The Sovereignty of God
How do you reconcile the tension between God's sovereign election and the genuine choice humans have to repent and believe in Christ?
Sermon Notes – Romans 9 and the Sovereignty of God
-------------------------
DETAILED NOTES
-------------------------
**1. Foundational Questions & Assumptions**
- Key questions:
- Do you believe the Bible?
- Do you believe it is true, authoritative, and inerrant?
- Do you believe God is sovereign?
- These convictions form the “lens” we must use to read Romans 9; otherwise we’ll try to reshape Scripture to fit our feelings.
**2. Helpful Terms & Framework**
- Sovereignty of God:
God’s absolute, kingly authority over all creation; He has the right to rule and He actively governs all things, including salvation history, according to His wise and holy will.
- The preacher resists labels like “Calvinist” or “Arminian”; prefers “biblicist” – someone who simply believes and submits to what the Bible says, even when it doesn’t fit our categories.
**3. Romans 8:28–30 – The Setup for Romans 9**
- God foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified believers.
- Before the foundation of the world:
- God knew every person.
- God knew every choice each person would make.
- Christ’s saving work is effective for those whom God knew would respond in faith.
- Human responsibility still stands: we genuinely choose; we are not robots, yet God fully knows and is sovereign over all.
**4. God Has Not Failed (Romans 9:6–8)**
- “It is not as though the word of God has failed.”
- Not all physical descendants of Israel are true Israel.
- Not all of Abraham’s physical offspring are children of the promise.
- Application to us:
- Your parents’ faith does not save you.
- Your kids do not get a free pass because you’re a Christian (or a pastor).
- Every person must personally repent and believe.
**5. Did God Hate Esau? (Romans 9:9–13; Malachi 1:2–3)**
- “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
- Referenced from Malachi, written hundreds of years after Jacob and Esau.
- “Hated” = covenantal rejection / disfavor; God hated Esau’s sin and choices, not in a petty, emotional way like human hate.
- God knew Esau’s decisions and the destructive legacy they would lead to.
- Same pattern as Adam and Eve: they had a real choice, God sovereignly knew the outcome.
**6. God Is the One Who Shows Mercy (Romans 9:14–18)**
- Is there injustice with God? “By no means.”
- God: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy…”
- Salvation does NOT depend on:
- Human will
- Human effort
- But on God who has mercy.
- Pharaoh as an example:
- God gave him many chances.
- God used Pharaoh’s hard heart to display His glory.
- We cannot save anyone:
- Our role: share the gospel, make disciples of those who believe.
- God’s role: give mercy, change hearts, save.
**7. Human Responsibility in Salvation (Romans 10:9–13)**
- Clear call to response:
- Confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord.
- Believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead.
- You will be saved.
- Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved:
- No distinction between Jew or Greek.
- God bestows riches on all who call on Him.
- Sovereignty and responsibility are both true:
- God sovereignly saves.
- We must personally repent and believe.
**8. Resting in God’s Sovereignty**
- God exists outside time, space, and matter; He created them.
- He holds all things together and knows the end from the beginning.
- We will not understand everything; that’s good and humbling.
- Instead of resenting His sovereignty, we are invited to rest in it.
-------------------------
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
-------------------------
1. Examine your foundation:
- Do you truly submit to Scripture when it crosses your preferences and emotions?
2. Own your faith:
- Stop leaning on family heritage or church culture; have you personally repented and believed in Christ?
3. Let go of the “savior complex”:
- Keep praying, loving, and sharing the gospel, but release the burden of feeling like you must save people. That’s God’s work.
4. Be honest with your kids and others:
- Model repentance, not perfection. Let them see that Jesus, not you, is the Savior.
5. Rest instead of resent:
- Where God’s sovereignty feels confusing or “unfair,” choose to trust His character rather than demand full explanation.
-------------------------
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
-------------------------
1. How do your answers to the questions about Scripture (true, authoritative, inerrant) practically shape how you respond to difficult passages like Romans 9?
2. In what ways have you (maybe subconsciously) relied on family background, church attendance, or “being good” instead of personal faith in Christ?
3. How does the idea that God knew every decision before the foundation of the world challenge or comfort you?
4. Where are you currently carrying the weight of someone else’s salvation? What would it look like to release that to God while still being faithful?
5. How do you hold together these two truths: “God is sovereign over salvation” and “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”?
6. What specific area of your life do you need to consciously “rest in God’s sovereignty” this week, instead of trying to control the outcome?