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Romans 9-11, Part 3
Romans 9:19-23 Delimiting the Text 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the…
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Romans 9-11, Part 2
Romans 9:6-13 Delimiting the Text 6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had…
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Romans 9-11, Part 1
Romans 9:1-5 Delimiting the Text 1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all,…
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The Plan of Salvation – B. B. Warfield
Warfield’s handout on The Order of Decrees, colorized by theosenlogos.wordpress.com. Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield is widely considered to be one of the last great Princetonians before Princeton Theological Seminary split. In his little book, The Plan of Salvation, based off of a series of five lectures given in 1914, BB Warfield walks through the decision tree of Christianity to understand the “entire course of the divine dealing with man”. Discussion The defining characteristic of the book is Warfield’s fierce logic. He identifies three great points of division that separate major Christian sects from one another, and organizes them into a decision tree. In every conception of Christianity, he analyzes their answers…
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The Justification of God – John Piper
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Romans 9:14-15 I first came across this book in the footnotes of another book by John Piper concerning election (Does God Desire All to Be Saved?). Most of my experience with Romans 9 has always been in the context of struggling to understand the intricacies of election as explained by Paul, but in this book, Piper places his arguments concerning election subordinate to his defense of the righteousness of God in electing…
