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Yesterday in our men's Bible study, we walked through Romans 9, one of the most avoided passages in modern Christianity. Most churches won't even touch it because it's considered too controversial. Yet at its bedrock, Romans 9 is one of the clearest windows into the sovereignty of God, the nature of salvation, and the reality of grace. It's not a chapter to debate; it's a chapter to bow before.

But before you even read Romans 9, I'd encourage you to start with Romans 8 or, better yet, dare I say, read all of Romans.

Paul's letter is a masterpiece that moves from our condemnation in sin (Romans 1–3), to our justification by faith (Romans 4–5), to our sanctification by the Spirit (Romans 6–8), and then to God's sovereign plan of redemption (Romans 9–11).

You can't understand Romans 9 apart from the flow of the entire letter, and when you see it all together, it's breathtaking.

What I Call "Joe Shmow Theology”

As I told the guys in the room, many churches today avoid hard chapters like Romans 9 because they're preaching or believing a theology that didn't come from Scripture at all. It came from what I call "Joe Shmow Theology.”

It's what happens when someone starts to "see Scripture differently," claiming a new revelation no one else has noticed in 2,000 years. He writes it down, preaches it with passion, gathers a crowd, and a few decades later, it becomes a denomination.

Fast forward three generations, and what started as one man's reinterpretation of Scripture becomes the foundation for an entire church culture. Multiply that across history, and now we have thousands of denominations and countless "versions" of Christianity, each tracing back to a Joe Shmow somewhere who couldn't leave the text alone.

The Danger of Drifting

This is why so many believers grow up confused. We inherit beliefs rather than examine them. We trust what we were told rather than testing it against Scripture, as the Bereans did in Acts 17.

Paul warned about this in Galatians 1:6-9:

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

Paul doesn't give us room for interpretation here. There's no "your version" and "my version." There's one gospel, one truth, one Lord. Anything else, no matter how polished, emotional, or culturally relevant, is a distortion.

Why Romans 9 Matters

Romans 9 confronts us with a God who is completely sovereign, choosing, showing mercy to whom He wills, and remaining just in all He does. It humbles the proud heart and dismantles man-made theology. And that's precisely why it's avoided.

But this is the heart of the gospel! Salvation isn't a cooperative project between God and man; it's a miracle of grace. Romans 9 reminds us that the Potter shapes the clay, not the other way around. When we understand that, everything changes: how we worship, how we preach, how we view suffering, and how we see salvation itself.

Take a Belief Inventory

So let me challenge you, when was the last time you took a belief inventory?

I don't mean what your denomination believes or what your favorite preacher said. What do YOU actually believe about God's sovereignty, grace, sin, salvation, and the mission of the church?

Write it out. Then hold it up to Scripture, not to tradition, emotion, or popularity, but to the Word of God.

You may discover, as I did, that some of your beliefs were more "Joe Shmow" than Jesus. But that realization isn't defeat, it's mercy. Because repentance and reform always begin when the truth is rediscovered.

One Gospel. One Truth. One Foundation.

At Cornerstone Church, we're not trying to create a new movement. We're returning to the ancient one the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). Our goal is simple: to make disciples grounded in the Word, filled with the Spirit, and standing firm on the unshakable gospel of Jesus Christ.

So before you dive into Romans 9, start in Romans 8 or go all in and read the whole letter. Let the Word of God examine you. Because the more we open the Bible, the more we realize the Bible is opening us, revealing our hearts, and reshaping our lives.