October 5, 2023

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
    and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

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, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” And as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
    we would have been like Sodom
    and become like Gomorrah.”

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Romans 9:14-33

Devotional

Have you ever had a mentor who made an impact on your life? It seems to me like that is something that everyone is always craving, so naturally, it must be part of the way that God designed us. We were made to be led even as people who lead. Throughout my life, I have had mentors who shaped me, forming me into the man that I am today. They were there when I didn’t know Jesus and are still here now that I am where I am, reminding me of God’s truth and leading me as I lead others. Without these mentors, I know that I wouldn’t see things in the way that I do now. I wouldn’t be open to different perspectives other than my own, and I would definitely still be a complete knucklehead.

It took me a long time and a lot of mistakes to get to the point where I allowed myself to lead. Upon reflection, I can see that the root of this problem was that I got so caught up in wanting to do things my own way. Fleetwood Mac could have written a song about me. (If you don’t get this reference, please call me.) How often do we have the same attitude when it comes to God trying to lead us closer to his heart?

When I look at Romans 9, what I see is a picture of God’s leadership over us. It’s easy to get caught up on what the chapter says about election, but what is election if not leadership? Paul is writing about how God’s promise was originally given to the Jews. They were supposed to be the elect—God’s chosen people—but the promise opened even wider than they could imagine. Suddenly, God was leading the world through Jesus rather than sticking to a select group of people. The perspective shifted because of the leader who was leading, and that shift caused some peoples’ hearts to harden.

Ultimately, when we look at election, I don’t think that we should look at it as divine exclusion. It isn’t about people being left off the team. Instead, it’s about a mentor who sees people where they have been placed and offers to lead them by his great mercy if they are willing to accept it. For example, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart for his own purposes, but Pharaoh never chose to repent and seek God’s mercy. He never tried to shift his perspective because he wanted to be the one who was in total control.

People whose perspectives can’t shift are the ones who refuse to be led; who believe that their way is better and don’t have the ears to hear or the hearts to feel the wisdom of the leader. This can be a confusing concept, but if God didn’t want it to be this way, why would Paul have ended Romans 9 by saying, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame”?

If we believe in Jesus more than we believe in what we can control ourselves, then we are open to being led by God—to being mentored by our maker. Jesus is the stumbling block that will trip us up if our perspectives are stuck in the wrong direction, and unfortunately, there are some people who would rather trip than receive God’s mercy. This week, as you sit with this scripture, I invite you to pray for God to open your perspective and your life to his leadership. Allow the Lord to bring you to true belief so that your life can be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Maybe you can chat with a trusted mentor about this topic, or you can open your heart to whomever God wants you to lead and pray for in your life. Either way, know that when you look for the Lord, you will find him. God’s divine election and leadership are paving the way forward for you if you are someone who chooses to believe.

For Reflection

Who leads you in your life? Do you have mentors who point you toward the Lord or do you go your own way?

Who do you lead and point toward Jesus?

Where can you ask God to lead you this week?

Prayer

To close this time, please spend some time praying through the end of Romans 9 in the Message translation below:

How can we sum this up? All those people who didn’t seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their “God projects” that they didn’t notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together: Careful! I’ve put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion,

a stone you can’t get around.

But the stone is me! If you’re looking for me,

you’ll find me on the way, not in the way.