1.Romans 9

A. This section does deal with God's sovereignty -- is right to do as He pleases.

B. This section does NOT deal with God's choosing or rejecting anyone TO SALVATION!

1. None of these mention salvation.

2. All such choosing here looks beyond the personal benefits of the individual.

C.. This section CANNOT be divorced from the rest of the book -- or the rest of the Bible.

1:16-18 The gospel is God's power to save ALL who believe …

4:11 - all who believe

4:23-24 -- "IF"

5:18 - Christ's sacrifice has the same potential as Adam's sin -- ALL - MANY

6:5 - IF

6:16-18 - OBEY

8:17 - IF

10:1 - Israel MIGHT be

10:9-10 -- "if"

10:11 - Whosoever

10:12 - ALL

10:13 - Whosoever

10:21 - "stretchforthed to them" -- they disobeyed.

11:14 - "might save some"

11:20 - unbelief = the condition of rejection.

11:21-23 - "IF"

11:32 - ALL

2. Rom. 8:28-29

a. Notice the above statements on condition for the context.

b. Notice particularly 1,9, 13, 17 -- IF, the condition of salvation!

c. Here foreknowledge preceeds predestination! Calvinism teaches it backwards (i.e., that God predestined some to heaven, hence he knows who will go there) and uses this passage anyway!

d. This is not an UNBREAKABLE chain! This is where they are wrong!

3. 1 Peter 2: 8-9 appointed to ..

a. They were disobedient to the word -- hence they "stumbled". It was to the stumbling that Peter referred to as being appointed. ANYONE that is disobedient to the word is appointed unto stumbling! IT IS NOT THAT THEY WERE UNCONDITIONALLY ELECTED UNTO DAMNATION.

4. 1 Peter 1:1-2 -- chosen

a. TRUE -- but the choosing was IN CHRIST (cp. Vs. 20), and UNTO OBEDIENCE (vs. 2).

b. They still had to "make their calling and election sure" - 1 Pet. 1:10.

c. They could still fall - cp. 2 Pet. 2:18f

d. This then not prove such an 'unalterable, unconditional election".

1. Rev. 13:8; 17:8 - written in the book of life before the foundation of the world.
   a. TRUE - only the 'elect' - (i.e., Christians, saved people) written there.
   b. They could be erased! Cp. Rev. 3:5
   c. Hence, there were conditions to remaining there!
   d. There were also conditions to being written there in the first place.

a. TRUE - but Paul labored that they MIGHT -- was it really 'unalterable"?

b. Read vs. 11-13. If, IF, IF - IF -- condition, condition, condition!!!

7. Col. 3:12 -- chosen of God.

a. TRUE, also says were reconciled in the body of Christ -- and presented holy before God IF CONTINUE -- not an unconditional election at all. (cp. 2:11-13).

8. Acts 13:48 -- ordained unto eternal life.

a. Hard to believe that ALL the elect in this believed at this time! You mean that there were NO MORE THAT WOULD EVER BE SAVED IN THIS TOWN! Baloney!

b. "Ordained" - not say that GOD ordained them --

c. Note the following comments on the word 'ordained':

"The meaning of 9tetagmenoi) must be determined by the context. The Jews had JUDGED THEMSELVES UNWORTHY OF ETERNAL LIFE: the gentiles, as many as were disposed to eternal life, believed. BY WHOM so disposed is not here declared; nor need the word be in this place further particularized. We know that it is God who worketh in us the will to believe, and that the preparation of the heart is of him: but to find in this text preordination to life asserted is to force both the word and the context to a meaning which they do not contain…" (Alford, The Greek New Testament, p. 153).

"It was dogmatic arbitrariness which converted our passage into a proof of the decreturm absolutum, for Luke leaves entirely out of account the relation of "being ordained" to free self-determination … Indeed, the evident relation in which this notice stands to the apostle's own words.… (vs. 46) … rather testifies AGAINST the conception of the absolute decree, and FOR the idea, according to which the destination of God does not exclude, individual freedom…" (Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Handbook on the Acts).

"A bad rendering, as suggesting that human choice had no real part in such belief. The idea is simply that of preparedness of heart, without any thought as to how this came about. This is clear from the account of the Jew's unreadiness; THEY JUDGED THEMSELVES UNWORTHY… Thus all is conceived to turn ultimately on man's own choice. Like the Pharisees in Luke 7:30, the Jews rejected for themselves the counsel of God. No divine decree ordained the result either way. The best rendering then would be "were (found) disposed to eternal life," which preserves the exact shade of the verb (to set in order, arrange, dispose) and has just that degree of ambiguity which belongs to the original.

POINT: IT DOES NOT SAY THAT GOD PREDESTINED THESE TO SALVATION BY AN UNALTERABLE DECREE BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN -- AND THAT WITHOUT CONDITIONS.

9. Works nullify grace -- any passage in Romans?

a. First - works in Romans is used of 'perfect obedience to law -- whereby one is justified before God on his own merits". It DOES NOT mean obedience -- cp. 1:5; 2:8; 6:17-18; 10:3, 16; 15:18; 16:19.

b. By this we might mention that they INCLUDE faith as a work -- and even declare that faith is not a requirement! HOW DO THEY DO THIS? Simple, Because men are TOTALLY DEPRAVED-- they CANNOT BELIEVE apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. Hence, God must choose WHO the Holy Spirit will create faith in and who He will not!

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