God's Wisdom in Selection

Reference Text: Romans 9:6-18

Today's message revolves around one of the most misinterpreted and misunderstood themes in
the entire Scriptures. From the reference text, it is not impossible that the average Bible reader
will think that the focus is on God wanting to bless others and refusing to bless some other
people. The central theme of the passage is on the sovereignty of God and nothing more!

The theory of God's sovereignty is such that it ascribes all power to the Most High God and
credits him with the ability to do as he pleases without recourse to anyone's thoughts, feelings or
biases. That is why the Yoruba people call him Kabiyesi literally translated, 'asking you questions
is not an option (out of the question)'. It means we cannot question God's authority to do as he
pleases simply because he is God, the maker of the heavens and the earth.

In verse 15, God gives Moses an idea of how he operates by telling him he has the right to do
whatever pleases him. If you read the account in Exodus 33, you will see that God made this
statement after agreeing to show Moses his back. Without a doubt, God did not have to grant
Moses' request but he chose to and that is what he meant by that statement and not that, as most
people are wont to think, some people are deserving of his mercy while some others are not.
'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life'. God's love cannot cause him to mark some as deserving of
mercy and others as not! The bottom line is that everyone deserves God's mercy!

Verse 16 is not downplaying the importance of making an effort or having a desire, as the
Scriptures say work out your salvation with fear and trembling, which denotes effort. The same also
says, study to show thyself approved… (the word 'study' being a reference to effort). God is just
saying he has the right to choose to do what he wants to do and it is independent of what you
want, think, feel, say or do. We will look at verse 17 in detail much later in this message.

We can see another interesting concept in Romans 8:29, most people think the concept of
foreknowledge means God appointed some to make heaven and others to make hell. That is a
popular fallacy but a study of the Scriptures will give us the true picture. From Romans 8:29,
God knew beforehand what kind of people we would turn out to be like even before we were
born (foreknew), he also went ahead in time to arrange all things in their proper positions and
places for us (predestined) and at the appropriate time, he called out to us knowing we would
answer (called). The choice to make heaven or hell is yours to make and not God's own!

Let us examine four compelling examples:

Esau and Jacob - Before they were born, God looked into the future of these two and knew
what kind of men they would turn out to be because of the decisions they would make and the
actions they would take. He also knew that on a certain day several years down the line, Esau
would come back home hungry and would despise the birthright that was naturally supposed to
be his (see Genesis 25:21-23, 29-34). How would it have looked if the blessing had been Esau's
and he had gone ahead to despise it in such a reprehensible manner? God did what he had to do
to avert this!

Ephraim and Manasseh - When their father Joseph took both of them to their grandfather
Jacob to be blessed, Jacob put his right hand on Ephraim who was on his left and his left hand
on Manasseh who was on his right thus putting the younger Ephraim ahead of the older
Manasseh (see Genesis 48:1-20). Why did God have to break the natural law again? God knew
Ephraim would follow righteousness better than Manasseh would. It is also important to note
that Ephraim's descendants eventually missed out on the blessing (see Hosea 4:7, 5:3, 5:5, 5:9,
5:11, 5:12 and many more verses in Hosea, Psalm 78:9-11, 67, Jeremiah 7:15 etc) so even though
their progenitor was blessed they still had to make an effort to follow after righteousness.

Pharaoh - Verse 17 of Romans 9 gives us the impression that God created Pharaoh and doomed
him for destruction in the same breath. In Exodus 4:21, God clearly says that Pharaoh's heart
would ONLY be hardened AFTER he had seen the miracles that Moses was to perform in his
presence. In Exodus 5:1-2, we have Pharaoh's haughty response to the request of Moses and
Aaron. In verse 2, there are three I's (one for each member of the Trinity!) thus showing him as
one who neither feared nor revered God. Pharaoh had just made himself a god thus violating
the first commandment (see Exodus 20). If he had been a lover of the Lord and one who
constantly walked in the path of righteousness being careful to obey God's laws and decrees, do
you think God would have destroyed him? God knew that there would come a time when he
would liberate the Israelites and that there was a need to find someone who would fit into his
plans and purposes. It did not have to be that particular Pharaoh but he was a perfect fit in
God's plan seeing that he neither feared nor revered God.

Judas Iscariot - I do not share the thought that Judas Iscariot had been chosen before time to be
the one to betray Jesus Christ rather it had to be one of the twelve. This means it did not have to
be Judas Iscariot and the betrayer could have been any of the other eleven disciples. It was most
unfortunate for Judas that he fit the mould of the one who was to betray Jesus Christ. See
Matthew 26:6-16 and John 12:3-6. The account of John tells us that his motives in raising the
objection were far from pure as he was a thief who as keeper of the purse had been helping
himself to its contents. Tell me, what better candidate for Jesus' betrayer was there than he who
had proved to be dishonest repeatedly? Do you think he was the only one whom 30 silver coins
would have made a difference in his life? Someone had to betray Jesus and Judas who was the
dishonest one of the lot just fit the bill perfectly!

This brings us to ask two very important questions.

i. Does God show favouritism?

The answer is in Romans 2:7-11 specifically in verse 11. There must be persistence in choosing
to do good at all times and a conscious decision to refrain from evil, as this is the guarantee of
eternal life. The choice to do either is yours to make but I urge you to choose to do right. When
God called Jeremiah he said to him, 'before I formed you in your mother's womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations'. God acted
based on what he saw in the future, which was going to be a direct result of the actions and
inactions of these people.

ii. How did he make a decision?

Two things readily come to mind and they are:

Freewill - This simply means the freedom to do, as you will. Refer to Genesis 2:15-16,
Deuteronomy 30:15, 19. We are neither automatons nor robots who just do as instructed but
rather people who can make a choice based on certain defined or undefined parameters. Man has
freewill and God is able to see beyond our actions and inactions to know our innermost
thoughts and desires. All the examples mentioned above CHOSE to be either good or evil.

Alpha and Omega - God is the beginning and the end who knows the end of a thing right from
the beginning. He is able to look into a man's future and see where his actions, inactions, choices
and decisions will place him and thus arrange everything to suit his plans and purposes. See
Isaiah 46:10 and Isaiah 48:3.

Author’s note: This message was first preached at the Parish Youth Chapel, Church of the
Pentecost (Anglican Communion), 21 Road, Festac Town, Lagos on Sunday, 30th January 2011
in my capacity as Coordinator.