The Justice of God | Verse By Verse Exposition of Romans 9:14-18

Scripture

• Romans 9:14–18

About this sermon

Introduction: We have now arrived at the place where Paul gives voice to the objection that he regularly faces in his ministry when teaching the truths about God’s sovereignty in salvation. He gives voice to the kind of objection that he meets with when explaining the unbelief of so many Jews, and when he insists that what was being witnessed in the response of Israel to their Messiah was, in fact, the outworking of God’s sovereign purposes and promises. The way that lost humanity responds, when a preacher insists that God acts like God, is to accuse that preacher of making God a God of injustice. I said it to you before, but when we preach the truths of God’s sovereign grace, man, in his sinfulness, interprets those truths as injustice. And one of the ways that you know that you are preaching the truth, is that you meet WITH THE SAME RESPONSES THAT PAUL MET WITH. Now, we want to be careful, because there have been people who explained God’s sovereignty in a way that DOESN’T accord with all of Scripture. There have been people who have interpreted God’s sovereignty in a way that would see God as having no love for lost humanity, no true desire to see anyone but His elect reconciled to Him. There are those who understanding the outworking of God’s sovereignty in salvation in a way that DOESN’T involve man receiving Christ by a choice. In other words, there are some people who have preached about God’s sovereignty in a way that WOULD represent something that falls short of God’s righteousness. Which is to say, THEY HAVE SKEWED what God has revealed about Himself. BUT WHAT I’M SAYING IS THAT WHEN THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY, AS IT REALLY IS, IS CAREFULLY TAUGHT FROM SCRIPTURE, IT IS SOMETHING THAT THE NATURAL MAN FINDS OUT OF STEP WITH HIS SENSE OF FAIRNESS. I also said that Paul’s defense of God, when that charge is leveled, is equally instructive. His defense of God is not an attempt to ROB GOD of His rights as God, to DIMINISH the freedom that God has, but to MAGNIFIFY GOD’S RIGHTS AND GOD’S FREEDOM. Far from backing away from the idea that God is absolutely free in His choices, Paul doubles down. He EMPHASIZES IT. Indeed, he does more than that, HE PROVES IT, FROM SCRIPTURE. That’s what we see him do in these verses. We will examine verses 14-18 under four headings. (1) The justice of God defended (2) The freedom of God demonstrated (3) The priority of God declared (4) The rights of God embraced. And, we will see that all of this adds up to perfect justice. THE JUSTICE OF GOD DEFENDED (vs.14) As Paul did earlier in Romans, he answers an unthinkable suggestion with a swift rejection. THE QUESTION: “What shall we say then?” What will our response be to the truth that God made a free and sovereign choice, not based on works performed or works foreseen, when He chose Abraham? What will our response be when the Word of God tells us that He did the exact same thing in the case of Isaac, and again, in the case of Jacob? What will our response be when we learn that the same sovereign freedom that explained physical Israel, also explains spiritual Israel? That is, the same God who was free to grant salvation privileges to a particular nation, is free to grant everlasting life to particular individuals, HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THAT? THE SUGGESTION: IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THIS MEANS THAT GOD ISN’T A GOD OF ABSOLUTE JUSTICE? “BY NO MEANS!” God’s justice is defended by a swift denial that God could be guilty of injustice. But we do need to understand what is being asked. Why is it being asked. And HOW GOD’S ANSWER COMES FROM A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THAN THE QUESTION. What is injustice, by God’s standard? What would it mean for God to be unjust? FROM MAN’S POINT OF VIEW, FROM THE QUESTIONER’S POINT OF VIEW, INJUSTICE ON GOD’S PART IS GOD ACTING IN A WAY THAT ISN’T “FAIR.” Man expects for God to act in a way that accords with man’s sense of fairness. Man expects for God to treat all men exactly the same. And if God doesn’t, then man says that this is injustice. But what is justice from God’s point of view? IT IS DOING WHAT IS RIGHT. IT IS UPRIGHTNESS. IT IS ACTION TAKEN, DECISIONS RENDERED, THAT PERFECTLY ACCORD WITH HIS OWN PERFECT WISDOM AND CHARACTER. God is genuinely good. God is truly light. THERE IS NO DARKNESS IN GOD. THERE IS NOTHING CROOKED IN GOD. THERE IS NOTHING DISHONEST IN GOD. THERE IS NOTHING IN GOD THAT ISN’T AS IT SHOULD BE. He is qualified to judge men; men are not qualified to judge Him. Is God’s freedom APPROPRIATE? Is it possible that God is conducting Himself in a way that shouldn’t be? NO!! OR, PERHAPS TO GET MORE TO THE POINT. DOES PAUL’S MESSAGE ABOUT THESE THINGS PRESENT GOD IN A WAY THAT WOULD MAKE HIM UNJUST BECAUSE IT PRESENTS GOD IN A WAY THAT HE REALLY ISN’T? Is it possible that God would truly be guilty of injustice, or is it possible that Paul’s explanation of what God has done would represent injustice? No. Why not?

Topics

• Bible Study
• Justice & Mercy