The Word of God Has Not Failed

It's a very appropriate song for us to sing today as we look at Romans chapter nine, verses six through thirteen, because if we are not careful, we could fall into the trap of believing that somehow God has demonstrated a pattern of not being faithful to his people. And in fact, that is the question to which Paul turns his attention in this particular paragraph, the question of whether or not God has failed, whether or not God's word has failed, whether God has forsaken those whom he said he would not forsake, particularly Israel. Paul in the first five verses here talks about his own distress over the state of his kinsmen, over the state of Israel, and he then answers the question that is raised by the condition of Israel in both that time and this And that question that is raised is this one. Has God's promise failed? Has his word to them failed? Has God turned his back on his people? And that is an important question, because if you believe that God somehow turned his back on his people, on his elect Israel, and somehow changed partners in the middle of the dance, then what gives you any hope that he won't do the same thing to you this is a crucial question. Paul answers the question in the first part of chapter nine, verse six. His answer continued use on through chapter eleven. So Romans Chapter nine, Verse six A is the thesis statement, if you will. Verses one through five is sort of an opening paragraph. Verse one through five is a prologue. Verse one through five asks the question. The answer is given in the form of a thesis statement, and then it is explained. It is teased out over the rest of this section of Genesis chapter nine, verses six, or Genesis chapters nine through eleven. Let's look again at the first opening prolog, beginning of verse one. I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen. According to the flesh there Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race. According to the flesh is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen, here's the thesis. But verse six. But we've just come out of major duxology at the end of chapter eight, and again chapter eight ends that section there, and there is major praise, major duxology at the end of chapter eight. There is a crescendo. Paul is at an all time high at the end of chapter eight. Now he has come crashing down in the first five verses of chapter nine. And you know that chapter eleven ends with another doxology with great praise. But how does Paul get from this opening salvo, this opening paragraph in chapter nine where he is at an all time low, to again being at a crescendo of doxology and praise at the end of chapter eleven. How the answer is found succinctly in the first part of verse nine. But it is not as though God's word has failed. Amen, Hallelujah, praise the Lord. It is not as though God's word has failed. Paul basically says, here in a nutshell, do not look upon the experience of Israel as you see it in the here and now and try to gauge whether or not God's word or promise has failed. There are a couple of reasons that you can't do that. The first reason he's going to get to is the identity of Israel, true Israel, and eventually the last reason he's going to get to is an eschatological hope. But we shall not get ahead of ourselves. Question is has God failed Israel? Now it's important because usually we get the Romans chapter nine, and we think that Romans Chapter nine is all about election and predestination, And it is about election and predestination, but that these statements about election and predestination are couched in the context of this statement about God's election of Israel nationally as a people for his purpose. So are we talking about national Israel or are we talking about individual election? Yes? Amen, God elected the people for a purpose. But this passage is also about the election of individuals unto salvation, and you have to keep both of these in mind as we go through chapters nine through eleven. Now, those who are on the more Wesleyan Armenian side of the fence argue that chapter nine is really all about national election national Israel, because that's the only way that you can get around these pointed statements about election and predestination. Because this is as clear as it gets on the issue of election and predestination. The only way you can get around it is to do some gymnastics and say that Romans chapters nine through eleven are about national election only, corporate election only, and not individual election and salvation. There's a small problem with that line of argumentation. It's chapter ten, chapter ten not national at all. Look with me, if you will just go forward, turn the page. We don't even have to go there because you know chapter ten, and let's begin there in chapter ten. Let's begin in verse eight. Then you tell me if this sounds national to you. But what does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised them from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. But the Scripture says every one who believes in Him will not be put to shame, for there is no distinction between jew and Greek. For the same Lord as Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That's not national, that's individual, and even the nation and the corporate body is made up of individuals. So you have two things at play here, and it's very important to keep that in mind as we go through this section, that there are two things at play, but that one thing that is at play, it's quite significant. Listen to this from Kim Riddlebarger. Rumans nine six to twenty nine includes one of the most controversial topics in all Christian theology, the question of God's sovereignty in relation to the election of certain individuals unto salvation and others unto damnation. Paul does not raise the subject of election to give people something interesting to speculate about, but to answer the difficul question raised earlier in this chapter. If the Gospel goes first to the jew and only then to the Gentile, why is it that Israel presently stands under God's curse? Does God keep his promises? Did God reject his people? Or is Israel's present state of unbelief a part of God's larger redemptive historical purpose in bringing salvation to the Gentiles. Thus, Paul introduces the subject of God's sovereign purpose in election as the means of answering these difficult questions. Are we talking about God's sovereignty an election and salvation of an individual? Yes? Are we talking about Israel? Yes? Yes, it's not one or the other, it's both. And those who fall on the Armenian side of the ledger who believe in the sovereignty of man in salvation, that it is Man's will Germans salvation. God has cast his vote. The devil has cast his vote. Now it's time for you to cast the final vote. Remember that famous Dwight L. Moody tract. Those who fall on that side of the ledger have to view this from that national lens, But it's not necessary to do so exclusively, and you'll see that here in this text. Let's read the paragraph down through verse thirteen. But it is not as though God's word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. But through Isaac shall your offspring be named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh, who are the children of God, but the children of promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said about this time next year, I will return and Sarah shall have a son. And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our father Isaac, though they were not yet born, and had not done, and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of Him who calls. She was told the older will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. There's the paragraph. It is clear and unambiguous as to the nature of salvation, predestination, and election. But it's difficult for us because we do not like the idea that we are not in control. This is the land of I did it in my way. This is the land of I pulled myself up by my own boot straps. This is the land of if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself. This is the land of me, myself and I. This is the land of I don't need nobody's help. This is the land of I am sovereign, and nobody tells me what to do. This is the land of You're not to bossom me. That's our culture, folks, and in our culture, we do not like the idea that God saves whom he chooses to save. We liked the idea I was smarter than the next guy, so I figured it out and asked Jesus into my heart. I was more godly than the next guy, so I was sensitive to the Gospel when he wasn't. I was just innately better than the next guy. Therefore I came to Christ and he didn't. There was something in me that I exercised that he didn't exercise. And I'm standing before God at least in part because of my own merit. Now, we would never say those things openly. That you better believe we hold to them. That's our culture. That's who we are, that's what we've been taught. Now, to be fair, there are some people who are on a different side of the ledger. There are people on the other side of the ledger who don't want to boast outwardly out of arrogance, but instead they want to protect God from being mean, and so they're on this side of the ledger. No, no, no, no, no, because that we've got to protect God from election, because election means that there are people who are going to Hell who were sent there by God. And God is love and how can God be love and Hell be real? Book coming out by Rob Bell creating all of these problems right now. The title of it is Love Wins That in the end, Love wins. God is love and a loving God would not sending people to hell unless they were just absolutely outright ted said on going there themselves, and they so wanted to go there that they shake their fist at God and say, no, I choose Hell rather than you. Election doesn't allow you to say that. Election forces you to plant your feet, square your shoulders and say God is sovereign and he will pour out his wrath on those in Hell in order to vindicate his justice. And it will be right whether I like it or not, because God's not running for God. Amen. He was the only one around when the election was held, and there's never going to be a recount. He didn't need your vote, he didn't need mine. He's God. That makes us uncomfortable, But the question is is it true. Let's look at the scriptures again. Verse six. A. But it is not as though God's word has failed. We look at the situation in Israel, and God is not sitting. Basically, what Paul is saying to his audience is that God is not sitting in heaven putting his thumbs trying to figure out what went wrong with the people whom he chose. That's not what happened. By the way, if that is what happened, you and I have absolutely no security in our salvation, in our election whatsoever. Because if that's what happened, then that means that God can elect someone and somehow his election not be secure. The first problem with the idea that God has failed is that failure is not in keeping with Paul's teaching in Romans eight. What did he just say in Romans eight, look at me if you will verse twenty six. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what we ought to pray. We do not know what to pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the spirit. What is the mind of the spirit, Because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For why those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the mug of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called. Those whom he called, he also justified. Those whom he justified he also glorified. There's the golden chain of redemption from beginning to end. God is sovereign over our salvation. So if that's true, Paul's audience says, you've got to explain what happened to Israel. The explanation can't be that God failed, because his electing work doesn't fail. His word doesn't fail Hebrews eleven three. By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible Psalm one O five, verse eight. He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded for one thousand generations Psalm thirty three four. For the Word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. Psalm one nineteen eighty nine and one sixty Forever, Oh Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. The sum of your words is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. Isaiah chapter forty and verse eight. The grass withers and the flower phase, but the word of our God will stand forever. Matthew five eighteen and also twenty four to thirty five and Mark thirteen thirty one said the same thing. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never pass away. Not only is it not in keeping with his teaching in Romans chapter eight, it's not in keeping with the character and nature of God for his word to fail, for his promise to fail. That's not the answer. It is not as though God's word has failed. That's the wrong answer. Whatever answer you're looking for, it can't be that one that will be inconsistent with what was taught in Romans chapter eight. That would be inconsistent with what we see in the very nature and character of God. Listen to this from Charles Hodge. The truth of God is the foundation of all religion. It is the ground of our assurance that what He has revealed of himself and of his will in his works and in the scriptures may be relied upon. He certainly is and wills and will do whatever he has thus made. No, it is no less the foundation of all knowledge, that our senses do not deceive us, that consciousness is trustworthy in what it teaches, that anything is what it appears to us to be, that our existence is not a delusive dream, has no other foundation than the truth of God. In this sense, all knowledge is founded on faith, i e. The belief that God is true. For God to have failed Israel, it's not in keeping with the teaching in Romans chapter eight about election. It's not in keeping with the very nature of God. And it is also not in keeping with our very existence and understanding of the universe. Because if God is not to be trusted, then nothing you know is known. There is no ground of truth over reality anywhere in the universe apart from God. So then there must be another answer. Well, failure implies that God promised salvation to every Israelite. Therein lies the problem. The idea that God's word has failed is only an idea that you hold on to if you believe that God has promised salvation to every Israelite. And what Paul says very clearly is that is simply not the case. God never said that every ethnic Jew would be saved. He did not say that every member of the nation of Israel would be saved. That is not what he has taught. First of all, salvation is not national. Look at Isaac and Ismael for example again verse six A. This is for not all who are six b. Rather for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. Salvation is not national. Not all who have descended from Israel belong to Israel. Not everybody who is a part of that nation is part of true Israel. Here's the point that Paul is making here. There is a difference between true Israel and Israel in general, even in the Old Testament. And his first example is the example of Isaac and Ismael. Isaac is Israel. Ismael is not. There are other people who are part of the nation, by the way, who aren't part of it ethnically, but we'll get there in a moment. For now, suffice to say, God did not promise salvation to every member of the nation of Israel. Salvation is not national. And we need to pause here for a moment, because the Jews are not the only ones who've ever thought like that. Americans think like that that salvation belongs to America. We believe that if the church is not doing well in America, the church is not doing well. If you can't say a man y'all to say ouch. We believe that everything in the entire world of Christianity is measured by what happens here in the United States of America. We believe that we can just go into the Bible snatch any problem that was that promise that was made to Israel and treated as though it was our promise. You don't believe me, National Day of Prayer, Just go anywhere you want to go where there is a national day a prayer event, and sit there. If you sit there long enough, you will hear somebody reach back into Israel's history and snatch their promise as though it is the promise for America. Because we know that if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and see about huh. Because in my Bible, you know that's in Second Chronicles, chapter seven, and God's making a statement about the prayers that are offered in this place, the temple in Israel. Now we stand up in the United States of America and say, because America is the new Israel, all we've got to do is Americans is just get enough of us who are real Americans. By the way, real Americans are Christian Americans. And if we just get enough of the real Americans to turn to God, then America will return to its place in Kingdom purposes. Folks, we believe Salvation is national. We believe elections are important. Not the doctrine of election, but go into the booth and casture a vote. Election. We believe elections are important because we need to get the right Christian leader again so that we can be not just the Christian nation again, but the Christian nation. Salvation is not national. It has never been national. It's not national here. By the way, if Salvation was national, you wouldn't have names like Rahab, Bathsheba or Abraham. Go wait a minute, Abraham was a Jew. No, actually he wasn't, because there was no such thing. The Jewish nation descended from him. He wasn't born a Jew, he wasn't part of the nation. He was the father who gave rise to the nation. Salvation is not national, never has been national. Not only is salvation not national, but it's also not ethnic. Salvation is not ethnic. Doesn't have to do with who you're connected to ethnically, which means we don't inherit it. Look at the next verse, not all children of Abraham, I'm sorry, not all are children of Abraham because they're his offspring. And then verse ten, that is clear because see here's what you go if you go there in verse seven, Okay, yeah, that's right. Just because you're born through Abraham doesn't mean that you're part of the nation of Israel. And of course Isaac and Ishmael are the example of this. But the reason that they're an example of this is because Ishmael's mother was Egyptian. If Ishmael's mother hadn't been Egyptian, then he would have been in It's only because of his mother. And you have to trace your Jewishness by your mother. Really, because when you go to verse ten, it says and not only so Paul's anticipating that, are they're like, yeah, of course you can exclude Ishmael because his mother was an Egyptian. Again, Isaac's mother was no more Jewish than Hagar. Sarah's not a jew people, She's Abraham's cousin, and they're both from the same pagan land, and Jews came from them, but not because of anything that they were, So very little difference between Sarah and Hagar. But let's just go with that for a moment. It's because Ishmael's mother was Hagar. That's why he's outside. It's still ethnic, though, how about verse ten. Not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, same man, same woman, exact same ethnicity, our forefather isa who's Isaac the promised seed that Sarah Boor? So certainly if salvation is ethnic and Sarah Boor the promised seed to Abraham, and the reason that Ishmael is outside the camp is because his mother was Egyptian, Certainly, then you pass on this true salvation ethnically to twin boys, as ethnically idental identical as you can get. And God says this one, not that one, why salvation is not inherited. Salvation is not ethnic. And the only time you sit there and say God's word must somehow have failed because of what we see with the Jews. The only way you can say that is if you believe salvation is national, or do you believe salvation is ethnic? Look at Romans. But first of all, look at the second part of the verse. Through Isaac share your offspring re named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the Promise are counted as offspring. It is not children of the flesh, but children of the Promise who are counted as offspring. Go back to Romans chapter two and look at verses twenty eight and twenty nine. This is not the first time we've seen this idea in Romans. Romans chapter two, verses twenty eight and twenty nine. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward in physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart by the spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man, but from God. So we've already seen this idea. But we also see this idea again in Paul's writing. If you go to Galatians, we see it even more clearly. Go to the right, go over to Galatians Galatians chapter three. First look at seven through nine. Galatians three, seven through nine. Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. By the way, we could just stop right there. It is not and it is not ethnic. Know then that it is the sons, that is, those of faith, who are the sons of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, and you shall all the nations be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Go down with me to verse twenty three. Let's look at that last paragraph. Now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law, in prison until the coming Faith would be revealed. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that Faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God. Through for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. It's not ethnic, it's not national. Look at chapter four, the last paragraph. There. Now, you, brothers like Isaac, are children of Promise. But just as at the time he was born according to the flesh, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit, So also it is now. But what does the scripture say, cast out the slave woman and her son. But the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. So, brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman. In John chapter eight, Jesus is confronted by his adversaries, the Pharisees, and in the exchange they make reference to the fact that they are children of Abraham, descended from Abraham. We are Jews, we are God's chosen people. And Jesus looks at them and says, you are of your father the devil. God's promise is not failed. The only way that this promise could have failed, according to what we find here in the beginning of Romans chapter nine is if God had promised every Israelite would be saved, he did not make that promise. He has made it clear. Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. Not all are children of Abraham because they're his offspring. But it's the children of promise that are his. Jacob and Esau shows us also that salvation is not earned, because the other argument would be, well, it's Israel, but it's Israel according to Mount Sinai. So it's those who are born of Abraham ethnically and keep the law that's the promise. It is to those who are born of Abraham ethnically and nationally, and or those who keep the law and enter into Judaism through obedience to the law. But look at what he says in verse eleven, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of Him who calls. Here is the argument against the Armenian idea of this prevenient grace, or the Armenian idea of this foreseen faith. That somehow God looks down through the corridors of time and he sees those who are going to believe were those who are going to obey, and he elects them based on what he foresees in them. That is obliterated here in this statement. It is obliterated in a number of ways. Look very carefully, though they were not yet born and had done nothing, either good or bad. Now, some would argue, you, wait a minute, that just means that he did it before they were born. But it doesn't mean that he looked down the corridor of history and didn't see what they were going to do, you remember, Jacob. But look at the next clause, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works. So even if you argue this temporal argument that God did the electing before they were born, but he did it based on what he foresaw of their works, that is obliterated in the next phrase, because it says in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, not because of works, not because of works. If you argue that people are elected because of what God foresaw in them, you were turning a blind eye to this statement. It is not because of works. In fact, you have to go back to the beginning of chapter eight. Let's do that for a moment verse five. For those who live according to the flesh, that their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the spirits, that their minds on the things of the spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. We all come into this world in the flesh. So the argument that God looks down the corridors of time and see something good in a person must also not only ignore the clear teaching here in Romans nine eleven, but you have to ignore the clear teaching in Romans eight five, which says that apart from the spirit of God, you cannot obey God. You can't please God. So God looked down the corridors of time, saw people who would do what people can't do apart from his spirit, and elected them and gave them his spirit so that they could do what they already did without his spirit. That dog won't hunt. Election is not based on works, but it's based on him who calls again Galatians three ten to fourteen, Galatians four twenty one to twenty seven. If you have time to look at those, she was told, the older will serve the younger. That is written as it is written. Jacob I loved, but he saw I hated. What is that? That is election? God turned his covenant love on one boy and not the other. Was it because of their nationality or their ethnicity? No? Exact same nationality, exact same ethnicity, same genies. And God turned his electing covenant love on one boy and not the other? Why? In order that God's purpose of election might stand? That's why. Finally, the idea that God has failed Israel implies that Jesus, the true Israel of God, has failed. Who's Abraham's ultimate offspring. It is Christ who is the true Israel. It is Christ. It is Christ. Christ gives true meaning to the importance of ethnic Israel. How because He is the seed of ethnic Israel. That's how? Why did God elect Israel? What did it have to do with Genesis Chapter three and verse fifteen. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. It is the offspring of the woman. Why is Abraham important? Abraham is important because we're following the seed Seth down to Noah, Noah down to Tarah. Abraham is Tara's son. Chapter twelve, we get the Covenant reiterated in fifteen and again in seventeen. Why it is about the seed. The promise is that Isaac would come forth. Why because it's about the seed. We go through all these ruminations and then come down to the book of Matthew and we get the genealogy in Matthew. But can I share with you just a couple of other things that we get in Matthew. We get a recapitulation of the history of Israel. Well, what do you mean? Here's what I mean. When Israel was in Egypt, Pharaoh tried to kill their firstborn sons. When we meet Jesus and Matthew, what happens. Herod tries to kill the firstborn sons. Jesus is called out of Egypt, just like in Hebrew. In Habakk eleven to one which is fulfilled, Matthew says, in Christ, out of Egypt, I have called my son. Now in Hbakak, he's referring to his son Israel in Matthew. He's referring to his son Jesus, who is the true Israel. Israel then crosses the Red Sea. Now the crossing of the Red Sea and the New Testament is seen as a form of baptism. What happens to Jesus after he is called out of Egypt? He goes to the Jordan and is baptized. When he is baptized, the Father says, this is my beloved son, and who I am well pleased, obviously referring to him as the true Israel. Israel wandered in the desert for forty years. Jesus wandered in the day desert for forty days and forty knights. Israel was tempted and failed. Jesus was tempted and succeeded. After Israel wanders, or before they wander, they go to Mount Sinai, and from the mountain God gives them the law. Jesus and Matthew goes to the Mount of Olives and says, you have heard it said, But I say to you, Jesus is true Israel. To imply that God has failed in his promise to Israel is to ignore the person, the work, the Majesty, the glory, the beauty of Christ himself, the one who serves to connect us the gentiles, to Abraham, and whom do we place in our faith Christ? And in placing our faith in Christ, we become co errs with him, his brothers, and his bride, which connects us to the family of which he is the true seed. Finally, and this gets a little bit ahead of where we are. But this is what Paul's ultimate argument is, to say that God's promise has failed, is to treat a snapshot in history as though it's all there is. And that's simply not true. You look at a snapshot in history. What's the snapshot in history. Here's the snapshot in history, the snapshot in history. We're in Rome, We're the church in Rome. This is the first century. All this stuff just happened. All the first people who came to Christ were Jews. All of his disciples were Jews. He was a Jew. All of a sudden, there's the Day of Pentecost. There is an explosion on the day of Pentecost. These people who come in, for the most part, are Jews. That's why they were there at the day of Pentecost. They were coming to make sacrifices. Now they're saved. So the church is filled altogether now with Jews. Not in Rome, that church was overrun with gentiles. As most of the churches would begin to be overrun with gentiles. And now here are the Jewish people overrun by gentiles. Many instances begin to boast, and in Genesis chapters nine through eleven, Paul says, the Gentiles don't look at this moment as though it is the sum total of history. God is not slow, Peter would say, as we count slowness, He's just patient. The final chapter has yet to be written. That's another thing about us being Americans, because we're Americans, different between Americans and Europeans. Someone once said, a European thinks one hundred miles is a long way. An American thinks one hundred years is a long time. Don't be so quick. That's Paul's statement here. You don't know what God's going to do before he wraps this thing up. Don't be so quick. So remember who we're talking about. This is God, whose word never fails. Remember what we're talking about. God never said that all of national or ethnic Israel is going to be saved. Remember when we're talking about this is a moment in time, and you don't know what God's going to do before it's all said and done. So the short answer is God's word has not failed, or we could say God's word cannot fail. The long answer is wait until you see Paul unfold this beautiful picture of what God has done, is doing, and will do before you make any statements about whether or not God keeps his promises.