promise – Simply True

God keeps to his own plan—of mercy (Rom. 9—11)

Paul has been giving us an account of what God has done through Jesus Christ, concluding with a promise of a glorious future.

This hope is vital for us, so we need to be sure that God keeps his promises. And Israel is the ‘working case-history’ of God making promises and keeping them. We need to know their story.

So, in this section, Paul shows that God still has Israel in mind. More than that—he loves them. There’s more to his promise than their present rejection of him is indicating. And if God still reaches out to Israel through Paul more than two decades after they kill his Messiah, is it any different after two millennia have passed?

I had a conversation with a Jewish Rabbi here in Australia some years ago. He asked me what I thought was going on in the Middle East regarding Israel.

I said to him, ‘Anyone who hates Israel is shooting themselves in the foot!’ Understandably, he wanted to know what I meant by this and we spent an hour talking about it.

Clearly, we should love Israel. Paul makes it clear that he does. He describes how God’s promises to them are being fulfilled. And he describes the battle God must wage with them until they realise that they need to depend on his mercy.

Israel is not special in the sense of being more important than any other nation. They are important because they are chosen to be an example—to us all—of how God’s promises lead to his mercy. So, it needs to be emphasized that this discussion is not talking about the rights and wrongs of what is happening in the Middle East today.

In these three chapters, Paul doesn’t talk about justice. He talks about mercy[i], something all of us are going to need. God’s story with Israel is a love story. And like most love stories, it twists and turns and happens in ways no human being could have planned.[ii]

And our future, like Israel’s, will depend on God’s mercy. If we don’t understand these merciful promises made to them—and if we don’t share God’s love for them, we may have ‘shot ourselves in the foot’. Like Israel, we need to rely on God’s mercy.

So, we’ll look at what Paul tells us about Israel—and about us. And then we’ll return to the Rabbi’s question. (If you have a Bible open to Romans, you’ll see how I’m summarizing what Paul is saying.)

First, God has loved Israel and demonstrated it by giving them unique privileges (9:1-5).

God chose them to be his family—beginning with Abraham. He lived among them, bonded himself to them by a covenant with obligations, and accepted their worship. He made promises to them so they could be sure of their future. And, to them would be given a Messiah who would deliver them, and the world, from all their enemies.

This Messiah, of course, has now arrived—no less than God himself—God the Son—Jesus Christ.

So, following God’s lead, Paul longs for his fellow Israelites to recognise God’s Son and to be saved. And he spares no effort or pain to persuade them that their Messiah has come.

Second, Israel’s welfare depends wholly on God choosing them (9:6-13).

The nation needs to understand why they are the people that they are. It’s not Abraham’s older son who receives the promised blessing but the younger one. God does the choosing, not Abraham, or either of his sons.

And not us either. God’s promises apply to those he chooses. If we think we can have anything we want, we will never understand God.

Third, God’s choosing and calling Israel are acts of mercy (9:14-29).

God creates Israel by having mercy on them—rescuing them from slavery in Egypt.

We are so accustomed to mechanisms of justice and expecting to be given what we deserve that we may have forgotten what mercy is. It may not be registering in our minds that we actually deserve wrath.

God doesn’t argue with us here. He has no need to prove himself. He knows he is merciful. He knows we have no grounds to insist on our rights with him. Before him, we all stand condemned and speechless.[iii]

Paul has already shown that God is patient with those who proudly reject his Son—patient enough to let him be killed by them. Jesus transforms their sinful act into a sin offering. That’s mercy!

And if God can be merciful to his chosen nation, he can be merciful to Gentiles as well.[iv] Hosea shows that God can create a people from any nation. Belonging to him depends on his mercy—not any rights we may claim.

Fourth (9:30—10:21), the people who belong to God are righteous because they trust God to call them such.

This is why first century Jews trip up over Jesus. They reckon they are already righteous and won’t submit to the mercy being shown to them. A common problem—for Jews and Gentiles!

But Moses, the very person who receives the ten commandments and teaches Israel to keep them, also teaches them that they can’t claw their way up to God by keeping them.[v] In fact, the law will prove that they can’t keep them. They will need to receive their righteousness by faith. The law is the way to respond in love to the one who saves them.[vi]

Most first century Jews don’t recognise this—even though it’s in their Bible. So, when Jesus comes, they don’t recognise him either. But he is what their law is all about. And he will perfectly fulfill it. But Israel won’t receive something God does for them. They don’t want to be justified by faith.

It is this righteousness that Paul is announcing.[vii] The gospel is not an achievement of ours. It’s God giving up his Son for our sin and raising him for our justification. This is what we must confess. It’s the believer of this who will never be ashamed before God—Jew or Gentile. Those whom God chooses.[viii]

Paul can quote Jewish scriptures that predict everything he is doing in reaching out to Gentiles. He’s going everywhere he can. Jews are getting jealous about the privileges now being enjoyed by Gentile Christians. People who aren’t even seeking God are finding him through the preaching of the gospel. And his own people are still rejecting the grace of their God. All that God has promised is happening!

Fifth, God’s promise to save Israel is right on schedule (11:1-36).

Paul himself is a clear example of God keeping his promises.[ix] God chooses him, has mercy on him, justifies him, and makes him a true member of his people. He’s a true Israelite!

His situation is like it was in Elijah’s day when many people belonged to Israel—formally. But most had no heart for what their nation really was. They didn’t want to live by God’s bounty. So, God made sure they didn’t understand what was really going on.

Is this the end of the story?[x] By no means. God’s love weaves its way through much resistance.

Paul can even see a purpose in Israel rejecting their Messiah. When they refuse to listen to him, he is sent on to Gentiles, and many of them are grafted into Israel’s privileges.

Jealousy works wonders here! The Jews are jealous of other nations receiving favour from God. Paul knows this well.[xi] Before his conversion, he is furious at Gentiles finding peace with God. And all the while, he doesn’t have it himself. Is this why Jesus says to him outside Damascus that it is hard for him to kick against God’s gracious prodding? He’s having a hard time resisting mercy!

As we noted before, love’s path may look like a tangled web but it needs to undo what is false. And it does—with Paul. He becomes a grateful follower of Christ. He is now happy to preach to Jews, and then go to Gentiles. And all the while, he knows God is right on track with his story of mercy.

So, those of us who are Gentiles—in other words, most of us Christians—should be careful! There are no grounds for us to be smug and to think that we are secure because we belong to the right group.

And, here’s the point we must know well. Every one of us believers in Christ are where we are because of God’s kindness—plus nothing! If we forget this, God cuts us out—or shows that we never were a part of his grateful people. And he can graft his ancient people back in—easily. God has promised that he will do just this.[xii]

Here’s the principle. God proves to us all that we are not nice people but rebels. And he has mercy on those he chooses. We’re in his hands—totally. There’s no room for pride anywhere.

And God can be an enemy and a lover of his people at the same time. His loving promise will be fulfilled. For this reason, he fights against the pride of those who think they belong to him so that they will know his mercy.

So, we can trust God. And we can worship him. His promises are irrevocable.[xiii]

Notice that this is not something Paul is deducing from observation. He’s looking at everything that is happening in the world in the light of what God has promised to Israel.

Sixth, the gospel is all about knowing God.[xiv]

Every attempt that has been made to get the upper hand with God, from the beginning of this letter until now, has been shown to be futile.

On the other hand, everything God has done is powerfully effective, and has fulfilled his promises. We are in safe hands!

We should be in awe of his wisdom, his knowledge, his judgements, his ways. We should not presume that we understand him! Or that we can advise him! Or enrich him!

Mercy is something to receive, not to negotiate. The future is not something to calculate but to anticipate—gratefully. All the glory is due to God.

Returning to the Rabbi’s question, what is happening in Israel at present, and, to Jews wherever they are in the world? Has God’s plan of mercy changed? Rather, our question should be, what part of the above love story is being worked out at present?

Of the Jews who live in Israel, only some 2% are Christians. In other words, that part of Israel now living as the state of Israel is largely still rejecting their Messiah, and the mercy and the righteousness promised to them. They are not really God’s people[xv]—they are cut off. But then—this is a love story. They can be grafted back in.

God waits to have mercy on them. He wrestles with them. He may send them good things. He may be severe. But he loves them. They need to turn to their Messiah. So, with God, we should love them, and pray for them.

And what is true of Israel is his ‘working case history’ for Gentiles to take note of. God is waiting to reveal his mercy to us also, not to give us our rights!

In the end, we will see that all whom God knows as his chosen people will be saved. God will keep his promise. And those of us who are not Jews can also trust God’s promise to bring about the future he has revealed to us.

[i] Rom. 9:15-18, 23; 11:30-32

[ii] The book of Hosea is an example of God treating Israel with severe mercy.

[iii] Rom. 3:19

[iv] Gen. 12:2-3

[v] Deut. 30:2-24

[vi] Exod. 20:2-3

[vii] Rom. 10:9-13

[viii] Acts 2:39

[ix] Rom. 11:1-10

[x] Rom. 11:11-32

[xi] Rom. 7:7-9

[xii] Vv. 26-27, quoting the Greek version of Isa.59:20-21; Isa. 27:9

[xiii] Rom. 11:29

[xiv] Rom. 11:33-36

[xv] The Old Testament speaks in these terms (Hos. 1:6-11). So does Jesus (Matt. 22:14; John 10:39-41). So does Paul (Rom. 2:28-29).s.

[i] Rom. 9:15-18, 23; 11:30-32

[ii] The book of Hosea is an example of God treating Israel with severe mercy.

[iii] Rom. 3:19

[iv] Gen. 12:2-3

[v] Deut. 30:2-24

[vi] Exod. 20:2-3

[vii] Rom. 10:9-13

[viii] Acts 2:39

[ix] Rom. 11:1-10

[x] Rom. 11:11-32

[xi] Rom. 7:7-9

[xii] Vv. 26-27, quoting the Greek version of Isa.59:20-21; Isa. 27:9

[xiii] Rom. 11:29

[xiv] Rom. 11:33-36

[xv] The Old Testament speaks in these terms (Hos. 1:6-11). So does Jesus (Matt. 22:14; John 10:39-41). So does Paul (Rom. 2:28-29).

Is the world safe?

The Bible is peppered with God’s promises. They are the certainties we need to know as we navigate our way through all that happens in this world.

Politicians know they must promise something to have us vote for them. But they can’t ensure that what they promise will happen. Only God can do that!

Here’s some of the first promises God makes (See Genesis 3:15; 8:20—9:17).

The first is announced to Adam and Eve in Eden. They have asserted their independence from God and want to determine what is right and wrong for themselves. Because of this, as God had told them, they will die.

And since then, we all die. And we must deal with many threats and uncertainties along the way. Death, and the fear of it, lingers closely.

But immediately, God makes this promise. Adam and Eve will have a child who will undo the mischief caused by Satan’s deadly temptation (Genesis 3:15). It will come at a cost to the promised child, but shows, immediately, that God’s enemy will never have the last word.

We can think this is just a quaint story, or we can see it he one chance we have to live a full life.

The story that follows in the book of Genesis bears this out (chapters 3—5). The people who believe God’s promise find some poise and certainty, and generosity in life. Those who won’t believe this promise feel threatened, become angry, grasping and even cruel.

The child God has promised will be no less than his own Son—Jesus Christ. And the rest of the Bible is the story of this unfolding—as we shall see. But, already, God’s promise changes how people live.

Then, there’s another great promise.

By the time of Noah, the earth has become so violent that God promises to destroy it. Except for Noah and his family. God will gracious to him (Genesis 6:8). He must build what amounts to a floating zoo to house his family and many animals.

The flood that then comes is so comprehensive that only those floating in the ark survive. God is starting again with a new couple. The story is quite long (Genesis 6—9), but, at the end of it, Noah says thankyou with a sacrificial offering.

And God makes a promise. ‘I will never again strike down every creature as I have done’ (Genesis 8:21-22). And the next line is very important—seasons and harvests will continue as long as the earth remains.

This is a promise to all of us—all of Noah’s descendants. God is establishing a relationship or covenant with the human race. He will never again reduce the world to a single family with a flood like the one they have just had. This is what we are to remember when we see a rainbow in the sky. Seasons and harvests will continue.

Think of the difference it makes if you have a promise that the Creator will see to it that harvests will continue.

But most interesting is the reason why this is so. ‘The intention of men’s hearts is evil from his youth’. This is the same reason God has for flooding the earth (Genesis 6:5). Nothing has really changed. But God’s relationship to what he has made is a relationship of grace. We are not going to get what we deserve. We’ll get what he has promised.

If this is what we believe, it makes a huge difference! Without it, we become threatened, anxious, angry, grasping, and even cruel. But believing God’s promise can make us trusting, settled, and even generous.

As we think about people around us, we can tell them what Paul says. ‘We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. … He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy’ (Acts 14:15-16).

Right now, we are facing a massive food shortage around the world. But, in fact, the world is producing more food than ever before. We don’t do very well distributing it evenly. But think of the difference it will make if we believe that God has promised never to destroy the means of production.

God has promised this, not because we deserve it. We never will. He’s promised it because he is kind. And not for any other reason.But there’s still the promise of a child to come. And this is where the next promises will take us.

Who can we trust?

Everything we do in life needs some confidence that it might work out well. And God has not left us in the dark about this. From the beginning, he has surrounded us with promises.

For example, a Psalm tell us that ‘the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity’ (Psalm 37:11). Jesus reflects this in his Sermon on the mount, saying that the meek are blessed because they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

Really? The world looks like it belongs to those who take it by storm. So how can this promise, and many others, settle our hearts to trust in God and in Jesus whom he has sent?

From the beginning, humanity decided it wouldn’t trust God. And ever since then, that’s been our problem. We’d rather be the ones who are trustworthy. God must painstakingly demonstrate that he is the only one who can guarantee our future (Isaiah 48:3-8). And this is what he does.

The numerous promises made by prophets, or by Jesus and his apostles belong in a structure of promises—covenants of promise (Ephesians 2:12). If we know what these are, it helps us understand all the others.

The first of these is a promise made to Abraham. His whole story is in Genesis (chapters 12—25), but here is how Paul describes him coming to trust in God’s word (Romans 4:13-23).

First, God tells Abraham that he will inherit the world (v. 13).

This means he will have a family, his own country and become a nation. That’s just a start. He will become the father of nations (v. 17). God will bless him so he can be a blessing in the whole earth (Genesis 12:1-3).

Abraham’s family has come through a time when people gathered together to secure their own future—by building a massive tower—at Babel (Genesis 11). It all comes to nothing because God confuses their languages.

God is showing Abraham, and us, a better way. Paul says God’s promise is for all of us who don’t trust in ourselves but in his goodness (v. 16). (What he’s doing in this letter is comparing Abraham with people who are trying to justify themselves by being good law-keepers.)

Paul says we are added to Abraham’s family and share the family inheritance. Abraham will ‘inherit the world’ (v. 13), and so shall we.

This might sound a long way from what we are interested in, but think about the promise Jesus makes to us all: the meek will inherit the earth. We all need to know that God will provide for us and give us our place in life. Our future is important—and it matters to him.

The disciples of Jesus give us an interesting example of this (Matthew 19:27-30).

We may be thinking of inheritance as property or wealth, but God is thinking of us being a blessing in it—not being concerned with ourselves but with those we can serve. This is the way Jesus Christ will inherit the earth, and it’s the same for us.

We don’t have to make ourselves significant, important, rich and powerful. God is promising, not just to keep the world functioning (the promise to Noah) but to make us significant in his kingdom (Matthew 25:34)—to bless us and make us a blessing.

Second, here’s how God evokes trust.

Simply, God speaks to Abraham (Genesis 12:1). We don’t know what this looks like but it gets Abraham going. The God of glory has come to him (Acts 7:2).

It’s the same now. When we hear the gospel preached, God’s word comes to us. The God of glory has appeared in the person of Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:6) and his glory has been revealed in what he has done. We have more to go on than Abraham did.

Faith comes by hearing this word of Christ (Romans 10:17). We don’t know how this happens, but it’s how God brings us to trust him.

Abraham doesn’t sit easily with this. He doesn’t have a son, let alone a family or a nation. And this continues for some time. What God is promising is impossible. It’s not easy trusting what we can’t see.

Our natural habit is to want immediate gratification. But trusting God involves waiting. We need to stop pumping up our own importance and see that God is ‘waiting to be gracious’ to us (Isaiah 30:18). There’s no other way to know that God is good.

God persists with Abraham. And, he grows strong in faith (vv. 18-19).

Third, two miracles now happen.

Abraham confesses that God is good and true and reliable (v. 20). This is a reversal of all that went wrong in Eden. Abraham doesn’t need to make himself great. He’s found that God is the one with all the glory—he’s good, and he’s trustworthy.

This is what happens to every Christian. We can see that the one who made the world knows how to look after it. We know he is being kind to his creatures and that he’s making a world community that reflects his kindness. We know God has the power to do what he promises (v. 21).

The second miracle is that God calls a sinner righteous (v. 22-25). We’d sought to be the ones who were right and good—and made a thorough mess of it. Now, when we stop seeking to create our own righteousness, God gives it to us.

We have more to go on than Abraham ever did. We’ve seen the God of glory in the face of Christ because he gave up his Son to death for our sins.

We’ve also seen him being raised from the dead, not just to prove that he was in the right all along, but to reckon this justification to all of us who trust him. Being called ‘right’ by God changes everything.

We can now hear God’s promises clearly. We will inherit the earth. We will inherit the world over which God reigns—his kingdom (Matthew 25:34). We will have eternal life (Matthew 19:29). And if this is the way we are living, we will have his promise that he can look after all our needs and take us through our troubles as well (Matthew 6:31-34). Life is good!

Why Jesus Christ?

God starts making promises after we become sinners. He gives us an opportunity to start trusting him again—to discover that he is worthy of our love. So, it’s not surprising that every promise he makes (in the Old Testament) is based on what Jesus will do, or (in the New Testament), has done among us.

The Bible has many promises that God will be with us or help us (Psalm 37 and 91:14-16 are some well-known examples). We may be comforted by them. But then, if we imagine that these promises will be fulfilled because we are nice people or because we feel good when we read them, we are deceived. We need what Christ does to receive what is promised.

Jesus says ‘Yes’ on our behalf to everything God promises (2 Corinthians 1:20). We are slow to believe and reticent to trust. Not Jesus! He wants God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

For example, he has power to lay his life down and take it up again because his Father has commanded it—or we could say, promised it (John 10:18). That’s amazing certainty to have in a world that’s full of danger.

It’s Christ’s ‘Yes!’ that enables us to say ‘Amen!’ We learn from him that God means what he says, wants do us good and can bring about what he has promised.

Notice how confident Paul is when he says this. Because God’s promises are being fulfilled in Christ, he can be definite in making promises to other people. The reliability we need to make a good future comes from what Christ does.

This is why, when Jesus is born, that there is so much joy (Luke 2:8-14). A promise made to King David—that he would have a great Son—has come. All the things God will do to save our broken world and damaged lives are now going to happen (Luke 1:67-79).

What God promises David is central to all the promises God makes. A descendant of his will reign forever (2 Samuel 7:12-19).

Finally, someone will come who can deal with this world, and with us—given our capacity for deceit and distrust. He will be greater than David—his ‘lord’ in fact (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:44-46). He will sit beside God until all opposition is overcome.

He will be a priest as well as a king. That’s because we need more than a leader to solve problems. We need someone to bring us to God.

As Israel’s history becomes worse and worse, God’s promises about his King get better and better. This son will be God’s Son. And the idea that any power could frustrate his purpose is laughable (Psalm 2).

Later generations are told that he will be called ‘Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6). Through him, the whole earth will be given peace, and will know God (Isaiah 11:1-9).

When Jesus comes, promises made about David’s Son are quoted to show that he is the one promised. Everyone needs to decide if Jesus is this Christ or Messiah—like Peter (Matthew 16:15-16), or Jewish leaders (Matthew 26:63-64) or the people at Pentecost.

This is what Peter talks about after Jesus ascends and sends his Holy Spirit. God’s people have killed their anointed Leader and King. But God has raised him up. They need his forgiveness—urgently (Acts 2:36-38).

This is why it’s so important to hear God’s promises brought to us in Jesus’ name. He’s taken account of our preference to trust ourselves, our ungratefulness and resentment. And, he comes to us, raised from the dead, with the offer of new life.

This promise is not only being made to Peter’s audience. It’s being made to us—as many as God calls (Acts 2:39; Romans 15:8). Our sins too can be forgiven. We too can be reconciled to the God we have offended. And we can hear all the promises Christ came to fulfil and be persuaded that God really means to do us good.

We can read Psalm 37:4: ‘Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart’. We can hear the same thing from Jesus: ‘If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you’ (John 15:7).

Preaching about Jesus as God’s promised Saviour starts with forgiveness through Christ’s death, and with the renewal of hope through his resurrection (Acts 13:23, 32, 38; 26:6). By raising Jesus from the dead, the promise made to us is not, ‘You will die’, but ‘You will live!’

Our life is now full of hope. We can be what we really are because of ‘the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus’ (2 Timothy 1:1). Instead of being subject to the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15), we are liberated by the expectation of life and resurrection.

No wonder the promises of God needs this coming King. No-one can guarantee anything unless they are in charge. And here, Jesus has taken charge of everything—our self-sufficiency and troubles and fears on the one hand, but also, all the wonderful purpose of God for us on the other. He has led us into the meekness of trusting in him.

This changes our expectations, our habits, our relationships, our conversations—everything!