Dispy said:
Are you accusing God for causing Paul's actions prior to his salvation?
That response made me smile Dispy..... a mans way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.............
Remember how God raised up pharoh for the purpose of confrontration with Moses.... so that the Lords name would be published throughout all the Earth !
Wow ! Think about it, a great civilisation that worshipped Pagan Gods rose out of the dust to suit only Gods purpose....hows that for power!
God certainly does all things his way.............
Peace
I too smiled as I copied from
The Power of God Unto Salvation - Is the Gospel Enough?
[SNIP)
The next example Paul calls upon is that of Pharaoh. "For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout the earth" (Rom. 9:17). The words "raised thee up" are often interpreted to mean that God brought Pharaoh into existence for the purpose stated in verse 17. But this is not the "raising up" Paul has in mind. In Exodus 9:16 (from which Paul is quoting), the Hebrew word for "raised" means "to cause to stand." This goes back to the sixth plague, where we read, "And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils..." (Exod. 9:1 la). The word, "stand" in verse 11, and "raised" in verse 16 are the same word! In other words, God raised Pharaoh up from the plague of boils so that he could continue to resist Moses by not releasing the children of Israel.
Romans 9:18 continues, "Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth." Again, the Calvinist proclaims, "See, Pharaoh had no choice but to resist, for God hardened his hem!" Let us once more go back into the context of Exodus and see exactly what God did with Pharaoh. In this passage, three different Hebrew words are used which are all translated "harden" in English. One is the word, "qashah" which means to be cruel or stubborn. This word is used once of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart (Exod. 7:14). Previous to this, however, a different word is used; "chazaq," which means "to strengthen." This word is used the first time we read of God hardening Pharaoh's heart: "but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go" (Exod. 4:21b). Pharaoh already had it in his heart not to let Israel go, "I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand" (Exod. 3:19). When God says He will harden Pharaoh's heart, He is literally saying that He will "strengthen" the resolve Pharaoh already had in his heart. That is, God knew that the plagues would "soften" Pharaoh up, but He wanted his heart to remain hard so all ten plagues could fall on all the gods of Egypt. Each plague was directed at one of the Egyptian gods; therefore, the Lord wanted Pharaoh to remain hardened until all ten gods had been judged. "For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments" (Num. 33:4).
Again, the context is clear. God did not harden Pharaoh's heart so he would not be saved. God strengthened Pharaoh's resolve to hold Israel captive, so all ten gods of Egypt could be judged. God states that His purpose in all this was "that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth" (Rom. 9:17b). Paul's whole point here is that God used a GENTILE KING to glorify Himself in the earth. It should not be surprising, then, that God would now use Gentiles to do His work.
(SNIP)
God Bless.
Live Well, Laugh Often and Love the Lord!
