Romans 11:1-10

Insight…??!! Last week I posted a brief item on predestination, admitting that I knew little about the topic. That post was in reference to Romans 8:29:30, For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. However, a partial verse in today’s reading may offer insight into that particular predestination item: God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. (v. 2a) It looks like God’s “foreknowing” is with respect to the Israelite people. That is, they were his chosen people, from Abraham forward. So everyone born into Abraham’s line is one of those whom He foreknew. So going back to 8:29-30 we can now see that the Israelites whom He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son… And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. It appears that these predestination items refer to the Israelites. It was His intent that they were all called, then justified and glorified. But not all accepted the call – only the “remnant” in Paul’s time. Insight?

As for that remnant, it’s why Paul refers back to Elijah, and from that Elijah item he reasons out the following verse: So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. (v. 5) It’s glorious how the Old Testament and New Testament confirm each other. Yeah, GLORY!

Slava Bohu!

Romans 10:14-21

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? (vv. 14-15a) These words strike me every time I read them. They are a clear call to all of us for evangelism. The Ethiopian eunuch asks a similar question of Philip: So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. (Acts 8:30-31) A world is waiting for us to speak…!

In this paragraph “they” refers to the Jewish people: But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” (vv. 18-19) This last verse comes from the Song of Moses, his final speech to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 32. Here is that verse’s context: They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth. The Lord saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters. And He said, “I will hide My face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have made Me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” (vv. 16-21) Paul is saying that the Jewish people’s failure to believe, to follow God faithfully has a long history, going way back to their time in the wilderness. And they are still that way in Paul’s “today” and in our own “today”. Sad.

Slava Bohu!

Romans 9:30-10:13

But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”… (vv. 6-8) These few verses have always been confusing to me, but I think I might understand it this time. Essentially Paul is saying that the Gospel is neither hidden nor difficult to understand. That is, no one needs to go looking for Jesus in heaven or into the abyss to bring Him in for an explanation. It’s already straightforward! He then goes on to state the Gospel in just a few words: …because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (v. 9) It’s our own confession of faith, simple and straightforward!!

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (v. 13) My Study Bible pointed out something I should have seen myself – that Peter quoted this same verse in his Pentecost speech. I thought I recognized it…!! Glory!!

Slava Bohu!

Romans 9:14-29

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” (v. 20) I feel like Paul is channeling Job here: Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said, “Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me. Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified? (Job 40:6-8, NASB) We simply cannot question God! We can ask Him, “Why is this thing happening to me?” But as we ask, we are seeking His will, His wisdom, His guidance; we’re not being rebellious.

In channeling Job, Paul is actually responding to an unasked question: So then He has mercy on whomever He wills, and He hardens whomever He wills. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?” (vv. 18-19) The unasked question has to do with God doing whatever He wishes and the questioner asking how God can find fault in someone if He chooses to do this thing or that thing and we have no say in the matter. And the simple answer is that we respond to whatever God puts in front of us, again fully seeking His will, His wisdom, His guidance. It’s really straightforward and simple – and difficult!!

Slava Bohu!

Romans 9:1-13

They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. (vv. 4-5) To the longer listing Paul wrote, at the very end he added that Jesus was also Jewish. Very nice touch. He could easily have added Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel; Moses and Joshua; David; Isaiah; Jeremiah; Daniel; and a host of others, including himself! What a heritage.

Slava Bohu!

Romans 8:31-39

Today – one of my all-time favorite Bible sections! How can it not be one of everyone’s favorite Bible sections??!! Look at some of these questions!

If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? Who is to condemn? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (vv. 31b, 33a, 34a, 35a, respectively)

And look at the ultimate response: For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (vv. 38-39) That’s all, folks. GLORY, GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

Romans 8:18-30

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (vv. 20-21) I’ve been reading the book, Heaven, by Randy Alcorn. He makes a convincing argument that our “permanent Heaven” will be our very own Earth – restored to its original glory. (Please forgive my interpretation of what I’ve read thus far.) Paul appears to be saying the same thing here, that creation itself will be set free and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. As to the phrase, Him who subjected it, my guess is that Paul is referring to God’s casting Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, thereby effecting His judgment of them upon the whole Earth. See Genesis 3:17-19.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (vv. 26-17) These are comforting verses – that we can pray, not knowing exactly what we are praying about, but God knows through the Holy Spirit within us and around us. I have often wondered if those groanings too deep for words are actually believers speaking in tongues. I’ve also imagined those “groanings” as our own deep longing for the Lord to intervene in some situation, when we don’t know what to pray and our prayer is something like “Oooohhh… Lord, help!”

Verses 28-30 bring up the issue of predestination. I am not at all versed in the arguments around that topic. What I can believe, however, is that God has known us even before He created us and that He has wanted all of us to follow His Son. Thereto He calls us – the question is whether we answer His call. The rest follows – called, justified, glorified! GLORY, according to Scripture!! (v. 30)

Slava Bohu!

Romans 8:1-17

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (vv. 5-6) There is an obvious question here: “What have we set our minds on?” Or, what does it mean to set our minds on things of the flesh? What are some of these “things of the flesh”? A simple short list might include money, belongings, a bigger house, a nicer car? Or non-tangible things like power, success, recognition? But by contrast, what are some of the “things of the Spirit”? Prayer, Bible study, fellowship, service… I’m drawn back to Joshua 24:15b, But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Slava Bohu!

Romans 7:13-25

Paul’s section today hits home for me. His thoughts that I read today sound a lot like addiction – not necessarily alcohol or drug or sex addictions to which (I trust) most of us cannot really relate, but to other common addictions “out there”, like gambling, pornography, computer games – even everyday behaviors like shopping or eating or watching television.

I’ve been attending Freedom Road, our St. Andrew’s 12-Step program, for a couple of years now. I brew beer, I like beer, and I began to wonder if I might be an alcoholic. Over time the people attending Freedom Road with me have agreed that I am not an alcoholic. But I do have something of an addiction – to food, in general, and to sweets in particular. So my “beer problem” is essentially a food problem. I find that I am almost always “hungry”. Not true!! In fact, I am not truly hungry, but I have more of a food habit, and if I’m not really busy with work or leisure of some sort, I’m regularly looking for something to snack on. So my beer problem is really a special case of a more general food problem.

All of which brings me to today’s reading… The behavior that Paul describes fits my and others’ addiction patterns: I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (v. 15b) I am tempted to eat. Occasionally I resist the temptation, but all too often I just let it fly and have another snack. And Paul’s response is exactly my response some time later: Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (v. 24) And we know the answer. Paul gives us the answer: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (v. 25) Then why is it still so hard??!!

Slava Bohu!

Romans 7:1-12

I knew when we started Romans that it would be a difficult book. But these shorter readings have certainly helped my (our?) understanding of some of these confusing passages. Still, however, we have a section today that makes me wonder: What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. (vv. 7-8) It’s not hard to simply read these words and understand what Paul is saying. The only confusion for our simple understanding is between “commandment” and “Law”, and I presume Paul is implying that “commandment” is one of the specific mentions in the Law and that “Law” is the comprehensive listing of all that Moses received from God at Mt. Sinai. At least that’s how I read it.

However, it’s confusing to me. Is Paul saying that sin did not exist before the Law? I recall already asking a similar question, thinking of Sodom and Gomorrah, Judah and Tamar, Joseph’s brothers, the Flood, etc. Paul seems to be saying the he did not covet until he learned through the Law that coveting was wrong. But surely he had consciousness before he knew about the Law, that there was some covetousness that was wrong. Maybe his introduction to and knowledge of the Law amplified what was already there? I think I understand his basic point, that the Law pointed us to sin and our need for a Savior: The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. (v. 10) And it’s not hard for me to read through the Ten Commandments and know that I am a sinner who needs His grace to be saved, especially as Jesus expounded on a few of these Commandments in His famous “You have heard it said…” teaching at the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21, ff.). Still, Paul is confusing…!

Slava Bohu!