◄ What Does Romans 9:15 Mean? ►

Paul took pains to point out that all men are under sin and all need a Saviour. He stressed that no one is excused the consequences of sin through personal merit or a privileged position, and that Jew and Gentile alike are equally under sin and God's righteous condemnation. But he also took pain to explain in detail the glorious gospel of God which is available to all by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

But as his Roman epistle is drawing to a close, Paul writes 3 chapters relating to Israel as God's elect nation. In His sovereign will, God determined that His anointed Messiah would be born through the nation of Israel and that they would be His witnesses to a lost and dying world. The fact they failed at Christ's first coming and had fallen into centuries of gross spiritual apostasy did not cancel God's plans, but certainly delayed the work that Israel as a nation will finally complete.

Many can't comprehend God's election of Jacob over Esau and question why Israel should be God's chosen nation. They wonder why Israel should be given so many undeserved privileges because it seems to fly in the face of human reasoning and logic. As a result, many erroneously say that the nation has fallen from grace and that the Church has replaced Israel. God forbid, is Pauls response, for just as righteousness is not by man's work but by God's grace so God's election of Israel is similarly a matter of grace and mercy and is not dependent on Israel's merit.

The nation's position, promises, and privileges are anchored to the unchangeable plans and purposes of God: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy," was the sovereign statement of God to Moses on mount Sinai regarding Israel, and Paul points out that God's Word is not to be questioned nor dismissed by those that don't understand the ways of the Lord.

Some even question God's perfect righteousness and use God's very own words about mercy to condemn Him!.And yet when we read this passage in context we discover that it was God's grace and mercy that spared the rebellious Israelites from immediate destruction. This was due to the intense intercession and persevering prayer of Moses on their behalf, when by Gods' grace only days after their miraculous delivery from Egypt's 400-year long bondage, they started to worship the golden calf and called it their god!

God's mercy to Israel and to the Church never fails. It is new every morning because He is a good and gracious God, long-suffering and of great kindness. Not one of us deserves the grace and mercy that God has extended to each of us, through the gift of His Son Who died on Calvary's Cross as the sacrifice for sin. Not one of us deserves to be forgiven of our sin, positioned in Christ, and made a new creation in Him. None of us merit being clothed in Christ's own righteousness, and not one of us deserves the heavenly position, precious promises, spiritual privileges and eternal life that is ours through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. However, we receive all of these things by God's sovereign grace and great mercy.

Let us leave the sovereign control of God's divinely ordered plans and purposes in His hands, and not question the relative merit of His mercy with our own human reasoning. Let us give Him the thanks, honour, praise and glory due to His name, knowing that our position, privileges, promises, and salvation are ours by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ on the Cross. Let us humbly thank our merciful God that our eternal destiny does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God Who is full of mercy and loving kindness.

Heavenly Father, I do not always understand Your ways, but I praise and thank You that You have shown mercy to me. Thank You that by grace through faith in Christ, I have been made a new creation in Him and given life eternal. In Jesus' precious name, AMEN.