Week 25 Companion
Posted by Chris on Jun 21st, 2010 | 2 comments
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Loading ...Romans 5 – 9
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Romans 5 – 9
Chapter 9:17-24 is difficult for me!!?? Maybe you can address it from the pulpit sometime.
Romans chapter nine must be understood in context. He begins the chapter by explaining that the Messiah would come through Abraham. Not only Abraham, but only through Isaac -> Jacob -> Judah.
Paul ends the chapter still speaking about two groups of people. The Jew and the Gentile, or the chosen and the not chosen. His comments about God raising whom He pleases and humbling whom He pleases are not in regard to personal salvation, rather they are with regard to being raised as a Jew or humbled as a Gentile.
It is important to note that just as Jews could be saved, not all of them were. All Jews were exalted by genealogy, but all were not saved by it.
The same is true of Gentiles. Gentiles could be saved. Romans 9:30 is a place that indicates this, as does the book of Jonah. While Gentiles as a group would never be the ones chosen to bring forth the Messiah, individual Gentiles could be saved. Think Rahab and Ruth.
So, to sum up, we are not talking about personal salvation in this chapter, for God has made forgiveness available to all that want it (II Peter 3:9), we are rather talking about God choosing peoples for specific purposes, such as the Jews to be the progenitors of the Messiah.