Daily Bread 2010 - Romans 9
Daily Bread 2010 - Romans 9
God's Sovereign Choice
1I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— 2I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
6It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 8In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. 9For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."
In chapter 9, Paul deals with the idea of predestination. How are some people predestined to be saved and come to faith, and some aren’t? Paul also deals with the fact that although the Jewish people were recipients of the first promises of God and they were race through whom Jesus, the Messiah, came some still would not come to faith in this same Messiah. And through that process God also chose people outside of the Jewish race (Gentiles) to come to faith.
There are all kinds of arguments that can be made re: predestination, meaning one is predestined to become a Christian, or not. When these arguments are combined with the fact that we are given free will, as Paul told us in chapter 1, we can get into all kinds of mental games on the idea of free will vs. predestination. For some it can be problematic that some would be predestined to go to hell. What kind of God is that?
Others would argue if it is truly free will then people have truly made a choice to reject God, instead of accept His promises. How does Paul answer these questions? First, Paul recounts the Old Testament where some were chosen to carry out His purposes and some were not. Ie. Jacob, not Esau In the end Paul concludes it is all about God’s mercy. In the end, Paul argues that if God created us isn’t it his prerogative to choose some and not choose others. He reasons, “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump clay some for noble purposes and some from common use?”
Given all of this, how then shall we live? For me, first of all, I thank God that He has had mercy on me a sinner. I didn’t deserve His grace, but He has given it to me. Second, I don’t know who is chosen and who isn’t, so I will spend my life sharing the grace and mercy with all those who haven’t received it yet, in hopes that they too will accept God’s mercy. Beyond that I will trust the rest to God knowing as it says in 1 Timothy 2:4, “God wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, in your divine wisdom you have a plan for the salvation of the world. Thank you for creating us and revealing to us your grace and mercy through Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank you for your mercy to accept us sinners even though we deserve the consequences of our sin. Help us to live out our lives in gratitude to your grace and also sharing this grace with as many who would come to you by faith in Your promises. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
God's Sovereign Choice
1I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— 2I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
6It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 8In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. 9For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."
In chapter 9, Paul deals with the idea of predestination. How are some people predestined to be saved and come to faith, and some aren’t? Paul also deals with the fact that although the Jewish people were recipients of the first promises of God and they were race through whom Jesus, the Messiah, came some still would not come to faith in this same Messiah. And through that process God also chose people outside of the Jewish race (Gentiles) to come to faith.
There are all kinds of arguments that can be made re: predestination, meaning one is predestined to become a Christian, or not. When these arguments are combined with the fact that we are given free will, as Paul told us in chapter 1, we can get into all kinds of mental games on the idea of free will vs. predestination. For some it can be problematic that some would be predestined to go to hell. What kind of God is that?
Others would argue if it is truly free will then people have truly made a choice to reject God, instead of accept His promises. How does Paul answer these questions? First, Paul recounts the Old Testament where some were chosen to carry out His purposes and some were not. Ie. Jacob, not Esau In the end Paul concludes it is all about God’s mercy. In the end, Paul argues that if God created us isn’t it his prerogative to choose some and not choose others. He reasons, “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump clay some for noble purposes and some from common use?”
Given all of this, how then shall we live? For me, first of all, I thank God that He has had mercy on me a sinner. I didn’t deserve His grace, but He has given it to me. Second, I don’t know who is chosen and who isn’t, so I will spend my life sharing the grace and mercy with all those who haven’t received it yet, in hopes that they too will accept God’s mercy. Beyond that I will trust the rest to God knowing as it says in 1 Timothy 2:4, “God wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, in your divine wisdom you have a plan for the salvation of the world. Thank you for creating us and revealing to us your grace and mercy through Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank you for your mercy to accept us sinners even though we deserve the consequences of our sin. Help us to live out our lives in gratitude to your grace and also sharing this grace with as many who would come to you by faith in Your promises. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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