Day 23: Romans 9: 19-33: God's Mercy and Human Pride

Salvation is received by faith, not earned through performance.

If God is sovereign, how are humans still responsible?

Paul reminds us that God is Creator and we are not. His wisdom is bigger than our understanding. Paul also explains that many people stumbled over Jesus because they were trying to earn righteousness through works instead of receiving it by faith.

The gospel confronts pride. We cannot save ourselves- we must trust Christ.

Reflection ?: Do you tend to approach God through trust or through trying to prove yourself?

Dig Deeper: Why do people often resist the idea of grace?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to day 23. Today we're talking about God's mercy and human pride. Our passage is Romans chapter 9, verses 19 through 33. And our reflection questions today before we jump into the text are do you tend to approach God through trust or through trying to prove yourself? And why do people often resist the idea of grace? Now I'm reading from verse 19. You will say to me, therefore, why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will? On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, Why did you make me like this? Or has the potter no right over the clay to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory on us, the ones he also called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. As it also says in Hosea, I will call not my people, my people, and she who is unloved beloved. And it will be in the place where they were told, You are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God. But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of Israelites is like the sa sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved. Since the Lord will execute his sentence completely and decisively on the earth. And just as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of armies had not left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah. What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness, namely the righteousness that comes from faith. But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law. Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame. That is the word of God. Paul continues here discussing God's sovereignty, and he asks a question people still ask today. If God is in control, then how are people responsible for their choices? And Paul's response is humbling. He reminds us that God is creator. This means our perspective is limited. We see moments. God sees the whole story. In the Roman world, power and status matter deeply. People valued achievement, honor, and control. Sound familiar? Our society today, if you're in America, definitely values power, status, control. I live in Miami. We are a hotspot for people who are trying to keep up with the Joneses, okay? We they want to look like a celebrity, spend like a celebrity, live like a celebrity or a, you know, wealthy person. I don't know. There's name brands here. There's just a very uh spotlight, right, on that type of hustle culture. So we should be able to relate to this Roman culture at the time as well. And that's why grace feels offensive to them and can still feel offensive to people today. Because grace means that you cannot earn your own standing with God. You cannot pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Paul says many stumbled over Jesus because they pursued righteousness through works instead of faith. In other words, they tried to make themselves right with God through their own performance or pretending. But the gospel says salvation is received, not achieved, one of the most recurring themes throughout Romans so far. And as we've discussed, that can be really hard for human pride. We want to contribute something. We want to say, I can set my mind to it. Look at me, you know, I have more grit, I have more determination, I have better work ethic to achieve what other people are too lazy to do. And this is how Jesus becomes the stumbling stone because he removes boasting. The cross tells us we are more broken than we think, but we're also more loved than we imagined. This matters especially for new believers. It is so easy to slowly turn Christianity into self-improvement. We start to think God loves us more when we're doing well, less when we struggle. And we start to kind of base our relationship with God based on our current performance. But the gospel says your relationship with God starts with grace and continues through grace. Obedience matters, but it should flow from salvation, not toward salvation. It's not earning salvation. Obedience comes by realizing that you have been saved by the gift of grace. So Paul's point today is this faith is not about proving yourself worthy, it's trusting the one who already is worthy of all. Amen. We'll talk tomorrow. Love you, friends.