Point 1Grafted in by grace, not your own will
Amen, everybody. Turn your Bibles this morning to Romans. We're in chapter 11. I took a two-month, or two-week reprieve, and we visited some basically principles that we're learning out of Romans, but we took a pause in Romans itself, and I want to do this. I want to read 14–24, because this is part of the section that we've missed, and then this morning I want to just look and visit verses 25– 26, chapter 11, sorry. And so let's look at Romans 11, verses 14– 24. Let's go to 13 now. "Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world..." Now just to give you kind of a little background to catch you up, since we've kind of not been visiting or looking at this very often, it's said that God caused disobedience in the Gentiles to get the Jews in, and then for a season, which season we're currently in and have been in for a while, he caused disobedience, was God invoking that to the Jews to get the Gentiles in. And then he's speaking, is saying, in the end there will be, and there are some Jews that are saved even while he's causing disobedience, and that's by his electing grace and his sovereign power and authority. But in the end he will remove the disobedient attitude and heart from the Jews, that in the end time many will turn their hearts to Christ. So this is what he's talking about, and so he begins to kind of explain this. And so in order, so I'm talking a lot about, I am actually an apostle to those whom God is bringing in, the Gentiles. "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world," the Jews' rejection of Christ means the reconciliation of the rest of the world, the Gentiles, "what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others," the Gentiles grafted in, "and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree," don't you dare, because you've been grafted in and adopted, because you're now a Christian and you used not to be, "do not be arrogant toward the branches." That's fitting for us today, right? Because it's easy to place your faith in Christ, believe in him, be transformed, and be judgy about everybody else. It happens quite quickly. "I found although a wild olive shoot were grafted in, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you." Remember who changed you. Remember it wasn't, and I think this is important, it wasn't your willing yourself to salvation. So you have much to be prideful about when it's you who saves you by your will.
You have little to be prideful about when you remember it's the root that brings life, and he's the root,
Pastor Shawn Gray · 3:50
and I think this is very important. "Then you will say, 'Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.' That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear."
There is a right fear and a wrong fear, amen.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 4:14
He is telling you to fear appropriately. "For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness." Notice perseverance is talked about there, because that is essential, "otherwise you too will be cut off."
Now perseverance is not what keeps you. Perseverance is evidence that he's keeping you.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 4:52
Yeah, that's important. So there is evidential fruit that you were chosen and you were saved and you are being sanctified, and he keeps you by empowering you to persevere. If you persevere, it's not because you decide with your will to persevere, it's because he chose you, he saved you, he empowered you with the Holy Spirit, and you persevere as evidence that you were chosen by him from the beginning of the world, actually before the beginning of the world. So that's really important. And so you've got to put all these pieces together, right? These things that we've learned up till now, don't get lost when we read something in 11, because you extrapolate it out and you read it in isolation and you don't consider everything you've learned till now. It is comprehensive, if you will, right? It would be like reading the novel, here's a novel that was pretty popular, oh my gosh, she's so cute, there's a little baby up here, so there, now I'm totally confused, yeah, if you're reading Twilight, there was a Twilight series that came out, you can't just extrapolate something and not consider everything that's happened up to that point. You'd be lost. Why is there a weird vampire twinkling like diamonds in the woods? That makes no sense. You have to have the whole backstory, and everything that's happened up to that point communicates something else. You can't just take something out. Also, vocabulary matters. I found that there are certain things that are said in one situation that are said differently in another situation, and you can't apply terminology used here the same as you did through the whole Bible, right? Because sometimes he says that you should fear and sometimes he tells you do not fear, right? And so I think it's really important that we consider all of Romans when we read this, specifically when we get to 25 and 26. Now I'll continue reading, verse 23: "And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in." Notice perseverance is requisite, not because it keeps you, but because he keeps you. It's evidence. "For God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree?" Now that may seem very confusing to you. Basically what's going on is that God is trying to get the Gentiles in and saved, and the way, I don't know why, the way that has to happen is that for a season the Jews would be disobedient and reject Christ, and this is the means by which then God creates disobedience in the hearts of the Jews to get the Gentiles in. That's what he's saying. Now this freaks us out, because this does not seem like what a good God would do. Why would God create disobedience in the hearts of the Jews to get the Gentiles in? Can't he just let people alone? That's the question. How good is God if he hardens hearts? How good is God if he creates vessels of dishonor? How good is he? But he has a plan. Know this: everyone he has elected and determined would be saved will be saved.
So it's basically here teaching us that God decides what is good, not you.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 9:01
And just so you know, you today are benefactors today of the Jews being hardened. You wouldn't even be grafted in if, but we're not for that, because that's requisite to get you in. So we have much to celebrate today. We don't need to look down our nose at the Jews because they try to work their way to heaven. What we need to do is be grateful that God is getting us in, and then also pray for the Jews that their hearts would be softened. That's the goal, especially in this season, don't you think? And then we go on to 25 and 26, and
Point 2The mystery: a partial, temporary hardening
I want to talk about this, because here's some vocabulary words that are thrown out that you're going to struggle with. Many people over the years have struggled with it. It's not that difficult, and I want to give you some ways to maybe look at this. Verse 25: "Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery." Everybody say mystery. There's a mystery here he's trying to reveal, and I do not want you to be unaware of the mystery. It shouldn't stay a mystery. You should understand it. You shouldn't be confused about it. There's a mystery I'm trying to reveal to you to give you a hope. "A partial hardening has come upon Israel." Don't try to explain that away. That's the revelation of the mystery. "Until the fullness of the gentiles has come in. And in this way..." Here's the key word that blows people's minds and creates all kinds of theological positions that run into the ditch: "And in this way all Israel will be saved." Oh, so many things have been formulated out of this one verse or phrase. So many improper things. It's interesting, people have extrapolated this verse here, pulled it out, the beginning of verse 26, pulled it out, and created an ideology that every ethnic Jew will eventually be saved regardless if they put their faith in Christ or not, because they're a Jew. That is, that argues with everything he said in Romans to this point. So why does he use the word "all" here? Let me make this easy for us and then I'll make it hard for us, easy first, then hard with Scripture. All right, okay, have you ever had a party and you've been planning for the party a really long time and two people showed up? You were expecting 50 and you look around the room and you look to your friend who is there and you say to them, nobody came. Well, that clearly means that nobody is in the room but you, correct? As a matter of fact, not even you, because that would be somebody. Well, no one would think that.
Everyone, no one here today would be like, if somebody said that, they would say, well, some of us came because someone's here and someone's here. I always hear that, it's an argument and a kickback against it, but we understand the statement. If you came in today and every chair was filled and people were standing on the side and we had to get extra chairs for people out there and that was all full, and then downstairs we took over the kids department and we filled up down there and piped the service down there, somebody might say everyone came today. They all of Echo Church showed up, because on any given Sunday we really have people attending once a month. If you take the people who attend once a month, we could probably fill this thing up twice if all the people who came in a month came on a Sunday. Are you with me? So when I say all of Echo Church came, you don't think, well, everyone who's ever graced the doors of Echo Church in the past and in the present, we know it's like over 4,500 people that have filled out a connection card, all of them came. You don't think that everybody from the past and everyone from the present came. You think just everyone who currently is attending came. Are you with me? So there's certain language that's used that we haven't understanding about. Why is it that when we get to "all" we struggle with "all"? What is the motivation of our heart that makes us want to get every Jew, past, present, and future? Why do we do that? Let me just say this: I believe at the heart of this is a desire for us to get in, and for our kids to get in, and for us to get in not based on our faith in Christ but based on, and as a matter of fact, sometimes I think we turn the "all" into an "all" like a heritage "all," like every Jew gets in. We turn the sovereignty of God into this thing where it allows us to continue in sin and stay in sin and be sinful forever because God chose, and that's just the way it's going to be, so now I can continue to sin as much as I want, do whatever I want, act however I want, and I'm going to get in because God decided. That's fatalism. Paul's argued against that in here. You can't do that and be saved.
God doesn't permit it, the Holy Spirit doesn't allow it. If you're saved, you're changed.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 15:22
So enough of this gospel, american gospel specifically, it says you can come down to the altar and pray a prayer and never change and be saved. Because the Bible, Romans specifically, says that doesn't happen for a person who's saved. Are you with me? And so we can't take a fatalistic approach and be like, well, even though the Jews never really, there's a lot of jews in history that have died who didn't put their faith in Christ, but because they're a Jew, God saved them. That's not true. That's not true. Even though it says "and in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from jacob.'" So let's just do this. I want to break this down, and mainly it's verse 26, and we'll just break it down this way, and maybe it will help you with your notes. It begins in verse 26 and "in this way." Now here's the way I break this down to help myself understand it.
I believe that questions cut through the mystery of Scripture, so we should ask them.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 16:34
Apologetics is a way of explaining and defending a case by answering questions. To answer a question you have to ask a question, so let us ask a question: in this way, in what way? He is talking about Israel, of which a partial hardening has come for a season to get the Gentiles in, until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. So there will be a time where everyone that God has predestined to be saved, that's a Gentile, will come in, and once every person, every last person that he's determined will be saved comes in, he then softens the heart of the nation of Israel. We don't know when, we just know it's towards the end. There is a word here: "until." So we see that the partial hardening is a temporary hardening. It's not forever. This hardening is partial and it is temporary, and the hardening has a purpose, to bring in the fullness of the Gentiles. In this way, in this way, in what way? "All Israel will be
Point 3What "all Israel" does and doesn't mean
Saved." Now there's a couple questions I've asked and I'm just going to basically break this down in the way that I did this in my journal. What does "all" mean? There's a quote by a famous pastor, I won't say this person's name, that goes like this: "All here means all, and that's all 'all' means." Okay, that's catchy. So does Paul really mean that every ethnic Jew throughout the history of the world will be saved? If "all" means all here, and that's all "all" means, then that's the way we would have to take it, that every person who has ever been a Jew, whether they have placed their faith in Christ or not, will be saved, that every ethnic Jew to ever live will be saved. I think there's several problems with this position, and I'll give you some Scripture to help you with that. Reading it this way violates the thesis of the book of Romans. Here's the thesis statement. I've given it to you once before. Paul writes it verbatim, he puts the thesis in the beginning of his book and throughout his book, and here's the thesis statement, and the thesis statement is this: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." So we see the book of Romans is about the doctrine of justification. Listen, it's a violation of the thesis statement of the book of Romans if we believe that God is going to save every ethnic Jew simply because they're an ethnic descendant of Abraham.
That's crazy. Now pause. This is a sermon, but this is important. There is this thing called replacement theology.
How many of you know what that is? Maybe a few know what replacement theology is, and this is a very popular position. Replacement theology basically says that every promise and everything offered to the Jew is now offered to those who believe, and the church has completely replaced everything that God intended for the Jews by believers today in the church. This is a dangerous position and an unbiblical one. So before I move forward I want to say this: there are some of you here today who are going to be afraid that I'm moving into this idea of replacement theology. Hang on tight, I'm not, I've not lost it, I know where I'm going. Don't tune me out for fear that I'm doing that, because I'm not. But it's a violation of the thesis statement to believe that every Jew would be saved. If we believe that God is going to save every ethnic Jew simply because they're an ethnic descendant of Abraham, it's a violation of the plan of salvation laid out earlier in the previous chapter. Let's just go there. Go back with me to Romans 10, and we'll look at verse 6: "But the righteousness based on faith says, 'Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?"' (that is, to bring Christ down) 'or "who will descend into the abyss?"' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim)." Finally, why would Paul be worried about his kinsmen at all if every ethnic Jew would be saved in the end? Why does he go through this heart-wrenching chapter where he begins to talk about his concern about all the Jews who are not saved, if he knows that every ethnic Jew, all of them, will be saved, past, present, and future? It would be nonsense. It would be complete nonsense. Romans 9:2–3 says this, Romans 9, let's just look at that: "I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh." He's concerned about those who are not saved. Verse 13, verse 13 of chapter 9 says this: "As it is written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'" Esau I hated. Newsflash, Esau here is an ethnic Jew. How could he do that if they're all going to be saved? He's a direct descendant of Abraham ethnically. Romans 9: 27–28 says, "And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: 'Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved.'"
I thought all of them will be saved. Are you with me? It is amazing, because I've heard some rumblings about getting to this place and then people switching after going through 11 chapters and going, well, all Israel will be saved, but we forget that only a remnant is saved. All right, so we've got to put the pieces together. If "all" means all and that's all "all" means, what do we do with chapter 10 of Romans, verses 1 through 3? "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." So I believe it's safe to say that "all" does not mean every ethnic Jew will be saved. This is important. I know you think I might be belaboring this, but it's very important. Some then tend to take this Scripture to mean something different, not that every ethnic Jew will be saved, but that a remnant will be saved, just the remnant. That's what he means by "all" here, he's referring to the remnant. Here's the problem with that reading, and this is the extensive answer to the problem with that reading. I'm going to give you a bunch of scriptures, just write them down and hang in there. If this is the case, if what he means by "all" here is the remnant, if it's not every ethnic Jew, we know that's not true, but it then could it mean that it's the remnant, are those he's predestined and elected to be saved, is that what he means by "all" here? All right, if that's the case, what is the mystery that Paul introduces in this section of chapter 11? Romans 11:1–5, which we talked about. What is the mystery in our paragraph beginning in verse 25 that he talks about again? If the statement refers to the remnant in verse 5, what is he talking about, a significant number of ethnic Jews at the end of the age? So God wraps up all history, before God wraps up all history, that's pretty cool. "All" is actually used this way a lot. When Jesus was baptized in the jordan, it actually says this: "All Israel came to be baptized by John in the Jordan." That means everybody, so that all the Israelites who died beforehand raised from the dead and came? Correct? No, we do not think every inhabitant of Israel, nor every person who's died in Israel, was coming to be baptized, nor do we think this means every ethnic Jew who ever existed. It's the same way we use "everybody" in church, attend week by week. So what's Israel? It could mean, and there are some theologians who hold this, that this is spiritual Israel, or Paul actually talks about it this way, this is the true jew. What is the true Jew? It is people who put their faith in Christ, and if you put your faith in Jesus Christ you're a true Jew, not ethnically but spiritually. You're a Jew. You are referred to, if you're a believer today, you're referred to by Paul multiple times in Romans as a true jew. So that must mean what he's talking about, everyone who's a true Jew. This tiptoes into replacement theology. This is where it comes from, that every true Jew or every believer, whether Jew or Gentile, is who he's referring to when he says all will come in the end. There's a problem here. The idea that all Israel means true Israel is going to be saved, there's a massive problem. For example, look at the testimony of Romans 8. We see here that the church enjoys the spiritual promises made to Israel. Here's the defense of people who theologically take this position, that it's a spiritual Israel, because there's a lot of scriptures that kind of lend themselves to this idea. Romans 8 talks about the church then enjoys, as a believer, if you're a true Jew, a lot of the spiritual promises that were made to Israel specifically, for example, the gift of the Spirit, Romans 8:9, adoption, Romans 8:14–17, future glory, Romans 8:17 and 30, election, and the promise of never being separated from God's love, Romans 8:35–39. So it is true that the church is a part of the spiritual Israel or true Israel. Tom Schreiner points out this, for example, that believers are true Jews and the true circumcision, Romans 2: 28–29 and Philippians 3:3; the sons and daughters of Abraham, the believers are the sons and daughters of Abraham, Romans 4:1–17 and Galatians 3: 6–9; and the Israel of God, Galatians 6:16. Thus it is impossible that "all" here speaks of the church, both Jew and gentile. But if you go back to the beginning of Romans 9:1–11, let's look at it real quick, I think this will be helpful, it becomes evident that Paul is speaking about ethnic Israel, not about the spiritual Israel. All right, so although we have all these scriptures that make it seem like that God, okay, although we have all these scriptures that go that do that God through the Apostle Paul is saying there is a spiritual Israel that becomes a benefactor of what was promised to the jews, although that's in there, is that what he means by "all" in chapter 11? Are you with me? Have I lost you yet? Okay, is that what he means there?
I don't think it is. Although there's all those verses that say that, I don't think you can take those meanings from all those verses and pull it into 11 and apply it that way. All right, let's look at 9 to see if it's spiritual Israel. We already know that it's not ethnic Israel that he's talking about, we already, I believe that it is not the spiritual Israel. All right, and we're going to use this as proof text, verse 1: "I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying," verse 1 of chapter 9, verse 1, "my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh." Are you with me? To the flesh. All right, that's one. Let's go to 10: "Brothers, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is that they may be saved." They may be saved. If you want to know what "they" is, go back to chapter 9, at the end, the last paragraph of chapter 9, and it explains it, that it's talking about the ethnic Jew. Romans 11:1: "I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite," no, doesn't say "I myself am a spiritual Israelite," it says "I myself am an Israelite," and specifically heritage-wise, a direct descendant of Abraham, "and more, heritage in the flesh, a member of the tribe of benjamin." Okay, I know this is heavy. I just think it's really important, and I'm doing a bunch of catch-up and I'm trying to give you all the information without all the goody-goody stuff that makes you pay attention to me, so please hang in there. All right, please hang in there. So the context of chapters 9 through 11, and 11, illuminates the idea that he is merely speaking of, he is not just merely speaking of spiritual Israel. All right, so what does it mean? I don't believe it's the, it's that every, all the "all" here is applied to those who are ethnic Israel. I don't think that it's the spiritual Israel. So then what I believe it means, and many theologians would back this, it means that there is going to be a great ingathering of Israel at the end of the age, and it is going to turn heads, because they are going to reject the covenant of doing things by works and following the law to the T, and they are going to embrace Christ, whom they have rejected generation upon generation, and it will be shocking the amount of people turning their hearts to Christ. It will be dumbfounding. Ladies and gentlemen, if you see this, fall to your knees with great
Point 4Jew and Gentile are saved the same way
Urgency. So what does "be saved" mean? We've talked about what "all" means, let's talk about what "be saved" means. "All Israel will be saved." What does that mean? We know what "all" is, means now that we've talked about that, and I've provided some proof, at least from my position where I hold regarding this. What does "be saved" mean? Some believe it could be that all Israel will be accepted into the number of the elect based on ethnicity. The problem is that it does not fly in light of what we have already read in Romans. However, there are some who argue that case, that regardless of belief and faith, every Israelite will be saved. Listen, there are some who argue that there are two ways of salvation: there is one way for the Jews and there is one way for the Gentiles. This is as dangerous as replacement theology. You see the pendulum. Replacement theology is, I'm the same as the Jew. No, you're a Gentile saved by faith, you're not a Jew, and there will be Jews who are saved by faith, and they are different than Gentiles saved by faith because God's purpose for each is different. Are you with me? It does not, however, mean that because you're a Jew you get special privileges and are saved differently. You're saved the same. God has different purposes for your nation, that's important. So, Americans, you're not the new, you've not replaced, you don't, because of your, I've actually heard people right now say dumb things like, because we're so godly as a nation.
I don't know what nation you live in, but that's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. Pay attention to what you're listening to on TV. I had a great conversation with somebody talking about all the stuff they've had to cancel because it's so inappropriate, because that is the epitome of our nation. So no, we're not going to replace the Jews because we're more honorable than them. That's ridiculous, right? In your effort, in your goodness, you're going to replace the Jews? That's crazy. But know this: the way that they're saved and the way that Gentiles are saved is the same, and I don't care who argues that they're different, they're not different.
They're not. They argue that there's two ways of salvation, there's one way for the Jews and one way for the Gentiles, and God is going to save the Jews apart from faith in Jesus Christ because of their ethnicity. This is crazy. It denies everything we've learned in Romans to this point. Or because of their keeping a separate covenant, the law, that they will be saved. This doesn't jive with the rest of the Bible either. The answer to what does "be saved" mean is that there will be a gathering of ethnic Israel in the last days who place their faith in Jesus Christ, and the means by which they do so is by placing their faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 11:26–27 says this: "And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.'"
Who will, who banishes ungodliness and disobedience? Who does it? God, the Deliverer. Well, Jesus will come from Zion, "he will banish ungodliness from Jacob, and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins." Now notice who gives faith. Remind me, who gives faith? God, who grants and gifts repentance, who gives the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies us. There you go. And so they will have faith the same way the Gentiles had faith. He will turn their disobedient hearts into softened, obedient hearts just like he did the gentiles. Okay, so they will be saved. How? The same way as the gentiles. Now when they kept the law, when they kept the law, but then God takes away their sin, God will save them the same way he saved you and me. How? Through faith in Jesus Christ. Listen, ladies, and listen to me today, there is no other way. There's no other way. For the most part in here today, I would say most of us have placed our faith in Jesus Christ because God gave it for us to do it. It's a gift that no man could boast. Track with me here, though. How do I say this? I've been working on trying to figure out how to say this. There are two ways you can err in this regard in your thinking, right? Paul speaks of both of them. Let me just go ahead and make this statement: having the right view of grace leans you closer to fatalism than it does works, but it doesn't tip to fatalism. Some of you are like, what's fatalism? It's the attitude of a lot of people who proclaim to be Christians. It is the idea of, yay, grace, now I can live like a hellraiser and do whatever I please because he chose me, and so I'm going to live it up while I can. I'm going to use the language that I want, I'm going to have the attitudes that I choose, i'm going to live the behaviors that I please, I'm going to put in my mouth what I want, I'm going to put in my ears what makes my knee bounce, I'm going to view through my eyes what stimulates. Are you with me today? And because of grace I can live how I please today, irregardless of how it'll affect me or those around me, because in the end I go to heaven anyway because he chose me. Romans says, "Should we sin more that grace may abound?" Christians can't. That's what he said. Not Christians can't sin, but Christians won't habitually do that and have a fatalistic mindset. However, the more you understand grace, the greater you're at risk of having a fatalistic viewpoint. Are you with me? But you cannot, if you're his, bought with a price, have faith in Christ, and are filled with the Holy Spirit, justify this.
And if you find yourself justifying habitual sin with a disregard for how it affects you and those around you might want to question your salvation, because Christians don't do that forever.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 42:43
It's important. It's important. This speaks to the sovereignty of God in saving people. Notice you don't save you, and you don't save others. I love it when people go to evangelism and they go out and they say, I saved this person and this person.
Baby, you didn't save nobody. God did.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 43:22
Well, it was because of my testimony. You don't have a testimony. Here's your testimony: you're a filthy rotten scoundrel. Here's God's testimony: even though you were, he saved you. That's the extent of your testimony and his. Well, no, but my testimony also is he saved me and made me new. No, that's God's testimony, that's not yours. Well, you don't know where I came from, I came from prison and drugs and I overcame this and that and the other and I did unhearable things that are horrible beyond measure and he has changed me. He's changed you, but it ain't your testimony, because you could have never done that on your own. Yeah, if he'd have left you alone, you'd have continued down the dark rabbit hole of depravity until you were destroyed, but he reached in and saved you regardless of you.
If you want to testify of anything, testify of God and his goodness.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 44:32
That's what you testify of. Oh, man, that'll shorten your testimony. Make it sweet, and one you can give in the elevator, not this four-hour thing where you tell all the wonderful things that you've accomplished because of Christ. By the way, or Jesus, period. Like some of the New Year's resolutions I'm seeing, I'm going to do this for Jesus, I'm going to do this for Jesus, I'm going to do this for Jesus, like Jesus is a period on the end of you celebrating you and doing what you please. Are you with me? God does it. That's the point in
Point 5Sovereignty and providence: God saves whom he pleases
Romans that God is making. This is my testimony. The sovereignty of God is this, write this down and then I'm getting out: the sovereignty of God is the authority by which God exercises his will in the world in all things. You're like, well, but in all things but my free will.
Baby, listen to me on this: your will is never more powerful than his will.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 45:48
You have a will, it ain't free like his will is free. Then there's this word, and you're going to hear this throughout the remainder of Romans: providence. Providence is this.
Sovereignty is the authority of God to accomplish his will in the world however he pleases. Providence is this: it means providence is the means by which he exercises his sovereignty, or to make it easier, providence is the how he chooses to exercise the way he's sovereign. In other words, it is the providence of God, it's the sovereignty of God that he can save who he pleases. It is the providence of God to harden Jews for a time and harden Gentiles for a time, to harden Gentiles for a time, then soften them, and then harden Jews for a time to get Gentiles in. That's the providence of God, it's how he goes about it. God might want to move you from point A to point B, and there might be a multitude of ways he would do that, but the way that he gets you from A to point B might be to get you fired at point A. Are you with me? Because if you weren't fired, you'd stay there forever. Now for some of you who just got fired because you're lazy, this does not excuse you. You cannot go, well, I was lazy, incompetent, showed up at work late, never did my job good, hid in the closet and didn't work, and it's the providence of God that I got to point B. No, it's the fact that you're incompetent, lazy, and you didn't show up to work on time.
So don't turn everything and make it spiritual, because sometimes it's a you problem.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 47:33
All right, so everything that we have like the providence of God. All right, I would say this: if God wants you to get to point B, even though you're lazy and you get fired from your job, he can still get you there. But be very careful, let me say this, be very careful to not think you know the way God is doing something. Oh, just be very careful. Nothing annoys me more than, it's God's will for me to, okay, that's interesting that you know that. How many of you ever heard somebody say, with all clarity and strength in their voice, it's God's will for me to do that, and then their statement about God's will changes five times before the year's ended? I find that many people don't know God's will at all. You know why? Because his ways are higher than our ways, and so maybe stop going around popping off with the mouth like you're his first cousin and you know what he does, because you don't know what he does. His ways are higher than your ways.
You aren't tight with God like that. He don't speak to you about that stuff.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 49:09
He simply moves you. If he told you, you would abort it most often, because at the end of the day, when God wants something from you, most often you won't want to do it, because we're sinful by nature and we're rebellious against the things of God and the Holy Spirit, and we don't even know what to pray. You know why we don't know what to pray? Because we want to do the opposite of whatever he's trying to do in our lives. So instead of just don't say it. You can think it if you want to, but probably stop doing that. You just stop saying you know what God's going to do. You don't even know how to pray, right? You don't even know how to ask him for what he's going to do. All right, why are you saying all this in regards to all the Jews will be saved? Why are you saying this? Because it's God's business. You can sit around today in small group and pontificate why God hardened the Jews, and why he, for a season, to get the Gentiles in, and why that is good, and why he doesn't save everyone, and why he didn't pick everyone, and why he doesn't sovereignly elect everyone, and why God doesn't leave it up to our free will, and why he doesn't do things the way we want him to do it. Providence. But it's none of your business, it's God's business. Just know that he does what he pleases. Now this Israel did not impose this hardening upon themselves. Know this: Israel did not impose this hardening upon themselves.
Know this: they weren't hardened because of what they did, they were hardened because of what God wanted to do.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 51:04
So if you see someone who's hardened to the things of God, be encouraged and know God is doing something that is good. Some of you today, and I'm going to close with this, some of you have been struggling, I know this, some of you have been struggling because you see your kids hardened, and so, like many parents would, we try to create provisional statements and theological positions where we can get them out of the hardening state. We begin to question God's goodness or we rewrite the Bible to make us comfortable with our child's hardened heart, and I understand it. I get it. But if God is hardening, he's doing something. Now it would be conjecture to try to say that you know what he's doing. I don't know what he's doing and you don't know what he's doing, but just know that
God is not absent. He is not checked out. He is not sitting up on his throne not caring. He is actively at work bringing people in.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 52:43
Romans 11:27: "And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." All Israel will be saved. Who is that? Who is Israel? Is this every person who is a Jew? Is that what it means? No. Is this the spiritual Israel? No. This is who will place their faith in Christ, that God has predestined to do so from before the foundations of the world. They will be saved. That's the "all" he's talking about here. Now this is really important, and I'll say this: go home and do some more studying. Make sure that you don't function with an idea of replacement theology, and make sure that also you don't begin to teach that there are two ways to be saved, one for the Gentile and one for the Jews, because there are some people that are such advocates of fighting against replacement theology, because they're for the Jews, that they've created two ways to be saved, one for the jew and one for the Gentile, and in an effort to resist replacement theology they have run into error themselves. This is tricky, people, and it is important. But ultimately the message is this:
God saves who he pleases, and if it pleases God, it doesn't matter how much it displeases you, because he's God all by himself.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 54:39
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