God Calls His People

Romans: The Gospel for God’s glory
Romans 9:24-29
God calls his people
God is preserving a remnant from Israel as he calls his people from the Gentiles

1) God has called vessels of mercy (9:22-23) from the Jews and the Gentiles, 9:24.
What is the significance of saying God has CALLED Jews and Gentiles (ethnos=nations)?

2) God promised to call those who were not his people, “my people,” 9:25.
In Hosea 1, God had said he was naming unfaithful Israel “No Mercy” and “Not My People.” then in Hosea 2:23 he said he would have mercy on No Mercy, and call Not My People “My People.”
Explain Paul’s application of this to Gentiles.

3) God promised to call those who were not his people “sons of the living God,” 9:26.
Paul quotes from Hosea 1:10. Again the promise was to Israel. Paul applies these words to Gentiles being saved through Christ and being gathered into his church. It is amazing who God calls to saving faith and how he calls them.
Who are the people in your circles that have surprised you by coming to faith in Jesus? Who would surprise you if they received Jesus? What do you think of the fact that many Muslims have been becoming Jesus followers?

4) Isaiah said that out of the vast number of Israelites, only a remnant will be saved, 9:27.
Paul quotes from Isaiah 10:22. Only a remnant were being saved. There is a pattern in Biblical history and church history that God’s people, having received much spiritual privilege, can become presumptuous, proud, or just maintain the outward forms of religious practice without a heart for God and his ways and his mission. God removes his blessing so that only a remnant of followers of the true faith remain. In the age of the church, vibrant Christianity disappears and God raises up new gospel movements elsewhere.
Do you see these patterns happening today? In what ways?

5) Isaiah said that the Lord will carry out his judgment thoroughly and decisively, 9:28.
From Isaiah 10:23. God is carrying out his word to have mercy on only a remnant of Israel.

6) Isaiah foretold that if the Lord had not left Israel offspring they would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah, 9:29.
Paul quotes from Isaiah 1:9. Israel’s sins were great and they had rejected God’s calls to repentance and warnings for generations. They deserved Sodom and Gomorrah’s judgment. BUT GOD being rich in mercy, preserved a “seed”, offspring of true Israel.
How is Paul applying this to God’s sovereign mercy toward Israel in his day? See Romans 11:25-26 for a sneak peek at God’s design for calling many Gentiles and only a remnant of Israel.