My OperaSome Thoughts on Rom 9
Saturday, September 17, 2011 11:44:27 AM
This is answering the national vs. individual election argument in Rom 9. The interlocutor was attempting to prove his point from Paul's use of the OT passages that national election was in view, actually a failed argument from context:
Mal 1:1 The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. Mal 1:2
"I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is
not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob
Gen 25:23 And the LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two
peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the
other, the older shall serve the younger." Gen 25:24 When her days to give
birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.
Yes, these are prophecies which are addressed through the individuals to the
nations descended from them. But it begins with individuals... In Rom 9,
Paul is concerned with showing that God's promises to Israel did not fail,
so the passages quoted indicate the sovereignty of God in election. Now,
let me ask you a question -- "Jacob I loved." Will you find every single
descendant of Jacob in heaven? Paul in Rom 9 gets back to the theme of true
Israel (a theme found earlier in Romans), which is defined as those who are
truly related to Christ in faith. Paul is demonstrating that God did indeed
keep his promises through Christ, and that true Israel are those who have
faith in Christ. The individuals particularize the nations, and show that
God's promises do not fail -- they worked out in the lives of Jacob and Esau
as individuals, they work out in the history of the nations who have God's
particular attention. By the way, pay attention to the pronouns and the
verb forms throughout Rom 9. For example, he uses the second person
singular of the verb -- he is addressing individuals, that the general
principle of God's sovereign election works right down to the individual
level. Paul takes particular cases, and then draws general principles from
them which apply across the board -- he does not intend to say that God's
elective will applies only to nations (which, as I pointed out earlier,
consist of individuals).
Mal 1:1 The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. Mal 1:2
"I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is
not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob
Gen 25:23 And the LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two
peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the
other, the older shall serve the younger." Gen 25:24 When her days to give
birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.
Yes, these are prophecies which are addressed through the individuals to the
nations descended from them. But it begins with individuals... In Rom 9,
Paul is concerned with showing that God's promises to Israel did not fail,
so the passages quoted indicate the sovereignty of God in election. Now,
let me ask you a question -- "Jacob I loved." Will you find every single
descendant of Jacob in heaven? Paul in Rom 9 gets back to the theme of true
Israel (a theme found earlier in Romans), which is defined as those who are
truly related to Christ in faith. Paul is demonstrating that God did indeed
keep his promises through Christ, and that true Israel are those who have
faith in Christ. The individuals particularize the nations, and show that
God's promises do not fail -- they worked out in the lives of Jacob and Esau
as individuals, they work out in the history of the nations who have God's
particular attention. By the way, pay attention to the pronouns and the
verb forms throughout Rom 9. For example, he uses the second person
singular of the verb -- he is addressing individuals, that the general
principle of God's sovereign election works right down to the individual
level. Paul takes particular cases, and then draws general principles from
them which apply across the board -- he does not intend to say that God's
elective will applies only to nations (which, as I pointed out earlier,
consist of individuals).
