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SECTION h –
God’s Sovereignty
(9:01-29)
Balanced
by SECTION H – God’s Sovereignty (8:31-39)
Romans Nine – Verses 14 to 33
14.
What, then, shall we be declaring? Not that there
is injustice with God?
May it not be coming to that!
The
usual deduction from this is that God is not just. In a man this would not
be right, but it is God's sovereign privilege to display Himself through
any of His creatures, in any way best suited to the purpose. Love needed a
Jacob for its display. Power needed a Pharaoh for its foil. Man cannot turn
the tide of God's affections in his favor nor can he stem the torrent of
His wrath. In God's great purpose to eventually bless all mankind it is His
prerogative to form and use suitable vessels to convey His mercy. Of such
was Jacob. Esau was needed to emphasize Jacob's unworthiness. Pharoah was
elevated by God, not that his name might be great, but that God's name
might be made known through all the earth. A great man was needed for this
or God could not have made His power known.
Concordant
Commentary
In an earlier chapter, and
also here in verse 19, Paul presents a similar objection.
Rom.3:5 Now if our injustice is
commending God's righteousness,
what shall we declare? Not that God Who is
bringing on indignation is unjust!
(As a man am I saying it.)
Rom.9:19 You will be protesting to me, then,
"Why, then, is He still blaming? for who has withstood His intention?"
The wisdom of the world is
not aligned to God’s. The fact is that a part of God’s operation is to
demonstrate just how disqualified
that wisdom is.
1Cor.1:19,20 For it is written, I
shall be destroying the wisdom of
the wise,
and the understanding of the intelligent shall I
be repudiating.
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe?
Where is the discusser of this eon?
Does not
God make stupid the wisdom of this world?
1Cor.3:19,20 for the wisdom of this world is stupidity
with God.
For it is written, "He is clutching the
wise in their craftiness."
20 And again, The Lord knows the reasonings
of the wise, that they are vain.
Rom.3:24-26 Being justified
gratuitously in His grace,
through the deliverance which is in Christ
Jesus …
26 toward the display of His righteousness in the current
era,
for Him
to be just
and a Justifier of the one who is of the faith of Jesus.
Deut.32:4 The Rock--flawless is His
contrivance,
for all
His ways are righteous judgment.
The El of faithfulness and without iniquity; just and upright is He.
Job.8:3 Does El distort judgment, and should He Who-Suffices distort justice?
Ps.92:15 Telling that Yahweh is upright,
My Rock, and no iniquity is in
Him.
Ps.145:17 Righteous is Yahweh in all His ways, And benign in all His works.
Rev.16:7 And I hear the altar saying,
"Yea, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Thy judgings!"
Job.34:18,19 Who says to a king, Worthless one,
And to patrons, Wicked
one,
19 Who does not repute chiefs, Nor is He partial to the rich-man above the poor,
For they all
are the work of His hands?
15.
For to Moses He is saying,
"I shall be merciful to whomever I may be merciful,
and I shall be pitying whomever I may be pitying."
God is GOD – His will is supreme, and nothing can circumvent it.
Ex.33:19 … I will be gracious to whom I am
being gracious
and will have compassion for whom I am having
compassion.
Isa.65:1 I am inquired of by those who had not asked
for Me.
I am found by those who did not seek Me.
Rom.11:7,8 What then? What Israel is seeking for, this she did not encounter,
yet the chosen encountered it. Now the
rest were calloused,
8 even as it is written, God
gives them a spirit of stupor,
eyes not
to be observing, and ears not to
be hearing, till this very day.
Let us dwell on this fact a
little. If we can, somehow, cause Him
to change His mind on what He has declared for our belief, can we
really trust Him to fulfill His other declarations? Could not others also
cause Him to change His mind so that things work out to accord with their
desires? If the object of our veneration is not the Supreme, THE God Who is faithful, even to His every
declaration, why do we worship it at all, and how will it be judged just by the creatures it allegedly
brought into being?
16.
Consequently, then, it is not of him who is willing, nor of him who is racing,
but of God, the Merciful.
The determination is God’s, and the execution of that purpose is still God’s – even when He uses
others of His creatures to carry out the operation to a finish.
Men, in accord
with the ‘wisdom of the world’ under which they operate, have the audacity
to ‘suggest’ alternative courses of action for God to take that will make
things more palatable and comfortable to them. What does Scripture say?
Jas.4:13-16 Come now, you who are saying,
"Today or tomorrow we will be going into
this or that city and
should be spending a year there, and we will be
trafficking and getting gain"--
14 who are not versed in that which is the
morrow's, for what is your life?
For a vapor are you, which is appearing briefly
and thereupon disappearing--
15 instead of your saying,
"If
the Lord should ever be willing, and we shall be living,
we also shall be doing this or that."
16 Yet now you are vaunting
in your ostentations. All such boasting is wicked.
Prov.27:1 Do not boast about
tomorrow,
For you do not
know what a day may generate.
Isa.65:1 I am inquired of by those who had not asked for Me.
I am found by those who did not seek Me.
I say, `Behold Me!' to a nation not calling My name.
God orchestrates every action
and situation, operating all in accord with the counsel of His own will.
Yet even believers pray for their own suggestions to take precedence over
God’s knowledge and wisdom.
Rom.11:33-36 O, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and
the knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are His judgments, and
untraceable His ways!
34 For, who knew the mind of the Lord? or, who became His adviser?
35 or, who gives to Him first, and it will
be repaid him?
36 seeing that out of Him and through Him and for Him
is all:
to Him be the glory for the eons! Amen!
Mt.11:25,26 At that season,
answering, Jesus said,
"I am acclaiming Thee, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth,
for Thou hidest
these things from the wise and intelligent
and Thou
dost reveal them to minors.
26 Yea, Father, seeing that thus it became
a delight in front of Thee.
Lk.10:21 In this hour He exults
in the holy spirit and said,
"I am acclaiming Thee, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth,
for Thou
dost conceal these things from the wise and intelligent
and Thou
dost reveal them to minors.
Yea, Father, seeing that thus it became a
delight in front of Thee."
Phil.2:13 for it is God Who is operating in you
to will as well as to work for the sake of His delight.
1Cor.15:10 Yet, in the grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace, which is in me, did not come to
be for naught,
but more exceedingly than all of them toil I—
yet not I,
but the grace of God which is with me.
1Cor.1:26-31 For you are observing your calling, brethren,
that there are
not many wise
according to the flesh;
not many powerful,
not many noble,
27 but the stupidity of the world God chooses,
that He may be disgracing the wise,
and the weakness
of the world God chooses,
that He may be disgracing the strong,
28 and the ignoble and the contemptible
things of the world God chooses,
and that which
is not, that He may be discarding that which is,
29 so that no
flesh at all should be boasting in God's sight.
30 Yet you, of Him, are in
Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God,
besides righteousness and holiness and
deliverance,
31 that, according as it is
written, He who is boasting, in the Lord let him be boasting.
We did not choose to
believe God so as to initiate our relationship with Him. He has preferred
us over others from the beginning
– when we were not even there to influence the decision.
2Thes.2:13,14 Now we ought to be thanking God
always concerning you, brethren,
beloved by the Lord,
seeing that
God prefers you from the beginning for salvation,
in holiness of the spirit and faith in the
truth,
14 into
which He also calls us through our evangel,
for the procuring of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Tit.3:4-7 …when the kindness and
fondness for humanity of our Saviour, God,
made its advent,
5 not for works which are wrought in
righteousness which we do,
but according to His mercy, He saves us,
through the bath of renascence and renewal of
holy spirit,
6 which He pours out on us richly through Jesus
Christ, our Saviour,
7 that, being justified in that One's grace, we
may be becoming enjoyers,
in expectation, of the allotment of life eonian.
17.
For the scripture is saying to Pharaoh that
"For this selfsame thing I rouse you up,
so that I should be displaying in you My power,
and so that My name should be published in the entire
earth."
It is common to hear
teachers explain concerning the Pharaoh of the Exodus, that he was proudly
stubborn and that God only confirmed him in that attitude. Scripture does
not agree with these ‘protectors of God’s integrity’ who cannot bear to
imagine God doing something so drastic and who would like to hide the fact.
God does not want such altruistic defenders who present a false picture of Him. In making
Pharoah stubborn in accord with His purpose, God declares that He is GOD.
Ex.9:15,16 For by now
I could have put forth My
hand and smitten you and your people with the plague
so that you were
suppressed from the land.
16
Howbeit, for this sake I keep you standing, in order to make you see My vigor,
and that My name may be related in the entire earth.
Ex.10:1,2 Yahweh said to Moses: Enter to Pharaoh,
for I have made his heart glory
and the hearts of his servants
that I may set these My signs among them,
2
and that you may relate in the ears of your son, and your son's son,
that which I set in action in Egypt,
and My signs which I placed among them,
that you will know that I am Yahweh.
Ex.14:17,18 And I, behold Me making the heart of the Egyptians steadfast
that they may enter after
them; for I shall be glorified over Pharaoh
and over all his army,
over his chariots and over his horsemen.
18 Then the Egyptians will know that I am
Yahweh
when I am glorified over
Pharaoh, over his chariots and over his horsemen.
Ex.18:10,11 Hence Jethro said: Blessed be Yahweh
Who has rescued you from
the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh,
Who has rescued the people
from under the hand of Egypt.
11 Now I know that Yahweh is
greater than all the elohim,
yea in the matter in which
they were arrogant against them.
Prov.16:4 Yahweh
has made everything for its own pertinent end,
Yea even the wicked for the day of evil.
1Sam.2:7,8 Yahweh dispossesses, and He makes rich,
He makes low, yea, He
makes high.
8 He raises from the dust the poor,
From a dunghill He lifts
up the needy,
To cause [them] to sit
with nobles,
Yea, a throne of honor He
does cause them to inherit,
For to Yahweh [are] the
fixtures of earth,
And He sets on them the habitable world.
Isa.37:20 And now, Yahweh, our
Elohim, pray, save us, from his hand,
and all the kingdoms of the earth shall know
that You, Yahweh, are Elohim, You alone.
Isa.45:1-3 Thus says Yahweh Elohim to His anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I hold fast, to sway over
nations before him,
and the waists of kings
will I unloose,
to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not
be closed.
2
"I, I will go before you, and mountains will I level.
Doors of copper will I break, and bars of iron
will I hack down.
3
And I give to you
treasures of darkness.
And those buried in
concealment will I open
for you,
that you may know that I,
Yahweh Elohim, calling you by your
name,
am the Elohim of Israel.
It would already have been a big deal if Cyrus were a worshipper of
Yahweh. But Cyrus was completely
unaware of Who was bringing him such success and renown – he did not
have any knowledge of Yahweh.
Isa.45:4-6 On account of My servant Jacob, and Israel, My chosen,
I am calling to you by
your name. I am titling you, yet you
do not know Me.
5 I
am Yahweh Elohim, and there is none else. There is no Elohim except Me.
I am belting you, yet you do not know Me.
6 That they
may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west,
that there is a limit
apart from Me. I am Yahweh
Elohim, and there is none else.
In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, also, we see God even calling him His servant and gratuitously giving him all the kingdoms. And
this servant would lay waste to the land of Israel and carry away His chosen people.
Jer.27:6-8 `And now, I--I
have given all these lands
into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My
servant,
and also the beast of the
field I have given to him to
serve him;
7 And served him have all the nations, and his son,
and his son's son,
till the coming in of the
time of his land, also it;
and done service for him have many nations and great kings.
8
And it has come to pass, the nation and the kingdom
that do not serve
him--Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon--
and that which puts not
its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon,
with sword, and with
famine, and with pestilence, I lay a
charge on that nation--
an affirmation of Yahweh--till
I consume them by his hand.
And God took the trouble to correct him at the pinnacle of his pride.
Yet it appears that, even though he acknowledged that the God of Daniel was
a God above all gods, Nebuchadnezzar remained
a worshipper of his own gods.
Dan.5:18-21 You, O king! The
Supreme Eloah granted the kingdom and majesty
and esteem and honor to Nebuchadnezzar
your grandfather.
19 And from the majesty that He granted to him,
all peoples, leagues, and
language-groups were stirred and terrified before him.
Whom he will he is
despatching, and whom he will he is preserving alive;
whom he will he exalts,
and whom he will he abases.
20 Yet when his heart was exalted and his
spirit was mightily arrogant,
he was deposed from the throne of his kingdom
and they caused his esteem to pass away from him:
21
From the sons of mortals was he shoved,
his heart was made equal
to an animal's
and with the wild donkeys
was his abode.
Herbage are they feeding
to him, as oxen,
and by the night mist of
the heavens was his frame streaked,
till he knew that the Supreme Eloah is in authority in the kingdom of
mortals,
and whom He is willing is He setting up over it.
Just as it was in the days of Elijah, where God reserved a number of
true worshippers for Himself, at the time Paul wrote to the Romans and even
until this day, He reserves some out of Israel in the same way according to
the choice of grace.
Rom.11:4,5 But
what is that which apprises saying to him? I left for Myself
seven thousand men who do
not bow the knee to the image of Baal.
5 Thus, then, in
the current era also,
there has come to be a
remnant according to the
choice of grace
Gal.3:8,9 Now the scripture,
perceiving before that God
is justifying the nations by faith,
brings before an evangel
to Abraham, that In you shall all the nations be blessed.
9 So that those
of faith are being blessed together with believing Abraham.
18.
Consequently, then,
to whom He will, He is merciful, yet whom He will, He is
hardening.
This acknowledgement of
God’s supremacy should tell us, in no uncertain terms, that it is not any
fault on the part of the unbeliever that he does not believe. The fact is
that he cannot believe unless and until God
intervenes with His gift of faith. Men sin because they have all together
been constituted sinners by God. Men are sons of stubbornness
because, according to Scripture, they have all been locked together under
stubbornness.
God is involved in the
‘fortunes’ of men – whether it be for the good or for the evil that they
experience.
Ex.4:21 And Yahweh said to Moses: When you go to return to
Egypt,
see to all the miracles
which I place in your hand,
that you do them before
Pharaoh. Yet I shall make his heart
steadfast,
and he shall not dismiss the people.
Ex.7:13 Yet the heart of Pharaoh was steadfast,
and he did not hearken to
them, just as Yahweh had spoken.
Deut.2:30 Yet Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through
it,
for Yahweh your Elohim made his spirit obstinate and made his heart
resolute,
that He might give him
into your hand (as is known this day).
Jos.11:20 for from Yahweh it has been to strengthen their heart,
to meet in battle with
Israel, in order to devote them, so that they have no grace,
but in order to destroy them, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Isa.63:17 Why are You
leading us astray, Yahweh, from Your ways?
Making our heart indurate
to Your fear?
Turn back, on account of
Your servants, the tribes of Your allotment.
Act.28:26-28 Go to this people and say,
"In hearing, you will
be hearing, and may by no means be understanding,
And observing, you will be
observing, and may by no means be perceiving,"
27
For stoutened is the heart of this people,
And with their ears
heavily they hear,
And with their eyes they
squint,
Lest at some time they may
be perceiving with their eyes,
And with their ears should
be hearing,
And with their heart may
be understanding,
And should be turning
about, and I shall be healing them.'
28
Let it be known to you, then,
that to the nations was
dispatched this salvation of God, and they will hear."
Gal.4:30 But what is the scripture saying?
Cast out this maid and her
son, for by no means shall the
son of the maid
be enjoying the allotment
with the son of the free woman.
Rom.11:7,8 What then? What Israel is
seeking for, this she did not encounter,
yet the chosen encountered it. Now the rest were
calloused,
8 even as it is written, God gives them a spirit of stupor,
eyes not
to be observing, and ears not to be hearing, till this very day.
Rom.11:9-12 And David is saying, Let their table become a trap and a
mesh,
And a snare and a repayment to them:
10 Darkened be their eyes, not to be
observing,
And their backs bow together continually.
11 I am saying, then, Do they not trip that
they should be falling?
May it not be coming to that!
But in
their offense is salvation to the nations, to provoke them to
jealousy.
12 Now if their offense is the world's
riches
and their discomfiture the nations' riches,
how much rather that which fills them!
2Thes.2:11,12 And therefore God will be sending them an operation of deception,
for them to
believe the falsehood,
12 that all may be judged who do not
believe the truth, but delight in injustice.
But God is not unjust in so doing. It is HIS
prerogative; it is the principle of His operation as GOD! He decides who
will receive His mercy and who will not (as yet). In the end, of course,
ALL will receive it!
Rom.3:22,23 yet a righteousness of God through Jesus Christ's
faith,
for all, and on all
who are believing,
for
there is no distinction,
23 for all sinned and are wanting of
the glory of God.
Rom.11:32 For God locks up all together in stubbornness,
that He should be merciful to all.
Gal.3:22 But the scripture locks up all together
under sin,
that the promise out of Jesus Christ's faith
may be given to those who are believing.
Human choice, the human
will, and even the most frantic and frenetic human activity have got
NOTHING to do with it! This is what God revealed to Moses; it was He Who hardened Pharoah's heart,
whenever his resolution failed, so that he would withstand His will.
Ex.4:21 And Yahweh said to
Moses: When you go to return to Egypt,
see to all the miracles which I place in your
hand,
that you do them before Pharaoh.
Yet I
shall make his heart steadfast, and he shall not dismiss the people.
Ex.7:3-5 And I Myself shall harden the heart of Pharaoh
and increase My signs and My miracles in the
land of Egypt.
4 Though Pharaoh shall not hearken to you,
yet I will lay My hand on Egypt
and bring forth My hosts, My people, the sons of
Israel,
from the land of Egypt with great
judgments.
5 And all
the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh
when I stretch out My hand over Egypt
and bring forth the sons of Israel from their
midst.
Ex.7:13,14 Yet the heart of Pharaoh was
steadfast,
and he did not hearken to them, just as Yahweh had spoken.
14 Then Yahweh said to Moses:
Gloried is the heart of Pharaoh; he has refused to dismiss the people.
Ex.9:12-16 Yet Yahweh made the heart of Pharaoh steadfast,
so that he
did not hearken to them just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.
13 Then Yahweh said to Moses:
Rise early in the morning, station yourself
before Pharaoh, and say to him,
Thus says Yahweh, Elohim of the Hebrews:
Dismiss My people that they may serve Me.
14 For at this time I am sending all My
strokes
onto your heart and your servants and your
people
in order
that you shall know that there is no one such as Me in the entire earth.
15 For by now I could have
put forth My hand
and smitten you and your people with the plague
so that you were suppressed from the land.
16 Howbeit, for this sake I keep you standing, in order to make you see My
vigor,
and that
My name may be related in the entire earth.
This is, also, the
prerogative that God exercises concerning those who are being called into
the body of Christ. GOD decides - no amount of good, or bad, deeds and
intentions will influence His choice. There is a PURPOSE for His every
decision.
Rom.8:28-30 Now we are aware
that God
is working all together for the
good of those who are loving God,
who are called according to the purpose
29 that, whom He foreknew, He
designates beforehand, also,
to be conformed to the image of His Son,
for Him to
be Firstborn among many brethren.
30 Now whom He designates beforehand, these
He calls also,
and whom He calls, these He justifies also;
now whom He justifies, these He glorifies also.
Eph.2:4-7 yet God,
being rich in mercy, because of His vast love with which He loves us
5 (we also being dead to the offenses and
the lusts),
vivifies us together in Christ (in grace are you
saved!)
6 and rouses us together
and seats us together among the celestials, in
Christ Jesus,
7 that, in the oncoming eons,
He should
be displaying the transcendent riches of His grace
in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Eph.2:8-10 For in grace, through faith,
are you saved,
and this is not out of you; it is God's approach present,
9 not of works, lest anyone should be
boasting.
10 For His
achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God makes ready beforehand, that we should
be walking in them.
Phil.2:12,13 So that, my beloved,
according as you always obey,
not as in my presence only, but now much rather
in my absence,
with fear and trembling, be carrying your own
salvation into effect,
13 for
it is God Who is operating in you
to will as
well as to work for the sake of His delight.
1Cor.15:10 Yet, in the grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace, which is in me, did not come to
be for naught,
but more exceedingly than all of them toil
I--yet not I,
but the
grace of God which is with me.
1Cor.1:26-29 For you are observing your
calling, brethren,
that there are not many wise according to the flesh;
not many powerful, not many noble,
27 but the stupidity of the
world God chooses,
that He
may be disgracing the wise,
and the weakness of the world God chooses,
that He
may be disgracing the strong,
28 and the ignoble and the
contemptible things of the world God chooses,
and that which is not, that He may be discarding that which is,
29 so that no flesh at all should be boasting in God's sight.
2Tim.1:9 Who saves us and calls us
with a holy calling,
not in accord with our acts, but in accord with His own
purpose
and the grace which is given to us in Christ
Jesus before times eonian,
Tit.3:4,5 Yet when the kindness and fondness
for humanity
of our Saviour, God, made its advent,
5 not for works which are wrought in
righteousness which we do,
but
according to His mercy, He saves us,…
Eph.1:11,12 in Him in Whom our lot
was cast also,
being designated beforehand according to the purpose
of the One
Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will,
12 that we
should be for the laud of His glory, who are pre-expectant in the Christ.
19.
You will be protesting to me, then, "Why, then, is He still
blaming?
for who has withstood His intention?"
The
questioner persists in looking at God's sovereignty from the human
standpoint of the individual, when it should be viewed from the divine
national vantage. God has a large purpose which will eventuate in the
blessing of all. But in the process of its fulfillment it demands the
temporary use of some as foils to set forth His indignation and power, that
He may make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy. This
chapter does not deal with the destiny of the individual. That has been
settled. All mankind will be justified eventually (5:18). It is not
difficult to see how God can justify Pharaoh, whom He hardened, lest his
heart should soften and he should fail to oppose Him further. Concordant Commentary
But, some will argue, since
no one can influence His decision, why,
and how can, He hold men
responsible for their deeds?
Scripture insists, once
again, that it is His prerogative as GOD to choose and act as HE so
chooses! The principle is: the created
CANNOT demand from its Creator
a different way of going about things; it simply has no such right! It does not even know God's overall plan,
purpose, and reasons for the course of action He takes.
In the plan, some are
needed to demonstrate His love and mercy at the same time that others are
required to demonstrate His indignation over wrong attitudes, wrong
intentions, wrong deeds (see verse 23). A striking contrast is needed, each category to provide a backdrop for the
other. But, that is not the end of the story, for God reveals that ALL will
be reconciled; ALL will be saved.
Col.1:20 and through Him to reconcile all to Him
(making peace through the blood of His cross),
through Him, whether those on the earth or those
in the heavens.
1Tim.2:3-7 … our Saviour, God,
4 Who wills that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the
truth.
5 For there is one God,
and one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man,
Christ Jesus,
6 Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all
(the testimony in its own eras),
7 for which I was appointed a herald and an
apostle
(I am telling the truth, I am not lying),
a teacher of the nations in knowledge and truth.
1Tim.4:9-11 Faithful is the saying
and worthy of all welcome
10 (for for this are we toiling and being
reproached),
that we rely on the living God,
Who is the Saviour of all mankind,
11 especially of believers.
These things be charging and teaching.
No one can thwart God’s
purpose. He rules – and He overrules every operation that men undertake
so that they can only accomplish what He
intends them to.
Job.42:1,2 Then Job answered
Yahweh, saying:
2 I know that You can do all things, And no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
2Chr.20:6 …`O Yahweh, Elohim of our
fathers, are not You--Elohim in the heavens?
yea, You
are ruling over all kingdoms of the nations, and
in Your hand [is] power and might, and there is
none with You to station himself.
Job.23:13,14 Yet He is One, and who can turn Him
back?
What His
soul has yearned for He shall do.
14 For He
shall accomplish what is marked out for me,
And many other plans are with Him like these.
Isa.46:10,11 Telling from the beginning, the
hereafter,
and from aforetime, what has not yet been done.
Saying, `All
My counsel shall be confirmed, and all
My desire will I do.'
Dan.4:35 All abiding on the
earth are reckoned as naught:
According to His will is He doing in the army of
the heavens
and with those abiding on the earth.
And no one
will actually clap with his hands and say to Him, "What doest Thou?"
Though many assert that
their most prized God-given possession is a ‘free’ will, they are not
averse to insist on their lack of it in order to distance themselves from
accountability for their actions. They seek excuses and loopholes to hold
on to their own righteousness.
Men exercise their
much-vaunted ‘free’ will in doing things as they see fit and as they
perceive to be of benefit to themselves. Pleasing God in these matters is not their objective, not being in their minds at all. Yet
they want the credit when the things they have chosen to do actually fit in
with God’s purpose.
Rom.3:5-8 Now if our
injustice is commending God's righteousness,
what shall we declare? Not that God Who is
bringing on indignation is unjust!
(As a man am I saying it.)
6 May it not be coming to that! Else how shall
God be judging the world?
7 Yet if
the truth of God superabounds in my lie, for His glory,
why am I also still being judged as a sinner,
8 and why not say, according as we are
calumniated
and according as some are averring that we are
saying, that
"We should be doing evil that good may be
coming"?--whose judgment is fair.
The brothers of Joseph
designed evil for him, selling him into slavery to Egypt. But, God had
actually wanted him in that foreign land for a much higher purpose.
Gen.50:20 And you, you devised against me evil,
yet the Elohim
devises it for me for good,
that it
may work out as at this day, to preserve alive many people.
Scripture speaks of ‘the
Assyrian’ whose vicious intent was to exterminate Israel, but God was
actually using him to chastise His disobedient people. And when God’s
purpose was accomplished, He punished him for his wicked designs on His
people. Men fulfill God’s
intentions even in their most wicked objectives.
Isa.10:6,7 Among a nation polluted will I send him.
And against a people, object of My rage, will I instruct him.
To loot loot and to plunder plunder,
and to place them for tramping, as the clay of
the streets.
7 Yet he, not so is he planning, and his heart, not so is devising,
for to
exterminate is in his heart, and to cut off nations not a few.
Isa.10:12,13 Yet it comes,
when Yahweh will clip off all His doings in
mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
I will visit evil on the fruit of the insolent heart of the king of
Assyria,
and the high beauty of his eyes. 13 For, says he,
"By the vigor of my hand I did it, and by my
wisdom, for understanding have I.
And I am taking away the boundaries of the
peoples,
and their equipment I rob.
And I am bringing down, as a sturdy one, their
dwellers,
There was no intention to
save the world in the men who brought on the crucifixion of Christ. Their
selfish motives and evil desires were all they cared to satisfy. They were
utterly unaware that they were working out God’s purpose.
Act.2:23 This One, given up in the specific counsel and foreknowledge of God,
you, gibbeting by the hand of the lawless,
assassinate,
Act.4:27,28 For of a truth, in this city
were gathered against Thy holy Boy Jesus, Whom
Thou dost anoint,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
together with the nations and the peoples of
Israel,
28 to
do whatever Thy hand and Thy counsel designates beforehand to occur.
1Cor.2:8 …which not one of the chief men of this eon knows,
for if they know, they would not crucify the Lord of glory
20.
O man! who are you, to be sure, who
are answering again to God?
That which is molded will not protest to the molder,
"Why do you make me thus?"
Puny men demand answers
from God, as if He is obliged to explain Himself to them and justify
whatever course of action He takes. They insinuate that God is the cause of
their wrongdoing – that the fault does not lie in them.
God made man the way he is.
So, He knows the workings of his heart and the deviousness of his mind. He
is not surprised by man’s objections, even anticipating it in Scripture.
Job.36:23 Who calls His way to account against Him?
Or who says, You
have contrived iniquity?
Job.40:8 Indeed, would you ever
annul My judgment?
Would you condemn Me that you might be justified?
Isa.29:16 O! Your waywardness! Should as clay, the Potter be accounted?
For is what
is made saying of its Maker, `He did not make me'?
And does the
formed say of its Former, `He does not understand'?
Isa.45:9,10 Will anyone contend with his Former?
The earthenware with the ceramists?
Is the clay saying to its potter, `What are you making?'
And your contrivance, `No hands has he'?
10 Will anyone say to a father, `What are
you begetting?'
Or to a woman, `With what are you
travailing?'"
As God, He has the
right to determine His own operations – and creatures have no right at all
to demand that God treats them justly.
Men will allow the arrogant
and demanding deities that they acknowledge or set up for themselves an
absolute right to treat their devotees as they will, no questions asked.
But they have the audacity to demand that the true God explain himself –
why this way and not another. When blessings are dispensed, they ask ‘why
others and not me?’ But when problems assail, they complain ‘why me and not
others?’
Rom.11:32-36 For God
locks up all together in stubbornness,
that He should be merciful
to all.
33 O, the depth of the riches and the
wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are His judgments, and
untraceable His ways!
34 For, who knew the mind of the Lord? or,
who became His adviser?
35 or, who gives to Him first, and it will
be repaid him?
36 seeing that out of Him and through
Him and for Him is all:
to Him be the glory for the eons! Amen!
Men seem to be able to
rationalize with the fear and terror that their gods deal out. But they
flounder when faced with the love and concern for their welfare of the true
God. Why should a god love and care for them? It is simply too good
to be true.
It is beyond any concept of
deity that they have that, at the final count, and for His whole operation
of the eons, God wants to be declared
just by His creation. The
minds of men, even the most intelligent of them put together, simply cannot
cope with this God. It needs God
to shift their present paradigm.
Rom.3:4 …"That so Thou shouldst be justified in Thy
sayings,
And shalt be conquering when Thou art being judged."
Men realize that they sin
but, not knowing God and of His operations, they do not even know why they sin. No amount of mental
calisthenics and self-centred psychology can give them the right answer.
They do not know that they have been constituted
sinners, locked under this
situation without any choice on their
part, and that it has been determined that there they will remain until God intervenes – and only then.
Gal.3:22 But the scripture locks up all together
under sin,
that the promise out of Jesus Christ's faith
may be given
to those who are believing.
21.
Or has not the potter the right over the clay, out of the same kneading
to make one vessel, indeed, for honor, yet one for
dishonor?
Isaiah's
testimony is to the same effect. A remnant in Israel shall be saved in the
coming time of reckoning. These are seen in the Unveiling as the hundred
and forty-four thousand and the vast throng (Un.7:4,9). Concordant Commentary
If a stubborn and obstinate
people, such as Israel is, is mere pliable
clay in the hands of God, what more can we be? He decides what He will make
of us – and the choice is entirely out of His own counsel.
Jer.18:6 As this potter am I
not able to do to you?
O house of Israel, an affirmation of Yahweh.
Lo, as
clay in the hand of the potter, So [are] you in My
hand, O house of Israel.
Isa.64:8 And now, Yahweh, You are our
Father. And we are the clay.
You are our Former, and the doing of Your hand are we all.
Job.14:15 You shall call, and I shall answer
You;
You shall long for the work of Your hands.
Prov.16:4 Yahweh has made everything for its own pertinent end,
Yea even the
wicked for the day of evil.
2Tim.2:20 Now in a great house
there are
not only gold and silver utensils, but wooden
and earthenware also,
and some indeed for honor, yet some for dishonor.
22.
Now if God, wanting to display His indignation
and to make His powerful doings known,
carries, with much patience,
the vessels of indignation, adapted for destruction,
God has not as yet
displayed His indignation to its full extent, keeping it in check until the
determined time. But, because of this ‘delay’ in dealing with the unrighteous,
men assume that God either does not notice or just prefers to ignore their
misdeeds. Like ostriches, they ‘hide their heads in the sand’ and choose to
ignore His righteousness, a righteousness that cannot simply dismiss their wrongdoings. The time for judgment
and requital must come.
Eccl.8:11 Because there is no sentence executed quickly against the evil
deed,
Therefore the heart of the sons of humanity in
them is fully given to do evil.
2Pet.3:8,9 Now of this one thing
you are not to be oblivious, beloved, that
one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and
a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not tardy as to the promise, as some are deeming tardiness,
but is patient because of you, not intending any to perish,
but all
to make room for repentance.
Rom.2:4-6 ...are you despising
the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience,
being ignorant
that the kindness of God is
leading you to repentance?
5 Yet, in accord with your hardness and
unrepentant heart
you are
hoarding for yourself indignation
in the day of indignation and revelation of the
just judgment of God,
6 Who will be paying each one in accord with his acts:
Num.14:11 Yahweh said to Moses: How long
shall this people spurn Me?
And how long shall they not believe in Me
despite
all the signs which I have done among them?
Lam.3:22 It is by Yahweh's benignities that we have
not come to end,
that His compassions are not finished;
Col.3:5-7 Deaden, then, your
members that are on the earth:
prostitution, uncleanness, passion, evil desire
and greed, which is idolatry,
6 because
of which the indignation of God is coming on the sons of
stubbornness--
7 among whom you also once walked, when you lived
in these things.
23. it is that He should also be making known the riches of His glory
on the vessels of mercy, which He makes ready before for glory--
Operating all in accord with the counsel of
His will, God has determined who
falls under His indignation as well as who receives His mercy. And this was
decided even before the eons were
made, uninfluenced by any possible ‘worthiness’ of the called.
1Cor.2:7 but we are speaking God's wisdom in
a secret,
wisdom which has been concealed,
which God designates before--before the eons, for our glory
Rom.8:28-30 Now we are aware
that God is working all together for the good of
those who are loving God,
who are called according to the purpose
29 that, whom He foreknew, He designates beforehand, also,
to be conformed to the image of His Son,
for Him to be Firstborn among many
brethren.
30 Now whom
He designates beforehand, these
He calls also,
and whom
He calls, these He justifies
also;
now whom
He justifies, these He glorifies
also.
1Thes.5:9,10 for God did not appoint us to indignation,
but to the procuring of salvation through our
Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for our sakes,
that, whether we may be watching or drowsing,
we should be living at the same time together
with Him.
2Thes.2:13,14 Now we ought to be
thanking God always concerning you, brethren,
beloved by the Lord,
seeing that God
prefers you from the beginning for salvation,
in holiness of the spirit and faith in the
truth,
14 into which He also calls us
through
our evangel, for the procuring of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph.2:4-7 yet God,
being rich in mercy, because of His vast love
with which He loves us
5 (we also being dead to the offenses and
the lusts),
vivifies
us together in Christ (in grace are you saved!)
6 and rouses
us together
and seats
us together among the celestials, in Christ Jesus,
7 that,
in the oncoming eons, He should be displaying
the
transcendent riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Eph.2:10 For His achievement are we,
being
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God
makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.
24.
us, whom He calls also,
not only out of the Jews, but out of the nations also.
The ‘us’ speaks of ‘the
ecclesia which is the body of Christ’,
consisting of the ‘called out ones’ out of Israel and the ‘called out ones’
out of the nations, the latter having a higher proportion.
The Greek term
‘ecclesia’ is, literally, ‘out-called’ and is generic. The context of the
passage must determine which particular group of people is being referred
to.
It is only when Paul began
his ministry among the nations, with the evangel that does not include the
observance of the law of Sinai and which gives no preference or significance
to the rite of circumcision or other fleshly criteria, that a distinction
became necessary between this
evangel (fittingly termed ‘of the Uncircumcision’) and that (termed ‘of the Circumcision’) which had been ‘in effect’
under the ministry of the Twelve. This was because the two evangels would
run contemporaneously during a transitional period until the suspension of
the first.
Rom.15:15,16 Yet more daringly do I write to
you, in part, as prompting you,
because of the grace being given to me from God,
16 for
me to be the minister of Christ Jesus for the nations,
acting as a priest of the evangel of God,
that the
approach present of the nations may be becoming well received,
having been hallowed by holy spirit.
Rom.3:29,30 Or is He the god of the
Jews only? Is He not of the nations also?
30 Yes, of
the nations also, if so be that God is One,
Who will be justifying the Circumcision out of faith
and the Uncircumcision through faith.
Rom.4:11,12 And he obtained the
sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith which was in uncircumcision,
for him to be the father of all those who are
believing through uncircumcision,
for righteousness to be reckoned to them,
12 and the father of the Circumcision, not to those
of the Circumcision only,
but to those also who are observing the elements
of the faith
in the footprints of our father Abraham, in uncircumcision.
Rom.10:11-13 For the scripture is
saying:
Everyone who is believing on Him shall not be
disgraced.
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek,
for the same One is Lord of all, being rich for
all who are invoking Him.
13 For everyone, whoever should be invoking the name of the Lord, shall be
saved.
Act.13:48 Now on hearing this,
the nations rejoiced and glorified the word of
the Lord,
and they believe, whoever were set for life eonian.
1Cor.12:13 For in one spirit also we all are baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free,
and all are made to imbibe one spirit.
Gal.3:27-29 For whoever are
baptized into Christ, put on Christ,
28 in Whom there is no Jew
nor yet Greek, there is no slave nor yet free,
there is no male and female, for you all are one
in Christ Jesus.
29 Now if you are Christ's, consequently
you are of Abraham's seed,
enjoyers of the allotment according to the
promise.
Gal.5:6 For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision is
availing anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith, operating through
love.
Gal.6:15 For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything,
but a new
creation.
Col.3:11 wherein there is no
Greek and Jew,
Circumcision and Uncircumcision, barbarian,
Scythian, slave, freeman,
but all and in all is Christ.
Eph.3:6,7 the nations are to be joint enjoyers of an allotment, and a joint body,
and joint
partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus, through the evangel
7 of which I became the dispenser,
in accord with the gratuity of the grace of God,
which is granted to me
in accord with His powerful operation.
Eph.3:8-12 To me, less than the least of all saints, was granted this grace:
to bring the evangel of the untraceable riches
of Christ to the nations,
9 and to enlighten all as to what is the administration
of the secret,
which has been concealed from the eons in God,
Who creates all,
10 that now may be made known
to the sovereignties and the authorities among
the celestials,
through
the ecclesia, the multifarious wisdom of God,
11 in accord with the purpose of the eons,
which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord;
12 in Whom we have boldness and access with
confidence, through His faith.--
In His wisdom He now calls,
under our evangel, some out of the Jews and some out of the nations for
salvation.
25.
As He is saying in Hosea also:
I shall be calling those
who are not My people "My
people,"
And she who is not beloved "Beloved,"
A
comparison of Hos.2:23 with Hos.1:9-11 shows that this is not an
interpretation but an illustration. God, in His sovereign mercy, will
reverse the sentence which He pronounced against Israel. In the very same
place in which they were named "Lo-ammi," there they shall be called
sons of the living God. He deals with the nations as this. Concordant Commentary
The relevant passage in
Hosea speaks of a casting away
(at Jezreel) and of a reinstatement
(at Jezreel, also) of a particular people - and the people
exclusively referred to in Hosea are
the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel. The nations are not in
this picture at all.
Hos.1:2-11 …And she is becoming pregnant again
and is bearing a son.
9 And He is saying, Call his name Lo-ammi,
for you
are not My people, and I
am not your I Am Becoming.
10 …And it comes to be in the place in which it was
being said to them,
Not My people are you, there shall it be said to them, sons of the living El.
11 And the sons of Judah and the sons of
Israel shall be convened together.
And they shall place one head over them, and
they shall go up from the land,
for great is the
day of Jezreel.
Hos.2:19,20 And I will betroth you to Me for the eon,
and I will betroth
you to Me
in righteousness, and in judgment, and in kindness,
and in compassions.
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness;
then you
shall know that I am Yahweh.
Hos.2:23 Then I sow her to Myself in the land,
and I have compassion on Lo-ruhamah.
And I say to Lo-ammi,
My people are you!
And he is saying, Yahweh, my Elohim are
You.
God is not, in this passage
of Romans, referring to those of the nations who are being called now but,
rather, to those out of the Jews who
are believing the evangel that Paul brings. Though, as part of the Jewish people
they had been cast out together with all of them, through the faith given
them these Jewish believers are being reinstated into a relationship with
God even before the rest of their
people will receive this blessing.
Before their being called,
believers from out of the nations were without God in the world and were
not the assigned beneficiaries of any such promise. As they were not cast
out, the question of a reinstatement
of the nations does not arise.
Gal.4:8 But then, indeed,
having no perception of God,
you were slaves of those who, by nature, are not gods.
1Cor.12:2 You are aware that when you were of
the nations,
you were led away to the voiceless idols, as ever
you were led.
Now, however, God applies
this pattern, of bringing those
who have no relationship with Him into fellowship, to His dealing with the
nations – who, until the evangel of the Uncircumcision came into effect,
were definitely excluded from the recognition of, and a relationship with,
God.
Eph.2:11-13 Therefore, remember that once
you,
the
nations in flesh--who are termed "Uncircumcision"
by those termed "Circumcision," in
flesh, made by hands--
12 that you were, in that era,
apart from Christ, being alienated from the
citizenship of Israel,
and guests of the promise covenants, having no
expectation,
and
without God in the world.
13 Yet now, in Christ Jesus,
you, who once are far off, are become near by the blood of Christ.
Eph.1:3-5 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who blesses us with every spiritual blessing
among the celestials, in Christ,
4 according as He chooses us in Him before the disruption of the world,
we to be holy and flawless in His sight,
5 in love designating us beforehand for the place of a son for Him
through Christ Jesus; in accord with the delight
of His will,
Gal.3:26-28 for you are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For whoever are baptized into Christ,
put on Christ,
28 in Whom there is no Jew nor yet Greek,
there is no slave nor yet free,
there is no male and female, for you all are one in Christ Jesus.
26.
"And it shall be,
in the place where it was declared to them, `Not My
people are you,'"
There "they shall be called `sons of the living
God.'"
Paul cites from Hosea to
witness to the fact that GOD decides when Israel is set aside as 'not My people', and when she
will return to Him as 'My people' once again.
Those of ‘the body of
Christ’ are included in God's choice for salvation, but they are NOT directly
referred to in the citation from Hosea.
At Jezreel
ISRAEL, and no other nation
else, was sentenced to be 'not My people'.
At Jezreel, also,
ISRAEL, and no other nation
else, shall be declared to be 'My people'!
In keeping with this
reservation of Israel, Peter, in an ‘end-time’ context, when addressing ‘the chosen expatriates of the dispersion’,
the people of Israel dispersed from their land, reaffirms the promise God made
through Hosea.
1Pet.2:9,10 Yet you are
a chosen race, a "royal priesthood," a
"holy nation," a procured people,
so that you should be recounting the virtues of
Him
Who calls you out of darkness into His marvelous
light,
10 who once were "not a people"
yet now are the people of
God,
who "have not enjoyed mercy," yet now are "being shown
mercy."
27.
Now Isaiah is crying over Israel,
If the number of the sons of Israel should
be as the sand of the sea,
the residue shall be saved,
Through the centuries, many
nations that have attempted to exterminate the people of Israel. But, they
have all failed in their endeavour, some of them fading into obscurity and
oblivion themselves. But Israel’s pride in what she thinks is her own
prowess has made her lose touch with the reality and has distorted her
objectivity.
Paul quotes from Isaiah to
illustrate that it is because of God's
decision to be merciful that there is any
of Israel left alive. This is ‘the
residue’, a remnant, only a rather small portion of what had been as
many ‘as the sand of the sea’.
Isa.10:20-22 And it comes in that day, not continue further
will the
remnant of Israel, and the delivered of the house of Jacob,
to lean on their smiter.
Yet they will lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel,
in truth.
21 A
remnant will return, a remnant of
Jacob, to El, the Master.
22 For, should the people of Israel come to
be as the sand of the sea,
a remnant shall be saved among
them.
The conclusion decided shall be overflowing with
righteousness,
28.
for "a conclusive and concise accounting
the Lord will be doing on the earth."
The time is
coming, however, when all things will be set right. But, before this
happens, Israel must be chastised and the nations must experience the
indignation of God. This is the period of ‘the great affliction’ and ‘the
time of Jacob’s trouble’.
Isa.10:23 for a conclusive and decisive
accounting
will my Lord Yahweh of hosts make within the
entire land.
Dan.12:1 …Then comes to be an era of
distress such as has not occurred
since
there came to be a nation on the earth, till that era….
Mt.24:21-22 for then shall be great
affliction,
such as
has not occurred from the beginning of the world till now;
neither under any circumstances may be occurring.
22 And, except those days were discounted, no flesh at all would be saved.
Yet, because
of the chosen, those days shall be discounted.
Jer.30:7 Woe! for great [is] that day, without any like it,
Yea, a
time of adversity it [is] to Jacob, Yet out of it he is saved.
KJV Alas! for that day [is] great,
so that none [is] like it:
it [is] even the
time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
NIV How awful that day
will be! None will be like it.
It will be a
time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.
RSV Alas! that day is so great there
is none like it;
it is a
time of distress for Jacob; yet he shall be saved out of it.
29.
And according as Isaiah declared before,
"Except the Lord of hosts conserved us a seed,
As Sodom would we become, And to Gomorrah would
we be likened."
The story of Sodom and
Gomorrah is common knowledge, repeatedly used as an example of utter
devastation under God’s indignation – for, though speculation is rife, even
the sites of these two sinful cities is unknown to this day.
Isa.1:9 Unless Yahweh of hosts reserves for us a few survivors,
as Sodom would we become, and to Gomorrah would we be likened.
Gen.19:24 And Yahweh rains on Sodom and on Gomorrah
sulphur and fire from Yahweh, from the heavens
2Pet.2:6 and condemns the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,
reducing them to cinders by an overthrow,
having placed them as an example for those about to be irreverent
Jer.49:18 As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and its
neighbors,
said Yahweh, No one does dwell there, Nor
sojourn in her does a son of man.
Jer.50:40 As overthrown by Elohim with Sodom, and with Gomorrah,
and with its neighbors, An affirmation of
Yahweh,
none does dwell there, Nor sojourn in her does a
son of man.
Isa.13:19 And it comes that Babylon, the
stateliest of kingdoms,
the beauty, the pomp of the Chaldeans,
shall be as the overturning of Sodom and Gomorrah by the Elohim.
Jude
1:7 As Sodom and Gomorrah
and the cities about them in like manner to
these committing ultra-prostitution,
and coming away after other flesh, are lying
before us,
a specimen, experiencing the
justice of fire eonian.
So, though as a people
faced with annihilation a number of times at the hands of neighbouring
powers, Israel remains an entity
to be reckoned with. Though she has not been faithful, Yahweh has – to Himself as well as to her.
SECTION g - Doctrine: Justification, National (9:30 - 10:21)
Balanced by SECTION G - Doctrine: Justification,
Individual (3:21 - 4:25)
30.
What, then, shall we be
declaring?
That the nations who are not pursuing righteousness
overtook righteousness, yet a righteousness which
is out of faith.
God's
sovereignty is further illustrated in the dispensation of justification.
Normally, Israel, seeking to keep a just law, should have attained
righteousness. Yet the nations, who made no effort to attain righteousness,
grasp it because they find it on the principle of faith. The pursuit of
righteousness by means of the law led Israel to refuse the grace of Christ
apart from the keeping of the law.
It
is evident that this is true only in a national way, for not all of Israel
stumbled, neither did all among the nations find the righteousness of
faith. This must be constantly borne in mind in studying this entire
division of Romans. It deals, not with individuals, but nations. Israel, as
a whole, is apostate, yet some among them are brilliant examples of faith.
The nations, who never before had any part in God's blessings, except as
they became proselytes and identified themselves with Israel, now believe
God in considerable numbers. Paul becomes the apostle of the nations and
thus inaugurates the present secret economy (Eph.3:2).
Concordant
Commentary
God had not revealed
Himself to the people of the nations, so they could not worship Him but,
rather, became distracted into idolatry in false religions. Thus they were
unable to truly grasp what righteousness is.
Eph.2:12 that you were, in that
era, apart from Christ,
being alienated
from the citizenship of Israel,
and guests
of the promise covenants, having no
expectation,
and without
God in the world.
Eph.4:17-19 This, then, I am saying
and attesting in the Lord:
By no means are you still to be walking
according as those of the nations also are walking,
in the
vanity of their mind,
18 their
comprehension being darkened,
being estranged
from the life of God because of the
ignorance that is in them,
because of
the callousness of their hearts,
19 who, being past feeling,
in greed
give themselves up with wantonness to all uncleanness as a vocation.
Yet, they were now, with the introduction of the
evangel given through Paul, able to have
that righteousness which, hitherto, they were unaware of, and which they
were not actively seeking. Though
not pursuing that righteousness
by any effort of their own, they were now in possession of it. It could not, therefore, be something
earned or deserved as a reward or wage for their diligence or dedication,
but something from outside of themselves, something gratuitous, a gift, a
bestowal, under grace.
Isa.65:1,2 I am inquired of by
those who had not asked for Me.
I am found by those who did not seek Me.
I say, `Behold Me!' to a nation not calling My
name.
Col.1:26,27 the secret which has
been concealed from the eons and from the generations,
yet now
was made manifest to His saints,
27 to whom God wills to make known
what are the glorious riches of this secret
among the nations,
which is: Christ
among you, the expectation of glory
Rom.1:17 For in it God's righteousness is being revealed, out of faith for
faith,
according as it is written: "Now the just
one by faith shall be living."
Eph.2:8,9 For in grace, through faith, are you saved,
and this is not
out of you; it is God's
approach present,
9 not of works, lest anyone should be
boasting.
Rom.3:22 yet a righteousness of God through Jesus Christ's faith,
for all, and on all who are believing, for there is no distinction,
Gal.2:16 having perceived that a man
is not being justified by works of law,
except alone through the faith of Christ Jesus,
we also believe in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by the faith of Christ
and not by works of law,
seeing that by works of law shall no flesh at all be
justified.
Rom.4:3-5 For what is the
scripture saying?
Now "Abraham believes God, and it
is reckoned to him for righteousness."
4 Now to the worker, the wage is not
reckoned as a favor, but as a debt.
5 Yet to him who is not working,
yet is
believing on Him Who is justifying the irreverent,
his faith
is reckoned for righteousness.
Rom.4:13 For not through law is
the promise to Abraham, or to his Seed,
for him to be enjoyer of the allotment of the
world,
but
through faith's righteousness.
Rom.10:10 For with the heart it is believed for righteousness,
yet with the mouth it is avowed for salvation.
Phil.3:9 and may be found in
Him,
not having my righteousness, which is of law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is from God for faith:
31.
Yet Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness,
into a law of righteousness does not outstrip.
Israel, on the other hand,
hearing of this required righteousness, dared to imagine it to be her own
righteousness that was called for. In her pride she has attempted to
establish her righteousness through observance of the law - and her course
has been erratic, to say the least. In certain areas she has been stringent
and meticulous, but in areas of real import she has been quite arbitrary
and lax.
Rom.10:2-4 For I am testifying to
them that they have a zeal of
God,
but not
in accord with recognition.
3 For they, being ignorant of the righteousness of God,
and seeking to establish their own righteousness,
were not subjected to the righteousness of
God.
4 For
Christ is the consummation of law for righteousness
to everyone who is believing.
Mt.23:23,24 …you are taking tithes from the
mint and the dill and the cumin,
and leave
the weightier matters of the law, judging and mercy and faith.
Now these it was binding for you to do, and not
leave those.
24 Blind guides! straining out a gnat, yet swallowing a camel!
Isa,65:2 I spread out My hands all the day to a stubborn and contentious people,
those going the way which is not good, after their own devices,
32.
Wherefore? Seeing that it is not out of faith, but as out of law works,
they stumble on the stumbling stone,
Even though some have been
called to be believers, Israel, as a nation, has not been able to attain
that righteousness she seeks to work up on her own steam.
Rom.11:7,8 What then? What Israel is seeking for, this she
did not encounter,
yet the chosen encountered it. Now the rest were
calloused,
8 even as it is written, God
gives them a spirit of stupor,
eyes not
to be observing, and ears not to
be hearing, till this very day.
Israel has not been given
the realization that the law she has been given was never meant to justify
or to bestow righteousness on anyone. Not seeing this, she has been in a
stupor, unable to see the actual function of the law and unable to recognize
God’s righteousness.
Gal.3:21 For if a law were given
that is able to vivify,
really, righteousness were out of law.
Heb.7:18,19 For, indeed, there is
coming to be
a repudiation of the preceding precept because it is weak and without benefit;
19 for
the law perfects nothing,…
Gal.3:10-12 …whoever are of works of law
are under a curse,
for it written that, Accursed is everyone
who is not remaining in all things written in
the scroll of the law to do
them.
11 Now that in law no one is being justified with God is evident,
for the just one by faith shall be living.
12 Now the
law is not of faith, but who does them "shall be living in
them."
Rom.5:13 …yet sin is not being taken
into account when there is no law;
Rom.4:15 for the law is producing indignation.
Now where no
law is, neither is there
transgression.
Gal.3:19 What, then, is the law? On behalf of transgressions was it added,…
Rom.3:20 …by works of law, no flesh at all shall be justified
in His sight,
for through law is the recognition of sin.
Gal.2:16 …having perceived that
a man is not being justified by works of law,
except alone
through the faith of Christ Jesus,
we also believe in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by the faith of Christ
and not by works of law,
seeing that by works of law shall no flesh at all be justified.
33.
according as it is written:
Lo! I am laying in Zion a Stumbling Stone
and a Snare Rock,
And the one believing on Him shall not be
disgraced.
In accord with His Father’s
will, Christ, the Word, became flesh and came into the world. But it was
not for the world to recognize and acknowledge Him and so it carried on in
its ignorance of Him and of the true God.
Jn.1:10 In the world He was,
and the world came into being through Him, and the world knew Him not.
Even the people
of Israel, who had been entrusted with the oracles of God from the giving
of the law and onwards, could not recognize Him from that revelation.
Expecting a world conqueror, they could not see how a humble son of a
carpenter could fit such a role. Driven by their pride and in accord with
the wisdom of the world they rejected Him and His declarations.
Jn.1:11 To His own He came, and those who are His own accepted Him
not.
There were, however, those
of Israel who were graced to accept Him for what He claimed to be.
Jn.1:12 Yet whoever obtained Him,
to them He
gives the right to become children of God,
to those who are believing in His name,
Isa.28:16 Wherefore, thus says my
Lord Yahweh,
"Behold Me laying in Zion a foundation stone,
a choice
stone,
a corner of a precious well-founded
foundation.
The
believer on it shall not be put to shame.
Rom.10:11 For the scripture is
saying:
Everyone who is believing on Him shall not be
disgraced.
But, the people of Israel,
as a whole, were not afforded this privilege and, thus, found Him to be a
stumbling block and an impediment to their religious fervour. Not being
enabled to, they rejected Him and, therefore, they had no right to become
children of God and were no more considered part of the true Israel of God.
Act.3:22,23 Moses, indeed, said
that: A Prophet will the Lord your God,
be raising up to you from among your brethren,
as me.
Him you
shall hear,
according to all, whatsoever
He should be speaking to you.
23 Yet it shall be that every soul whatsoever which should not hear that Prophet
shall be
utterly exterminated from among the people.
Isa.8:14 And if you trust
Him, He comes to be for a Sanctuary,
and not for a Stone to strike, nor for a Rock to
stumble.
Yet to the
two houses of Jacob He is for a
Snare,
and for a
Trap to the dwellers of Jerusalem.
1Pet.2:7,8 To you, then, who are believing, is
the honor,
yet to the unbelieving: "A Stone which is rejected by the builders,
this came to be for the head of the
corner,"
8 and a
stumbling stone and a snare rock;
who are stumbling also at the word, being
stubborn,
to which they were appointed also.
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Index of Articles - Romans
Aug 2008
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