Romans 9--A Stumbling Block

It was a very short scene in the movie Titanic. As the ship was sinking and there was absolute chaos on board the ship—screaming, arguing, strange breaking ship noises—the director would flip to a distant aerial shot that would view the boat from high in the sky at night. From that perspective, the viewer would see that the ship was clearly alone, but also the noise was silenced and the ship and all aboard seemed quite shrunken.

As we come to this passage, Paul steps back from the chaos of day to day spirituality and describes the plan of God from the 30,000 foot view. The perspective he offers is a direct assault on our western and modern view of life. He speaks of the sovereignty of God in salvation. He describes how salvation is the work of God in what is known as election. This is quite difficult for us to swallow because it seems to violate the laws of justice. We derive a justice perspective because, quite frankly, we are consumed with the challenges of keeping a ship from sinking and do the best with what we have. However, if we would understand Romans 9 we will need to set aside our justice perspective and look to God for His mercy perspective.
“It does not, therefore, depend on man’s effort or desire, but upon God’s mercy.” Romans 9:16

When God created Adam and Eve, he empowered them as image bearers to rule and fill the earth. This commission was not removed at the fall. However, the fall did produce a momentum that shaped life on earth. As the humanity expanded, it became clear early on how no one desired God. If God’s story was simply about justice, he would have simply released us like an astronaut beyond gravity, and allowed our momentum to perpetually drift us away from his presence, purpose and goodness.

The story of God’s mercy is in contrast quite different from a story driven by justice. Instead of allowing all people to simply drift off with its desires bent on hell itself (the absence of God), God would choose a people through whom he would bring redemption to the world. This people would be Israel with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the patriarchs. Along the way though, the descendants of the Patriarchs wanted to turn the story into a story of justice. They wanted to claim their salvation based upon their performance.

This performance mentality hardened their hearts so that when The Descendant arrived, they rejected him because they didn’t want his salvation that came from mercy. They would need to put their faith in the descendant, Jesus Christ. But his mercy became a stumbling stone that made them stumble. That mercy demanded their humility and for them to acknowledge that their works couldn’t make up for the drift and distance that their sin had created between them and God.

If this is new for you, you probably have many questions about this. This blog might be a helpful forum for you to discuss them. Remember, the words of one of the church fathers, we should desire “faith seeking reasons, not reasons seeking faith.” If this isn’t new for you, allow yourself to be amazed at the majestic plan of God.