Category: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Romans 13:1

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“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”  (ESV)

This is one of the harder things Paul wrote.  The relationship of Christians to the authority of the state has been a stubborn knot to untangle since the beginning.  What does it look like to be subject to governing authorities as one who is chiefly subject to the authority of Christ?  If there is no authority except what has been instituted by God, what do we do about authorities that do not in any way seem to be godly?  Surely there have been authorities in place over the centuries that were not instituted by God…right?   Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Romans 10:3

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“For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”  (ESV)

Paul’s argument here is that while the Jewish people were striving to be in a right relationship with God (that is, to obtain righteousness), they were going about it as if that relationship depended on them, not God.  Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Romans 9:14-21

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“What shall we say them?  Is there injustice on God’s part?  By no means!  For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’  So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.  You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault?  For who can resist his will?’  But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?  Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?”  (ESV)

This is tough stuff for modern ears.  After explaining that the designation “Israel” was always intended to be one about God’s choosing folks to be a part of His promise to bless the world rather than simply a genetic line, Paul anticipates a challenge: It’s unjust of God to choose some and not others; to invest all this time in our descendants and then open the doors to just anybody.  Read the rest…