I read a scary, sobering verse today. I'll post it here as a reminder to myself, lest I forget.
The English Standard Version Bible says:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
1Co 6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,
1Co 6:10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
However, this is not accurate, because when comparing this to the King James bible and the original Greek bible, something is missing. Here's the King James version:
1Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1Co 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
KJ / ESV
fornicators / sexually immoral
idolators / idolators
adulterers / adulterers
effeminate / ????
abusers of themselves with mankind / men who practice homosexuality
thieves / thieves
covetous / greedy
drunkards / drunkards
revilers / revilers
extortioners / swindlers
Let's study each one by one
fornicators / sexually immoral
- To commit lewdness, as an unmarried man or woman, or as a married man with an unmarried woman.
- I guess the same applies to a married woman with an unmarried men.
- In general, any kind of lustful act between two people who're not married to each other
idolators / idolators
- those who worship idols
adulterers / adulterers
- a married man committing a lustful act with a woman married to someone else
- a married woman committing a lustful act with a man married to someone else
effeminate / ????
- this item is missing in the ESV bible, lumped in with those who practice homosexuality
- This word occurs in Mat_11:8, and Luk_7:25, where it is applied to clothing, and translated “soft raiment;” that is, the light, thin garments worn by the rich and great.
- It occurs no where else in the New Testament except here.
- Applied to morals, as it is here, it denotes those who give themselves up to a soft, luxurious, and indolent way of living; who make self-indulgence the grand object of life; who can endure no hardship, and practice no self-denial in the cause of duty and of God.
- It is well known that this vice was common among the Greeks - and particularly prevailed at Corinth.
abusers of themselves with mankind / men who practice homosexuality
- the ESV bible is again inferior in this regard, because the Greek "ar-sen-ok-oy'-tace is gender neutral
- a Sodomite
- hence it should be translated those (instead of "men") who practice homosexuality, both men and women
thieves / thieves
- One who takes the property of another wrongfully, either secretly or by violence
- One who makes it his business to cheat and defraud
covetous / greedy
- those who practice avarice, eager for gain, desiring more
- An excessive desire of gaining and possessing wealth; greediness or insatiable desire of gain.
drunkards / drunkards
- One given to intoxication or an excessive used of strong liquor; a person who habitually or frequently is drunk.
revilers / revilers
- also called railers
- A reproachful man (or woman); a man of coarse, harsh, and bitter words; a man whose characteristic it was to abuse others; to vilify(degrade, defile) their character, and wound their feelings. It is needless to say how much this is contrary to the spirit of Christianity, and to the example of the Master, “who when he was reviled, reviled not again.”
extortioners / swindlers
- Rapacious persons; greedy of gain, and oppressing the poor, the needy, and the fatherless, to obtain money.
- Given to plunder; disposed or accustomed to seize by violence; seizing by force
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Predestination? Calvinism? Arminianism? I think God has revealed the answer
I struggled with Romans chapter 9 for some time, and with prayer and the help of several commentaries and God's revelation and gift to understand, I finally understand what Paul is trying to say. I sincerely believe now that if someone wants to know the truth of anything regarding God's word, if he has a heart to seek the truth and asks God sincerely for divine revelation, God will by no means turn away. I have studied to my best ability (which isn't much) the scriptural evidence and arguments on the Calvinistic side, and the Arminian side.
Why do I think it important to write this? Because this chapter is the stronghold of those who hold to the Calvinistic doctrine of:
Total depravity
Unconditional election
Limited Atonement
Irresistable grace
Perseverance of the Saints.
Espeically unconditional election.
What bothered me most was the concept of unconditional election. It affected my view of God, and caused me to ask, as any reasonable person would, how could a loving and just God destine someone to hell, and there was nothing he could do about it? Even we, though we be evil, sense something absolutely vile in that, how could our loving, merciful and gracious God do such a thing?
It just didn't seem right, and it doesn't sit right with the very attributes that God says of Himself. So it is with great joy and thanksgiving, that God has shown the truth about Himself, and it is a totally opposite picture of God to the Calvinist God that I see. God is slow to anger, patient, loving, holy, just and eternally gracious and merciful towards us, especially His adopted children.
In Romans 8, Paul was speaking about the requirement of choosing to live a holy, Spirit led life (opposed to a life centred on satisfying the fleshly desires - wealth, status, pleasures, etc.) in order that we might become the adopted sons of God.
Context
In the later parts of Romans 8 and now in Romans 9, the context of Paul's writings centre on the matter of God's plan to include the Gentile people into his grand plan of salvation. This probably causes much loathing, anger, revulsion and rejection by the Jews of that time, that God would consider making the Gentiles heirs to his promise. This is the purpose of Paul's writings here in this chapter.
So read this chapter in that light, in that context, and I'll do my best to add my comments.
In the first parts of this chapter, Paul is trying to tell his readers that despite all the persecution, floggings and whatever tortures the Jews might have done to him till this time, he does not preach God's plan for the salvation of the Gentiles out of a spirit of revenge because of that persecution.
He is trying here to reason and explain to his readers that God had planned from the beginning to redeem the world through his Son Jesus.
Rom 9:1 I am speaking the truth in Christ--I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit--
- Paul is asserting that whatever he is about to say, he says it in all sincerity without hypocrisy or falsehood.
- he does this because he wants to assure the Jews that he is totally honest, that his preaching of salvation to the Gentiles is not because of his hatred towards them for all the persecution they've done to him.
Rom 9:2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
- Paul is deeply troubled and anguished in his heart for his own Jewish brothers and nation because of God's rejection of them (because they rejected His Son) and adoption of the Gentiles as His new children
Rom 9:3 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.
- Paul wished that for the sake of the nation of Israel, who are his fellow brothers by birth and by race (i.e. according to the flesh), that he could be cut off from Christ so that they instead might be saved and remain the chosen race.
- Paul wished that he could be cut off from Christ so that the nation of Israel, who are his fellow brothers by birth and by race (i.e. according to the flesh), could be saved and remain the chosen race in God's eyes.
Rom 9:4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
- He feels such anguish because from the time of Abraham, Israel had been adopted as God's own people
- God had revealed his real glory to them by talking with Moses face to face and making his glory seen by them through the pillars of cloud and fire among other things
- God has established many covenants with this people, which He has not done with any other nation
- God gave Isreal his Law, that they might be his people, and no other nation had this privelege
- God taught the Isrealites the right way to worship Him, through their buring of incense, sacrifices, etc.
- God had only, up to this point given Israel his promises
Rom 9:5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
- the mighty men of God, the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, etc.) came from their race
- according to the flesh, i.e. by birthline, even Christ who is God incarnate, came from the Jewish race
Next, Paul goes on to say why Israel has really no basis of complaint against God. Paul cites a number of reason.
1) God calls his children not according to bloodline.
- The Jews were very proud of the fact that they were Abraham's descendents, yet, Abraham had other descendents too, but they were not God's people.
- Paul presents the facts here to argue that a particular people were God's descendents only because God extended His promises to them.
2) God has the right to have mercy on whomever He wishes, because even Israel themselves were given the promises of God on the basis of God's mercies.
- Paul then gives proof that Israel is no more special compared to the other nations around them, and that the only reason they receieved God's promise was because of God's mercy and nothing else. (ver 15, 16)
- God could have justly wiped them out in Moses's time (ver 18, a reference to Exodus 33:19) for their idolatry and continual disobedience.
- One must bear in mind Paul's utter mastery of the Old Testament Scriptures and the contexts and meanings of what happened then, and to have a clear meaning of what Paul was trying to communicate, we too must read this with the required background knowledge from which Paul is writing.
- Paul had an utterly impressive mastery over his understanding of Old Testament texts, and his arguments are so deep in understanding and wisdom (especially how he argues against the Israelites claim to sonship by their descent), that I marvel at them. How could someone think of such arguments? It is absolutely brilliant, no doubt the Holy Spirit provided insights too.
Paul is not just quoting a Scripture here and a Scripture there, he quotes one verse of Scripture which brings with it a context and a common understanding of the context to the people he was communicating with. In order to understand his thoughts as he intended to communicate, we too must understand the contexts of the verses he quoted, namely those that refer to the Old Testament texts.
For example, if we today were to write something down that is read in posterity, and we write something like "Remember Michael Jackson", it would bring with it a picture with an entire contextual background. Talent, dancing ability, cosmetic surgery, child molestation, wierd behaviour, etc. The phrase alone may convey a lot of meaning to us, but not to someone who reads it in posterity.
Fortunately for us, the entire OT text is available for our study and we can gain the contextual understanding necessary.
Rom 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
- But now, by rejecting Israel and bringing in the Gentile people into His new covenant, has God's previous words and promises failed? What happened to all the promises to the Jews? Have they failed because of this adoption of Gentiles? No, as Paul goes on to explain, it has not.
- Why has it not failed? Because not all the descendents of Israel (i.e. Jacob) are now considered members of the Israelite nation (at Paul's time). Jacob had many children, and they in turn fathered other children, but they were all Jacob's descendents, although they were not considered to be Isrealites at the time. They could have intermarried with other races, tribes etc. and formed other nations and peoples. The Samaritans were one good example.
Rom 9:7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named."
- here Paul is trying to teach us that the children of Abraham are not called Abraham's children merely because they are his natural children, born from his seed
- but God has specifically picked only the offsprings of Isaac to be called Abraham's offspring.
- Abraham also beget Ishmael, and the descendents of Ishmael are not considered to be "Abraham's offspring" although they ARE actually his natural offspring, born from his seed. Neither are Esau's offspring considered to be "Abraham's offspring."
- why is it that natural ancestry does not qualify one to be a chosen people of God? What then is the qualification? Paul explains in the next verse
Rom 9:8 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.
- In God's eyes, His adoption (in the OT, the Jewish nation) is not based on just natural ancestry or birthlines, because the children of Ishmael and Esau were also descendents of Abraham, but not adopted by God as His children
- rather it is those whom God gave his promise to, that are considered His children
Rom 9:9 For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son."
- here Paul again highlights that God's promise to Abraham was only to the child of Sarah, and not to Hagar. Thus only Sarah's descendents are adopted by God.
- again stressing the point that God adopts children not just by ancestry but on the basis of His promise.
Rom 9:10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
- this case of adoption by promise is not only seen in the case of Abraham and Hagar/Sarah, but also seen even in the case of the children of Isaac and Rebekah
Rom 9:11 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--
- Paul uses Esau and Jacob for a reason, they were born of the same mother, even twins!
- What is Paul trying to tell the Jews? You have no right to boast in even your bloodline, because God chose Jacob instead of Esau (and thus other nations) not for any merit of your forefather! He didn't do anything!
- even before Jacob and Esau were born, and they have not done anything either good or bad to merit God's choosing, God had already chosen which son's line he was going to adopt as His people
- God already had his plan and purpose for his people(in order that God's purpose of election might continue)
Rom 9:12 she was told, "The older will serve the younger."
- even before Jacob was born, God had chosen him. Again, a rebuke to the Jews that it was entirely God's mercy and they have no reason to boast of their bloodline.
- that is, Rebekah was already told by God that Jacob will serve Esau. However, it is important to note at this point, that God had elected for Esau to serve Jacob, and only that, it does not mean that God predestined Esau to hell or any of that which Calvinists interpret from this text. If Esau would have chosen well in life, I believe God would still have loved him.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
- it is important to note that this Scripture is referring to nations and not individuals because this Scripture says that the older shall serve the younger, yet nowhere in their lives did Esau serve Jacob, rather, Jacob had served Esau, and Jacob was sorely terrified of his older brother! It was only in David's time that "Esau served Jacob" in that David conquered the Edomites.
- So the verse is speaking of the posterity of Jacob and Esau, just as the nation of Israel is named after their forefather Israel (Jacob)
- This is quoted from Malachi 1
- What is Paul trying to say here? What is the context?
- In Malachi, God starts off by saying that he loved Jacob (the Jews) yet Esau (the Edomites) he hated.
- The Edomites (offspring of Esau) practiced idolatry and disobedience towards God, and God laid waste their hill country and left their inheritance to the desert jackals.
- What Paul is saying is this, DID ISRAEL DO ANY BETTER IN GOD'S EYES, compared to the Edomites?
- NO! They were equally deserving of God's hatred and judgement!
- In Malachi, God rebukes Israel for a great sin they have committed before Him. They despised the Lord, and esteemed Him not, and sacrificed blind, lame and sick animals to the Lord God! Not only that, they brought sacrifices to Him that were taken by violence! (Mal 1:13)
- Not only that, they show utter contempt in the worship of God, and say "What a weariness this is" and they snort at it! (Mal 1:13). Continue reading the rest of Malachi for other terrible things they did against the Lord.
- But what is God's response to Israel (Jacob)? He shows them mercy!
- Why did God then not show mercy to the children of Esau, the Edomites?
Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!
- Is God unjust to show mercy to the children of Jacob, while not showing mercy to the children of Esau, although both were equally deserving of his wrath?
- By his argument, he is saying, is God unjust to show mercy to the Gentiles now, considering that he has shown mercy to the children of Jacob despite all that they have done which merited only His wrath?
Rom 9:15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
- God is not unjust! He is free to show mercy and compassion to whomever He wills and no one can lay a blame on Him! He is entirely just because both Jews, Edomites and Gentiles deserve condemnation and wrath, yet God chooses to be merciful to whom he will be merciful to.
- Not only that, Paul brings up another charge against the Jews with this verse.
- let's understand the entire context this verse brings with it. During the time of Moses, the Hebrew people were rebellious and stiff necked against God and God said that he will not go up to the promised land with them less they provoke Him to anger with their stubborness and in His just anger, He wipe them out!
- So Paul is saying to the Jews, you had no claim to any special rights over anyone! You're just as sinful and disobedient as anyone else, and the fact God chose you over others was solely his compassion and mercy!
- Because we are all God's creation, and He will have mercy on whomever he has mercy. This time, He has chosen to be merciful towards the Gentiles, and adopt them as children.
- So on what grounds then does the Jew have, to charge that God is unjust over this matter?
Rom 9:16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
- Paul is saying, Jews, you have nothing to boast about for God choosing you int he past, it wasn't your will or exertion, but God chose to have mercy on you!
- so who are you now to question God's choice to have mercy on the Gentiles!
Rom 9:17 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."
- In order to have an accurate picture of what Paul was trying to say, let's look at the context of this verse
13 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, 14 or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18 Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. 19 Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.' "
- God raised up Pharoah, who was evil and arrogant even towards God (Pharoah said "Who is the Lord that I should obey him?), in order to show his power throughout the earth and His power is magnified!
- God raised Pharoah up to make him powerful, but Pharoah was evil on his own accord
- in the same way, God used the wicked Jews and raised those that were evil up to high position, that they might crucify His Son and through it God shows himself powerful and magnifies His own name by Jesus's ressurection. The Jews cannot blame God for their own wickedness!
- To totally understand this, let's again look at the context of the verse quoted.
- God, at this point in Exodus, had already sent plague after plague after plague on Egypt yet Pharoah will not release the people. God says to him that if God had wanted to, He could have just stretched out His hand and struck Pharoah and his nation with a plague and wiped them totally off the earth, BUT YET HE HAS NOT!
- WHY has God not struck Pharoah and wiped out Egypt at this point? It is totally within His power to do it, and then God's people would be free to go! (Question: Ask yourself, what is the nature of God that is revealed here? Hint: Merciful, longsuffering?)
- God gives the explaination Himself in verse 16! God did not wipe Egypt out because he intended for Pharoah to resist God, so that God might send the many plauges and show His power to all the people of the earth! Then there would be absolutely no doubt and not by a fluke of chance that what Moses had said had come to pass, and people will fear and glorify the Holy Name of God!
- God is absolutely just to kill Pharoah at this point, because Pharoah had ordered the killing of the Hebrew babies on the sly and committed a great evil against God. Yet God had mercy and spared him!
- similarly, God was just to wipe out the entire Jewish race for their prior wickedness, but he did not, and raised them up in order that even through their wickedness, His purposes might be fulfilled.
- to all the diehard Calvinists, read verse 19 carefully. What did God command? That every man and animal be brought in so that none might perish? Is this the same God who would predestine someone to hell? I see a very different God here, an infinitely loving, merciful and longsuffering God, that even cares for the welfare and pocessions (animals) of the Egyptian people! The same thing he says of Himself!
Rom 9:18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
- It is CRITICAL to understand that when God hardened Pharoah, he was entirely just to do it! Why? Because Pharoah had at that point sinned so greviously against God by ordering the Hebrew male children to be killed, and as a just penalty God could have killed him. Yet God spared him and hardened his heart, for what reason?
- "that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth"
- and it is for God's own purposes and glory (along with his grace, mercy and love) that he has now chosen to include the Gentiles into his plan of salvation!
Rom 9:19 You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?"
- This is the same argument Paul tackled in Romans 3, whereby one says, if in my sin, God's grace can be seen every more clearly, then why condemn me for my sin?
- The similar argument the Jews might give to God's choosing of the Gentiles is, why find fault with us, if by the Jews rejection of Jesus and the Gentiles be included into salvation, God's name is glorified, why then judge the Jews?
- Anyone can understand the absurdity of such an argument. God does not tamper with the will of men, they chose to do evil, and God used it to fulfill His purposes, but it does not mean the men who sinned are not guilty. They chose sin of their own free will, and God worked His plan despite of man's sinfulness.
Rom 9:20 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?"
- who are we, mere sinful men (referring to the Jews in particular) to question God and ask Him, why have you given this salvation plan to the Gentiles also?
Rom 9:21 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?
- a lot has been misconstrued into this verse by Calvin's teachings. If we look carefully at the verse it was quoted from, it will show a very different context and character of God, one diametrically opposed to predestination or the Calvinist's view of God.
Jeremiah 18
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
11 "Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, 'This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.'
- Versus 7 and 9 show a very different kind of character of God then prescribed by John Calvin!
- God will change His mind depending on how man chooses to act!
- This verse must be read in context and not too literally because it distorts the meaning. Here Paul is asking, does not the Potter have a right to do what he wills of his clay? If one he makes for an esteemed important usage, and another he uses for a more mundane usage, or even filthy usage, is not God's choice soverign?
- If God made us to be born a prince or a pauper, who are we to ask God why did you make me this way? This is essentially what Paul is communicating.
Rom 9:22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
- Here Paul makes a very clear argument that God is never unjust, even if he destroys unjust people in order to demonstrate his wrath and power.
- Why is God not unjust? Because firstly God is not responsible for a people or nation's wickedness.
- They have already stored up, by their wickedness, their just punishment. "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction." Their time for judgement and destruction has already come!
- Yet God is patient with them, and endures the wickedness of this evil people, that He might destroy them at a time of His choosing to demonstrate His wrath.
- So these evil vessels were already condemned because of their wickedness, but God waits and bides His time for their fair judgement.
- Paul is referring to the Jewish people. They had been utterly wicked, even the priests made God's temple into a den of thieves, practiced hypocrisy, devoured widows' houses and oppressed orphans, and God's wrath was already burning against them, but He held off till the fulfillment of the death and ressurection of the Messiah
Rom 9:23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory--
- Why is God patient and endure the wickedness of the Jews, the vessels for destruction? In order that he might make known His glory, towards those whom he shows mercy to, the Gentiles. In the context of this entire chapter, those he shows mercy to are his adopted children.
- prepared beforehand for glory: This refers to the Gentile people. God already had already devised a salvation plan for them beforehand to prepare them for glory, through His Son Jesus Christ.
Rom 9:24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
- and here Paul concludes the central argument of this whole text, that the vessels for mercy do not just come from the Jews, but the Gentiles also
Rom 9:25 As indeed he says in Hosea, "Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'"
- and thus the fulfillment of the prophecy that God will call the Gentiles His people also, and He will love them.
- again to fully understand the full richness of Paul's argument, one must understand the context of Hosea saying this.
Rom 9:26 "And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"
- taken from Hosea 1:10. God is greatly grieved by the adulterous nation of Israel.
- His promise that at the same place where He, in anger, declared that Israel is no longer going to be called His people, it is the very same place where they'll be called the sons of the living God.
- That prophecy is now fulfilled.
Rom 9:27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,
Rom 9:28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay."
Rom 9:29 And as Isaiah predicted, "If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah."
- Althought the nation of Israel be populous and their numbers many, if God did not spare Israel and leave them a remnant, wicked thought they were, they'd have been utterly destroyed from the face of this earth by the just wrath of God.
- Israel had sinned as no nation on earth had sinned before; they killed God's only begotten Son and rejected Him! Still, God in his infinite mercy and grace, spares Israel from total obliteration from the face of the earth, and left them a remnant!
- I think this also possibly points to God's judgement in AD70 where Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, yet a number escaped and remain till this day.
Rom 9:30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;
Rom 9:31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.
- Paul anticipates another angle of argument from the Jews, that the Gentiles did not pursue righteousness, yet have attained it through faith in Jesus Christ? Why is it so easy for them, they did not have to work hard to observe the Law
- yet the Jews, trying to pursue righteousness by obeying the Law, failed.
- Isn't this unfair, Paul anticipates the Jews asking
- This was a fair question I guess, considering the ardousness of observing all the aspects of the Law, which the Jews have tried so hard to adhere to.
Rom 9:32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,
- And here Paul gives the reply, it is because they were keeping the Law in arrogance of their rigtheousness, and not keeping it in obedience and in humility and faith, depending on God to have mercy on them.
- One will ask, how will they know then that one is justified by faith?
- It is revealed in several places even in the OT. Hab 2:4, Ps 32:1-11, Ps 130:1-8, Job 9:2
Rom 9:33 as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."
- Here Paul concludes by referring to Jesus, the Messiah, as the stumbling stone. He did not fit into the people's understanding of the prophecies about Him, thinking that he will establish his earthly kindom on earth.
- Instead the King came as a poor humble servant, and stumbled the religious minds of the time.
- He's a rock of offense, he caused great offense to the Pharisees, and turned their system upside down. He did not see any righteousness in their outward keeping of ceremonial laws while inwardly wicked, arrogant and self-seeking. Instead he chose for himself poor vessels, fishermen, tax collectors and even prostitutes as disciples, confounding all their wisdom and causing great offense, yet this is the mercy and wisdom of God.
- whoever then, puts his trust in this rock of offense, Jesus, the Messiah, will not be put to shame.
Why do I think it important to write this? Because this chapter is the stronghold of those who hold to the Calvinistic doctrine of:
Total depravity
Unconditional election
Limited Atonement
Irresistable grace
Perseverance of the Saints.
Espeically unconditional election.
What bothered me most was the concept of unconditional election. It affected my view of God, and caused me to ask, as any reasonable person would, how could a loving and just God destine someone to hell, and there was nothing he could do about it? Even we, though we be evil, sense something absolutely vile in that, how could our loving, merciful and gracious God do such a thing?
It just didn't seem right, and it doesn't sit right with the very attributes that God says of Himself. So it is with great joy and thanksgiving, that God has shown the truth about Himself, and it is a totally opposite picture of God to the Calvinist God that I see. God is slow to anger, patient, loving, holy, just and eternally gracious and merciful towards us, especially His adopted children.
In Romans 8, Paul was speaking about the requirement of choosing to live a holy, Spirit led life (opposed to a life centred on satisfying the fleshly desires - wealth, status, pleasures, etc.) in order that we might become the adopted sons of God.
Context
In the later parts of Romans 8 and now in Romans 9, the context of Paul's writings centre on the matter of God's plan to include the Gentile people into his grand plan of salvation. This probably causes much loathing, anger, revulsion and rejection by the Jews of that time, that God would consider making the Gentiles heirs to his promise. This is the purpose of Paul's writings here in this chapter.
So read this chapter in that light, in that context, and I'll do my best to add my comments.
In the first parts of this chapter, Paul is trying to tell his readers that despite all the persecution, floggings and whatever tortures the Jews might have done to him till this time, he does not preach God's plan for the salvation of the Gentiles out of a spirit of revenge because of that persecution.
He is trying here to reason and explain to his readers that God had planned from the beginning to redeem the world through his Son Jesus.
Rom 9:1 I am speaking the truth in Christ--I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit--
- Paul is asserting that whatever he is about to say, he says it in all sincerity without hypocrisy or falsehood.
- he does this because he wants to assure the Jews that he is totally honest, that his preaching of salvation to the Gentiles is not because of his hatred towards them for all the persecution they've done to him.
Rom 9:2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
- Paul is deeply troubled and anguished in his heart for his own Jewish brothers and nation because of God's rejection of them (because they rejected His Son) and adoption of the Gentiles as His new children
Rom 9:3 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.
- Paul wished that for the sake of the nation of Israel, who are his fellow brothers by birth and by race (i.e. according to the flesh), that he could be cut off from Christ so that they instead might be saved and remain the chosen race.
- Paul wished that he could be cut off from Christ so that the nation of Israel, who are his fellow brothers by birth and by race (i.e. according to the flesh), could be saved and remain the chosen race in God's eyes.
Rom 9:4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
- He feels such anguish because from the time of Abraham, Israel had been adopted as God's own people
- God had revealed his real glory to them by talking with Moses face to face and making his glory seen by them through the pillars of cloud and fire among other things
- God has established many covenants with this people, which He has not done with any other nation
- God gave Isreal his Law, that they might be his people, and no other nation had this privelege
- God taught the Isrealites the right way to worship Him, through their buring of incense, sacrifices, etc.
- God had only, up to this point given Israel his promises
Rom 9:5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
- the mighty men of God, the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, etc.) came from their race
- according to the flesh, i.e. by birthline, even Christ who is God incarnate, came from the Jewish race
Next, Paul goes on to say why Israel has really no basis of complaint against God. Paul cites a number of reason.
1) God calls his children not according to bloodline.
- The Jews were very proud of the fact that they were Abraham's descendents, yet, Abraham had other descendents too, but they were not God's people.
- Paul presents the facts here to argue that a particular people were God's descendents only because God extended His promises to them.
2) God has the right to have mercy on whomever He wishes, because even Israel themselves were given the promises of God on the basis of God's mercies.
- Paul then gives proof that Israel is no more special compared to the other nations around them, and that the only reason they receieved God's promise was because of God's mercy and nothing else. (ver 15, 16)
- God could have justly wiped them out in Moses's time (ver 18, a reference to Exodus 33:19) for their idolatry and continual disobedience.
- One must bear in mind Paul's utter mastery of the Old Testament Scriptures and the contexts and meanings of what happened then, and to have a clear meaning of what Paul was trying to communicate, we too must read this with the required background knowledge from which Paul is writing.
- Paul had an utterly impressive mastery over his understanding of Old Testament texts, and his arguments are so deep in understanding and wisdom (especially how he argues against the Israelites claim to sonship by their descent), that I marvel at them. How could someone think of such arguments? It is absolutely brilliant, no doubt the Holy Spirit provided insights too.
Paul is not just quoting a Scripture here and a Scripture there, he quotes one verse of Scripture which brings with it a context and a common understanding of the context to the people he was communicating with. In order to understand his thoughts as he intended to communicate, we too must understand the contexts of the verses he quoted, namely those that refer to the Old Testament texts.
For example, if we today were to write something down that is read in posterity, and we write something like "Remember Michael Jackson", it would bring with it a picture with an entire contextual background. Talent, dancing ability, cosmetic surgery, child molestation, wierd behaviour, etc. The phrase alone may convey a lot of meaning to us, but not to someone who reads it in posterity.
Fortunately for us, the entire OT text is available for our study and we can gain the contextual understanding necessary.
Rom 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
- But now, by rejecting Israel and bringing in the Gentile people into His new covenant, has God's previous words and promises failed? What happened to all the promises to the Jews? Have they failed because of this adoption of Gentiles? No, as Paul goes on to explain, it has not.
- Why has it not failed? Because not all the descendents of Israel (i.e. Jacob) are now considered members of the Israelite nation (at Paul's time). Jacob had many children, and they in turn fathered other children, but they were all Jacob's descendents, although they were not considered to be Isrealites at the time. They could have intermarried with other races, tribes etc. and formed other nations and peoples. The Samaritans were one good example.
Rom 9:7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named."
- here Paul is trying to teach us that the children of Abraham are not called Abraham's children merely because they are his natural children, born from his seed
- but God has specifically picked only the offsprings of Isaac to be called Abraham's offspring.
- Abraham also beget Ishmael, and the descendents of Ishmael are not considered to be "Abraham's offspring" although they ARE actually his natural offspring, born from his seed. Neither are Esau's offspring considered to be "Abraham's offspring."
- why is it that natural ancestry does not qualify one to be a chosen people of God? What then is the qualification? Paul explains in the next verse
Rom 9:8 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.
- In God's eyes, His adoption (in the OT, the Jewish nation) is not based on just natural ancestry or birthlines, because the children of Ishmael and Esau were also descendents of Abraham, but not adopted by God as His children
- rather it is those whom God gave his promise to, that are considered His children
Rom 9:9 For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son."
- here Paul again highlights that God's promise to Abraham was only to the child of Sarah, and not to Hagar. Thus only Sarah's descendents are adopted by God.
- again stressing the point that God adopts children not just by ancestry but on the basis of His promise.
Rom 9:10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
- this case of adoption by promise is not only seen in the case of Abraham and Hagar/Sarah, but also seen even in the case of the children of Isaac and Rebekah
Rom 9:11 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--
- Paul uses Esau and Jacob for a reason, they were born of the same mother, even twins!
- What is Paul trying to tell the Jews? You have no right to boast in even your bloodline, because God chose Jacob instead of Esau (and thus other nations) not for any merit of your forefather! He didn't do anything!
- even before Jacob and Esau were born, and they have not done anything either good or bad to merit God's choosing, God had already chosen which son's line he was going to adopt as His people
- God already had his plan and purpose for his people(in order that God's purpose of election might continue)
Rom 9:12 she was told, "The older will serve the younger."
- even before Jacob was born, God had chosen him. Again, a rebuke to the Jews that it was entirely God's mercy and they have no reason to boast of their bloodline.
- that is, Rebekah was already told by God that Jacob will serve Esau. However, it is important to note at this point, that God had elected for Esau to serve Jacob, and only that, it does not mean that God predestined Esau to hell or any of that which Calvinists interpret from this text. If Esau would have chosen well in life, I believe God would still have loved him.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
- it is important to note that this Scripture is referring to nations and not individuals because this Scripture says that the older shall serve the younger, yet nowhere in their lives did Esau serve Jacob, rather, Jacob had served Esau, and Jacob was sorely terrified of his older brother! It was only in David's time that "Esau served Jacob" in that David conquered the Edomites.
- So the verse is speaking of the posterity of Jacob and Esau, just as the nation of Israel is named after their forefather Israel (Jacob)
- This is quoted from Malachi 1
- What is Paul trying to say here? What is the context?
- In Malachi, God starts off by saying that he loved Jacob (the Jews) yet Esau (the Edomites) he hated.
- The Edomites (offspring of Esau) practiced idolatry and disobedience towards God, and God laid waste their hill country and left their inheritance to the desert jackals.
- What Paul is saying is this, DID ISRAEL DO ANY BETTER IN GOD'S EYES, compared to the Edomites?
- NO! They were equally deserving of God's hatred and judgement!
- In Malachi, God rebukes Israel for a great sin they have committed before Him. They despised the Lord, and esteemed Him not, and sacrificed blind, lame and sick animals to the Lord God! Not only that, they brought sacrifices to Him that were taken by violence! (Mal 1:13)
- Not only that, they show utter contempt in the worship of God, and say "What a weariness this is" and they snort at it! (Mal 1:13). Continue reading the rest of Malachi for other terrible things they did against the Lord.
- But what is God's response to Israel (Jacob)? He shows them mercy!
- Why did God then not show mercy to the children of Esau, the Edomites?
Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!
- Is God unjust to show mercy to the children of Jacob, while not showing mercy to the children of Esau, although both were equally deserving of his wrath?
- By his argument, he is saying, is God unjust to show mercy to the Gentiles now, considering that he has shown mercy to the children of Jacob despite all that they have done which merited only His wrath?
Rom 9:15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
- God is not unjust! He is free to show mercy and compassion to whomever He wills and no one can lay a blame on Him! He is entirely just because both Jews, Edomites and Gentiles deserve condemnation and wrath, yet God chooses to be merciful to whom he will be merciful to.
- Not only that, Paul brings up another charge against the Jews with this verse.
- let's understand the entire context this verse brings with it. During the time of Moses, the Hebrew people were rebellious and stiff necked against God and God said that he will not go up to the promised land with them less they provoke Him to anger with their stubborness and in His just anger, He wipe them out!
- So Paul is saying to the Jews, you had no claim to any special rights over anyone! You're just as sinful and disobedient as anyone else, and the fact God chose you over others was solely his compassion and mercy!
- Because we are all God's creation, and He will have mercy on whomever he has mercy. This time, He has chosen to be merciful towards the Gentiles, and adopt them as children.
- So on what grounds then does the Jew have, to charge that God is unjust over this matter?
Rom 9:16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
- Paul is saying, Jews, you have nothing to boast about for God choosing you int he past, it wasn't your will or exertion, but God chose to have mercy on you!
- so who are you now to question God's choice to have mercy on the Gentiles!
Rom 9:17 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."
- In order to have an accurate picture of what Paul was trying to say, let's look at the context of this verse
13 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, 14 or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18 Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. 19 Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.' "
- God raised up Pharoah, who was evil and arrogant even towards God (Pharoah said "Who is the Lord that I should obey him?), in order to show his power throughout the earth and His power is magnified!
- God raised Pharoah up to make him powerful, but Pharoah was evil on his own accord
- in the same way, God used the wicked Jews and raised those that were evil up to high position, that they might crucify His Son and through it God shows himself powerful and magnifies His own name by Jesus's ressurection. The Jews cannot blame God for their own wickedness!
- To totally understand this, let's again look at the context of the verse quoted.
- God, at this point in Exodus, had already sent plague after plague after plague on Egypt yet Pharoah will not release the people. God says to him that if God had wanted to, He could have just stretched out His hand and struck Pharoah and his nation with a plague and wiped them totally off the earth, BUT YET HE HAS NOT!
- WHY has God not struck Pharoah and wiped out Egypt at this point? It is totally within His power to do it, and then God's people would be free to go! (Question: Ask yourself, what is the nature of God that is revealed here? Hint: Merciful, longsuffering?)
- God gives the explaination Himself in verse 16! God did not wipe Egypt out because he intended for Pharoah to resist God, so that God might send the many plauges and show His power to all the people of the earth! Then there would be absolutely no doubt and not by a fluke of chance that what Moses had said had come to pass, and people will fear and glorify the Holy Name of God!
- God is absolutely just to kill Pharoah at this point, because Pharoah had ordered the killing of the Hebrew babies on the sly and committed a great evil against God. Yet God had mercy and spared him!
- similarly, God was just to wipe out the entire Jewish race for their prior wickedness, but he did not, and raised them up in order that even through their wickedness, His purposes might be fulfilled.
- to all the diehard Calvinists, read verse 19 carefully. What did God command? That every man and animal be brought in so that none might perish? Is this the same God who would predestine someone to hell? I see a very different God here, an infinitely loving, merciful and longsuffering God, that even cares for the welfare and pocessions (animals) of the Egyptian people! The same thing he says of Himself!
Rom 9:18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
- It is CRITICAL to understand that when God hardened Pharoah, he was entirely just to do it! Why? Because Pharoah had at that point sinned so greviously against God by ordering the Hebrew male children to be killed, and as a just penalty God could have killed him. Yet God spared him and hardened his heart, for what reason?
- "that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth"
- and it is for God's own purposes and glory (along with his grace, mercy and love) that he has now chosen to include the Gentiles into his plan of salvation!
Rom 9:19 You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?"
- This is the same argument Paul tackled in Romans 3, whereby one says, if in my sin, God's grace can be seen every more clearly, then why condemn me for my sin?
- The similar argument the Jews might give to God's choosing of the Gentiles is, why find fault with us, if by the Jews rejection of Jesus and the Gentiles be included into salvation, God's name is glorified, why then judge the Jews?
- Anyone can understand the absurdity of such an argument. God does not tamper with the will of men, they chose to do evil, and God used it to fulfill His purposes, but it does not mean the men who sinned are not guilty. They chose sin of their own free will, and God worked His plan despite of man's sinfulness.
Rom 9:20 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?"
- who are we, mere sinful men (referring to the Jews in particular) to question God and ask Him, why have you given this salvation plan to the Gentiles also?
Rom 9:21 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?
- a lot has been misconstrued into this verse by Calvin's teachings. If we look carefully at the verse it was quoted from, it will show a very different context and character of God, one diametrically opposed to predestination or the Calvinist's view of God.
Jeremiah 18
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
11 "Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, 'This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.'
- Versus 7 and 9 show a very different kind of character of God then prescribed by John Calvin!
- God will change His mind depending on how man chooses to act!
- This verse must be read in context and not too literally because it distorts the meaning. Here Paul is asking, does not the Potter have a right to do what he wills of his clay? If one he makes for an esteemed important usage, and another he uses for a more mundane usage, or even filthy usage, is not God's choice soverign?
- If God made us to be born a prince or a pauper, who are we to ask God why did you make me this way? This is essentially what Paul is communicating.
Rom 9:22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
- Here Paul makes a very clear argument that God is never unjust, even if he destroys unjust people in order to demonstrate his wrath and power.
- Why is God not unjust? Because firstly God is not responsible for a people or nation's wickedness.
- They have already stored up, by their wickedness, their just punishment. "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction." Their time for judgement and destruction has already come!
- Yet God is patient with them, and endures the wickedness of this evil people, that He might destroy them at a time of His choosing to demonstrate His wrath.
- So these evil vessels were already condemned because of their wickedness, but God waits and bides His time for their fair judgement.
- Paul is referring to the Jewish people. They had been utterly wicked, even the priests made God's temple into a den of thieves, practiced hypocrisy, devoured widows' houses and oppressed orphans, and God's wrath was already burning against them, but He held off till the fulfillment of the death and ressurection of the Messiah
Rom 9:23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory--
- Why is God patient and endure the wickedness of the Jews, the vessels for destruction? In order that he might make known His glory, towards those whom he shows mercy to, the Gentiles. In the context of this entire chapter, those he shows mercy to are his adopted children.
- prepared beforehand for glory: This refers to the Gentile people. God already had already devised a salvation plan for them beforehand to prepare them for glory, through His Son Jesus Christ.
Rom 9:24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
- and here Paul concludes the central argument of this whole text, that the vessels for mercy do not just come from the Jews, but the Gentiles also
Rom 9:25 As indeed he says in Hosea, "Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'"
- and thus the fulfillment of the prophecy that God will call the Gentiles His people also, and He will love them.
- again to fully understand the full richness of Paul's argument, one must understand the context of Hosea saying this.
Rom 9:26 "And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"
- taken from Hosea 1:10. God is greatly grieved by the adulterous nation of Israel.
- His promise that at the same place where He, in anger, declared that Israel is no longer going to be called His people, it is the very same place where they'll be called the sons of the living God.
- That prophecy is now fulfilled.
Rom 9:27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,
Rom 9:28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay."
Rom 9:29 And as Isaiah predicted, "If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah."
- Althought the nation of Israel be populous and their numbers many, if God did not spare Israel and leave them a remnant, wicked thought they were, they'd have been utterly destroyed from the face of this earth by the just wrath of God.
- Israel had sinned as no nation on earth had sinned before; they killed God's only begotten Son and rejected Him! Still, God in his infinite mercy and grace, spares Israel from total obliteration from the face of the earth, and left them a remnant!
- I think this also possibly points to God's judgement in AD70 where Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, yet a number escaped and remain till this day.
Rom 9:30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;
Rom 9:31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.
- Paul anticipates another angle of argument from the Jews, that the Gentiles did not pursue righteousness, yet have attained it through faith in Jesus Christ? Why is it so easy for them, they did not have to work hard to observe the Law
- yet the Jews, trying to pursue righteousness by obeying the Law, failed.
- Isn't this unfair, Paul anticipates the Jews asking
- This was a fair question I guess, considering the ardousness of observing all the aspects of the Law, which the Jews have tried so hard to adhere to.
Rom 9:32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,
- And here Paul gives the reply, it is because they were keeping the Law in arrogance of their rigtheousness, and not keeping it in obedience and in humility and faith, depending on God to have mercy on them.
- One will ask, how will they know then that one is justified by faith?
- It is revealed in several places even in the OT. Hab 2:4, Ps 32:1-11, Ps 130:1-8, Job 9:2
Rom 9:33 as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."
- Here Paul concludes by referring to Jesus, the Messiah, as the stumbling stone. He did not fit into the people's understanding of the prophecies about Him, thinking that he will establish his earthly kindom on earth.
- Instead the King came as a poor humble servant, and stumbled the religious minds of the time.
- He's a rock of offense, he caused great offense to the Pharisees, and turned their system upside down. He did not see any righteousness in their outward keeping of ceremonial laws while inwardly wicked, arrogant and self-seeking. Instead he chose for himself poor vessels, fishermen, tax collectors and even prostitutes as disciples, confounding all their wisdom and causing great offense, yet this is the mercy and wisdom of God.
- whoever then, puts his trust in this rock of offense, Jesus, the Messiah, will not be put to shame.
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