Tag: Romans

Digging in Deeper: Romans 9:22-29

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“And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory—on us, the ones he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As it also says in Hosea, ‘I will call Not My People, My People, and she who is Unloved, Beloved. And it will be in the place where they were told, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God.’ But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, ‘Though the number of Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved; since the Lord will execute his sentence completely and decisively on the earth.’ And just as Isaiah predicted: ‘If the Lord of Armies had not left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

So, yesterday we started a really uncomfortable conversation about God’s sovereignty and our subjection to that sovereignty. We like to think of ourselves as truly and completely free individuals. We are autonomous beings. And then Paul asks something like, “On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?'” That hits hard. And the more you think about it, the harder it hits. In fact, it hits hard enough that whereas I was originally going to treat these verses in the same post as yesterday’s passage, there was enough here when I started writing that I had to break it up into two posts. Without further ado, then, let’s keep working through Paul’s exaltation of God’s sovereignty and what that means for us.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 9:19-21

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“You will say to me, therefore, ‘Why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will?’ On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor?” (CSB – Read the chapter)

You may have noticed I didn’t post anything at all last week. Then again, you may not have as well. Either way, my bride and I were able to get away for a week to celebrate our upcoming 20th anniversary. It was a wonderful trip in every way, but we are glad to be back home safe and sound and in our own bed again. Let’s get down to business.

Have you ever seen someone do something with their own stuff that you didn’t understand? Maybe you got all judgmental toward them about it. If you had sufficient self-control, you kept all those thoughts to yourself. If not…well…then you probably had some other issues to deal with. Here’s the thing, though: It wasn’t your stuff. You really didn’t have any place to register an opinion on what she did with her stuff. Your opinion doesn’t make a bit of difference. Again: it’s not your stuff. Well, when it comes to creation, that’s all God’s stuff. What He does with it is not something on which we get a vote. Let’s talk about it.

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Morning Musing: Romans 9:14-18

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“What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! For he tells Moses, ‘I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’ So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy. For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, ‘I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth.’ So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the great theological debates within the church over the centuries is the question of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. Where’s the line? How do those two things go together? Do they go together? Which one should get emphasized more and which one less? Can you emphasize both equally and still be intellectually consistent? The real challenge here is actually not the debate itself, but the fact that the Scriptures seem to hold both ideas in tension and they don’t resolve it. Some passages seem to point pretty clearly in one direction. Some passages point in the other direction. Here’s one that points toward the sovereignty side of the equation. Let’s take a few minutes to examine what Paul is saying and what he’s not saying.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 9:6-13

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“Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants. On the contrary, ‘your offspring will be traced   through Isaac.’ That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring. For this is the statement of the promise: ‘At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.’ And not only that, but Rebekah conceived children through one man, our father Isaac. For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand—not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ As it is written: ‘I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Who is Israel? Today, of course, Israel is a modern, Western, democratic nation sitting in the midst of a region that is otherwise largely premodern, intensely tribal, and decidedly democratic in its general outlook on the world. But is that what the New Testament authors had in mind when they spoke of Israel? Obviously not. But then what did they mean. We see a whole lot of promises made about Israel in the Scriptures. Who were those for? Who is the Israel of the Bible, and are they still around anymore? Paul unpacks some of that here in a passage that absolutely must factor into any Christian’s thinking about Israel today. Let’s explore what he has to say.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 9:1-5

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“I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent,  came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever known someone who had every opportunity in the world, and yet couldn’t manage to accomplish any of the best things they had the potential to do? That’s an experience that ranges from frustrating to maddening. In some particularly egregious circumstances it can be downright depressing. As we begin our look at Romans 9 today, we find Paul starting a new section. The next three chapters of Paul’s letter answer a question that has been nagging at us over the last few verses. What about Israel? Let’s dive in here and see what Paul has to say about God’s plans for Israel in light of the Gospel.

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