume they are not an elect of God.
First, let every person believe that God is good. The character of God is kindness. The love of God is authentic. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 9:11).
God does not delight in the death of a sinner. “‘For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘Therefore, turn and live!’” (Jer. 18:32).
When a person wakes up in the middle of the night, terrified, and alarmed whether or not they were good enough, sincere enough, holy enough to be saved, take comfort, not in any of that. Rather, cast yourself afresh on the character of God for loves with an unfailing and everlasting love. Salvation does not stand on the firmness of a wavering, deceitful, and vacillating will, but on the promise of the One who said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5; Ezek. 36:26).
A person can always doubt their salvation when they look inward. The gospel command is to look outward and upward to God. “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other” (Isa. 45:22).
There is comfort in knowing, and believing, that the ground of one’s salvation is grounded in the eternal decree of God, and nothing else.
Second, look for and cultivate the work of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. Examine yourself to see if you are in the sphere of saving grace (2 Cor. 13:5). Consider whether you truly depend on Him to finish the good work He has begun in the heart (Phil. 1:6). Rest in the Lord, and all shall be well with one’s soul.
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”Refrain (may be sung after final stanza only):
It is well with my soul;
it is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control:
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and has shed his own blood for my soul.My sin oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
my sin, not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend;
even so, it is well with my soul”~Horatio Gates Spafford
The Collected Works of Stanford E. Murrell 