Romans 9:14-15, Throw Out the Lifeline
Romans 9:14-15 (KJV) 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
When Israel worshipped the golden calf, God’s anger was kindled. Had Moses not interceded before God on behalf of his people, they would have perished. God spared Israel because Moses found grace in God’s sight. God’s reply to Moses is that it is His prerogative to decide if Israel will be spared – “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” The people have rebelled against God. They were guilty.
If God has not extended His mercy to sinners like us, we would have perished in our sins. He extended His mercy to us by sending His Son to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Can God be charged being uncompassionate? Certainly not. But there are those in Israel who chose to spurn the grace of God through Christ by rejecting the gospel. Are they culpable? Yes, for rejecting God’s love.
This picture of God’s love is well demonstrated in Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). Jesus went through Samaria so that He would reach out personally to save this woman steeped in the sin of adultery. She has had five husbands. Jesus did not despise the woman because was not purely Jewish nor for her sins. She was gloriously saved. Likewise for us. We have a story to recount of how God showed mercy to us to save us by His grace.
A broader picture of God’s love is demonstrated in His ministry efforts to reach out to lost sinners – Matthew 9:35-36 (KJV) 35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
If Jesus has not reached out to these, they would have perished in their sins. And yet, many rejected Jesus and chose to crucify their Messiah. The Apostle Paul is presenting the case that God cannot be charged for not showing mercy because He is a merciful God! God is not cold and ruthless, but He is warm and loving. The lifeline is there through the gospel from the beginning when Adam fell into sin. It is for the individual to accept God’s compassion by hold on to the lifeline of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ given to them. Amen.