Week 7, Day 2
Today’s Reading: Romans 11:1-12:21
Some thoughts from yesterday’s reading…
Romans chapter 9 can be a very difficult passage to understand. In fact, taken out of context, this passage may sound as if God chooses who will be saved, and who will be lost, without the individual having anything to do with it. In Romans 9:15-16, the apostle Paul seems to say that the mercy of God does not in any way rely upon the actions of men. Looking at the examples through the verses that lead up to this passage, it seems that Paul is saying that God randomly, and without consideration of actions, chose those whom He would save. Though I am not going to try and provide a full exegesis the passage in these brief thoughts today, I do want to show you some evidence for why this interpretation is not valid.
If we take chapter 9 in the context of the book, and especially with chapter 10, then we can see that God does have a plan for all mankind. And, that plan requires people to listen to His word and be obedient to it. Notice, Romans 10:13 is very clear about the fact that all who will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Does this mean that only those who were specifically chosen before time began would be able to call on the name of the Lord? The passage certainly doea not support that idea! Chapter 10 goes on to show us that the gospel message is preached, and through that message men and women come to know what it takes to be pleasing to God. In fact, if we take a look at the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-23) it becomes evident that the sowing of the seed (or the preaching of the gospel) is done without any prejudice. It is our responsibility to spread the seed, letting it fall wherever it may. Those who hear and respond become the children of God. That process is started by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17)!
Going back to look at the point of chapter 9 now will help us to see what Paul was actually teaching. In Romans chapter 9, Paul is speaking to the Jews about the gospel going to the Gentiles (Romans 9:30). The argument that carries through the chapter is that God has the right to choose whomever He will. He is not discussing the salvation of these Biblical characters, but rather the fact that God chose certain peoples to achieve His end. He chose Isaac over all the other children of Abraham. This caused the Jews to rejoice. He chose Jacob over Esau. Again, the Jews rejoiced. But, now, when the gospel message had gone out to the world, giving the Jews the first opportunity to be obedient, they had chosen (in general) to reject God’s message. Because of that, God was now choosing (as had been prophesied of, see Romans 9:25-26) the Gentiles, the Jews should not have been surprised. After all, if He was able to choose them as His own special people, then why should He not be able to also decide to choose the Gentiles when they made the choice to reject Him?
With passages such as Romans 9, we need to do a couple of things. First, make sure that we understand the context. We cannot remove these verses from context, and build a whole doctrine around them. In the context, it is clear that God was not speaking of predestining individuals to salvation. Rather, it was about choosing people through whom He could and would fulfill His work. Secondly, we must not enter into a passage with our minds made up about what it means. How often do we look at a passage, having already decided that it means something, only to later learn that we missed the point? There are many people who continue to miss the point of Romans chapter 9 simply because they “know what it means.” We need to let the passage show us what it means, rather than being deceived by the teachings of men.
Again, we haven’t tackled much of this chapter, so there is much to be added to the discussion. But, we do need to make sure we are fair with the context, and ensure that our interpretation also harmonizes with all other scripture. God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), so it is clear that Paul’s teaching is not about individual predestination to salvation.
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One Comment »
Cynthia said :
February 24, 2009 at 11:39 pm
When I read the last verse of Romans 10, I wondered how often God feels that way about His people today! (Romans 10:21 …“ All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people.”)