Sunday: Paul’s Burden
“And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Exod. 19:6).
God needed a missionary people to evangelize a world steeped in paganism, darkness, and idolatry. He chose the Israelites and revealed Himself to them.
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He planned that they become a model nation and thus attract others to the true God. It was God’s purpose that by the revelation of His character through Israel the world should be drawn unto Him. Through the teaching of the sacrificial service, Christ was to be uplifted before the nations, and all who would look unto Him should live. As the numbers of Israel increased, as their blessings grew, they were to enlarge their borders until their kingdom should embrace the world.
Read Romans 9:1-12. What point is Paul making here about the faithfulness of God amid human failures?
Paul is building a line of argument in which he will show that the promise made to Israel had not completely failed. There exists a remnant through whom God still aims to work. To establish the validity of the idea of the remnant, Paul dips back into Israelite history. He shows that God has always been selective: (1) God did not choose all the seed of Abraham to be His covenant, only the line of Isaac. (2) He did not choose all of the descendants of Isaac, only those of Jacob.
It’s important, too, to see that heritage, or ancestry, does not guarantee salvation. You can be of the right blood, the right family, even of the right church, and yet still be lost, still be outside the promise. It is faith, a faith that works by love, that reveals those who are “children of the promise” (Rom. 9:8).
| Look at the phrase in Romans 9:6: “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.” What important message can we find there for ourselves, as Adventists, who in many ways play the same roles in our era that the ancient Israelites did in theirs? |
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We have been given a choice as to whom we will serve. Every decision we make is a result of that primary choice. If our decisions are according to the Character of our Father, God, this may be evidence we are of His lineage. If, however, our decisions are of the nature of this "world" we are giving evidence of another ruler of our life.
Our goal, as Christians, should be to be all on God's side with His Love as our motivation for all our thoughts and feelings. .
Powerful point Don. However I have a feeling this particular topic will require us to provide Scriptural support. Don't feel offended. I have struggled to find a verse in the bible which teaches the point you made. Kindly provide.
Anele. Here are just a few that come to mind.
Exodus 20:3; Joshua 24:15; Matthew 6:24; Matthew 7:16-20
When the God of heaven is our God, it will show in unmistakable ways as Don pointed out.
All through out Paul’s writings he says: If you believe, if you are in the Spirit, if not in the Spirit, all implys choice. “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Romans 8:9-13.
A lot of evidence in the Bible for choice of personal salvation. Personal salvation is not the same as being chosen for ministry. And even then those chosen can choose to reject.
God did not chose Ishmael, he chose Faith(Isaac) for without faith it is impossible to please him
God"s choice consistent
Cain and Abel (Abel had faith)
Ishmael and Isaac (Isaac is of faith and Ishmael of the flesh(to be carmal is to be enemy with God)
Jacob and Esau Esau was worldly,wild and violent (patriarchs and prophets)
Jacob was spiritual, calm,loving and longed to receive the gift of progenatorship
the choice is of Faith
God responds to faith
All of the patriarchs had children only thru God's promised covenant! Even Jacob's true love conceived thru much prayer and faith! Even so today we are children thru His promise and faith!
this is a very nice point there.... I think God would have chosen Esau if he had d attribute that Jacob had.
May we take heed not to become lukewarm but to be on fire for God.
Thank you for your insightfulness...
The introduction is very close to what I've read in the Desire of Ages; THANK you for being consistant and truthful...
Thank you for the insight..yes Abraham's descendants were to evangelize the world!!!!
The Faith of Jesus is the only Faith God accepts. The Faith of Jesus produced Isaac whereas the faith of Abraham produced Ishmael. The Faith of Jesus produced Able's sacrifice whereas the the faith of Cain produced his sacrifice.
Where do we find the Faith of Jesus? This Faith is in the fruit of the Holy Spirit which is available to everyone who chooses this Spirit of motivation for basic thoughts and feelings from which all actions spring.
Mine is a question does that mean other people were created to be wasted because I am a litlet bit confused can someone help me with an explanation please
KJV 2 Peter 3
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Elias, I had the same question after reading the lesson. However John 3:16 says 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.' God does not choose a select few to serve Him. His gift is available to anyone who believes.
I also struggle with a lot of verses in the bible,brother Elias. One of them is this one about Judas Iscariot. John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
How do we understand Christ's prayer here?
My anguish and pain brothers and sisters is when we say when I missi a step in my Christian walk is a choice. Choice or free will says there is no hand of the deceiver. It's clear to me we don't understand the spiritual war the way Paul understood it or we completely miss Romans 7. Paul says he is "sold under sin" He says what he does is not what he wants to do because he knows that the law is holy and good. But we have turned deaf ears to that and say it's choice and free will.
We don't choose God. The bible is clear on that. He loved us first. He calls us out of darkness. That I heard His voice is not a matter of choice. It is the working of the Holy Spirit in me. Paul understood this clearly because he had to understand his calling in the hardest way ever. If he had not met Christ on that day ,he would have died not knowing Christ. The bible says he was a chosen vessel. He did not choose to be that chosen vessel. That is why he is in so much pain when He sees the blindness of His Jewish brothers.
If we can understand Paul's words without adding our own, we will be in a similar position as Paul. People are sinking deeper and deeper into sin but because we think it's a matter of choice we concentrate on our own good choices.
Free will and choice are judgemental terms.
I pray that one day the Church will remove these two from the church's vocabulary and we put all our power given by the Holy Spirit in fighting evil.
People don't choose to be sinners. Let's revisit Romans 7 prayerfully.
May God bless us and give us a new spirit of discernment. A spirit that will make us see clearly why we have been called. That call to "make disciples in My Name". Satan will never stop blinding us. We have been blinded by this free will and choice theology.
We are sold under sin through Adam,we are sold under grace through the second Adam(Christ)
When sin abounds,grace abounded much more
Therefore it is no longer I
Told o(flesh= enmity against God)that live
But Christ(favor with God=grace)
Our salvation is in Christ, that's why Paul says I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Faith faith
Thabani can I ask you give that verse which says "we are sold under grace..."
Anele, I think that when we miss a step in our Christian walk it is because we haven't made the choice as to who will motivate in this step. Our default motivator is selfishness. When we fall it is because we have NOT made the choice to let God's Spirit motivate us in that issue at that time.
I wholeheartedly agree that our choices of what we are going to do are dependent totally on whose driving us, but the driver of the Holy Spirit has to be chosen or He will not drive (motivate) our thoughts and feelings which drive our actions.
Hello Anele,
Because we are all human beings who come from the seed of Adam and Eve, we do not understand how deceptive and desperately wicked our hearts are (Jeremiah 17:9), that is, we are predisposed to make bad decisions even as we think we can make the right choices. But in spite of ourselves, the love of the Father is desperate to save us; otherwise, he would not have offered himself up in the person of his Son (Jesus) to save us.
Jesus worked long and hard to save Judas, and his description of this man (John 17:12) did not predestine Judas to be destroyed, but described the final result of his decisions. Similarly, as a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6, 1Peter 2:9), we should be desperate to work for the salvation of those whose with whom we live and work, regardless of what we think of them, as long as life is in them.
Our hope is not based on what we are, but on what God is, that is, Love. He is the author and finisher of our faith, and it is the faithfulness of Jesus which speaks to us in our condition, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” He will not condemn us as we learn of his love and how to practice it in our lives, and neither should we condemn others as they work out their salvation with fear and trembling (respect and awe) for the love of God. After all, why should not 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? (Romans 8;32)
Romans 9:6 taken in context of our present day church should be a very sobering thought. It should lead us to deep soul-searching. Am I really a child of God? Am I living up to My Father's house—rules? Am I keeping up the family's good name in all my dealings with the world? In short.... Can others see Jesus in me?
Maureen, that is one way of looking at it, but here is another. I am in love with my wife and we enjoy one another's company and like doing things together. There is a whole lot of legal stuff about marriage that fill several pages in the statute books of Australia. Guess how often Carmel and I have sat down and looked at the legal stuff! if our marriage depended on our knowledge or recall of the marriage law of Australia, we would be in serious trouble. It may be a bit simplistic, but if you get the relationship right, the legal stuff will look after itself.
In our spiritual life I often hear of people worrying about the legal stuff too. Am I doing the right thing? Have I done this, or not done that? Within the church for example we get ourselves knotted about the exact Sabbath hours above the arctic circle (I am familiar with that one - I have the church working papers on the issue +500 pages of it). That sort of view is, in blblical terms, as "dry as the hills of Gilboa." If you are worring about when Sabbath begins and ends, you have lost the point of the Sabbath. Get the relationship right and you won't have to worry about the rules. There is a reason why Jesus said, There are really only two rules. "Love God, and Love one another!" The question we need to ask ourselves is, are we giving the relationship with Jesus enough attention. What did I do today to show Jesus that I love him?
Maurice, I think the way you present this subject of making sure we are right with God as like a marriage with Love as the motivation for all action is a very good way to present the subject.
I see that not all marriage relationships are motivated by true Love though. Even more ideal relationships are prone to allow selfishness to motivate in some issues.
This is why I think, as in a marriage relationship, we must be ever watchful lest selfishness creeps in to motivate our thoughts and feelings. In every issue of life we must be aware of this probability and pray that God will continue to give us His true Love to motivate every thought and feeling so that our actions will always represent God's Character.
Please allow me to comment on two things: Anele Dube’s comment about “free will and choice theology” and Maurice Ashton’s comment about rules vs relationship.
I once met a presbyterian whose parents were methodists. She had stopped calling herself a methodist because she subscribed to the doctrine that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. She said the methodists were clearly teaching that we aren’t saved by works but that she got the impression that the methodists were teaching that we are saved by our choices.
In 1860, about half of the adventist delegates to the Battle Creek conference were former methodists and few or none were former presbyterians. Adventists (most of us anyway) would like to think that our theology is entirely biblical and not traditional but I can’t help wonder whether some of our theology--or at least the way we explain it--is more influenced by traditions than we would like to admit.
I could wish that more Christians--and adventists in particular--would make a clear distinction between behavior criteria for denominational membership as contrasted with behavior criteria for salvation*. The only criterion for salvation is faith. Because we cannot measure a person’s faith, It is appropriate for any denomination to have behavior criteria for voting membership.
*This use of the word, “salvation”, is intended to included to include not only justification (what most Christians mean by “salvation”) but also sanctification and glorification.
The parable of the marriage feast is about that only those who exercise their faith in what Jesus did, does, and is doing for us are the ones who put on HIS WEDDING GARMENT (His Righteousness by our faith in that righteousness of His.) Those who fail to do this are represented as the one who tried to be at that reception hall without that wedding garment and he (she,) was cast out of that reception hall. and he or she was cast out because of the lack of not wearing that garment and not because of being GOOD OR BAD either because there were plenty of GOOD AND BAD in that wedding reception hall as indicated in that parable (Matthew 22:10.)
That's right Pete. We aren't saved by what we do, we are saved by what Jesus did.
If we claim that gift by faith, it is ours. If we reject that gift, we will receive the wages we have earned instead (Romans 6:23).
Sieg, how do you reconcile what you have said with what James is saying in James 2:14 - 26?
Based on what James is saying, it would appear that salvation involves what Jesus has done, is doing and will do in conjunction with what we do.
Hi Phil. Our works can't save us. In fact, we can't be saved unless we recognize and accept that fact (i.e., realize that we need a Savior).
Do our behaviors reflect Who/who our hearts belong to? YES! That is the gist of what James is saying.
If our faith in Jesus is genuine, it will bear fruit consistent with that faith (Matthew 7:18-20 KJV).
It's not faith and works. It's not faith then works. It's faith which works.
--George Evans
Sieg, my question is, are we lost by what we do?
Hi Don.
"...are we lost by what we do?"
Only if we reject what Jesus has done for us. If we reject the pardon granted by Jesus at the cross, then we will be judged and condemned by what we do = sin. However, if we accept, receive and claim as ours (by faith) the pardon Jesus gave to all at the cross, then we are judged by what Jesus did, not by what we did (1 Corinthians 1:18 KJV; 2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV).
Ultimately, our behavior is only a reflection of the condition of our hearts and it is our hearts that will be judged. Consequently, "stumbles" or individual behaviors do not save or condemn us. They only reflect who our hearts belong to and that is what determines our ultimate destiny.
Sieg, I think that this is why we need to stop sinning by the Grace and the Spirit of God so that we don't get into a habit of sinning and eventually thinking it's OK.
To sum up Paul's point in Romans 9: "unless you are born again, you will not see the kingdom of heaven".
Yes, this chapter appears more complicated than this, but that is the sum of it. It's not about who your earthly daddy is, but rather; is God your "Father". Israel took the promises to Abraham without acknowledging the conditions. Isaac was the son of faith and himself, exercised faith. Jacob exercised faith where Esau lived to satisfy his own desires. See the pattern?
For us, we are not saved as church members, but are saved in Christ alone. We serve Him as members of His body and work with other church members for the purpose of fulfilling the commission to save the lost. If we are not yoked with Christ, we are not saved. No one is saved by denomination or any other earthly tie. This was Paul's point.
In the days just before us, most will worship the beast, without knowing it. They do this because they do not worship Him "that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
Who do we worship, each and every day? (Keep in mind the true meaning of worship!)
God is in control of everything, even our thoughts and intension as He know ho we really are.