Divine Justice Issues (XXI)

In the previous chapter we saw how God chooses certain people to bless or to give them certain good things to the exclusion of others. We gave several examples where God favored certain people for special blessings and where the ones chosen (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) were chosen by God unconditionally, that is, God chose to bless them and his choice to do so was not based upon anything the chosen did but solely upon the mercy and grace of God. 

This choice of the patriarchs, and of Israel as a nation, says something about God's sovereign will and of his right to so discriminate among his creatures. We cited the words of the apostle Paul in Galatians chapter four where Paul says that the choice of Isaac and the rejection of Ishmael was made by God and was not based upon any condition or merit in Isaac or demerit in Ishmael, and so Paul says to the believers "now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." (Gal. 4: 28) God had promised that his heir, or firstborn son (God even called Isaac Abraham's 'only begotten son' even though Ishmael was born before Isaac - Gen. 22: 2), would be his son by Sarah. But Sarah was barren. Paul wrote of this in these words: 

"And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." (Rom. 4: 19-21 nkjv)

The promised son who would be the "heir of the promise" would be born by Sarah even in her old age and in spite of her barren "dead womb"; And, this promised son would be Abraham's seed even though he also was past the age of being able to produce children for that is what is meant by Abraham's "body being already dead." So, if there was to be a child produced in Sarah's womb it would have to be a miracle requiring the power of the Almighty. Paul calls this Isaac's being "born according to the Spirit," i.e. supernaturally.  

So, in what sense was Isaac called "the heir of the promise"? First, because God promised Abraham an heir to replace him and the singular means of fulfilling God's promise to him of a lineage that would bring into being "the heir" who would be the Messiah (or the Desired One, the Redeemer, the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham and later the seed of king David), the one through whom all nations of the world would be blessed. Second, he would be the father, like Abraham, of the seed who would be given the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession and enjoy special blessings from God (such as Paul enumerated in the opening verses of Romans chapter nine and which we cited in the previous chapter). Third, Paul says that "the promise" to Abraham and his seed involved God's purpose "that he should be the heir of the world." (Rom. 4: 13 nkjv) Fourth, it involved salvation from sin and death as we will see. Finally, "the promise" involved the miraculous birth of Isaac and his being the one God chose to be the heir of the promises God made to Abraham. That promise is seen in these words from the book of Genesis:

"And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year." (Gen. 17: 15 - 21)

This is "the promise." God promised to give Abraham a son through Sarah the barren. This is the promised child. He was supernaturally born of the Spirit. He was chosen by God to be this heir, blessed by God and the one with whom God would establish his covenant. So, what do we learn from this? Recall that Paul said "now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." Here are the things to take note of about Isaac. First, he was chosen by God before he was born to be the heir of the promises. Second, he was born miraculously by the power and Spirit of God. Third, he was named before he was born. Fourth, his birth was at a "set time" by God. Fifth, he was especially and particularly "the seed of Abraham." Sixth, he was a "son given." But, more on how this applies to believers shortly. First, let us notice some other texts that speak of the promise of Isaac.

"And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac." (Gen. 21: 1-3 kjv)

This makes Isaac different from his half-brother Ishmael. It is another case where we see that it was God and his giving that made him different as we discussed previously from the words of Paul in First Corinthians chapter four and verse seven. So, if we answer Paul's question "who made you (Isaac) different from another (Ishmael)?" we must say that it was God and his giving of what was received that made the difference. 

"And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." (16-18)

The promise to Abraham's seed thus involves blessing with salvation. Therefore, to be designated by God as being of the seed of Abraham is essential to being eternally saved and for obtaining the "promise of eternal inheritance." (Heb. 9: 15) 

In Romans chapter nine Paul speaks of the choice of God in choosing people to be Israelites and children of Abraham, and thus heirs of salvation. 

"1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites...6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son." 

Paul speaks of the great grief in his heart over the lost condition of most of his fellow Israelites. He affirms that most of them will not be saved nor receive eternal inheritance and blessing. Affirming this brought an objection from the Jews. That objection stated that if what Paul says is true, then that would mean that "the word of God," or his promises to Israel and to Abraham and his seed, had failed, or had "taken no effect." Paul responds in rebuttal by in essence saying "that is not a valid conclusion." That is a case of jumping to conclusions. Paul does agree with his objector in affirming the truth of the proposition that says God's word and his promises will never fail and will always come to pass. So then, how does Paul answer the objection? For it does seem that Paul's statement about Israelites and Abraham's seed being unsaved affirms this because in the old testament God promises salvation to Israelites and to the seed of Abraham. We can put the objection into a syllogism.

1. God promised salvation to Israel and Abraham's seed (OT)

2. Many Israelites and Abraham's seed will not be saved (Paul)

3. God's promise failed and was proven to be not true.

Not only that, but the conclusion also forces one to say that God lied to the patriarchs when he promised salvation to Israel and to Abraham's seed.

Paul's rebuttal to the objection is not to deny the conclusion, for he believes that what God promised will surely be realized. Paul rather focuses on premise number one and argues that the problem lies in defining who is intended by "Israel" and by "the seed of Abraham." If it is defined as representing those who are physically descended from Abraham or Jacob (Israel), and premise number two is correct, then yes the conclusion is true. But, Paul denies that "Israel" and "seed of Abraham" denotes those who are merely the physical descendants of Israel and Abraham. He asserts his counterpoint to that premise - "for they are not all Israel who are of Israel (physically speaking)" and "nor are they all children because they are the (physical) seed of Abraham." Well, then, how does Paul define who is an Israelite and of the seed of Abraham? 

He says that "the children of the flesh are not the children of God." Ishmael is such. His conception was not a result of God's miracle working, but was a result of Abraham's sexual intercourse with Hagar the Egyptian handmaid of Sarah. In other words, Ishmael was the work and choice of Abraham, but Isaac was the work and choice of God. Or, we could say that Ishmael was the result of Abraham's willing and running but Isaac was the result of God's willing and running (working or doing). Second, Ishmael was not the one God chose and named before he was even born. Third, Ishmael was not the one God promised. 

Paul had earlier prefaced his Romans chapter nine teaching by writing these words in the second chapter:

"For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God." (Rom. 2: 28-29 nkjv)

Paul does not exclude the idea that some of the physical descendants of Abraham and Jacob were at the same time the spiritual seed of Abraham, or antitypical Israel, for he says "nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham." The word "all" here is important and demonstrates this truth. Some, like Paul and the other apostles, were both physically the seed of Abraham and Israelites but spiritually too. However, being a Jew inwardly is not the result of being a Jew outwardly in the flesh. As we will see, many Gentiles who are not of "Israel after the flesh" (I Cor. 10: 18) nor of "the seed of Abraham" are spiritual Israelites and the true seed of Abraham, the true "Israel of God." (Gal. 6: 16) 

We see then that it is God's choice of anyone that makes the difference, and also that it is the supernatural birth of children by God's Spirit that makes the difference. Paul writes about how people become the true children of Abraham and of the true Israel. Wrote Paul:

"Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham...So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham." (Gal. 3: 7,9 nkjv)

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (13-14) 

"And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (vs. 29)

Every believing Gentile is, by virtue of his union with Christ by faith, viewed by God as the true seed of Abraham and the true Israel of God. They are the elect, the ones God chose in Christ before the foundation of the world. (Eph. 1: 3-4) Throughout the new testament they are simply styled "the elect of God." Christ is in the highest sense God's elect. Said Jehovah to Isaiah: “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles." (Isa. 42: 1 nkjv) So, to be "in Christ" or "in him" is to be also styled elect. That does not mean that people become elect after they are saved or in Christ, for election is not "because of" salvation but "unto" salvation. (See II Thess. 2: 13) Being saved is what manifests that one has been chosen to salvation before the world began. Isaac's spiritual birth is not the cause that preceded God's choosing him, but is rather the effect of God having chosen him; And recall that Paul said "now we brothers are children of God and elect as Isaac was." 

If it was not unjust for God to choose Isaac before he was born and as a result to give him a supernatural birth, then it is not unjust for God to choose among undeserving sinners whom he will and give them spiritual birth.

Faith is the means of salvation but it is not the reason why God chose any. Election is unconditional, as it was in the case of Isaac and Jacob, but salvation is not unconditional, for it is "through faith" and union with Christ.

In the above words of Paul in Romans chapter nine Paul is informing us how people become the "children of the promise" or children of God, how they become Israelites or the seed of Abraham. If we can ascertain how Isaac and Jacob were chosen by God and how Isaac was spiritually born, then we will see how God chooses sinners to be saved and born of the Spirit. 

Isaac was promised to Abraham before he was born. Both Isaac and Jacob, as we will further see in the next chapter, were chosen to be "children of the promise" before they were ever born and God's choice of them was not conditioned upon anything they did but merely by God's sovereign will. That is why Paul states his conclusion in these words: "So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy." (Rom. 9: 16) In the next chapter we will continue to look at the doctrine of election in Romans chapter nine and other texts and continue to look at it in the context of whether it was just for God to so choose some to salvation and not to choose others.