Worship Of A Holy God

Hello. Figured its been a while, perhaps I'd write something, and I figured might as well write about something I was thinking about recently.

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD has said, 'Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.'"
-Leviticus 10:1-3-

I like this verse whenever I think about the topic of worship. At one point in my life I would have read this verse and thought, "wow, thats pretty harsh for something that doesn't seem so serious."

Perhaps this type thinking is the cause of some atheistic arguments such as, why is the whole race damned because of such a small sin as eating of a fruit (Gen. 2:17) or perhaps the example of Uzzah with the ark, struck down by the Lord because he attempted to catch the ark so it wouldn't hit the ground (2 Samuel 6:6,7).

I joined the Reformed Presbyterian Church last October, since coming to that church there has certainly been a change in the way I have viewed worship.

Worship is not to be taken lightly. I fear the church of America today is more than guilty of this sin. Looking at the verse above brings a few things into mind:
1. Think of it for a minute. If one takes a look at the state of the church, and takes an honest look at it, it won't be long for you to come to the conclusion that its mostly man-centered worship, not God-centered. The mentality of most church-goers is "what do I want out of a church?" When really it would be in their best interest to say "what does God want out of a church, or out of my worship?" To be honest I don't know how many specific scriptures proof-texts I need for that statement, as this should be common knowledge amongst Christians.
2. Reverence. Thats a forgotten word no? Most Christians today wouldn't want you to "fear God" but to "revere Him," though even that reverence is non-existent in any form, in anything from worship to Christian living. Its assumed that God is just your buddy or pal, He isn't concerned at all about how you worship Him. Well looking at that verse above it just doesn't catch me that way, of course then again it is just the Old Testament [sarcasm intended].
3. God takes it very serious I promise. "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, 'The LORD reigns!'" (2 Chronicles 16:29-31). That passage has a few things to note:
a. He is holy. Many passages could suffice for this, its just one of those known facts, yet it seems to be not so known after all in today's Christianity. He is holy, and He will be worshiped as such.
b. Something is due to Him. Perhaps thanks, praise, worship...your life as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). Its a joke to most, like I stated before most want whats in it for them, proving the paper-thinness of their "Christianity."
4. The danger of "unauthorized fire" is very serious. Obviously this "unauthorized fire" had serious implications. Looking at that verse makes me think very carefully about what I bring to worship God with, how I go about preparing my mind and heart. Though once again, the church today wouldn't give a verse such as this very much thought. Not concerned at all what is pleasing to God much of the world has creeped into the church, Satan is having a field day with most churches who think they are doing the work of the Lord.
5. Sincerity is not an issue. Most would argue that churches are being sincere and really trying in what they do to bring more to Christ, and in trying to worship God. Sincerity has been placed in front of the word of God. As my pastor put it, "Muslims are sincere does that mean they're going to heaven?"

Give it serious thought, worship is meant for the Lord, reading through the Bible does not leave the impression that God is not serious about what He says.

Part 5 - If God Isn't Sovereign

Then prayer is meaningless.

Think of the things you pray for (i.e. the salvation of others, the spreading of the gospel, the spreading of the kingdom, your own personal faith, hope, and love, etc.). Okay now imagine a God who has no power over any of those things, or in other words, imagine Him as most people do.

Though no one will outright say this type of thing, it is the inevitable conclusion of their thought of God.

Think about it:
1) If God is not sovereign in the spreading of the gospel and conversion of souls, then why pray to God that it will be done?

2) If God is not sovereign in the Christian life, in the providence He has in your life (cf. Rom. 8:28), and in conforming you to the image of the Son (2 Thess 2:13, Heb. 12:2), then why pray to Him. Just do it yourself. By your own will defeat satan, by your own will transform your heart and rid it of evil, by your own will build up faith and hope and love.

But! If you believe in a sovereign God. A working and active and living God. A God working through you and through the word by His Holy Spirit ...then pray to Him. Pray for the salvation of souls, pray for the advance of the kingdom of Christ, pray for holiness and sanctification, pray for the care of others and for the perseverance of brothers and sisters in Christ.

You have two ways you can think of prayer. 1) A casual talk with God. One in which you merely tell Him about how your going to do things by your own strength. 2) A plea for the working of God. That His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

"Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him..." -Matthew 6:8-

Use the means God has given. Glorify Him and praise His name in prayer, and pray that His will would be done.

Part 4 - If God Isn't Sovereign

If God isn't sovereign would salvation exist? Is the free-will of man the deciding factor? Many people have a difficult time reconciling their free-will and God's sovereignty in their salvation.

Does man have free-will?
Yes.

Its a road with two ditches. Some will take sovereignty to the extreme, where man has no free-will and God forces man to have every thought and take every action, thus leaving them unaccountable. The other side would be to say man has complete free-will to do things good (in God's eyes) and to do things bad.

Almost seems paradoxical, but the question is:
How can man have free-will and yet not be able to do good or bad by choice?Simply put, man, or really anything for that matter, acts according to its nature. Man cannot do the things which please God (especially regenerate and save themselves), apart from God causing a change in nature in the man. Man is "by nature children of wrath" (Eph. 2:3), man cannot act contradictory to his fallen sinful nature.

Think of it this way. God has a free-will, no one will argue with that, but God cannot do evil. Why not? Because His nature is good.

But God is sovereign, while he does not force us to do good or evil against our free-will, He is the only one capable of the change of nature we so desperately need. The only one capable of resurrecting our souls which are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1).

Salvation from beginning to end is the sovereign actions taken by God. People don't argue as much that God is working in their lives after conversion, or that he was providentially working before their conversion, but if you tell many people that it was God who gave them life and the ability to even come to Him, they are offended. May God be thanked and praised for his sovereign work in conversion.

Part 3 - If God Isn't Sovereign

In the last post I mentioned the verse:

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28-

This verse is a wonderful promise to believers. But, before you meditate upon this verse, or go off making up your own meaning for it, I think there are a few misunderstandings of the meaning of this great verse.

What it is not saying:
It is not saying that God is going to allow only good things to happen to you all the time, or that He will never let anything bad come into your life. Don't be so vain. The Christian life is not all "butterflies and green fields" (Julianna Weaver; I may misquoted, but you get the point). Just take examples from Job, Jeremiah, Jesus, Peter, Stephen, Paul. Especially take a look at the experiences of Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, and let me know if thats the idea of mainstream, pop-psychology, self-help, health and wealth "Christianity" of today.

What it is saying:
What may look to you like horrible situations and things you would classify in the "not good things" category are in the end brought back to your personal good. God's providence is beyond measure, it is hard to fathom how it is that He has so ordained all things to take place down to the minutest detail so that in the end it would work out for the good of those who are called according to His purpose. Take a minute to look back on your life, imagine every small detail, every instance where had you made a different decision you may not be where you are today, a Christian blessed by God. God has guided your feet to the place you now stand. Even think of "bad" situations and what good came out of many of them: i.e. faith and obedience are strengthened, lessons are learned, people that have encouraged you in your walk may have been met along the way.

The point is, "If God Is Not Sovereign" then He does not know your steps or your directions, He is not able to bring all things together for the good of those called according to His purpose. The thought contradicts the scripture.

God is sovereign and God is bringing all things in your life together for good, the ultimate good, eternal life in heaven praising Jesus Christ.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." -Matthew 10:29-31-

Further Reading:
The Mystery of Providence - John Flavel
All Things for Good - Thomas Watson

Honestly I have only read the first one, but I know the other will be good because Thomas Watson is a great writer. Both of these guys are Puritans, and in my opinion Puritans have left behind Christian writings that are unparalled. Check these books out.

Part 2 - If God Isn't Sovereign

Perhaps I'll speak first of God's sovereignty in His acts of providence. In light of the Virginia Tech incident, I believe this might be a proper place to start. Some, in these times, will turn to God for comfort and peace, yet, at the same time many may be hardened at a time like this.

The questions arise amongst natural unbelieving man, perhaps even amongst some Christians, how can God let such things happen? Where was God in all this? Why do bad things happen to good people? These questions are nothing new though. Throughout history we have seen genocides, world wars, mass murders, and pain and suffering. For a mind set at enmity with God, its easy to have such objections to a "loving and all-powerful" God , who seems to have no problem with letting these things happen to people.

So then what is the response? Is God not all-knowing, all-powerful, and sovereign over all things? Are these things out of his control or unknown to Him before they happen? Of course not.Lets think for a minute. Who gives life? Most atheist/agnostics love to point out that God kills many many people in the Bible, and they ask, is He not evil? If they stopped and thought of the absurdity of the remark they may not have asked such a question in the first place. The only reason they have enough breath to utter such a comment is because of God's sustaining grace.

Job understood the implications after his sons and daughters were killed, he didn't blame Satan or some other cause he says:

"The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." -Job 1:21-

Job understood the sovereignty of God's action, God willed it and it was done, God gives and sustains life and God can easily take that away. For the grieving Christian parent of a child who died in such an atrocity, they can say with Job these same words and be comforted that in such trials and in such pain the Lord has promised something very very comforting:

"We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28-

I do not wish to trivialize the mourning and the grief, I cannot even fathom the depth of sorrow in such an event, but I do know this much, the Lord's hand is in all things and he will bring good out of evil for all believers. I'll come back to providence because of course there is much more that can be said of the mystery of God's providence.

Part 1 - If God Isn't Sovereign

What suffers? Is it merely as trivial as people pretend it to be? Is God's sovereignty in salvation and in providence a thing to be swept under the proverbial rug? Can it be said that God's sovereignty is something higher than we can understand so we should just leave it to God?

Here is where I believe we have a major disconnect in the church. In God's sovereignty, in His election, in His calling, justification and in His providence. I think of it this way. When I go to the range to qualify with my rifle, I look at the target (300 meters away) through the rear and front sights. Say I was off by a centimeter to the left, from where I am that doesn't seem to be so far off, but 300 meters down range that could be 2 or 3 feet to the left.

It can be applied to the sovereignty of God in this way. People deem election or predestination not that big of a deal, if one person believes it and another doesn't its not that much of a difference how much could it possibly affect? I mean those are things higher than us anyway, they aren't for us to worry about.

But go down the range (in theory) and when you get to the target you're way off. You have churches which are more man-centered than God-centered, and worship that cares more about entertainment than worship, so on and so on.

The sovereignty of God is a complete world-view, it will sway your thinking and your approach to an all-holy all-sovereign God. I'll do a couple posts thinking about some of the things this effects, such as: worship, evangelism, Christian living and persecution, and perhaps other things as I think of them.

God Bless.

Easter/Christmas...Christian?

There are a few things that this note is not arguing against nor am I completely against the holidays them self. This is not against the gathering together of families, I am not addressing that. Furthermore, this is not against the observance of the birth, death, or resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In actuality the purpose behind the note is to prove the the lack of care for Jesus' birth, death and resurrection, and the way in which "Christians" give little care to these matters all the other days of the year and how Churches go about their Easter Sunday "service." But that will become clear, and other matters of disagreement will come out.

I am going to go ahead and leave out the fact that both Christmas and Easter are holidays which the Roman Catholic Church have instituted and intermixed with Pagan traditions, because this really has little to do with the matter at hand, whether the Jehovah's Witnesses want it to or not.

Firstly
I am ardently against those who presume to make this day more important than any other day. One will notice quickly that Churches fill to about twice their normal attendance. Every nominal Christian without a care for Jesus in the least bit, suddenly flocks to the pews. As if this day were now more fixed upon by God than any other day, these "Christians" of apostate tendencies think themselves to be doing a better service to their own self and to God by showing an appreciation for at least one day out of the year.

Easter more than Christmas tends to have this traditional importance for some reason. I would reason from that evidence, that it would probably be a wiser thing for them if they didn't step in on God's solemn and reverent worship.

Let me qualify though, I'd fear that some would think I don't want unbelievers to come to church and hear the word of God preached. That is not my point, the point is that most of these people have heard the message and more than probably made a "decision" for Christ at one point, and have now deemed it unimportant to worship God every Sunday or to fellowship with the children of God.

The fact is, I have seen this all too many times, someone who says they are "saved" but lives like Jesus didn't exist or doesn't care, but thinks that going to church on Easter will make up for it (this happens more than on Easter, it may be a weekly thing as well, a nominal Christian feels they can live the way they wish, as long as they wipe the slate clean on Sunday).

Secondly
The way some Churches go about Easter Sunday. Say you do get a larger crowd that day (with the above point in mind) and then preach a sermon that is about 10 minutes long so you don't bore those who came, and then have a little Easter Special or a children's play or a whole bunch of solos and video clips to entertain the unbelieving crowd.

For example, I went to a friend's church on Christmas Eve this last year, had about a 20 minute sermon, with virtually no Gospel presentation. Then to top it off canceled that evening's service, so that we could "spend time with family and not worry about Church tonight." I'm not sure what I deem more important on such a day, spending time with family, or worshiping the Christ who saved our souls so we could even enjoy a family (sarcasm).

The day is, for some odd reason, set aside as more special than the rest. Sermons are cut shorter, sermons are watered down, church cancellation, etc. Why? Why not just continue exegetically going through the Bible as you should be, contemplating the birth, life, death, resurrection, intercession, every Sunday?

Thirdly
I'll address this quickly. The world has attempted to take these holidays which are supposedly centered around Christ and turned them into egg painting, wreath hanging holidays. What's worse is that Christians have given into it, we delude the children of America with fairy tales of bunny rabbits and fat men with flying reindeer, instead of presenting them with the Gospel from the very day they can comprehend it.

Lastly
A proposal. Say we didn't treat these days so much different, what if instead we got rid of them, how bad would it be? Would "American Christianity" crash and burn to the ground? So be it, if that is what is holding it up, if it's the fact that we get free presents and a day out of the year to pretend we are Christian. I wonder if true Christians in oppressive countries are worried about two days out of the year, or if they worship God how He is to be worshiped.

I firmly believe that Christmas and Easter are to be celebrated every single day I am alive. With any true faithful Christian, we should be praising God every hour of the day for the Birth, the Death, the Resurrection, the Justification, the Mercy, and the Grace that has been so freely and so wonderfully bestowed unto us, God's chosen people. What if we were more worried about that, or more excited about that, than the prospect of free gifts, money, and one day out of the year we get to wear our new Easter clothes.

And if you are going to set these days aside in Church for a special message or if you are going to celebrate it with family, then remember the Lord your God, who died and rose and took upon your sins so that you might be justified and imputed His righteousness, all of your days.

"I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!" -Psalm 34:1-3-

"I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever." -Psalm 145:1-2-

Any Thoughts? There's gotta be some.

A Test of Faith

Test yourself with all honesty, to fail at one of these points is not to say you are a false Christian...but I believe it is to the benefit of your soul to consider these questions.

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" -2 Cor. 13:5-

1. Is Christ the Lord of your life? Would you give up all for Him and deny yourself? Would you give up your possesions, family, friends or even your life for Him? (Matt. 10:37, Luke 14:26)

Christians are to be willing to give up all if asked to do so, if Christ were to ask you to sell all and follow Him (Mark 10:21) that you would do it without a second glance back (Luke 9:62). The Christian must be willing to deny them self and take up their cross and follow after Christ with their whole heart (Mark 8:34). Self-denial is an absolute must in the Christian faith, it is a question of whether or not you are in humble reliance upon God or if you rely upon your own strength.

2. Do you cherish the commandments of God? Do you wish nothing more than to be conformed to the image of the Son and to keep the commandments which Christ has given us? (Psa. 19 and 119)

The Christian is commanded to keep the commandments (Matt. 19:17). The way in which a Christian knows that they know Christ Jesus is if he loves and keeps His commandments (1 John 2:3). Thus they will abide in the love of Christ (John 15:10).

3. Do you love sin? Is there sin in your life that you attempt to hide or make out to seem not as sinful so that you may continue to have it in your life? (Rom. 6:2, Rom. 6:11) And when you do sin, do you acknowledge and confess it to God and trust in Christ for your forgiveness? (1 John 1:6-10)

Christians are to flee all youthful lust (2 Tim. 2:22), to abstain from all forms of evil (1 Thess. 5:22), to keep from foolish and crude talk (Eph. 5:4), sexual immorality, drunkeness, fornication, etc. (Gal. 5:21, Col. 3:5), to present our members as instruments of righteousness (Rom. 6:13), and to cast away those things which cause us to sin (Matt. 5:29,30). Christians hate sin because God hates sin, and what God hates we must and what God loves we must love.

4. Is every single day for you a battle to deny yourself and to fight sin with all your might? Is your battle with sin non-existent? Though you do not always succeed at defeating temptation do you wage war on it and pray to God to strengthen you against it? (Rom. 6 entire chapter)

The Christian must find their pleasure and delight in Christ Jesus, they must fight sin and strive to enter the narrow gate (Luke 13:24). The Christian must run the race with endurance (Heb. 12:1), fight the fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12, 2 Tim 4:7), and to take on the full armor of God in order to defeat the schemes of the evil one (Eph. 6:11,13). A sure sign of whether or not you are a Christian is whether or not there is a desire to fight the indwelling sin within you. If you do not wage war on sin, or think that it is no big deal because you think God doesn't care, or you think now that you are in Christ you can do what you want, you have made a deadly mistake. See point 3 as well.

5. Is your full trust in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ? Or do you rely on some righteousness of yourself, attempting to work your way into favor with God or with men or impress either? (Rom. 4:2, Eph. 2:8,9)

Whether Christian or not, the one thing that must be understood is that it is not by any works of your own. It is not your decision, your parents decision, your church's decision, its not by your works, by your deeds, even by your faith that you are saved, but by the grace of God Almighty (Eph. 2:8). You receive that grace through faith (Rom. 5:17, John 1:12) and repentance (Acts 3:19). Christian, even as a believer it is not your works that maintain your state of grace, but once again it is God who upholds you in the faith (Heb. 12:2). So then trust fully in Christ for your justification, sanctification, and glorification.

6. Is the worship of God even enjoyable to you (Psa. 99:9)? Is Church on Sunday a burden to you, do you love the brethren and love their fellowship (1 John 3:15)? Is prayer a non-essential (Rom. 12:12)? Is fellowship, communion, and meditation with God and on the work of God in your life present at any time (Psa. 77:12)? Is reading your Bible more of a duty or do you seek to know God more and cherish His word (Josh. 1:8, Psa. 119:105)?

Ask yourself something, Christian, if you cannot stand to be in the presence of God now or in the presence of His people (1 John 4:20), how then will you do it for an eternity? You may not have to worry about it.

7. Do you give all the thanks, praise and glory to God?

This is very important in a man-centered world, and even in a man-centered church, where most theology is how can man do things without God. All thanksgiving must be given to God (Col. 2:6,7), and all praise, exaltation, and worship must be given to God for who He is and what love He has shown you (Psa. 22:23).

8. Conclusion

While there may be others I could have put on here, these are some of the ones I wished to address. To fail at one of these points is not to say you are not a Christian, in fact I do not believe 2 Cor. 13:5 to be saying test yourself at how good you are doing or how bad you are doing, but to test whether or not you rely and trust in Christ Jesus for all of your righteousness, faith, hope, love, forgiveness, redemption, sanctification, perseverance, so on and so forth.

Test yourself. Trust in Jesus Christ. And pray to God to be sanctifying you daily, handing over all to Him and casting yourself at the feet of Jesus, and have faith in Him who is faithful.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
-Romans 5:1,2-

Roman IX (God's Vessels)

Verses 19-24
(Bible)

If God hath absolute sovereignty over the salvation or reprobation of man such as just shown in the past verses about Pharaoh. And if God can harden a man's heart and leave the man empty of saving grace then the question from prideful, boastful, arrogant men naturally arises: "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" As I asked earlier in verse 14, where a question is similarly asked, does your doctrine of election warrant this type of response? For most, the doctrine of election is bent in order to make it more appealing and more understandable to our human minds, this great doctrine suffers greatly because of its misunderstanding. Nevertheless the matter remains in the hand of God, and so the question above arises, which Paul doesn't necessarily answer more than he just makes it very clear that we are nothing to question the wise counsel of God. "But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?'"(cf. Isaiah 45:9).

This to Paul is absurd, for men to think they have any jurisdiction whatsoever to question God in His dealings with His own salvation. Paul declares the Lord as sovereign over all.

"Who art thou, thou that art so foolish, so feeble, so short-sighted, so incompetent a judge of divine counsels? Art thou able to fathom such a depth, dispute such a case, to trace that way of God which is in the sea, His path in the great waters? That repliest against God. It becomes us to submit to Him, not to reply against Him; to lie down under His hand, not to fly in His face, nor to charge Him with folly...we are the thing formed, and He is the former; and it does not become us to challenge or arraign His wisdom in ordering and disposing of us into this or that shape of figure. The rude and unformed mass of matter hath no right to this or that form, but is shaped at the pleasure of Him that formeth it." (Henry)

Paul then gives a comparison: "Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?" I think this proves the arbitrary and sovereign work of God in how He chooses to form the vessels that He does. We are all of the same lump of clay, no one more deserving than another. As the potter has the right to take a lump of clay and form one into a vessel for honor so he also has that same right to use some of the clay for dishonor.

"What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory..."

"What if..." has been taken by Calvin and most other theologians, not as a hypothetical statement, but as a more or less "so what" kind of statement. It is indeed a statement made in human terms but Paul is not giving a statement that would not be true of how it is God deals with His creation.

In order to make His power known and to show His wrath He, "endures with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction..." God is here pleased to show His righteous and great power in the destruction of the wicked. "Vessels of wrath" who are "prepared" as Henry would say, "fitted by their own sin and self-hardening...[and are made] combustible matter, fit for the flames of hell"(Henry).

Now there is a bit of a difference between the commentaries on double-predestination and God withholding saving graces. To be honest I am not going to go into any kind of differences or debate on a doctrine which really has "indirect bearing on Christian behavior"(Reformation Bible).

You'll notice here that all of this is to "His glory." The way in which He deals with those vessels fitted for wrath is to display the greatness and riches of His glory by the mercy He shows the vessels which He has chosen.

The end of all things that God has created is to display His glory. Everything from election to salvation to glorification and judgment are to display the greatness of God. Even the vessels fitted for wrath will make a display of that greatness, whether an unbeliever wishes to glorify God or not, he will do it one way or another.

"...us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles..." Simply put the God gives mercy to all different people, not of the Jews only but also of the Gentiles.

Citation:
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*Calvin Commentary
*Reformation Study Bible

Romans IX (God's Sovereignty in Electing)

Verses 14-18
(Bible)

With the two examples given, Paul has abolished all hope of a sinner working his way to God. He has now handed over all power and all sovereignty to God. Now Paul goes on in these verses to prove the absolute sovereignty of God in bringing the "children of promise" to himself.

Notice here as well as in verse 19, this is the common response by anyone who is confronted with the doctrines of election or predestination. The first objection shown here in verse 14 is that there is injustice with God. To save some and to look over others and they can do nothing, doesn't that make God unjust? "Certainly not!" is the answer Paul gives. It would be interesting to see if any other ideas of election such as that of the Arminian or a "corporate" electionist would warrant such an expression as Paul just gave. All other ideas attempt to give man some credit in his election, but this simply is not true. Men attempt to bend the scriptures to fit within our understanding, but this doctrine of election is something we must accept. As Piper has said, "it is better that our minds be broken, than that the scriptures be broken."

For an outline's sake, I'll break this into two parts. How God deals with His chosen people (v.15,16), and how He deals with the reprobate, or the ones He passes over (v.17,18).

I. Dealings With The Elect

"I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." Paul has just said that God is certainly not unjust, he now proves the denial. As Matthew Henry says on this verse, "It imports a perfect absoluteness in God's will; He will do what He will, and giveth not account of any of His matters, nor is it fit He should"(Henry). In other words, God has to give us no reason why it is He has mercy on some and not others. Charles Spurgeon once gave an example of 10 beggars on a street and a man walks by and decides to give some money to only one of the beggars, is this man unjust for not giving the others some money? Of course not, it is his money he does with it as he pleases, in fact he didn't have to give any of them money, but he did. And so it is with God. "God makes some vessels of wrath according to their merit; other vessels of mercy according to His grace"(Calvin's editor note).

"So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy." "That none of you may think that they who are elected are elected because they are deserving"(Calvin). Henry makes a good point,

"Applying this general rule to the particular case that Paul has before him, the reason why the unworthy, undeserving, ill-deserving Gentiles are called...while the greatest part of the Jews are left to perish in unbelief, is not because those Gentiles were better desrving or better disposed for such a favour, but because of God's free grace that made that difference. The Gentiles did neither will it, nor run for it, they sat in darkness...He is found of those that sought Him not (Isa. 65:1)."

II. Dealings With The Reprobate

"There seems to be something more unreasonable in this (the rejection of the ungodly), [Paul] endeavours to make it more fully evident, how God, in rejecting whom He wills, is not only irreprehensible, but also wonderful in His wisdom and justice"(Calvin).

Paul comes to how God deals with Pharoah from Exodus. God raised up Pharoah, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth"(Exodus 9:16). "Thus doth God raise up sinners, make them for himself even for the day of evil (Prov. 16:4), raise them up in outward prosperity, external privelages (Matt. 11:23), sparing mercies"(Henry). For what reason? "That I may show my power in [them], and that My name may be declared in all the earth." "God would...serve the honour of His name, and manifest His power in baffling the pride and insolence of that great tyrant, who bade defiance to Heaven itself, and trampled upon all that was just and sacred. If Pharoah has not been so high and mighty, so bold and hardy, the power of God had not been so illustrious in the ruining of him"(Henry).

III. "Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens."

Matthew Henry puts it beautifully:

"The various dealings of God...must be resolved into His absolute sovereignty. He is debtor to no man, His grace is His own, and He may give it or withold it as it pleaseth Him; we have none of us deserved it, nay, we have all justly forfeited it a thousand time, so that herein the work of our salvation is admirably well ordered that those who are saved must thank God only, and those who perish must thank themselves only...God is bound no further than He has been pleased to bind Himself by His own covenant and promise, which is His revealed will; and that is that He will receive, and not cast out, those that come to Christ; but the drawing of souls in order to that coming is preventing distinguishing favour to whom He will. Had He mercy on the Gentiles? It was because He would have mercy on them. Were the Jews hardened? It was because it was His own pleasure to deny them softening grace, and to give them up to their chosen affected unbelief."

Citation:
*Piper Sermons
*Calvin Commentaries on Romans
*Matthew Henry Commentaries on Romans
*C.H. Spurgeon

Is Everyone A Christian??

Who in Oklahoma is not a Christian? Honestly, everybody believes they are.

When I first came into a church, I was engrafted into the Baptist church. Now I have respect for a lot of Baptists, believe me. But I was brought into the church-camp high, shallow praise songs, alter-calling, half-gospel, funny story telling, try and get people emotional, type of Baptist churches. I know a lot of you know what I am talking about.

I came to find out that Christianity was so much more than praying the all too infamous sinner’s prayer and walking an isle and raising my hand (while every head was bowed and every eye was closed). Matthew 7:13, 14 became very real to me, and quite disturbing, I believed myself to be on the broad way headed for nothing more than to find out that Jesus never knew who I was (Matthew 7:23).

Now, looking back I have a growing concern for those from where I came from, who still are in that type of environment. Am I saying they are not Christians? No. They may be, but their environment is a place where they will experience no growth, and become no more knowledgeable of God than when they first began.

On the other hand, I know people from my high school and hometown, who would be so quick to consider themselves Christians, yet they express absolutely no desire to know Christ, the only time they even mention something like that is if they feel it might impress someone or for some reason make them cooler (which of course in the Bible Belt if you aren’t a Christian, you probably aren’t in the “in crowd”). Or perhaps there’s an argument and they might attempt to impress people with their well versed knowledge in the Bible, yet at the same time never fellowshipping with God or praying or reading the Word of God, being completely Pharisaical in their Christianity, only memorizing key verses to defend their bias opinion or to look good on facebook (i.e. Matthew 7:1, John 3:16, Phil 4:13 or Jer 29:11), excusing all context and hermeneutics, and then going out and living their life as if there were no God, as if God cared nothing for their actions.

John MacArthur once said, “Professing Christianity is the fastest growing mission field,” I could not agree more with that statement. Questions I keep asking myself are things like:

How do you witness to a person that is so convinced that they already are a Christian?

Why is it that people wear the name “Christian” or “Saved” like it is some sort of name tag, or a plane ticket to heaven, or fire insurance?

How can you call yourself a Christian, yet in your actions you show you actually hate Christ and you hate his commandments?

The list goes on.

I want nothing more than for my friends, family, and just people on the street, to understand the saving grace and power of Jesus Christ. I want them to understand the joy and peace and comfort in laying all your sins and worries upon the cross. I want them to see God as a holy, just, loving, beautiful and gracious God, to want nothing more than to understand His word, to seek Him with all their heart, soul, and strength, to obey His commandments.

Though, most the time I feel like I am talking to myself, and while it bothers me that most of my friends wouldn’t give a second thought to their salvation, I trust in God to do His will and accomplish His purpose, and I know He will. And because of that truth, I can rest well at night.

Romans IX (The Election of God)

Verses 11-13
(Bible)

Paul has now given the two examples from the Old Testament to make his statement earlier true, that they are not all of Israel who are of Israel (v.6b). "He now begins to...show the cause of this difference, which [Paul] teaches us is nowhere else to be found except in the election of God"(Calvin).

There are some who may contend that this passage of scripture, especially that of verse 11 does not have to do with salvation but with "service." This of course has no contextual or scriptural support, only an assumption based off of nothing more than the mere fact that election is a very offensive doctrine to most, it was to me at first. We are talking about God selecting those to whom He would bestow His saving graces upon, that man has no ability within himself to bring himself to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

But it is plain to see from these verses, that those whom God declares as "children of promise," such as that of Isaac and Jacob and every other saint from Adam to now, are those whom God will save. "Not of works but of Him who calls."

I. "For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil."

Why was on chosen and not the other? They are both born at the same time, they are twins, born of the Patriarch Isaac. Neither had done a thing yet, but even before their birth it was stated, "The older shall serve the younger." If anything it would seem if salvation were based on works and not on the grace and election of God, it would seem to be that Esau should have been the chosen. After all, he was the first born, the rightful recepient of the blessing from Isaac (had not Jacob tricked his father), in fact looking at Jacob and Esau comparatively it would seem that Jacob was more evil than Esau. Yet God chose Jacob...why?

II. "That the purpose of God according to election might stand."

What purpose? The "according to election" purpose (which is actually the more literal translation of the phrase). The purpose of God is partly defined by election. More definatively what was the entire purpose of God in creation, in regeneration, salvation, and even election?

For His glory. Election is the beginning of salvation, and all salvation is from God, from first to last. Even the faith we have is from God, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast"(Ephesians 2:8-9). If man were to boast about a single bit of His salvation that would be to take away from the glory that is to go to God alone.

So it is said...

III. "Not of works but of Him who calls."

Paul has destroyed the argument that man has any hope in bringing himself to a saving knowledge of God apart from God. These Israelites, that Paul speaks about, were the "fleshly children" they were in a sense "Ishmael's" and "Esau's." As Piper has said, "The church is full of Ishmael Christianity and Esau Christianity and have never been born of God"(Piper). Many in the church are more of a Pharisaical type of Christianity, too many think that it is by their works, by their faith that they have built up in themself, or they fall back on the fact that they have been baptized or have confessed at one time in their life, or have gone to church for years. The fact is this means nothing, if you have not been born of God.

IV. "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."

I figure I should touch on this, since it has to do with the election of God. For those who think that what is being spoken of in the former verses, is that of service. God says, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." Obviously looking throughout the history of Israel we see that Jacob's people (Israelites) were blessed with all the blessing of God, and that Esau's people (Edomites) were cast out from this grace of God. What Paul is getting at by mentioning this, is that what God had for Jacob, He did not have for Esau.

Many have taken the word "hated," and said that a more literal translation is "loved less." But keeping it in the context of the passage it is taken from (Malachi 1:2-5), "hated" is a pretty good translation of it, since if you read that passage you can discern for yourself what God meant when He said that about Esau's people.

The Israelites ask God in that Malachi passage, "In what way have You loved us?" and God says to them, "Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?" This is the love of God, that while none of us deserved his mercy, He bestowed it upon "many" by His good pleasure, and for His glory. Wasn't Esau Jacob's brother? Are we not all as depraved as anyone else? Couldn't God have chosen someone else instead of us to make a "child of promise?" But He didn't, He chose you. And yet many will complain that this makes God's love nothing.

Citation:
*Piper Sermons on Romans
*Calvin Commentaries on Romans

Romans IX (God Chooses The Children of Promise)

Verses 10-13:
(Bible)

After the distinguishing made in the previous post and in the last three verses, Paul now takes these principles and supports them with examples. He uses two Old Testament examples, which the Israelites obvious knew, since it was dealing with the Patriarchs of their nation. The two examples are that of Isaac (v.7), which I briefly mentioned in the last post, but will do again. And then the example of Jacob (v.10,12,13).

Example 1: Isaac and Ishmael

God made a promise to Abraham that through his seed all the nations shall be blessed (Genesis 12:3), he told Abraham his descendants would be as numerous as the sand and the stars (Genesis 22:17). That it would be through the son that God would give to him (Isaac, Genesis 15:5) that this would happen and that it would be Sarah, his wife, who was barren, that would conceive (Genesis 18:10). Because of Abraham's weak faith at the time, he did not fully trust in God's promise, for it seemed to him impossible that Sarah could conceive a child. So, instead, Abraham use Hagar, a maid of Sarah, as a concubine to produce a child named Ishmael.

Abraham wanted Ishmael to be the heir God had promised. "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!"(Genesis 17:18), But God told Abraham, "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year." Ishmael would indeed be blessed, since his descendants would be what would become the Muslims. But as God said His covenant was not with him, and so he was not the child of promise. Though born of Abraham, he was cut off from the promises and the covenants of the Lord.

"But," someone might object, "Of course God didn't choose [Ishmael] as a child of promise. He didn't have a Jewish mother. Hagar was a Gentile"(Piper).

So Paul clarifies his point further...

Example 2: Jacob and Esau

"And not only this..." As if to say, "this is not the point I am trying to get across." Now we see further, that God's choice is based on His good pleasure and nothing in a man. Along with the proof of God's word standing strong, we now get into the doctrines of predestination, election, and the grace of God (Note to Reader: I realize this might start to get a bit confusing, I'll try to make it clear).

Paul really narrows the objections down here, for one, we are talking about children born of the same womb, by the same man (Isaac). Further, they are twins, there is minimal distinctions between these two brothers. And yet one was chosen over the other, why? Paul is, "systematically doing away with the human distinctions that might constrain God's election of one over the other. He is saying that election is based on God, not man"(Piper).

Verse 11 starts to talk of the unconditionality of God's election. "For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil..." Skip to verse 12, "The older shall serve the younger."

"The quote from Genesis 25:23 simply makes clear that God decides the destiny of these two sons and the nations they represent before they are born. And to make it even clearer for us, Paul does not just say, they were not yet born when God decided their destinies, he also say, 'they had done nothing good or bad.' And to remove the possible objection that he chose the older because the old deserves it, he chose the younger...This is why we speak of the doctrine of unconditional election. God chose Jacob over Esau before they were born or had done anything good or bad. It was not their behavior or their attitude or their faith or their parents that moved God to choose Jacob and not Esau. The choice was unconditional. It was rooted in God alone and not in man"(Piper).

Conclusion

Paul makes it much too clear for us here. The objection from the Jews was that Paul was saying that God's word had failed them. While it may seem this way at first, Paul completely unravels that argument and states that, "not all Israel" is "Israel." Then proving that with Biblical evidence for this, that in Isaac and in Jacob.

I am going to stop here, because if I try to write everything I want on these verses this is going to be extremely long. In my next post I will go back to verse 11, "for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls." And attempt to explain this verse, in light of the doctrine of election. Then I will look at verse 13, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." And break that down.

Romans IX (God's Word Stands)

Verses 6-9
(Bible)

The common response from the people Paul was speaking to would be something along the lines of: "If the Israelites had all this, and were God's chosen people, and there are now unbelieving Jews accursed and cut off, then hasn't God's word failed?"

This creates a bit of a crisis not only for the Israelites but for us as well. Our eternal salvation rests wholly on God's faithfulness, if God's word can fail the Israelites then it can fail us as well. The security we have is nothing if this is true. And this is what the Jews saw in the words of Paul, that at one point the Israelites were the chosen (as they thought for salvation), and now they are eternally damned. Paul will spend the rest of this chapter as well as chapters 10 and 11 disproving this argument and proving that "it is not that the word of God has taken no effect" (some translations render "has taken no effect" as "failed" the Greek literally means to have "fallen"). This is the assertion, now he will prove it by stating three things in this paragraph, (as well as giving two OT examples, which I will discuss in my next post), (1) There is a difference between ethnic Israel and the true Israel v.6b, (2) two types of "children" of Abraham v.7, (3) there is a difference between children of flesh and children of promise v.8.

I. Ethnic vs. True Israel

"For they are not all Israel who are of Israel." As with the Church we distinguish between the true Church, or the mystical unseen Church of the true believers, and the visible Church (ref. Parable of the wheat and tares starting in Matt. 13:24). The same is true for Israel, there is the visible Israel or the ethnic which are the seed of Abraham, but as Henry puts it "Grace does not run in the blood; nor are saving benefits inseparably annexed to external church privelages..."(Henry). So then it is the "True" Israel that is saved it is the "remnant" as the Bible puts it that is saved and always has been, God's word has never failed the true Church.

II. All Descendants of Abraham vs. the "Children" of Abraham

"Nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham," as John Piper notes, "[Paul] distinguishes here between two kind of 'children'...there are all of Abraham's descendants, and there is a narrower group in that number whom he calls here 'the children,' or we could say, 'the true children' since the others are physical children also. The assumption is that the promises of God hold true for the true children of Abraham but not for all the descendants of Abraham"(Piper). So we now have the true Israel and the true Children.

III. Children of Flesh vs. Children of Promise

"Those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed." There is here the difference between the "children of flesh" and the "children of God" or the "children of promise." To those children of the promise the word of God has never failed or fallen. The reason that so many Israelites are being cut off and accursed is because all that they are is "children of the flesh." Being "the 'children of God,' in this case is not an ethnic or physical or historical term, it has its full saving meaning just like it does in Romans 8:16 or Philippians 2:15. And when he then says that these 'children of God' are 'children of promise,' he means that they ahve their spiritual position not because of their physical connections, but because of God's effective promise. The promise produced the position"(Piper).

IV. Taking a Step Back

While I plan on going into more detail on the OT examples of Isaac and Jacob, I think I should address the Old Testament references within this paragraph (though I think it will become more clear in the next post).

After mentioning the difference between all of Abraham's descendants and the true "children" of Abraham, Paul references Genesis 21:12: "In Isaac your seed shall be called." Paul is here showing the Jews that there is a difference and you can clearly see it (he will go more into it in verses 10-13). Thinking of the context of this passage you understand why this is. If you'll remember Abraham already had a son named Ishmael born of Hagar. "Ishmael was a child of the flesh, conceived by Hagar, who was young and fresh, and likely enough to have children. There was nothing extraordinary or supernatural in his conception, as there was in Isaac's; he was born after the flesh (Gal. 4:29), representing those that expect justification and salvation by their own strength and righteousness"(Henry). God promised that the seed of promise would pass through the son that He was going to give to Abraham, God did not need Abraham's assistance and Abraham seemed to think He did. "For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son." Keeping this in mind, understand that God does not need help in salvation, man's works and apparent assitance does nothing, God works His spirit in those whom He chooses. As will be further explained next time.

Citation:
*NKJV Bible
*ESV Bible
*Matthew Henry Commentary (Romans)
*John Piper (Sermons on Romans)

Romans IX (The Israelites Had It All)

Verses 4-5

Now that we see Paul's heart for "countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites"(v.3b, 4a), he now expounds on why it is that this is so great a tragedy. For the Israelites had everything, and for them to reject Christ Jesus, who was their promised Messiah, is the greatest heartache in the mind of Paul. For they were given the, "the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came."(v.4,5). I'll take these one at a time...

I. They Were Israelites

God's chosen people, given everything from God (which is all the things following this). Important though is this, that we should "imitate Paul, who conceded to the Jews their privileges in such a manner...he afterwards declared that they were all of no worth without Christ"(Calvin).

II. The Adoption

"Israel is My son, My firstborn"(Exodus 4:22), "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son"(Hosea 11:1). "Israel was seperated out to be His unique and righteous witness to the rest of the world"(MacArthur), "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."(Exodus 19:6). "It is clear from the context of those verses, as well as from countless other parts of Scripture, that the nation of Israel was, in some respect, God's child"(MacArthur). Not to be confused with the spiritual adoption spoken of in more detail in the New Testament, because "they are not all Israel who are of Israel"(v.6). So then not all of Israel was saved because they were part of the nation, but they did benefit from being the chosen nation of God.

III. The Glory

By all the commentators I am using this is attributed to the ark, I think Calvin has the best to say about this:

"Glory means the excellency into which the Lord had raised up [Israel] above all other nations, and that...[God] dwelt in the midst of them; for besides many other tokens of his presence, he exhibited a singular proof of it in the ark, where He gave responses, and also heard His people, that he might show forth his power in helping them...for this reason it was called 'the glory of God'(1 Samuel 4:22)"(Calvin).

IV. The Covenants and The Promises

Many covenants and promises were given to the nation of Israel. Observing the distinction between a covenant and promise, Calvin writes:

"A covenant is that which is expressed in distinct and accustomed words, and contains a mutual stipulation, as that made with Abraham; but promises are what we meet with everywhere in Scripture; for when God had once made a covenant with his ancient people, he continued to offer, often by new promises his favour to them. It hence follows, that promises are to be traced up to the covenant as to their true source"(Calvin).

V. The Giving of the Law

The Isrealites had the greatest privelage of receiving the law (ceremonial and judicial) and commandments of God. "It is a great privelage to have the law of God among us"(Henry), this is true from the way the Psalms speak of the law and the privilege that Christians have of being able to serve the Lord in obedience based on the law He his given.

VI. The Service of God

Rendered also as the "worship" of God, meaning the same.

"They had the ordinances of God's worship among them...the temple, the altars, the priests, the sacrifices, the feasts, and the institutions relating to them. While other nations were nations were worshipping and serving stocks, and stone, and devils, and the knew not what other idols of their own invention, the Israelites were serving the true God in the way of his own appointment"(Henry).

VII. The Fathers

It was through these men, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that the foundations of the blessings that would come to the descendents would be laid.

VIII. Jesus Christ

The most important of all the blessing. "According to the flesh" meaning they were directly related to Him, in that He came through the line of the Patriarchs and was a Hebrew. He was the greatest "promise" given to the Israelites. All these things such as adoption and the fathers and the law and so on, were great, but apart from Jesus Christ it is meaningless. This is why Paul was so distressed, the Jews had all this, but they lacked the biggest part of it all, their Redeemer.

"Who is over all, the eternally blessed God"(v.5), something very interesting about the way this is worded, that I believe to be very important here. If looking at the NASB rendering of this passage you get, "who is over all, God blessed forever" which I like better in this case because it helps to make my point, but the NKJV has the same meaning. Anyways in all of the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts all the doxologies are normally rendered "blessed God," in this case it is "God blessed." The reason for saying this is that if you read the passage over again, you will see he is basically saying, "Jesus Christ is God blessed forever" focusing on "Jesus is God." Some translators attempting to deny Christ's divinity have attempted to change this passage around, but all manuscripts show it as "God blessed forever. Amen."

Citation:
*NASB Bible
*NKJV Bible
*Matthew Henry Commentary (Romans 9)
*Calvin Commentaries (Romans 1-16)
*MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Romans 9-16)

Romans IX (The Sincerity of Paul)

Verses 1-3

Its important to remember in these first 5 verses of Romans 9, Paul understood very well that he could have been sitting there amongst the Pharisees having someone else preaching this message to him, and him scoffing that person, if not for the mercy of God.

Paul shows great sorrow that this is happening to the nation of Israel, they are his kinsmen, as Paul is a Hebrew of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5), it pains him much that these Jews are not accepting their promised Messiah. "The Jews, for whom [Jesus] was appointed according to the covenant of the law, not only rejected Him, but regarded Him with contempt, and for the most part hated Him"(Calvin).

"I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart"(v.1,2).

There are three things worth noting here in these first few verses, his forgiveness, his sincerity (v.1-2), his selfless-love for those who were unbelieving (v.3).

I. His Forgiveness

Paul was most likely one of the most hated of all the Apostle's by the Pharisees, as evidenced in the book of Acts. He absolutely crushed the legalism and self-righteousness of the Pharisees, and for this he was despised by them. If given oppurtunity they would have killed him as they did Jesus.

Yet, we see in these passages and the ones following that Paul treats them with respect and with a forgiving spirit. Though most of the Jews hearing the words spoken here would just assume that Paul was attempting to flatter them with kind words.

II. His Sincerity

To Prove that he is not attempting to flatter the Jews with kind words he calls upon the Triune God to witness to his sincerity of heart. "I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit" as Matthew Henry renders this as saying, "I speak it as a Christian, one of God's people, children that will not lie, as one that knows not how to give flattering titles." OR, "I appeal to Christ, who searches the heart, concerning it." He as well, appeals to his conscience, which bears witness, "it was concerning a sorrow in his heart to which none was a capable copetent witness but God and his own conscience.-- That 'I have great sorrow'"(Henry).

III. His Love

"For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh..."(v.3).

The Apostle says "I could" not "I do." The difference being, as if he were saying, "I could wish were it right and lawful"(Calvin). Paul understand as better than anyone that (1) you cannot be seperated from Christ, (2) he knew that his death could accomplish nothing of this sort. He "could" if it were right and possible, wish that he was accursed ("anathema" = codemned to hell) for their sake.

His selfless-love for his lost kinsmen is very clear here.

"Love is apt to be thus bold, and venturous, and self-denying. Because the glory of God's grace in the salvation of many is to be preferred before the welfare and happiness of [the self]...Paul, would be content to forego all his own happiness to purchase theirs. He would be content to be cut off from the land of the living, in the most shameful manner as anathema...they persecuted him as the most obnoxious person in the world, the curse and plague of his generation (1 Cor 4:12)..."Now...I am willing to bear all this, and a great deal more, for your good"...He would be content to be excommunicated from the society of the faithful...from the church...and from communion with saints, as a heathen and publican, if that would do them any good...He could wish himself no more remembered among the saints, his name blotted out of church-records...cut off...and have his name buried in oblivion or reproach, for the good of the Jews."

This has been seen throughout the history of the Church. The example of Moses is the same kind of sacrifice willing to be made. After the Israelites had made a golden calf, Moses went to God to try and make an atonement, and ask for God's forgiveness on their behalf and says this:
"Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written"(Exodus 32:31,32).

This kind of thought is not too common around too many "Christians" in this country. The health and wealth gospel wouldn't touch this kind of matter, and the feel good, just have "fun" churches/youth groups, wouldn't give self-denial and selfless-love a second thought.

Is your love willing to be so self-denying? Examine yourself on that matter, I know I will. Just a though take it or leave it.

Romans IX (Introduction)

Why write about this chapter?

This is one chapter of the Bible that has been greatly misunderstood. Reading through it a first time, it can actually be rather shocking.

By some this chapter and the ones following (ch. 10, 11), have often been looked at as a "parenthesis that has little, if any, connection to the rest of the letter...according to those interpreters, the central message of justification by faith is interrupted at the beginning of chapter 9 and resumes at the beginning of chapter 12" (MacArthur). Basically, looking at it as though the book flows from chapter 8:39 to chapter 12:1. Which, grant it, the book could still flow well without these chapter (along with many other books, but leaving out those chapters leaves out a slew of important doctrine).

Some of these important doctrines found in this chapter are those of God's grace, predestination, election. So then the misunderstanding of this chapter could be attributed to those doctrines being misunderstood.

That is why I am going to write about this chapter. Using the commentaries of John MacArthur, Matthew Henry, John Calvin and perhaps occasionally Charles Hodge and sermons by John Piper. I hope to clear up a few things since I have been challenged at times to explain this chapter.


Why is this chapter written?

Looking back into the preceding chapters, Paul has basically shattered all beliefs of the Pharisees who would hear him. The idea of justification by faith alone apart from works of the law, was something blasphemous and heretical to those Jews. Paul is now looked upon as though he were belittling Abraham, Moses the other prophets and God.

What is assumed by the Pharisees is that if salvation now comes to the Gentiles and not just the Jews as they thought, and that it is received by faith alone, then God's promises have failed. "If this be so, then what becomes of the Jews, of them all as a complex body, expecially those of them that do not embrace Christ, nor believe the gospel?...What becomes of the promise made to the fathers, which entailed salvation upon the Jews? Is not the promise nullified and made of none effect?"(Henry)

So then Paul, after teaching these doctrinal truths that salvation is by faith, he now turns his attention to the Jews, and to those who would challenge this with those responses. He goes on to prove that this salvation by faith, this elect chosing by God for salvation, has always been the case. It is not something new that came with Christ, but that salvation is "by grace...through faith...it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). And it always has been. Moreover, Paul proves that God has not failed in His promises, which we will see, as well, in this chapter.


My Hope

For those who do read this, I do hope you give some input and that we could encourage one another in the study of this chapter.

I hope to treat this chapter with as much fairness and study and prayer as possible, I pray you will as well.

May God grant us all discernment as we look into the great truth of his holy Word.

Citation:
*MacArthur, John (NT Commentary, Romans 9-16)
*Henry, Matthew (Commentary of the whole Bible, Romans)