ROMANS 9:1\u201313<\/b><\/p>\n
for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand<\/i><\/p>\n
(Rom. 9:11)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The basic issue in the debate over election is \u201cwhat is the decisive factor in redemption?\u201d Is salvation based on man\u2019s choice or God\u2019s? Because fallen man is in rebellion against God, exalting his will over his Creator\u2019s, man naturally wants to give himself credit for everything\u2014including his own redemption. This attitude toward God is not erased entirely after regeneration, which explains why many Christians still want to give themselves the ultimate credit for their salvation. The prescience view of predestination certainly follows this line of thinking by asserting that God\u2019s choice is dependent upon man\u2019s decision. However, the Bible speaks against this view, particularly Paul\u2019s teaching in Romans 9.<\/p>\n
In this chapter Paul is explaining to the church at Rome why all of Israel is not saved, even though it is the nation of God\u2019s covenant, the law, and the promise. His point is that not all of Israel is true Israel. Just because someone is an Israelite according to the flesh does not necessarily mean he is a child of God. Paul defends this statement by saying that God chose Jacob and not Esau to be the child of promise. God declared, \u201cJacob I have loved and Esau I have hated.\u201d He loved Jacob, not because of anything Jacob had done or would do, but so His purposes according to election might stand. His choice was based solely on the good pleasure of His will, not the actions of Jacob or Esau.<\/p>\n
The prescience view would say that God looked into the future and saw what Jacob and Esau would do, then He made His decision based on their actions. But Paul does not say this. The whole point the apostle is making is that God\u2019s choice was not based on anything the brothers would do: \u201cfor the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls\u201d (v. 11). And to drive home the point, Paul anticipates the common reaction to the doctrine of election: \u201cBut that isn\u2019t fair!\u201d What is Paul\u2019s response? \u201cWhat shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whomsoever I will have mercy.\u201d If Paul had been espousing the prescience view, he would never have had to make this defense.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
1 Samuel 7\u20139<\/p>\n
Luke 13<\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n
1 Samuel 10\u201314 Luke 14<\/p>\n
Why does the doctrine of election, which gives God all the credit in our salvation, remove all bases for boasting on the part of human beings? Why is trust in God\u2019s wisdom and goodness so central to embracing this doctrine? Read Romans 9 thoroughly today and mark how God is greatly glorified in man\u2019s redemption.<\/p>\n
For further study: Gen. 25:12\u201328 \u2022 Ex. 33:12\u201323 \u2022 Mal. 1:2\u20133<\/i><\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ROMANS 9:1\u201313 for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand (Rom. 9:11). The basic issue in the debate over election is \u201cwhat is the decisive factor in redemption?\u201d Is salvation based on man\u2019s choice or God\u2019s? Because fallen man … Continue reading “THE DIVINE CHOICE”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}