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Rom 9,1-26

(219a) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> Man is a spectator of his own salvation >> God elects us through His sovereign will – The content of chapters nine, ten and eleven revolve around the nation of Israel predestined through the foreknowledge of God to crucify their own messiah at the beginning of the age of grace, and then come to faith in Christ at the end of the age for the purpose of leading a Great Endtime Revival. Act 2-23 says, "This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death." Peter's statement depicts both the will of man and the will of God in the death of Christ. In chapter nine we see Paul using pharaoh to show that God has predestined Israel to reject Christ, yet we don’t see anyone forcing their hand to nail Him to a cross. In many respects, predestination is a subject about time, more than about God imposing His will over man. Predestination is an active choice that God makes with mankind, choosing one person over another, but this is merely a perspective. There are other instances in Scripture that speak of predestination in terms of foreknowledge; He simply knew what would happen, which is vastly different from what Paul is saying, yet both depict realities that are anchored in Scripture. We must keep in mind the context of Paul’s argument, specifically that God overrides the will of man. Pharaoh virtually had no choice but to harden his heart, yet God still found fault with him, believing in his heart that his works were completely his own, not suspecting that God was using him as a puppet. What pharaoh did was predestined to occur, but at the same time there was an ownership of behavior regarding pharaoh that we cannot ignore, complete ownership of all his anger against God. So we really do have two things happening at the same time: God’s pre-destiny and man’s expression of it; the two of them cannot be separated, yet neither can we see them as a single entity. See also: Predestination; Rom 9,3-6; 37e

Rom 9,1-3

(63h) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Sarcasm >> Ignoring the truth to convey the truth

(123c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Compassion >> Compassion is the emotion of the Spirit – The people Paul was describing endlessly tortured him, beat him and whipped him and had him thrown in prison for years, wanting him dead. He was speaking about the Jews, that if he could he would give them his place in heaven! Paul understood the Jews because he was a Jew who persecuted the Church. He would be standing right alongside them still squelching the gospel, had Jesus not reached out and saved him. He empathized with their unbelief and related to their bondage. Whether or not we understand our enemies we are supposed to love them, no matter what they do to us. Our enemies could be incomprehensible, yet God has called us to continue to act and behave in ways that would benefit them. There is one aspect of our enemies which we can always relate; we were once unsaved ourselves (Tit 3,1-7), in bondage to unbelief and to the darkness of evil that dictated how we lived, but God has called us out of darkness and has raised us with Him to a higher plateau, so that now we can make right choices that benefit even our enemies, this being the agreement of the new covenant: God treats us the way we ought to treat our enemies.

(173h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Unholy sacrifice (Penance) >> Offering sacrifice without God’s approval >> Sacrifice against the ways of God – Paul wasn’t devaluing his faith as though sacrificing it for something useless, such as in the story of Jacob and Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. Esau essentially sold his conscience, and God interpreted his actions as thinking so little of his inheritance in a moment of weakness as to equate it to a bowl of soup. God’s judgment on Esau was that He made it a literal transaction, and God gave Jacob the blessing that was intended for Esau, the firstborn. If Esau wanted to sell his birthright, God would accommodate him, and the transaction occurred in the spiritual realm, but the transaction Paul wanted to make for his fellow countrymen was not possible, because this is not how the gospel is transmitted. See also: Patriarchs (Jacob and Esau); Rom 9-6; 210ib / 1Tim 4-1,2; 155e

(188k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Sorrow >> Grieving over your own loss >> Grieving over the loss of others

Rom 9-1,2

(81j) Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >> For the Church

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Rom 9-1

(78b) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity of heart >> Being honest >> Telling the truth – Verse one is quite a preamble to this chapter. Paul wanted us to know for sure that He was being sincere, swearing by his conscience that he was telling the truth, that he was willing to sacrifice his soul and the hope of eternal life if it guaranteed salvation for his countrymen. However, God is unwilling to sacrifice one soul for many, except in the case of His Son, and Paul is not the savior of the Jews. Although Jesus is the savior of the Jews, they still cannot be saved unless they believe in Him, because God is unwilling to violate the will of man for any reason. To believe in Jesus is to trust Him and love Him, for how could God save a people who hated Him? Moreover, if everything changed when we passed from this life to the next, then what would be the point of this life?

(108f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Balance >> Conscience is the balance between God and man – “Conscience bearing witness in the Holy Spirit” is a useful definition of faith; it is how we relate to God. Paul disassembled faith into its component parts; the Holy Spirit alone does not represent our faith; He is God’s faith. Likewise, conscience alone does not represent our faith unless we use it to believe in Christ. So, when we attach our conscience to the Holy Spirit, we are able to believe in God through His faith. This faith comes from God through the Holy Spirit made manifest in our conscience, suggesting that having a clear conscience is essential for genuine faith. When God sends His Holy Spirit into our hearts and our conscience is grafted to His, we become conscious of God.

(154j) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Witness of the believer >> Conscience >> Having a good conscience >> God is my conscience – Paul had to start this chapter saying, I’m telling the truth; I’m not lying.’ This was the one and only time He said this. Jesus, who commanded us to love our enemies often said something similar, “Truly, truly I say to you….” Since neither Jesus nor Paul was a liar, it seemed unnecessary for them to use this type of expression, except that they were trying to build confidence in us that they weren’t lying, because apparently what they were about to say would be hard to believe.

Rom 9,3-6

(37e) Judgment >> Judgment of God >> Jesus’ humanity >> He was part of the lineage of David – Paul dabbles in the genealogy of Israel, bringing to mind the patriarchs whom God used to establish faith in God, and then he took it to another level with a dissertation about predestination, implying that all these things were planned from the very beginning and suggests that this was the reason Paul cannot save his kinsmen by trading places with them. Paul was selected from the foundation of the world to become an heir of the faith, and this blessing is nontransferable. See also: Predestination; Rom 9-6; 210ib

Rom 9-3

(26e) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is separation from Christ

Rom 9-4,5

(210h) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation is from the Jews >> The Jew first >> Jews lead the world to faith in Jesus – The mere mention of the Law and of temple worship represents the first five books of the Old Testament. The prophets spoke of God’s love for Israel, that if they repented their sins and returned to Him, He would preemptively forgive them, looking forward to the cross that would come later. When we look in the Old Testament for the promise of sending Jesus Christ for the propitiation of man’s sin, it is everywhere. For instance, the temple services were an illustration of His blood sacrifice. It is no wonder people believe in the Bible; it is self-evident. Paul is saying that every aspect of God’s purpose was executed through the nation of Israel. We cannot overemphasize the importance of this nation or fully appreciate what they have suffered for us all. Had God chosen any other nation to be his people according to the flesh, they would have followed the same path as Israel. Satan worked tirelessly against them for thousands of years, leading them into rebellion against God in effort to frustrate His plan, but through all His efforts the only thing he could accomplish was to fulfill God’s plan. Screwed-up Israel sacrificed their Messiah as the work of Satan, and God used that to judge him and to set man free from the penalty of sin.

Rom 9-4

(36m) Gift of God >> Adopted >> We are adopted in the flesh – This short list that Paul provided stands for everything God has done with Israel over the millennia, yet it says that they too must be adopted as sons and daughters into the family of God, though they are God’s chosen people from the original vine into which all other nations must be grafted. This adoption means something different from grafting (which Paul will discuss in chapter 11). “Adoption” means children who were once not His children have now become His children. So whose children were they before they were adopted? Mankind as a whole, both Jew and gentile, every person born into this world from the beginning of time belongs to Satan; we were the children of the devil, so anybody who believes in Jesus is born-again, adopted from the family of Satan and into the family of God. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are of your father the devil” (Jn 8-44); this makes it sound like those guy were really bad, but everybody is a child of the devil until they are saved—adopted is what “saved” means.

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Rom 9,6-10

(151ba) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears witness of the Old >> The Patriarchs >> Abraham >> Faith of Abraham

Rom 9-6

(210ib) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation is from the Jews >> Jews are believers >> Jew and Gentile believers are one flock with one shepherd – Paul chose a very interesting pair of brothers to illustrate his point about predestination. On the one hand we have God’s choice of Jacob selected while still in his mother’s womb, while on the other hand we have Jacob manipulating the circumstances in order to fit into God’s choice. Although he was born chosen for the blessing, he still had to steal it from his brother Esau. That is, he had to do his part to complete God’s choice of him, for had he not stolen the blessing, he would not have been heir to the faith. He was unaware that he would become part of the lineage of Christ, who would come to redeem Israel and the world from sin; he only knew he wanted the blessing because it was of God, and this is why God loved him over Esau. He was a man who sought after God’s heart, which was also said about David, but Esau did not. See also: Predestination; Rom 9,8-13; 36l / Jacob and Esau; Rom 9,10-13; 211c

Rom 9-7,8

(33c) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Believers are children of promise – Paul announced that faith is the only determining factor of those who belong to God, whether Jew or gentile. This has always been true, though God raised up Israel to become God’s hammer to smash the nations and destroy those who were corrupting the earth. That is not to say that Israel was the only people whom God considered His children, for there were many people from other nations that feared God, and God respected and cherished their faith. The Old Testament teaches that gentiles of other nations were welcome to the citizenship of Israel to obtain all the rights of the children of Abraham, except the right to temple worship; they were not allowed in the temple. Other than that, they were welcome to all the festivals and celebrations, and they were welcome to the promises of obedience and warnings of disobedience, since they applied to the whole of mankind and not just to Israel. There were also people from other nations that remained in their respective countries who loved and feared God and He received them. So it was not just Israel who were considered the children of God even in the Old Testament, but those who believed in the promises of God and lived by His laws.

Rom 9,8-13

(36l) Gift of God >> Adopted >> We are adopted by the Spirit – One of the best ways to view predestination is to portray it in terms of conception. When a man fertilizes a woman’s egg during sexual intercourse, the male and female chromosomes combine with each other in a completely random fashion to produce a fetus. We see randomness at work in the next child from the same parents being a totally different person. In direct contrast, Ps 139,13-16 says, “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” It would seem that we would have to pick one of these two scenarios, since they appear mutually exclusive, yet equally they both make tenable points. We are in the fortunate circumstance of being born many thousands of years after David the psalmist wrote the above passage, so now we know much of the process through scientific advancements how conception actually works, and that model does not make room for God sticking His fingers in the process of making our unformed substance, yet the Bible very explicitly says He does. Therefore, the best way to view this dilemma of randomness versus God’s input is through His foreknowledge. That is, the psalmist was anthropomorphizing the process of conception as though God were personalizing each of us. However, we should keep separate "foreknowledge" and predestination in that they are different: one shows God merely acknowledging the circumstances, while the other shows God causing those circumstances. In this way we see the Bible treating the fact that God knows everything in advance as personally getting involved and being the change agent in everything that happens. Although randomness and foreknowledge are very real concepts, God does personally get involved on occasion. Case in point, Heb 10-5 says, “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, ‘sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for Me.’” This is an example of actual predestination, which is defined as an event in which God exercises His will to accomplish something. According to the above verse, God reserved a body for Christ that He would use to die for the sins of the world. The fact that this was God’s seed that He planted in Mary makes the resulting child very special, and in that sense we recognize God’s personal input directing the conception of His Son. Jesus' body was more than a forethought in God’s mind, but a specifically created representation of Himself to all humanity. For God to personally create us, whether by mere foreknowledge or personalizing us is to concede that God intentionally makes fetuses that have physical and mental abnormalities and mutations, meaning that these people and adults are just as important to society as the rest of us. Then there is the question of the world before Noah's flood, why God specifically created so many people who were destined to rebel against Him. See also: Predestination; Rom 9,10-13; 30c

Rom 9,10-13

(30c) Gift of God >> God knows our needs >> He is the source of our obedience – We see Jacob running after the blessing, but we also hear Paul saying that it doesn’t depend on the man who runs, but on God who calls. Therefore, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that God foreknew what he would do; that is, He knew the choices we make before we make them, even before He made the world (1Pet 1-2). When we look in the Scriptures, primarily in the Old Testament, we see God working with mankind on a limited basis, such as coming down and seeing for certain if the report he had heard about Sodom and Gomorrah was actually true (Gen 18-20,21), sending two angels to investigate the case. This is an indication that God deals with mankind on a highly limited basis. God can step back at any time from this human saga and look at the big picture in terms of foreknowledge and predestination, but that is not usually how He deals with mankind. We know that God knows everything from the beginning; knowing this helps us understand His infinite and eternal nature, but it does little to understand why He limited himself and became one of us when He sent His Son in human flesh. See also: Predestination; 211c

(211c) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Gentiles included >> Gentiles steal the kingdom from Israel through obedience – This is an analogy where Jacob represents the Church and Esau represents Israel. In the Old Testament we see Jacob stealing the blessing from Esau through deception, but in the New Testament we see the gentiles stealing the blessing from Israel through obedience. Isaac loved Esau and wanted to give him the blessing, but Rebekah love Jacob. The time had come when Isaac was old and was about to die that he wanted to transfer the blessing to his firstborn, Esau. Isaac told Esau to prepare his favorite meal, and while Esau was away, Jacob’s mother prepared a dinner for Jacob to give to his father, telling him to impersonate his brother. His father was blind from age, so Jacob disguised his voice to sound like Esau and placed an animal coat on his forearm to imitate the hairiness of his brother. Isaac did not detect the deception, and after finishing his meal he blessed Jacob thinking it was Esau, so from then on the lineage of Christ would pass through Jacob, who became heir to the faith through deception. This is why we hear about "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." On the one hand, we have God’s choice of Jacob, but on the other we have Jacob manipulating the circumstances to fit into God’s choice. We see Jacob as a deceiver and manipulator, who stole both Esau’s birthright and Isaac's blessing, yet Paul's discussion is not about destiny but pre-destiny, not about man’s choice but God’s choice, and so the Church managing the gospel throughout the age of grace was God's choice. See also: Jacob and Esau; Rom 9-12,13; 151c / Predestination; Rom 9,11-26; 220b

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Rom 9,11-26

(220b) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined according to the sovereignty of God -- Predestination is summarized in this statement: God chooses us as we choose ourselves. Some people have a problem with the doctrine of predestination (and rightfully so, because it is a difficult subject). Although God knows the end from the beginning and at times predestines us to make our decisions, we no less have a free will. The ones who have the greatest problem with this view predestination as nullifying our will, which neither the Bible nor common sense supports. God does not make us do anything; He simply knows what we will do before we do it; that does not detract from our will one iota. Someone might say, 'If God knew certain people would not accept Him and they were ultimately predestined for hell, then why did God make them?' From that they actually accuse God of sin! God may well send them to hell, but they practiced unbelief in the character of God and committed the sins against Him and their fellow man that sent them there through no one else's fault but their own. Besides, who are we to tell God who and what He can and cannot make? Perhaps God has a purpose in eternity for hell, such as using it as a reminder for the elect as an example of the depth of evil that rebellion causes and the depth of grace that God has showered on us. If there were only two things we didn't understand about God, they would be infinity and eternity because of our vast limitations. We had a beginning and have an end in this life. It is these two things that greatly limit our view of God and His overwhelming wisdom; therefore, we should not jump to conclusions about God until we actually meet Him face to face. After they meet Him and still think He is evil and unworthy of their faith and service, then at least they will feel justified in eternity, while the rest of us understand His heart and enjoy His company and His creation forever. Thank you Jesus for the eternal lessons in the perils of sin. See also: Predestination; Rom 9,11-23; 19e

Rom 9,11-23

(19e) Sin >> Mocking God Without a cause >> Uncontrollable circumstances – Egypt placed Israel in bondage to slavery because they were afraid of the Israelites. God was blessing them and they were increasing in number faster than the Egyptians, so they oppressed them as a preemptive measure to make them fear the Egyptians. God wanted the Egyptians to be deserving of their punishment for enslaving His chosen people, and the way He did that was to harden pharaoh’s heart so he would sin more and deserve all the punishment that He intended for him, until His fierce wrath was completely spent. The Bible says that God hardened his heart, still it was the actions of pharaoh that were the physical expression of that hardening. That is, it’s one thing for God to harden pharaoh’s heart, but it's another for pharaoh to respond with contempt to the miracles of Moses. Pharaoh did all these things that were written in Scripture, but had he been kind to Israel, he would have denied God's predestined judgment, yet Paul was making the point that we cannot override His sovereignty. Think of it this way, predestination is the flipside of God’s refusal to tamper with man's will. One the one hand, endtime prophecy is predestined to occur as it was written; and on the other, all the actions of pharaoh were the result of his own pride and massive ego that beckoned the judgment of God. So it was pharaoh’s fault that God's anger burn against him. God did not make pharaoh do anything, but he sinned on his own volition. In other words, the hardening of pharaoh’s heart was not an act of God only, but also the result of pharaoh's actions. God waited almost four hundred years for pharaoh to be born and then judged him for the entire duration of Israel’s slavery. The same will happen in the last days; God will unleash His fury on a single generation for the sins committed throughout the entire age of grace. See also: Predestination; 94g

(94g) Thy kingdom come >> God’s perspective >> His perspective on the sovereignty of God – 2Pet 3-9 says, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” How does this verse uphold the popular tenets of predestination? God knows the end from the beginning, but chooses not to work with us this way. Paul’s main point is that both human and divine perspectives are happening at the same time. See also: Predestination; 213i

(108e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Balance >> God's sovereignty balances good from evil – When Paul claimed that we will appreciate heaven more because of hell, he really opened a can of worms! Sin exists apart from God, meaning He did not create it, meaning there is something in His creation He did not create, suggesting that all forms of sin represent a desire to be God, proving that the mystery of lawless is very much at work. God's ultimate goal for us is absolute freedom; therefore, He will let us experiment with sin, like picking up a lit stick of dynamite and then setting it down before it explodes. God could have made creatures that were incapable of sin, but then they would not have been able to comprehend His righteousness, which is one of His most prized attributes. We were made to have a relationship with Him, and this ironically is why mankind is capable of sin, for how could we know righteousness without knowing unrighteousness? Sin is defined as trading our relationship with God for something else, thus limiting our ability to relate to Him.

(184d) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >> God controls darkness >> God hides unbelief in darkness

(213i) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> His will becomes our will >> We are God’s property – God has predestined every man and woman to heaven or hell, implying that God knew beforehand that millions of souls would not make it to heaven, so they accuse God of being evil for sending many to the eternal flames of hell, where the fire is not quenched and their worm does not die (Mk 9-44). In sharp contrast, man has made his own choices that have led him to either heaven or hell. Essentially, this reduces to a simple statement: God chooses us as we choose ourselves. I gave my heart to Jesus on June 16, 1979. Salvation is no different from marriage, for it is based on an oath, kneeling in a ditch next to my friend who had just been in a motorcycle accident, gurgling his blood, praying for God to save me. (My friend survived the accident only to later die a crack head.) Had I not experienced that moment or one like it, I could not have been saved. I literally felt His presence in my heart and since that day He never left me, and He never will. Therefore, I had to make a commitment to follow Jesus in order for God’s choice of me to be complete. Many are called, but not all respond, and for that reason they are not chosen. See also: Predestination; Rom 9-16; 116k

(217b) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God Is Independent Of His Creation >> No one can tell God what to do -- See commentary Rom 9,18-23; 202k

(221k) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from sin >> He hides behind unbelief

Rom 9-11

(91i) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> God’s calling transcends the will of man >> We are called by God through His choice of us -- This verse goes with verses 24&25

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Rom 9-12,13

(151c) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears witness of the Old >> The Patriarchs >> The sons of Abraham – Jacob and Esau were brothers who were unlike each other in many ways. Esau was the eldest, though they were born twins (not identical), with Esau exiting the womb first, but Jacob would change all that by the things he did. Note that he didn't obey the word of the Lord but acted on his own authority with help from his mother. As the story goes, Jacob made a pot of stew and Esau came home famished and considered himself as good as dead, and there traded his birthright. He came to the opposite conclusion of his grandfather, Abraham, according to what is written of him, “He contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old” (Rom 4-19). Hope against hope Abraham believed God, and for this reason he is the father of our faith. In contrast, Esau considered himself as only minutes from starving to death, and Jacob took advantage of the opportunity and asked for his birthright in exchange for a bowl of soup, and Esau agreed. Obviously Esau was not able to literally give Jacob his birthright any more than he could change their birth order or un-ring a bell, but Esau could despise his birthright, which he did, and as a result their birth order was spiritually switched in the eyes of God. Jacob showed great interest in being named among the early fathers of his nation that originated by faith in God's word. Abraham’s descendents didn’t receive the blessing from being firstborn; rather, the father spoke the blessing over his chosen son with an oath, who was always his firstborn son, except in this case. An outdoorsman, a hunter and gatherer, a provider for the family, Esau spent days, weeks and months in the wilderness alone. Much as Esau loved the creation, he didn’t love his Creator. He loved fields of flowers, the song of birds, the thrill of the hunt and the meat of wild animals, but he didn’t love God. Being firstborn was highly valuable, but Esau traded it for a bowl of soup, whereas Jacob considered it valuable because God said it was valuable. In fact, Esau was first born of the first born, not even Abraham or Isaac could boast of that, and now Jacob had received this honor through trickery. It was his reverence for the things of God that led to Jacob’s status as God’s first choice. He deems certain things important that remain true throughout all time, and Jacob sought to fit into God's value system. When it says that God loved Jacob and hated Esau, it doesn’t really mean that he hated Esau, but that God doesn’t particularly like or dislike anything; he either loves or hates with nothing in-between. See also: Jacob and Esau; Rom 9,1-3; 173h

Rom 9,14-23

(41a) Judgment >> God glorifies Himself as the judge of all

Rom 9,15-23

(186k) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> God’s role in forming a reprobate >> Rejected by God

Rom 9,15-17

(142c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> Prophesy about evangelism

Rom 9-16

(31k) Gift of God >> Gift of His grace >> Grace is the work of God -- This verse goes with verses 22&23

(82b) Thy kingdom come >> Three elements of prayer >> Direction (Attitude) >> What not to pray for

(116k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> His Grace in us is in vain without Him – Theologians have extracted man's will from the equation of predestination since John Calvin expounded his beliefs in the mid-to-late fifteen hundreds. His contribution to Christian theology was a travesty, single-handedly emasculating the protestant church probably more than anyone before or after him, causing many to lose faith because of his doctrine of "irresistible grace" and other similar ideas that caused passivity in people’s hearts who have adopted the attitude that their salvation and walk with God is not up to them but God to determine, seeing the human element as unimportant to the process of salvation. A more accurate view, that of Jacobus Arminius (Arminianism), whose influence came a few decades later, brings the human element back into focus and thus balances the subject of predestination. In contrast to Calvinism, God involves our will when we are saved, though we may be predestined to do so from the foundation of the world. That is, Calvin was not entirely wrong in many of his views, dubbing it “the paradox of free will.” However, it is only a paradox when we separate the will of God from the will of man. Rather, there is an amalgamation between the will of God and the will of man, suggesting there is no paradox between them, only apart from each other. See also: Predestination; Rom 9,19-21; 75e / Predestination (Calvinism); 2Tim 2,1-7; 115c

(171b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Vanity >> Vain effort >> Vain attempt to pursue God

(173l) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Man’s Religion >> Deeds that are not initiated by God >> Deeds that are not initiated by the Holy Spirit

(227f) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Depending on Jesus to have compassion >> Depending on Jesus to receive us

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Rom 9,17-23

(49c) Judgment >> Enemies of God’s righteousness are destroyed

Rom 9,17-21

(213h) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> We are his instruments >> We are clay in the potters hand

Rom 9-17

(27c) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Condoning evil can bring a curse on your life – For 300 years Egypt was free to oppress the children of Israel, building up a mountain of sin that God would eventually judge with far greater severity than had He corrected the nation earlier. Had Israel become dependent on Egypt and offered themselves as slaves, that would have been one thing, but Egypt made them slaves from jealousy and fear that they were becoming more numerous than the Egyptians. Meanwhile, Egypt mistreated the Israelites while God ratcheted up Egypt’s judgment before He unleashed it on them. It says that pharaoh was about to let the Israelites go, and then God hardened his heart, incurring more condemnation on the Egyptians, so God could judge them to the severity that they deserved. At the same time bitterness was growing in the hearts of the Israelites against God, who left them in those circumstances, forcing His people to believe in Him under miserable conditions for a long time, until their hearts became hardened, becoming apparent in their walk with God through the wilderness. When He finally did arrive, it was impossible to turn their hardened hearts to faith as their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob believed. In the meantime, God was also waiting for the land of Canaan to become utterly corrupt so they would become worthy of His judgment when He was ready to use Israel as His hammer to purge sin from the land. So if God does not judge our sin right away, or the sin of a nation, it might not mean that he fancies us, but He could be waiting for our sin to increase for the Day of Judgment.

(246g) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Demonstration of God’s kingdom >> God demonstrates His glory >> Demonstration of His power -- This verse goes with verse 22

Rom 9,18-23

(202k) Denying Christ >> Running from God >> Wicked men cannot approach the throne of God >> Goats are unsaved church attendants – If God were to come and try to tell us what to do, it would make us angry enough to want to kill Him, as they did to Jesus. If Jesus returned in the flesh, we would want Him to do whatever we told Him as our only terms of acceptance. That is, we would try to control God, because man likes to control everything, except himself. Since the world doesn't do what God has commanded in His word, how much more would they hate Him for telling man what to do in person? The question was, “Who resists His will?” and the answer is everybody on every level imaginable. No matter what God does He is wrong in the eyes of unbelievers; there is nothing God can do to please them. If he returned, they would be furious; if He didn’t return, they would despise Him, so no matter what He does man hates God and resists His will, so He just does what He wants. He doesn’t worry what man thinks of Him, knowing that sinful flesh is impossible to please, so He has mercy on whom He desires and hardens whom He desires; that way nobody resists His will. See also: God's substance is faith; Mat 9,27-30; 115g

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Rom 9,18-21

(154b) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> No excuse >> There is no excuse for rejecting the Father – Paul speaks for some who ask this question, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” rebuking the questioner for his ignorance saying, “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God?” Paul is saying, ‘You don’t get to know the answer, though I'm going to tell you.’ Man resists God in the very questions he asks about resisting His will, like a criminal going to court about a crime he committed with the evidence is stacked against him; the judge hands down the verdict and the criminal sasses him on his bench. God bypasses the sinner’s comments just to end the case; otherwise He would spend the whole day dickering with the sinner. Since God has endued man’s railings against Him over the millennia, He will certainly not put up with him at the judgment.

Rom 9-18

(185g) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of lawlessness >> God helps Satan in the mystery of lawlessness

(231d) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> God’s grace is the mystery of godliness >> Having favor with God is a mystery

Rom 9,19-21

(75e) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Questioning God’s judgment – Paul is finally adding the human element to the quandary of predestination, though many would say it does not belong there. If it didn’t, God could not have judged pharaoh, for what pharaoh did was his own doing; God did not make him do anything. Paul answered being unable to resist God’s will with another question: “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God?” Didn't Paul's answer demonstrate resistance to the will of God (v20)? To question God’s judgment is irreverent, showing a lack of faith and trust in one of God's core attributes, yet it is a valid question for man who is trying to understand God. The best example of questioning God with an evil motive is found by contrasting Mary, the mother of Jesus with Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. Mary asked the angel, “How could these things be?” while Zacharias asked, “How [do] I know for sure?” These statements sound similar, but their motives were not. One asked a science question, how could Mary get pregnant if she never knew a man?” while the other blatantly doubted the word of God, showing contempt for the angel who spoke with him. The angel answered Zacharias, ‘Who are you to question my authority?’ which was Paul’s answer to those who would question God's judgment. Why did God find fault with pharaoh after he acted with hardness that He put in his heart? Paul's answer was that human will was involved. We cannot extract the human element from predestination and expect to derive the truth. See also: Predestination; Rom 9,24-29; 142b

(96n) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about sin >> Having a rebellious attitude

Rom 9,22-29

(50dc) Judgment >> Last Days >> Jewish Led endtime revival >> Israel prophesied to restore the gentiles to salvation

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Rom 9-22,23

(31a) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> He favors the Church to spite the world

(31k) Gift of God >> Gift of His grace >> Grace is the work of God -- These verses go with verse 16

(33l) Gift of God >> Believers are special to God >> He has given us all things

(37a) Judgment >> The cross >> God judged the sin of the world through Christ – This is probably the most difficult passage in the Bible (Vs11-23), but if we can make sense of it, there is much to gain. By this we will begin to understand some of the deep things of God, such as His justice, and His sovereign authority over creation. Subjects like this the Bible states is unsearchable (Rom 11-33), so we will by no means reach the bottom of it, but we will scrape the surface and develop an introduction to the personhood of God. That should be enough to get us through this life. Everything about God is an extension of his justice, even his love, including the cross. God loved us before the cross, but He had to sacrifice His Son for the sake of justice. Somebody had to pay for our sins, and He determined that person would be Himself. He wasn’t going to let us rebel against His authority and get by with it; He had to exact payment, otherwise how could he invite us into His heaven or trust us? Jesus has paid the penalty of our sins; the judgment has been rendered, the sin covered and the issue resolved. All that remains between God and man now is His love, and it says He loves us as much as He loves His own Son, which itself is unfathomable.

(46i) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Satan falls by his own wickedness – When Paul said that God has mercy on whom He desires and hardens whom He desires, and then asked the question, “Who resists His will?” he intentionally left out one important detail: the sin that man and angels have committed. God did not create evil; evil created itself through willing agents, which led God to create the punishment of hell. He knew these things would come to pass as the undesired results of creating living beings who are totally free. If His creation were not free, then evil would not exist; therefore, evil is linked to freedom. God knew evil would result from His creation, still His foreknowledge did not create evil. God is absolutely perfect, and evil seeks to replace Him, and since perfection is already taken, evil must take the position of imperfection. God determined that if anything should seek to replace Him, it must take the opposite of perfection. This is why evil is evil, and it is why evil always corrupts people, societies and nations. Evil is the opposite of God and God’s kingdom is predestined to succeed; therefore, whatever evil creates must destroy itself (See Rev 17-16,17).

(54k) Paradox >> Opposites >> Contrast of two natures – The yin-yang concept is validated by these verses. You can’t have light without darkness, and vise versa. God existed forever in righteousness without evil, but we need evil to comprehend righteousness. To us light is a foreign concept; it must be contrasted with darkness for us to appreciate it. Much as we may want to deny yin-yang, being a product of eastern religions, God cannot just tell His people that He has mercy on them without pitting it against its counterpart. We will be able to look into hell as through a portal and see the punishment of fallen angels and man, depicted in Isaiah 66-24. God will point to them in hell and say to the redeemed, 'This is what the absence of mercy looks like.' If God did not have mercy on us we would be there too. Our salvation was paid for, not only by the blood of Christ, but also by the eternal damnation of hundreds of millions of fallen angels and people. Someone might look down on God and say that hell is really mean of Him; how could He conceptualize such a thing? Is He going to let all these people suffer forever just to make a point? God says yes! Hell completes the circle of God’s plan and purpose for mankind. Every man and woman who ever lived will either live with Christ in glory or showcase the absence of God’s mercy. Without hell we would not have a contrast for the grace and mercy we have been shown, and without contrast we couldn’t truly grasp the gift of God or how He feels about sin. Without knowing how He feels about sin, we would not understand how He fells about righteousness, justice and mercy. That is, we wouldn’t have the capacity to know God. Over the course of eternity God will continue clarifying these things, so we may understand them as He does and accept them. In this life, aspects of God’s truth seem coarse and abrupt. The only thing that really helps our understanding is the fact that those in hell have brought it on themselves. This particular standpoint seems difficult, because it tries to explain God’s sense of justice though it is incomprehensible. Paul didn’t delve any further into this, possibly because he reached his own limit or because he didn’t think it would help our understanding. We are simply to accept the facts for now, and God will bring the understanding as we are able to accept it.

(58d) Paradox >> Opposites >> God endures the lost for the sake of the elect – In these verses we see God experiencing both sides of this perspective, both the human and the divine, by choosing to endure those whom He had prepared for destruction. It is mankind that suffers; what does God endure? In light of eternity and infinity God does not endure or suffer anything, unless He limits Himself to the finite and the steady grind of time. When God deals with us on our level, He suffers with us. Therefore, Paul is describing a God that experiences both the finite and the infinite at the same time. It says that He endures the lost for the sake of revealing the riches of his glory to His people, suggesting that He couldn’t have revealed His glory without an opposite example, meaning that the lost serve a purpose in God’s future design of eternity, referring to the yin-yang concept that describes how opposites harmonize the parent system. Darkness is defined by light. Without darkness light would have no meaning, so God created vessels of destruction to better show His mercy. This way He can point at those in hell and say, 'You are not down there because I chose you.' That is, we will reside in heaven, not through any act of our will, but purely through His gracious choice of us. This will be the prevailing attitude that will stand the test of eternity. All our efforts to be saved in this life will pale in comparison to God’s predestined kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. There is no such thing as God predestining those to either heaven or hell without responding as they were predestined, yet what evil they do belongs to them and not to God. In contrast, God is the author of our good works.

(64c) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God has limited patience – God certainly has the right to make common sinners and honorable saints from the same lump of dough. Paul will explain what uses they have in God's overall plan of creation, which will answer his original question, “Who resists His will?” Sinners consider it a small thing that God endures them. Although He is infinite, He is limited in patience. Enduring the fallen state of rebellious human nature for thousands of years was a tremendous feat, perhaps one of God’s greatest achievements. The reason God’s patience is limited is that his sovereign lordship is infinite, which are opposites by definition, for to have infinite patience would undo his sovereignty. He allows himself a little patience, just enough to accomplish His objective, which is to create a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works (Tit 2-14). It takes patience to endure the sinner who hates God and speaks evil of Him constantly, occurring around the globe, millions of people day and night railing against His throne. He is not being patient for their own sake, but for His own sake and for the sake of the elect. He intends to use sinners throughout eternity after He judges them to be tormented day and night by the fires of hell, which is the only place where they will recognize God’s sovereign authority over them. If He ever set them free, they might make a resolute promise to respect God’s sovereign authority, but they would inevitably revert to their rebellious ways that landed them in hell in the first place. God endures them in order to make known His riches and glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.

(126i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Patience >> The patience of God >> God is patient

Rom 9-22

(20k) Sin >> Disobedience >> Rejecting the word

(47d) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of destruction

(224k) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The people of heaven >> Traits of people who don’t make it to heaven

(246g) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Demonstration of God’s kingdom >> God demonstrates His glory >> Demonstration of His power -- This verse goes with verse 17

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Rom 9-23

(224i) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The people of heaven >> Traits of the people who make it to heaven

Rom 9,24-29

(142b) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> Prophesy about the dispensation >> Gentiles are included – These verses show even more the distinction between the will of man and the will of God by choosing the gentiles over Israel because of their disobedience. The gentiles have been prophesied, hence predestined to become the children of God, and as a result they responded to the call. Prophecy was also spoken over Israel, thus they were predestined to reject the gospel of Christ. So does that mean God wanted Israel to reject Him? No, God did not force Israel to reject Him, but He knew they would, and in this way we can see that one of predestination's viewpoints is one of mere foreknowledge. God will never violate the free will of man, hence the reason for all the problems of the world. He has prepared a place of destruction for those who exercise their free will against Him, and He has prepared a place in heaven for those who use their free will to receive Him. If it were simply up to man Israel would have destroyed itself long ago. There were times in Israel’s past when they acted nearly as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah and deserved their judgment, yet they are still here by God’s choice. So we have the will of God and the will of man, two distinct entities, One who predestines man to behave a certain way, and the other who completes God’s choice. See also: Predestination; Rom 9,1-26; 219a

Rom 9-24,25

(91i) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> God’s calling transcends the will of man >> We are called by God through His choice of us -- These verses go with verse 11

Rom 9-27

(92g) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> What kind of trail is this? >> Gate is small and few are those who find it

Rom 9-28

(40i) Judgment of Christ >> God’s word executes judgment by the Spirit

Rom 9-29

(120f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Forgiveness >> Forgiveness is an act of mercy >> God passes over our sins

Rom 9,30-33

(41fc) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Righteousness of

(176d) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Conviction without commandment

(201h) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >> Faith offends unbelief

(205j) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> Faith versus works >> The faith of God versus the faith of men >> Faith is the law of righteousness

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Rom 9,30-32

(58d) Paradox >> Opposites >> Gentiles seek wisdom, but the Jews have it; Jews seek righteousness, but the Gentiles have it – The gentiles who did not seek God attained Him, and God has made a church from them in the same way that God pursued Abraham and created a nation from him. The Jews sought the law after Moses, but failed to comprehend how it would help them relate to God. Not only is man unable to please God through the law, but Israel failed miserably to achieve even a semblance of the law in their behavior. By rejecting Christ they stumbled over the stone, causing a role reversal between the Jews and gentiles, who are now managing the oracle of God, and they are failing just as miserably as the Jews in keeping their doctrines pure along with their behavior. Israel’s disobedience throughout the centuries led them to reject their Messiah, which led God to pursue the gentiles. Now, instead of the Jews leading the gentiles into a relationship with God by faith, the Jews need to be restored to their own Messiah. The gentiles are not able to restore the Jews, which would be like the child telling the parents what to do. It has always been Israel’s place to lead the gentiles in things pertaining to God, so when Israel failed, only God can restore them, and God will do so according to his own predestined plan, for He has prepared a time when Israel will be restored, but until then, Israel will continue to flounder.

Rom 9-33

(142a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> Prophesy about the dispensation >> The end times – Much of the Bible is prophetic, and much of the prophetic word of God is meant for the endtimes, so a large swath of Scripture is devoted to our generation, which to date is closer to the last days than any generation before us.

Rom 10-1

(210i) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation is from the Jews >> Jews are believers >> Gospel belongs to the Jew first – Paul is talking about the Israelites again, saying they were unwilling to accept the fact that they crucified their own Messiah and too ashamed to believe in Him, but God knew they would do it, and for this reason He has not forsaken them, though they didn’t like being manipulated by Him. They need to understand that they did these things not only for the sake of all mankind, but also to demonstrate just how deep sin has penetrated into the human soul. It is a travesty that Israel went through all their hardships over the millennia only to abandon the salvation they suffered to achieve. Israel needs to understand that if God called any other nation to witness His glory and power, they would have done the same thing.

(247h) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> God is interested in the gospel – Man has underestimated the curse from the very beginning of time. We have serial killers that try to show us how deep the curse spans the human heart, and we have world wars I & II that testify against our lust for violence, but man is unwilling to believe the full scope of his depravity. He refuses to believe he is blemished, still thinking there is something salvageable about us without God's need to send His Son to die for our sins, but it is simply untrue. We are depraved from the inside-out, inciting Paul to say, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Rom 7-18), meaning that the Spirit of God dwelled in him, otherwise nothing that meets His standard. See also: Sin (omission of righteousness); Mat 24,45-51; 206k

Rom 10,2-10

(205j) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> Faith versus works >> The faith of God versus the faith of men >> Faith is the law of righteousness – We could almost say that without Paul’s input none of us would understand the gospel. He made it absolutely clear that our works do not save us. Paul separated faith from works to show that faith is the active ingredient of our salvation, and the good works that follow merely act as evidence of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit. John went a step further regarding our works and said that without evidence, our salvation questionable, and then James set the capstone and said that without the evidence of good works, our salvation isn’t real at all; we are just fooling ourselves. Although it is imperative to bring evidence to the table, it is our faith that saves us in the eyes of God.

Rom 10,2-5

(1h) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> False burden >> Serving God in ignorance >> Not knowing His will – What should the Jews have known about God’s righteousness? We know it is about faith in Jesus Christ, but what about God’s old covenant righteousness for the Jew before Jesus came? The answer is in the example of Abraham. Paul spoke extensively about him in some of the earlier chapters of Romans, but spoke very little about Moses, because justification is better understood through Abraham. Nevertheless, the Jews had fixated on the person and ministry of Moses, thus overlooking Abraham, the founder of their nation. God’s righteousness for Israel was to live according to the example of Abraham, who believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

(21e) Sin >> Disobedience does not understand God – Referring to the Jew, their zeal was well in place, but their knowledge of the Old Testament was completely skewed. In the days of the Old Testament God sent prophets who spoke the word of God to Israel. They were expected to obey them as they would God and model after their father Abraham, who heard the voice of God as Israel heard the voice of their prophets. Abraham believed the word of God and did what he was commanded, but Israel did not, and their disobedience over the centuries led them to crucify their own Messiah.

(175l) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Lack of knowledge

(199b) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Frustrating the grace of God >> Frustrating Jesus >> Frustrating the Father -- These verses go with verse 16