Hard Truth, Part 1

Today and tomorrow we will take a look at Romans 9:14-29 with a look at the first five verses today. As Paul begins to explain the mystery of God’s election and God’s plan in our world, that God shows mercy on some and not on others, that God seems to be “unfair” in how He works in this world, we read the following words in verses 14-18: “14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have […]

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The Mystery of God’s Election

Romans 9 challenges me.  Perhaps more than any other chapter in the New Testament this one leads to deep thought and some mystery as I think about what Paul is saying.  In the overall picture, Paul is talking about the rejection of Christ by the people of Israel.  In verses 10-13 we begin to see how this rejection is part of God’s purpose and plan: Here are the verses:  “10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election […]

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Not Children of God by Physical Birth

This is where chapter 9 begins to get very interesting and messy and in my opinion, difficult to interpret. Here are verses 6-9: “6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. “ In the […]

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When Familiarity Doesn’t Help

Romans chapter 9 moves in a different direction; one that I find very interesting and also at times hard to understand. Let’s read the first five verses: “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service […]

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No Separation in Christ

Paul wraps up this great section of Romans 8 with the following two verses: “38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  There is nothing that can separate us from God’s love…but note the caveat…”which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.  I believe the scripture reveals to us that God loves everyone but there is a different love and a different relationship […]

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More Than Conquerors

I love the last few verses of Romans 8. They move me at the core of my being. Tomorrow’s passage is one of the greatest sentences in all of the Bible.  Today we read verses 35-37:  “35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:  “For Your sake we are killed all day long;  We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”  37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. “This passage begins with a question that will be answered fully […]

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Jesus Your Intercessor

We are getting near the end of this amazing chapter of the Bible.  The next two verses reveal an interesting aspect to the eternal ministry of Jesus Christ. Here are verses 33-34:  “33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”  For the most part in my life I’ve never really been wrongly accused of something, outside of minor incidents.  I sympathize with those who have been wrongly accused of sin or a crime; especially in […]

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If He Gave us Jesus…

Paul asks another important question in verse 32 of Romans chapter 8:  “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” This question comes on the heels of “If God is for us, who can be against us?”   The obvious answer is that God triumphs over any other person or thing that is against us.  God is FOR us in all ways and at all times.  The question today reminds us how much God is for us.  Since God delivered His own Son, […]

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If God Is On Your Side…

The next paragraph of Romans 8 contains a series of questions that we can ponder.  Let’s look at the first question in verse 31:  “What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?”  I believe that the “these things” phrase refers to the previous section of Romans 8. Paul has reminded us that God will restore glory to His creation.  God has given us the Spirit of God who helps us in prayer.  God has given us a promise that all things work together for good for those who love God and […]

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God’s Glorious Progression

After Romans 8:28 we read the following verses:  “29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” The word “for” at the beginning ties these verses to the previous one.  God will work all things together for good because He is sovereign.  He has all of this figured out.  He has His activity performed in your life today as much as He does 20 years from now…or 20,000 years from […]

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