(Re: Can God who is love, hate?)
Yes (Romans 9:13), in the same way that God who is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29) can be like rivers of water (John 7:38-39).
(See also 1 John 4:8 below)
~
(Re: But is not hate motivated by murderous intent?)
God's hatred is different than human hatred, insofar as human hatred for other people is spiritually equivalent to murder (1 John 3:15), while when God Himself slays people to express His hatred (Hosea 9:15-16), it is not murder, but His holy and righteous judgment and wrath against evil (Romans 2:5, Romans 9:22, Revelation 14:10-11).
(See, for example, Genesis 6:17 above)
~
(Re: But does not God have a love greater than any human love?)
God has a love greater in magnitude than any human love, toward those He loves. But this does not conflict with the scope of God's love not including everyone (Romans 9:11-22, Malachi 1:2b-3).
~
(Re: So does God want us to love our enemies, while He hates His enemies?)
See "it is not hypocritical" under Matthew 5:44 above.
~
(Re: Does not *agape love require love for everyone?)
No, agape love in itself does not require that it be directed toward everyone. For otherwise, it would contradict the meaning of agape love to say: "Thou shalt (agape) love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy" (Matthew 5:43). So even though God is agape love (1 John 4:16), He does not have to agape love everyone (Romans 9:13). As the sovereign Creator, He has the right to hate those individuals who are not His elect (Romans 9:11-22). But His elect individuals, under the New Covenant, have been commanded by Him to agape love even their enemies (Matthew 5:44), just as God agape loved His elect individuals even while they were yet His enemies (Romans 5:8, Colossians 1:21-22). The aspect of agape love which would most come into play with regard to one's enemies might be: "agape suffereth long, and is kind", and agape "beareth all things" and "endureth all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4,7). That is, Christians in their agape love for their enemies are to bear every personal attack from them patiently and without any personal counter-attack (Matthew 5:39,44, Matthew 26:52).
What makes Jesus Christ's commandment in Matthew 5:44 so radical is that it goes beyond the requirements of even agape love in itself, just as it goes beyond even the requirements of "bless", and "do good", and "pray" in themselves. That is, just as agape love in itself does not require that it be applied to one's enemies, so "bless", and "do good", and "pray" in themselves do not require that they be applied to one's enemies. Christians agape love their enemies, just as they bless, and do good, and pray for their enemies, not because of the requirements of these things in themselves, but because of the requirement laid upon Christians by Jesus. And it is in keeping Jesus' commandments that Christians show their agape love for Him (John 14:21-24; 1 John 5:3).
(See also Matthew 5:39 above)
--
*Romans 9:16 / *Rom. 9:16 -
(Re: A *blind man analogy)
It does not follow logically that since people cannot do anything by their own power to be initially saved (Romans 9:16), then they cannot do anything by their own power to ultimately lose their salvation. For, as an analogy, imagine that a blind man cannot ever hope to see except by Jesus Christ miraculously giving him sight. Once Jesus does give him sight, it does not follow logically that the man cannot then do anything by his own power to end up losing his sight, such as by wrongly employing his free will to stare at the sun for too long.
(See also the "double-blind man analogy" of Ephesians 2:8 below)
--
*Romans 9:19 / *Rom. 9:19 -
(Re: Double predestination: How can people be held accountable for what God predestined them to be?)
The apostle Paul anticipated this question:
[Romans 9:19]
God yet finds fault because double predestination does not take away the free will of nonelect individuals, just as it does not take away the free will of elect individuals. That is, God will condemn nonelect individuals for their own free-willed sins (James 1:13-15), which He simply chooses not to forgive, but to harden nonelect individuals in them:
[Romans 9:18-24]
(See also the "symphony" analogy of Mark 13:32 above. And see the "Vessels of wrath" section of Romans 9:11 above)
--
*Romans 9:20-23 / *Rom. 9:20 -
Here the potter is God and the clay is all of humanity, both Jews and Gentiles. Just as the human vessels of honor/mercy whom God has created include both some Jews and some Gentiles (Romans 9:23-24), so the human vessels of dishonor/wrath whom God has created (Romans 9:22) include both some Jews and some Gentiles, such as Pharaoh (Romans 9:17-22, Exodus 9:12,16).
Also, note that the same lump of clay is used to make both types of vessels (Romans 9:21).
That is... (See the "criteria" section of Romans 9:11 above)
~
(Re: But do not pots lack consciousness, while things with consciousness have rights?)
God's creatures have no rights vis-à-vis God, just as a potter's pots have no rights vis-à-vis the potter (Romans 9:20-23), even though pots could have some level of consciousness; just as a puff of wind, a wave of water, a tree, or a mountain must have enough consciousness to obey a human command (Mark 4:39-41, Luke 17:6, Matthew 17:20). With the potter analogy (Romans 9:20-23), even though humans are the pots, compared with the infinite God even all humans together are worth "less than nothing" (Isaiah 40:17, Isaiah 2:22). Their level of consciousness is infinitesimal compared with God's, and so would be less than any consciousness which pots have compared with humans.
(See also Isaiah 40:17 and Mark 16:15 above)
--
*Romans 9:22 / *Rom. 9:22 -
(Re: "Destruction" / G0684 = annihilation?)
No, see Matthew 7:13 above.
--
*Romans 9:25-26 / *Rom. 9:25 / *Rom. 9:26 -
This applies to Jewish and Gentile elect individuals (Romans 9:24-26), who, while they are non-Christians (Romans 11:28), are not God's people insofar as they are not grafted into the good olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:20). But when they become Christians, they become God's people insofar as they get grafted into the good olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17,24).
The subsequent context of Romans 9:25-26 shows that there the apostle Paul is thinking of "Israel" in the sense of Jews who mistakenly think that they can attain to righteousness by keeping the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Romans 9:30 to 10:13).
--
*Romans 9:27-29 / *Rom. 9:27 -
This means that only a remnant of genetic Israel will become Christian, just as only a remnant of humanity as a whole will become truly Christian (Matthew 7:14). For only a remnant of Israel and humanity as a whole is elect (chosen) (Matthew 22:14).
~
(As the sand of the sea)
See Genesis 24:60 above.
--
*Romans 9:29 / *Rom. 9:29 -
"Sabaoth" (G4519) does not mean "Sabbath", but "Armies".
Romans 9:29 is quoting from Isaiah 1:9, where in the KJV "the Lord of Sabaoth" (from the Hebrew Tsaba'ah) is translated as "the LORD of hosts".
"LORD" (all caps) is the KJV rendering of the Hebrew name "YHWH" (H3068). And "hosts" (tsaba'ah: H6635) means "armies" (Isaiah 34:2).
So both "the Lord of Sabaoth" and "the LORD of hosts" means "YHWH of Armies", as in His heavenly, angelic armies (2 Kings 6:17, Daniel 4:35, Matthew 25:31, Psalms 68:17).
This is a military title for our God YHWH, who is "a man of war" (Exodus 15:3). And this includes YHWH God the Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:8), who will Himself wage war against all of the armies of the world at His future, Second Coming (Revelation 19:19-21).
But Christians themselves are to be as harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). For they have no right to ever harm anyone. Only the Holy God has that right.
(See Matthew 5:39 and Daniel 12:7b above)
--
*Romans 9:30-33 / *Rom. 9:30 -
See Romans 3:19 above.
--
*Romans 9:32 / *Rom. 9:32 -
The apostle Paul is referring to the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law in Romans 9:31-32. For the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law is Israel's law of righteousness referred to in Romans 9:31 (cf. Romans 7:12). And Israel's works "of the law" referred to in Romans 9:32 (Textus Receptus) are the works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Romans 3:20,28, Acts 13:39).
~
(Re: Is there something unrighteous about the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law?)
No, insofar as the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law is righteous in itself (Romans 7:12). But Romans 9:31-32 means that people cannot attain to a saving righteousness by doing the works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Romans 3:20,28, Acts 13:39). But Christians do have to patiently continue to perform works of faith (1 Thessalonians 1:3, Galatians 5:6b, Titus 3:8) (not works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law) if they are to obtain ultimate salvation (Romans 2:6-8, James 2:24, Matthew 7:21). The letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law is not of faith (Galatians 3:12).
--
*Romans 9:33b / *Rom. 9:33b -
See John 3:16 or John 3:36 above.
--
*Romans 10:5-10 / *Rom. 10:5 -
This does not mean that Deuteronomy 30:11-13 was about New Covenant salvation. For the New Covenant was not "this commandment which I command thee this day" (Deuteronomy 30:11), but was still in the future (Jeremiah 31:31-34) at the time that Deuteronomy 30:11-13 was spoken about 1400 BC. Romans 10:6-9 means that the physically resurrected and ascended Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21b-22) does not have to physically come back down from heaven right now for Christians to have faith in Him and His physical resurrection (Romans 10:9, John 20:29b). In Romans 10:6,8 the apostle Paul simply employs a couple of parts of the verbal pattern in Deuteronomy 30:12,14, in which the Old Covenant Mosaic law was not still in heaven, but had been revealed on the earth, just as some 1,400 years later, Jesus came down from heaven (John 3:13) and revealed Himself on the earth at His first coming (John 1:14), and inaugurated the New Covenant of salvation when He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins (Matthew 26:28, Matthew 27:51a, Hebrews 9:15-17, Hebrews 10:19-20).
--
*Romans 10:9-13 / *Rom. 10:9 -
This is only a part of Christian faith. For it is not contradicting that Christians must also believe that Jesus is the Christ and the human/divine Son of God (John 20:31, John 3:36), and that He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 1 Peter 3:18).
(See also John 3:16 or John 3:36 above. And see 1 Corinthians 15:1 below)
--
*Romans 10:14-17 / *Rom. 10:14 / *Rom. 10:17 -
(Re: Why bother preaching the Gospel to non-Christians when there is divine election?)
Divine election (Romans 9:11-24) does not negate the requirement for Christians to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all non-Christians (Mark 16:15-16). For God gives non-Christian, elect individuals His miraculous gift of faith through their hearing the preaching of His Word (Romans 10:17, Acts 13:48, Ephesians 2:8, John 6:65; 1 Corinthians 3:5b, Romans 12:3b, Hebrews 12:2). And God has made it so that Christians are involved in the preaching of His Word (Romans 10:14-15). And they are commanded to preach the Gospel to every non-Christian (Mark 16:15-16). For Christians do not know, and must never assume, which non-Christians are elect individuals (Acts 13:48b) and which are nonelect (John 8:42-47). No one should ever be assumed to be nonelect until he dies without ever believing in Jesus Christ. Because of the wonderful example of Saul the persecutor becoming Paul the apostle (1 Timothy 1:12-17), Christians should never give up on any living non-Christians, no matter how hostile they are to Christians and the Christian faith. Instead, Christians should keep praying for them that God would miraculously save their souls.
(See also Romans 9:11 above)
~
(Re: But does not elect individuals getting saved by hearing the Gospel make their salvation dependent on what men do?)
No, for God is not limited to the obedience of Christians in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone (Mark 16:15). He can also employ His angels to reach everyone with His Gospel (Revelation 14:6). And He Himself can appear to elect individuals to save them directly (Acts 26:13-20).
--
*Romans 10:19 / *Rom. 10:19 -
This is quoting from Deuteronomy 32:21b and means that some elect Jews have become Christians (ever since Acts 10:45 down until our own time) because they were jealous of the salvation of Gentile Christians.
--
*Romans 10:21 / *Rom. 10:21 -
The original Greek word (antilego: G0483) translated as "gainsaying", like the English word, can mean "disputatious" in the sense of Acts 13:45.
--
*Romans 11:1 / *Rom. 11:1 -
This shows that the apostle Paul is an Israelite even as he is a Christian, just as Acts 22:3 shows that he is a Jew even as he is a Christian.
--
*Romans 11:2a / *Rom. 11:2a -
This refers to Romans 11:5. (See that verse below)
--
*Romans 11:4-5 / *Rom. 11:4 -
(Re: Refers to the ten lost tribes?)
The apostle Paul made no reference to ten lost tribes. For they are not lost. Also, Romans 11:4-5 was referring only to Paul's "present time" in the first century AD. Also, he does not suggest that he is using 1 Kings 19:18 in a literal way, instead of by type, to point to a remnant (of whatever number) of elect genetic Jews who were becoming Christians during his time.
(See the "Lost Tribes?" section of Romans 11:17 below)
--
*Romans 11:5-6 / *Rom. 11:5 -
This refers to the "election" of grace, which is not based on works. For elect individuals are chosen by God (to be shown grace, at some point during their lifetime) before they have done anything at all (Romans 9:11-24), and even before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13).
(See also Romans 9:11 above)
--
*Romans 11:7 / *Rom. 11:7 -
The original Greek word (loipoy: G3062) translated as the "rest" can be translated as the "remnant" (Matthew 22:6), which would be the same idea as the "remnant according to the election of grace" in Romans 11:5. So when Romans 11:7 says: "the election hath obtained it, and [the remnant] were blinded", it means that one part of the elect has obtained it, while a remnant of the elect remains spiritually blinded. But not forever, which is the point of Romans 11:23-32.
--
*Romans 11:11b / *Rom. 11:11b -
(To provoke them to jealousy)
See Romans 10:19 above.
--
*Romans 11:12 / *Rom. 11:12 -
Here the fullness (pleroma: G4138) means a fullness of the salvation of elect Israel, including a spiritually blinded portion of it which has yet to become Christian at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Romans 11:25-26).
The fullness of the salvation of elect Israel (Romans 11:12) will be accompanied by the physical resurrection of the Church (Romans 11:15). For at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming will occur both the fullness of the salvation of elect Israel (Romans 11:26) and the physical resurrection of the Church (1 Corinthians 15:21-23,51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6).
God has ordained a gap of thousands of years since Jesus Christ's first coming to also allow the fullness of the Gentiles to come in (Romans 11:25; 2 Peter 3:8-9).
(See the "fulness" part of Romans 11:25 below)
--
*Romans 11:13 / *Rom. 11:13 -
(Re: Before this, had the apostle Paul been addressing Jews only?)
No, see Romans 2:17 above.
--
*Romans 11:17,24 / *Rom. 11:17 -
Here the metaphor does not require that unbelieving Jews were ever saved. Nor is it just about people-groups, but is also about individuals within those people-groups. For just as all Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles, are individual branches in the vine which is Jesus Christ (John 15:5), the only way to salvation (John 14:6, Acts 4:12), so all Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles, are individual branches in the good olive tree of Israel, the Jews' own tree (Romans 11:17,24, Jeremiah 11:16-17). For all Jewish Christians remain part of Israel (Romans 11:1) as the natural branches in the tree of Israel (Romans 11:24). And all Gentile Christians have been grafted as branches from a wild olive tree into the tree of Israel (Romans 11:17,24, Ephesians 2:12,19, Galatians 3:29) so that they can partake of the salvation of the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6, Hebrews 9:15) which God has made only with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 4:22b). This does not mean that a wild branch becomes a natural branch, that a Gentile Christian becomes a genetic Jew, but that Gentile Christians, even while remaining branches from a wild olive tree, even while remaining genetic Gentiles, are still grafted in to become part of the good olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17,24).
(See also Galatians 3:29 below)
~
(Re: Are all Jews cut off?)
No, for there are Christian Jews as well as Christian Gentiles (1 Corinthians 12:13). So only "some" (in the sense of not all) Jews are cut off from the tree of Israel (Romans 11:17a) because of their unbelief in Jesus Christ (Romans 11:20) and His saving New Covenant Passover death on the Cross for our sins (1 Corinthians 5:7b, Matthew 26:28). Compare the Old Covenant cutting off of only some Israelites from Israel if they failed to keep the Old Covenant Passover (Numbers 9:13).
~
(Re: Does the olive tree represent not Israel, but the place of spiritual blessing which belongs to Israel?)
It is both, like how the branched vine in John 15:5 is both the body of Christ and the place of spiritual blessing which belongs to the body of Christ. Just as people cannot partake of the spiritual blessing which belongs to the body of Christ without by faith becoming part of the branched vine of Jesus Christ, so people cannot partake of the spiritual blessing which belongs to Israel without by faith becoming part of the good olive tree of Israel, the Jews' own tree (Romans 11:17,24, Jeremiah 11:16-17). Otherwise, they would be thieves.
(See also Ephesians 2:12 below, and Romans 9:3-8 above)
~
(Re: Christ is identified as the *root in Romans 15:12, Revelation 5:5, and Revelation 22:16)
That is right, but the good olive tree in Romans 11 is still Israel, the Jews' own tree (Romans 11:17,24). For Gentiles are from a different, wild olive tree (Romans 11:17,24).
~
(Re: *Tribes)
(See Galatians 3:29 below, and the "futurism" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) below)
Just as the Gentile Ruth (a genetic forbear of Israel's Messiah: Matthew 1:5-16, Luke 3:23-32) could say to the Israelite Naomi: "thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God" (Ruth 1:16), so Gentiles in the Church have been grafted into Israel (Romans 11:17,24, Ephesians 2:12,19, Galatians 3:29).
That is, all Jews in the Church remain members of whichever tribe of Israel they were born into (Romans 11:1, Acts 4:36). And all Gentiles in the Church have been grafted by God into Israel (Romans 11:17,24, Ephesians 2:12,19, Galatians 3:29), and so have been grafted by God into its various tribes (cf. Ezekiel 47:21-23). So the entire Church is the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:9,12; 1 Peter 2:9-10). This is necessary, for all those in the Church are saved only by the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6, Hebrews 9:15) which God has made only with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 4:22b). John 10:16 refers to the "other sheep" of Gentile Christians being brought into "this fold" of Israel, which is the "one fold" of the Church (1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 4:4-6, Revelation 21:9,12). A Gentile Christian can pray and ask which tribe of Israel he has been grafted into by God, and he will receive an answer if he asks in faith (cf. Matthew 21:22) without any wavering (cf. James 1:6-7).
Also, all those in the Church, whether Jews (Acts 22:3) or Gentiles (Romans 16:4b), have become spiritually-circumcised Jews if they have undergone the spiritual circumcision of water-immersion (burial) baptism into Jesus Christ (Romans 2:29, Philippians 3:3, Colossians 2:11-13).
(See also James 1:1 below)
~
(Re: But did not *Irenaeus teach Dispensationalism?)
Can you quote something from Irenaeus or the Bible which supports the modern, man-made idea commonly called "Dispensationalism", which says that the Church and Israel today are under separate dispensations, that they are mutually exclusive groups?
Also, does anyone deny the Biblical and Irenaical sense of dispensationalism (Galatians 3:23-25, Ephesians 1:10)?
Regarding the modern, man-made idea commonly called "Dispensationalism", see Ephesians 3:1 below.
-
Next entry / Prior / Table of Contents
Dec 12, 2018
Yes (Romans 9:13), in the same way that God who is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29) can be like rivers of water (John 7:38-39).
(See also 1 John 4:8 below)
~
(Re: But is not hate motivated by murderous intent?)
God's hatred is different than human hatred, insofar as human hatred for other people is spiritually equivalent to murder (1 John 3:15), while when God Himself slays people to express His hatred (Hosea 9:15-16), it is not murder, but His holy and righteous judgment and wrath against evil (Romans 2:5, Romans 9:22, Revelation 14:10-11).
(See, for example, Genesis 6:17 above)
~
(Re: But does not God have a love greater than any human love?)
God has a love greater in magnitude than any human love, toward those He loves. But this does not conflict with the scope of God's love not including everyone (Romans 9:11-22, Malachi 1:2b-3).
~
(Re: So does God want us to love our enemies, while He hates His enemies?)
See "it is not hypocritical" under Matthew 5:44 above.
~
(Re: Does not *agape love require love for everyone?)
No, agape love in itself does not require that it be directed toward everyone. For otherwise, it would contradict the meaning of agape love to say: "Thou shalt (agape) love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy" (Matthew 5:43). So even though God is agape love (1 John 4:16), He does not have to agape love everyone (Romans 9:13). As the sovereign Creator, He has the right to hate those individuals who are not His elect (Romans 9:11-22). But His elect individuals, under the New Covenant, have been commanded by Him to agape love even their enemies (Matthew 5:44), just as God agape loved His elect individuals even while they were yet His enemies (Romans 5:8, Colossians 1:21-22). The aspect of agape love which would most come into play with regard to one's enemies might be: "agape suffereth long, and is kind", and agape "beareth all things" and "endureth all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4,7). That is, Christians in their agape love for their enemies are to bear every personal attack from them patiently and without any personal counter-attack (Matthew 5:39,44, Matthew 26:52).
What makes Jesus Christ's commandment in Matthew 5:44 so radical is that it goes beyond the requirements of even agape love in itself, just as it goes beyond even the requirements of "bless", and "do good", and "pray" in themselves. That is, just as agape love in itself does not require that it be applied to one's enemies, so "bless", and "do good", and "pray" in themselves do not require that they be applied to one's enemies. Christians agape love their enemies, just as they bless, and do good, and pray for their enemies, not because of the requirements of these things in themselves, but because of the requirement laid upon Christians by Jesus. And it is in keeping Jesus' commandments that Christians show their agape love for Him (John 14:21-24; 1 John 5:3).
(See also Matthew 5:39 above)
--
*Romans 9:16 / *Rom. 9:16 -
(Re: A *blind man analogy)
It does not follow logically that since people cannot do anything by their own power to be initially saved (Romans 9:16), then they cannot do anything by their own power to ultimately lose their salvation. For, as an analogy, imagine that a blind man cannot ever hope to see except by Jesus Christ miraculously giving him sight. Once Jesus does give him sight, it does not follow logically that the man cannot then do anything by his own power to end up losing his sight, such as by wrongly employing his free will to stare at the sun for too long.
(See also the "double-blind man analogy" of Ephesians 2:8 below)
--
*Romans 9:19 / *Rom. 9:19 -
(Re: Double predestination: How can people be held accountable for what God predestined them to be?)
The apostle Paul anticipated this question:
[Romans 9:19]
God yet finds fault because double predestination does not take away the free will of nonelect individuals, just as it does not take away the free will of elect individuals. That is, God will condemn nonelect individuals for their own free-willed sins (James 1:13-15), which He simply chooses not to forgive, but to harden nonelect individuals in them:
[Romans 9:18-24]
(See also the "symphony" analogy of Mark 13:32 above. And see the "Vessels of wrath" section of Romans 9:11 above)
--
*Romans 9:20-23 / *Rom. 9:20 -
Here the potter is God and the clay is all of humanity, both Jews and Gentiles. Just as the human vessels of honor/mercy whom God has created include both some Jews and some Gentiles (Romans 9:23-24), so the human vessels of dishonor/wrath whom God has created (Romans 9:22) include both some Jews and some Gentiles, such as Pharaoh (Romans 9:17-22, Exodus 9:12,16).
Also, note that the same lump of clay is used to make both types of vessels (Romans 9:21).
That is... (See the "criteria" section of Romans 9:11 above)
~
(Re: But do not pots lack consciousness, while things with consciousness have rights?)
God's creatures have no rights vis-à-vis God, just as a potter's pots have no rights vis-à-vis the potter (Romans 9:20-23), even though pots could have some level of consciousness; just as a puff of wind, a wave of water, a tree, or a mountain must have enough consciousness to obey a human command (Mark 4:39-41, Luke 17:6, Matthew 17:20). With the potter analogy (Romans 9:20-23), even though humans are the pots, compared with the infinite God even all humans together are worth "less than nothing" (Isaiah 40:17, Isaiah 2:22). Their level of consciousness is infinitesimal compared with God's, and so would be less than any consciousness which pots have compared with humans.
(See also Isaiah 40:17 and Mark 16:15 above)
--
*Romans 9:22 / *Rom. 9:22 -
(Re: "Destruction" / G0684 = annihilation?)
No, see Matthew 7:13 above.
--
*Romans 9:25-26 / *Rom. 9:25 / *Rom. 9:26 -
This applies to Jewish and Gentile elect individuals (Romans 9:24-26), who, while they are non-Christians (Romans 11:28), are not God's people insofar as they are not grafted into the good olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:20). But when they become Christians, they become God's people insofar as they get grafted into the good olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17,24).
The subsequent context of Romans 9:25-26 shows that there the apostle Paul is thinking of "Israel" in the sense of Jews who mistakenly think that they can attain to righteousness by keeping the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Romans 9:30 to 10:13).
--
*Romans 9:27-29 / *Rom. 9:27 -
This means that only a remnant of genetic Israel will become Christian, just as only a remnant of humanity as a whole will become truly Christian (Matthew 7:14). For only a remnant of Israel and humanity as a whole is elect (chosen) (Matthew 22:14).
~
(As the sand of the sea)
See Genesis 24:60 above.
--
*Romans 9:29 / *Rom. 9:29 -
"Sabaoth" (G4519) does not mean "Sabbath", but "Armies".
Romans 9:29 is quoting from Isaiah 1:9, where in the KJV "the Lord of Sabaoth" (from the Hebrew Tsaba'ah) is translated as "the LORD of hosts".
"LORD" (all caps) is the KJV rendering of the Hebrew name "YHWH" (H3068). And "hosts" (tsaba'ah: H6635) means "armies" (Isaiah 34:2).
So both "the Lord of Sabaoth" and "the LORD of hosts" means "YHWH of Armies", as in His heavenly, angelic armies (2 Kings 6:17, Daniel 4:35, Matthew 25:31, Psalms 68:17).
This is a military title for our God YHWH, who is "a man of war" (Exodus 15:3). And this includes YHWH God the Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:8), who will Himself wage war against all of the armies of the world at His future, Second Coming (Revelation 19:19-21).
But Christians themselves are to be as harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). For they have no right to ever harm anyone. Only the Holy God has that right.
(See Matthew 5:39 and Daniel 12:7b above)
--
*Romans 9:30-33 / *Rom. 9:30 -
See Romans 3:19 above.
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*Romans 9:32 / *Rom. 9:32 -
The apostle Paul is referring to the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law in Romans 9:31-32. For the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law is Israel's law of righteousness referred to in Romans 9:31 (cf. Romans 7:12). And Israel's works "of the law" referred to in Romans 9:32 (Textus Receptus) are the works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Romans 3:20,28, Acts 13:39).
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(Re: Is there something unrighteous about the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law?)
No, insofar as the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law is righteous in itself (Romans 7:12). But Romans 9:31-32 means that people cannot attain to a saving righteousness by doing the works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Romans 3:20,28, Acts 13:39). But Christians do have to patiently continue to perform works of faith (1 Thessalonians 1:3, Galatians 5:6b, Titus 3:8) (not works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law) if they are to obtain ultimate salvation (Romans 2:6-8, James 2:24, Matthew 7:21). The letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law is not of faith (Galatians 3:12).
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*Romans 9:33b / *Rom. 9:33b -
See John 3:16 or John 3:36 above.
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*Romans 10:5-10 / *Rom. 10:5 -
This does not mean that Deuteronomy 30:11-13 was about New Covenant salvation. For the New Covenant was not "this commandment which I command thee this day" (Deuteronomy 30:11), but was still in the future (Jeremiah 31:31-34) at the time that Deuteronomy 30:11-13 was spoken about 1400 BC. Romans 10:6-9 means that the physically resurrected and ascended Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21b-22) does not have to physically come back down from heaven right now for Christians to have faith in Him and His physical resurrection (Romans 10:9, John 20:29b). In Romans 10:6,8 the apostle Paul simply employs a couple of parts of the verbal pattern in Deuteronomy 30:12,14, in which the Old Covenant Mosaic law was not still in heaven, but had been revealed on the earth, just as some 1,400 years later, Jesus came down from heaven (John 3:13) and revealed Himself on the earth at His first coming (John 1:14), and inaugurated the New Covenant of salvation when He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins (Matthew 26:28, Matthew 27:51a, Hebrews 9:15-17, Hebrews 10:19-20).
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*Romans 10:9-13 / *Rom. 10:9 -
This is only a part of Christian faith. For it is not contradicting that Christians must also believe that Jesus is the Christ and the human/divine Son of God (John 20:31, John 3:36), and that He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 1 Peter 3:18).
(See also John 3:16 or John 3:36 above. And see 1 Corinthians 15:1 below)
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*Romans 10:14-17 / *Rom. 10:14 / *Rom. 10:17 -
(Re: Why bother preaching the Gospel to non-Christians when there is divine election?)
Divine election (Romans 9:11-24) does not negate the requirement for Christians to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all non-Christians (Mark 16:15-16). For God gives non-Christian, elect individuals His miraculous gift of faith through their hearing the preaching of His Word (Romans 10:17, Acts 13:48, Ephesians 2:8, John 6:65; 1 Corinthians 3:5b, Romans 12:3b, Hebrews 12:2). And God has made it so that Christians are involved in the preaching of His Word (Romans 10:14-15). And they are commanded to preach the Gospel to every non-Christian (Mark 16:15-16). For Christians do not know, and must never assume, which non-Christians are elect individuals (Acts 13:48b) and which are nonelect (John 8:42-47). No one should ever be assumed to be nonelect until he dies without ever believing in Jesus Christ. Because of the wonderful example of Saul the persecutor becoming Paul the apostle (1 Timothy 1:12-17), Christians should never give up on any living non-Christians, no matter how hostile they are to Christians and the Christian faith. Instead, Christians should keep praying for them that God would miraculously save their souls.
(See also Romans 9:11 above)
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(Re: But does not elect individuals getting saved by hearing the Gospel make their salvation dependent on what men do?)
No, for God is not limited to the obedience of Christians in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone (Mark 16:15). He can also employ His angels to reach everyone with His Gospel (Revelation 14:6). And He Himself can appear to elect individuals to save them directly (Acts 26:13-20).
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*Romans 10:19 / *Rom. 10:19 -
This is quoting from Deuteronomy 32:21b and means that some elect Jews have become Christians (ever since Acts 10:45 down until our own time) because they were jealous of the salvation of Gentile Christians.
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*Romans 10:21 / *Rom. 10:21 -
The original Greek word (antilego: G0483) translated as "gainsaying", like the English word, can mean "disputatious" in the sense of Acts 13:45.
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*Romans 11:1 / *Rom. 11:1 -
This shows that the apostle Paul is an Israelite even as he is a Christian, just as Acts 22:3 shows that he is a Jew even as he is a Christian.
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*Romans 11:2a / *Rom. 11:2a -
This refers to Romans 11:5. (See that verse below)
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*Romans 11:4-5 / *Rom. 11:4 -
(Re: Refers to the ten lost tribes?)
The apostle Paul made no reference to ten lost tribes. For they are not lost. Also, Romans 11:4-5 was referring only to Paul's "present time" in the first century AD. Also, he does not suggest that he is using 1 Kings 19:18 in a literal way, instead of by type, to point to a remnant (of whatever number) of elect genetic Jews who were becoming Christians during his time.
(See the "Lost Tribes?" section of Romans 11:17 below)
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*Romans 11:5-6 / *Rom. 11:5 -
This refers to the "election" of grace, which is not based on works. For elect individuals are chosen by God (to be shown grace, at some point during their lifetime) before they have done anything at all (Romans 9:11-24), and even before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13).
(See also Romans 9:11 above)
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*Romans 11:7 / *Rom. 11:7 -
The original Greek word (loipoy: G3062) translated as the "rest" can be translated as the "remnant" (Matthew 22:6), which would be the same idea as the "remnant according to the election of grace" in Romans 11:5. So when Romans 11:7 says: "the election hath obtained it, and [the remnant] were blinded", it means that one part of the elect has obtained it, while a remnant of the elect remains spiritually blinded. But not forever, which is the point of Romans 11:23-32.
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*Romans 11:11b / *Rom. 11:11b -
(To provoke them to jealousy)
See Romans 10:19 above.
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*Romans 11:12 / *Rom. 11:12 -
Here the fullness (pleroma: G4138) means a fullness of the salvation of elect Israel, including a spiritually blinded portion of it which has yet to become Christian at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Romans 11:25-26).
The fullness of the salvation of elect Israel (Romans 11:12) will be accompanied by the physical resurrection of the Church (Romans 11:15). For at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming will occur both the fullness of the salvation of elect Israel (Romans 11:26) and the physical resurrection of the Church (1 Corinthians 15:21-23,51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6).
God has ordained a gap of thousands of years since Jesus Christ's first coming to also allow the fullness of the Gentiles to come in (Romans 11:25; 2 Peter 3:8-9).
(See the "fulness" part of Romans 11:25 below)
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*Romans 11:13 / *Rom. 11:13 -
(Re: Before this, had the apostle Paul been addressing Jews only?)
No, see Romans 2:17 above.
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*Romans 11:17,24 / *Rom. 11:17 -
Here the metaphor does not require that unbelieving Jews were ever saved. Nor is it just about people-groups, but is also about individuals within those people-groups. For just as all Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles, are individual branches in the vine which is Jesus Christ (John 15:5), the only way to salvation (John 14:6, Acts 4:12), so all Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles, are individual branches in the good olive tree of Israel, the Jews' own tree (Romans 11:17,24, Jeremiah 11:16-17). For all Jewish Christians remain part of Israel (Romans 11:1) as the natural branches in the tree of Israel (Romans 11:24). And all Gentile Christians have been grafted as branches from a wild olive tree into the tree of Israel (Romans 11:17,24, Ephesians 2:12,19, Galatians 3:29) so that they can partake of the salvation of the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6, Hebrews 9:15) which God has made only with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 4:22b). This does not mean that a wild branch becomes a natural branch, that a Gentile Christian becomes a genetic Jew, but that Gentile Christians, even while remaining branches from a wild olive tree, even while remaining genetic Gentiles, are still grafted in to become part of the good olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17,24).
(See also Galatians 3:29 below)
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(Re: Are all Jews cut off?)
No, for there are Christian Jews as well as Christian Gentiles (1 Corinthians 12:13). So only "some" (in the sense of not all) Jews are cut off from the tree of Israel (Romans 11:17a) because of their unbelief in Jesus Christ (Romans 11:20) and His saving New Covenant Passover death on the Cross for our sins (1 Corinthians 5:7b, Matthew 26:28). Compare the Old Covenant cutting off of only some Israelites from Israel if they failed to keep the Old Covenant Passover (Numbers 9:13).
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(Re: Does the olive tree represent not Israel, but the place of spiritual blessing which belongs to Israel?)
It is both, like how the branched vine in John 15:5 is both the body of Christ and the place of spiritual blessing which belongs to the body of Christ. Just as people cannot partake of the spiritual blessing which belongs to the body of Christ without by faith becoming part of the branched vine of Jesus Christ, so people cannot partake of the spiritual blessing which belongs to Israel without by faith becoming part of the good olive tree of Israel, the Jews' own tree (Romans 11:17,24, Jeremiah 11:16-17). Otherwise, they would be thieves.
(See also Ephesians 2:12 below, and Romans 9:3-8 above)
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(Re: Christ is identified as the *root in Romans 15:12, Revelation 5:5, and Revelation 22:16)
That is right, but the good olive tree in Romans 11 is still Israel, the Jews' own tree (Romans 11:17,24). For Gentiles are from a different, wild olive tree (Romans 11:17,24).
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(Re: *Tribes)
(See Galatians 3:29 below, and the "futurism" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) below)
Just as the Gentile Ruth (a genetic forbear of Israel's Messiah: Matthew 1:5-16, Luke 3:23-32) could say to the Israelite Naomi: "thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God" (Ruth 1:16), so Gentiles in the Church have been grafted into Israel (Romans 11:17,24, Ephesians 2:12,19, Galatians 3:29).
That is, all Jews in the Church remain members of whichever tribe of Israel they were born into (Romans 11:1, Acts 4:36). And all Gentiles in the Church have been grafted by God into Israel (Romans 11:17,24, Ephesians 2:12,19, Galatians 3:29), and so have been grafted by God into its various tribes (cf. Ezekiel 47:21-23). So the entire Church is the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:9,12; 1 Peter 2:9-10). This is necessary, for all those in the Church are saved only by the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6, Hebrews 9:15) which God has made only with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 4:22b). John 10:16 refers to the "other sheep" of Gentile Christians being brought into "this fold" of Israel, which is the "one fold" of the Church (1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 4:4-6, Revelation 21:9,12). A Gentile Christian can pray and ask which tribe of Israel he has been grafted into by God, and he will receive an answer if he asks in faith (cf. Matthew 21:22) without any wavering (cf. James 1:6-7).
Also, all those in the Church, whether Jews (Acts 22:3) or Gentiles (Romans 16:4b), have become spiritually-circumcised Jews if they have undergone the spiritual circumcision of water-immersion (burial) baptism into Jesus Christ (Romans 2:29, Philippians 3:3, Colossians 2:11-13).
(See also James 1:1 below)
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(Re: But did not *Irenaeus teach Dispensationalism?)
Can you quote something from Irenaeus or the Bible which supports the modern, man-made idea commonly called "Dispensationalism", which says that the Church and Israel today are under separate dispensations, that they are mutually exclusive groups?
Also, does anyone deny the Biblical and Irenaical sense of dispensationalism (Galatians 3:23-25, Ephesians 1:10)?
Regarding the modern, man-made idea commonly called "Dispensationalism", see Ephesians 3:1 below.
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