Have you ever wondered if God still keeps His promises when people walk away from Him? In this episode, we explore Romans chapters 9 through 11 and one of the Bible's most powerful revelations about God's faithfulness. Why did so many in Israel reject their Messiah? Does that mean God's promises failed?

Together, we'll discover how these chapters reveal God's sovereignty, His mercy, and His plan to bring both Jews and Gentiles into His family. Most importantly, we'll see that God's gifts and His calling are irrevocable. His faithfulness is never dependent on human weakness.

The same God who remains faithful to His promises to Israel is the same God who is faithful to every promise He has made to you.

The content shared on Living the Selah Life is for spiritual encouragement, personal reflection, and informational purposes only.

It is not intended to diagnose, treat or replace medical, psychological or professional advice of any kind.

Please consult a licensed healthcare provider or qualified professional for any physical, mental or emotional health concerns.

The views expressed are those of the host, Kimberly Lockanore, and are based on personal experience in Biblical insight, not clinical or professional training.

Welcome back to Living the Selah Life, a podcast that invites you to slow down, to breathe and to reconnect with the presence of God.

I am your host, Kim, and this space is for anyone longing to become more familiar with his presence.

Each episode is an intentional pause, a moment to reflect, realign and remember that God meets us when we create space for Him.

So take a breath.

You are right on time.

Let's live the Selah life together.

In our last episode, we celebrated the triumphant truth that nothing can separate us from God's love, that we're more than conquerors through Christ, and that we are held by a love that will never I said never let go.

Today we're entering Romans chapter 9 through 11, where Paul addresses a crucial question.

If God's promises are secure, why has Israel rejected their Messiah?

Has God's plan failed?

Has His Word proven untrue?

Very good questions.

These three chapters show us God's faithfulness not just to Israel, but to all of his promises.

We'll see God's sovereignty, His mercy, his patience, and his plan that includes both Jews and Gentiles.

We'll discover that God's gifts and callings are irrevocable, that his ways are beyond our understanding, and that everything, all of history, all of salvation, is for his glory.

This passage reminds us that the same God who keeps his promises to Israel keeps His promises to you.

His faithfulness is unshakable, and I know that is often so difficult to comprehend because we as people can be so flighty and sometimes flaky and shaky.

But God is not like that.

We will call this week's main teaching God's faithfulness to Israel, and we will begin with Romans 9:1:5 Paul's anguish it says, I tell the truth in Christ.

I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my countrymen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and The promises of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is overall the eternally blessed God.

Amen.

That is a mouthful.

I urge you to go back and dissect that.

I'm telling you guys the book of Romans will set you free from religious doctrine.

Because I know if you're like me, a lot of us were brought up doing a lot of religious things for a lot of religious reasons that really don't help you out as you mature in Christ because they don't hold any spiritual value for you.

And this book right here, the entire book of Romans, if you don't understand any other one except for this one and maybe one of the Gospels, I urge you to do it because it will set you completely free.

So Romans, chapter 9, verses 1 through 5.

Paul begins with deep emotions.

He has great sorrow, and it's a continual grief over Israel's rejection of Christ.

His love for his people is so intense that he wishes he could be accursed if it would mean they would be saved.

He lists Israel's privileges.

They're adopted as God's people, God's glory dwelling among them, the covenants God made with them, the law given to them, temple worship, God's promises, the patriarchs.

And most remarkably, Christ himself came from Israel.

With all of these advantages, Israel should have recognized their Messiah.

Their rejection is tragic.

And Paul's grief is very genuine here.

And I always look at passages of Scripture like this, and it reminds us here that even when you think that you know a thing, or especially with people, or you see somebody preaching something one way, or see somebody doing a miracle one way, always ask God.

Always ask God if you think it's not genuine or it is genuine.

Because Scripture shows us over and over again that it is possible for the Messiah, the Son of God, God himself, to be standing amongst his very own people as himself, and those people not recognize him.

So how much more is it for us to think that we have all these things figured out when we can simply just ask?

I always just ask God.

And 90% of the time when I ask, there's an understanding of the miracle that I saw, of the prophetic words that I heard.

There's an understanding that I myself was missing, that that person has experienced that I had not.

And by me being humble enough to ask, the Lord will open the revelation for me.

So I just wanted to throw that in there.

Romans, chapter 9, verses 6 through 13.

God's word has not failed.

But it is not that the word of God has taken no Effect.

For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children, because they are the seed of Abraham.

But in Isaac your seed shall be called, that is, those who are the children of the flesh.

These are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

Israel's rejection doesn't mean God's word failed.

Not everyone descended from Abraham is Abraham's child.

Physical descent doesn't guarantee spiritual relationship.

God chose Isaac, not Ishmael.

Both were Abraham's sons, but only one Isaac was a child of promise.

God chose Jacob and not Esau, both Isaac's sons.

But God's choice was based on his purpose, not their works.

Remember that God's choice is based on his purpose, not their works.

And for your life, God's choice is based on his purpose, not your works.

For the children being not yet born, nor having done any good or evil deeds, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls.

God's choice was made before the twins were even born, before they did anything good or bad.

Election is based on God's purpose and calling, not human effort or merit.

This shows God's sovereignty.

He chooses according to his purpose.

Salvation has always been by grace, through faith, not by physical descent or by works.

Romans, chapter 9, verses 14 through 24.

God's mercy and justice.

What shall we say then?

Is there unrighteousness with God?

Certainly not.

For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.

So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

A Is God unjust to choose some and not others?

Paul says no.

God has the right to show mercy to whom he chooses.

Mercy isn't something that we deserve.

If we deserved it, it wouldn't be called mercy.

God showed mercy that Moses, he hardened.

Pharaoh both demonstrated God's power and his purpose.

No one can resist God's will.

And I know you hear all the time other things that make it appear as if God is just standing back, idly watching.

And people are can just do whatever they want, whenever they want.

No one can resist God's will.

Period.

Even if in the natural, what you're looking like, everything looks apart from God's will.

It is impossible to resist God's will.

But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God will?

The thing formed?

Say to him who formed it, why have you made me like this?

Does not the potter have power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.

God is the potter, y'.

All.

We are the clay.

The potter has the right to make what he chooses from the clay.

We don't have the standing to question God's choices, even though lots of times because he's so so amazing.

He allows us to do so because he knows we're curious how he answers is something different.

God endured vessels of wrath prepared for destruction with much patience so he could make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy which he had prepared beforehand for glory.

God's patience with those who reject him serves to magnify his mercy towards those who believe.

I'm going to say that again for the people in the back.

God's patience with those who reject him serves to magnify his mercy toward those who believe him.

Both display different aspects of his character, but the same God.

Romans 9, 30, 33.

What shall we say then?

That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith.

But Israel pursuing the law of righteousness has not attained to the law of righteousness.

Why?

Because they did not seek it by faith faith, but as it were by the works of the law.

For they stumbled at the stumbling stone.

Gentiles who weren't pursuing righteousness found it through faith.

Israel who was pursuing righteousness through law keeping, didn't attain it.

Why?

Because they sought it through works instead of faith.

They stumbled over Christ who is the stumbling stone.

He didn't fit their expectations.

They wanted a Messiah who would affirm their works based righteousness.

Jesus came offering grace through faith, and they rejected him.

Romans chapter 10, verses 1 through 4.

Israel's zeal without knowledge Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Paul prays for Israel's salvation.

They have zeal for God, religious passion, commitment to the law.

But their zeal isn't based on knowledge.

They're ignorant of God's righteousness, the righteousness he provides through Christ alone.

And the only way we can get that righteousness is through Christ.

It is not possible with being squeaky clean.

It is not possible any other way.

It is a free gift that Christ offers that he bestows upon you.

They're trying to establish their own righteousness through law keeping.

They won't submit to God's righteousness that's offered through faith in Christ.

Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.

To everyone who believes, Christ is the goal the law pointed to.

He fulfilled the law.

Righteousness comes through believing in him, not through keeping the law.

Romans, chapter 10, verses 9 through 13.

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the Scripture says whoever believes on him will not be put to shame.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.

For the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.

For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Hallelujah.

Salvation comes through believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and God raised him from the dead.

Heart belief leads to righteousness.

Mouth confession leads to salvation.

These aren't two different actions.

They're the internal, an external expression of faith.

There is no distinction between Jew and Greek.

The same Lord is Lord of all.

He's rich to all who call on Him, Jew and Gentile alike.

Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Anyone, whoever, everyone who calls.

Romans, chapter 10, verses 14 through 17.

Faith comes by hearing.

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?

And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

And how shall they hear without a preacher?

And how shall they preach unless they are sent as it is written?

How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.

But they have not all obeyed the gospel.

For Isaiah says, lord, who has believed our report?

So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

People must hear to believe, and they must believe to call.

And this creates a responsibility.

Preachers must be sent.

The Gospel must be proclaimed.

People must hear.

Those who preach the gospel have beautiful feet.

The Word says they bring the best news anyone can hear.

Not everyone who hears obeys.

Isaiah prophesied this, and not all would believe the message.

But faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

The Word must be proclaimed.

When people hear the word about Christ, faith can be born.

Romans, chapter 11, verses 1 through 6.

Israel's stumbling is not final, I say.

Then has God cast away his people?

Certainly not.

For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew.

Has God rejected Israel permanently?

No.

Paul himself is proof of that.

He's Jewish and he's saved.

God has not rejected his people.

There's always been a remnant, a group within Israel who believed In Elijah's day, 7,000 hadn't bowed down to Baal.

And today there's a remnant chosen by grace as well.

The remnant is saved by grace, not works.

If works were involved, it wouldn't be grace.

Romans, chapter 11, verses 17 through 24.

After it end, Paul uses an olive tree illustration.

Israel is the natural branches.

Some were broken off because of unbelief.

Gentiles are wild olive branches that are grafted in, he says, and if some of the branches were broken off and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree.

Do not boast against the branches.

But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

Gentile believers shouldn't boast against Jewish unbelievers.

The branches were broken off because of unbelief.

You stand by faith, I stand by faith.

We all stand by faith.

Don't be arrogant, be reverent.

If God didn't spare the natural branches, he won't spare us either.

If we don't continue in faith, the broken branches can be grafted back in if they don't persist in unbelief.

If God grafted wild branches contrary to nature, he can certainly graft natural branches back in.

Romans, chapter 11, verses 25 32.

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion.

That blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come.

Hear that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

And so all Israel will be saved.

As it is written, the deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

For this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

And do not get me started on a covenant.

A lot of things that we do and say and we expect from God and pray to God.

We are covenant kids and you just have to look into what a covenant means to God.

Again, it is so foreign to us as fragile humans.

But when God says covenant.

He means covenant no matter what it looks like.

And this is a mystery, a truth not previously revealed but now made known.

Partial hardening has come upon Israel until the full number of Gentiles come in.

Then all of Israel will be saved.

This doesn't mean that every individual Jew will be saved.

It means Israel as a nation will turn to Christ.

God's promises to Israel will be fulfilled.

Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.

But concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.

For the gifts and the calling of God are enemies.

Irrevocable.

Israel's current rejection of the gospel serves God's purpose.

It opened the door for Gentiles.

But they're still beloved because of God's promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

I just love God for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

God doesn't take back his gifts or his calling.

What he promised to Israel, he will fulfill.

How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out for who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become his counselor?

Or who has first given to him, and it shall be repaid to him.

For of him and through him, and to him are all things to whom be glory forever.

Amen.

Paul ends with worship.

God's wisdom is beyond comprehension.

His judgments are unsearchable.

His ways are beyond tracing out.

No one knows God's mind completely.

No one counsels God and no one gives to God first.

So God owes them.

Everything is from God, through God and to God.

All of history, all of salvation, all of creation.

It's all for his glory.

This is the proper response to God's sovereignty and faithfulness.

Worship.

When you can't fully understand God's ways, you trust his wisdom and give him glory.

And what does this mean for you?

These chapters address Israel specifically, but they reveal things about God that apply to you and to me.

God is sovereign.

He chooses according to his purpose.

Salvation is always by grace, through faith, never by works or heritage.

God is faithful.

What he promises, he fulfills.

His gifts and callings are irrevocable.

What he started, he completes.

We learn that God's mercy is for all.

Jew and Gentile come to God the same way, through faith in Christ.

God's ways are beyond our understanding.

We won't comprehend his purposes or his timing.

Sometimes trust his wisdom and worship his glory.

We will Move on to this week's pause prompts and remember, Pause prompts are just a chance to see where we are so that we can know where we are going.

Pause Prompt number one have you tried to establish your own righteousness through works?

Do you question God's choices or his ways?

Are you grateful for God's mercy toward you?

Do you wholeheartedly believe not that God keeps His promises, but that God keeps His promises to you?

Foreign how does knowing God's faithfulness to Israel increase your confidence in his faithfulness to you?

We will move on into our Selah moment and prayer, my favorite part of the podcast.

This is our opportunity to worship God's faithfulness and his sovereignty.

So sit comfortably and take several slow, deep breaths.

You can picture God's faithfulness stretching from Abraham to today.

Unbroken, unshakable, irrevocable.

Acknowledge his sovereignty.

God is sovereign.

His choices are based on his purposes, not your merit.

You didn't earn your salvation, you received it by grace through faith.

You are grafted in.

You stand by faith.

You're included in God's family not because you deserved it, but because he showed you mercy.

You don't understand all God's ways.

His judgments are unsearchable and his paths are beyond tracing, but you trust his wisdom.

Let us pray.

Father, thank you for your faithfulness to Israel.

Thank you that what you promised you fulfill and that your gifts are and calling are irrevocable.

Thank you that this same faithfulness extends to us.

The God who keeps promises to nations keeps promises to individuals.

You're faithful.

What you started in us, you will complete.

Forgive us for trying to establish our own righteousness.

Forgive us for sin seeking to earn what you freely offer.

Help us rest in the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ.

Thank you for grafting us in Lord.

We're wild branches who had no claim.

But you showed mercy.

You included us and we stand by grace through faith, not by works or heritage.

Thank you that there's no distinction between Jew and Gentile, that the same Lord is rich to all who call upon Him.

Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Help us call on you constantly when we wake, when we're tempted, when we're in anxious, before we sleep.

Help us call on your name.

You are faithful to answer.

Thank you that faith comes by hearing and thank you for the preachers that you send.

Thank you that we heard the Word and thank you that faith was born in our hearts.

Use us to share the gospel.

Lord, the good news.

Give us opportunities to Speak.

Give us courage to tell what you've done in our lives.

Someone needs to hear it.

Make us be willing to speak when we don't understand your ways.

Help us worship.

Your wisdom is beyond our comprehension.

Your paths are past finding out.

We don't need to understand everything.

We trust you.

All things are from you, through you and to you.

Glory to you forever.

Thank you that your promises are irrevocable.

What you spoke to Abraham, you're fulfilling what you've spoken to us through scripture you will accomplish.

Your word stands forever.

Help us to rest in that sovereignty.

You're working all things according to your purpose.

Even what we don't understand serves your plan.

Make us people who stand by faith.

Lord, live by grace and worship with wonder.

Oh the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.

How unsearchable are your judgments and your ways past finding out.

In the name of Jesus through whom both Jews and Gentiles are saved.

Amen.

Let's lean into our Selah moment.

Sa.

Sam.

That is it.

My friends, thank you for listening to living the Selah life.

If this moment stirred something in your spirit, please share it with someone who needs to be reminded to pause and to listen.

You can connect with me on Instagram, a Facebook group, not a Facebook page or YouTube at Living the Selah life.

Or email me your story to livingtheselahliferoton Me.

I would love to hear it.

Until next time, remember that God is speaking.

He wants to guide you and direct you and give you wisdom for for your life.

Create space to listen.

God's gifts and callings are irrevocable.

What he promised, he will fulfill.

May you go from this place resting, carrying the awareness that his presence is always near.

May you be rooted in the unshakable word of God, the Logos that ground you and the rhema that guide you.

Men shall not live by bread alone, but by every word word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

May you keep rising into the life he designed for you, into purpose, into peace, into the fullness of his calling.

May your life become a living Selah, an intentional pause that reveals his presence in Jesus name.

And it is so Selah.