Lesson 124
Romans Chapter Nine
The Faithfulness of God to
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The contrast in these verses 22 & 23 is between the great patience of God
in dealing with vessels of wrath prepared for destruction and the vessels of
mercy that He prepared beforehand for glory.
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Vessels of wrath are so by their own choice; vs:22
Vessels of mercy
are so by the grace of God;
vs:23
- 9:22 God's great patience with vessels of
wrath;
What if God,
although willing to demonstrate [put on display] His wrath and to make known
his power [dunatoj inherent power; OmPo], endured
with much patience, vessels
of wrath
- with much
patience; makroqumia indicates patience when dealing with people; in
relationships; upomonh patient endurance in dealing with circumstances
faced.
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Why the great patience on God's part here??
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Who is God demonstrating such great patience to??
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If anyone dies without Christ and therefore goes to an eternity of separation
from God in LOF, Whose
fault is it?
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How can I say from this context that the individual is responsible for his/her
being a vessel of wrath prepared for destruction?
God is not the
subject here as some attempt to make Him!
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Word for prepared is key; katarti,zw perf. ptc.
to fully equip/prepare; the idea is to make one completely outfitted
for an activity, here its destruction or
ruin [apwleia]
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Caution: No where does it say that God
is the cause of the vessel of wrath ending in destruction, eternal judgment.
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And He did so, that is done all this, in
order that He might make known the riches of His glory, through the life of the
believer, the vessel of mercy [descriptive genitive, vessels characterized by
mercy or being the objects of God's mercy]
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That the "riches of His glory" is revealed through His mercy says
that there is no lack in the abundance of His mercy; and no matter how much
mercy He pours out, His mercy is never
depleted.
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The first glory referred to His essence;
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The second glory refers to the eternal state of the believer.
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God pours out His mercy on the believer, to make known His glory, who He is, so
that His purpose for us from E-P, prepared beforehand might be
realized, that is everything necessary
to conform us to the image of His Son so that we are then prepared for glory (f3).
- 9:24 God's
ultimate purpose/objective; the calling out of a body;
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This verse describes who Paul is referencing as vessels of mercy. Who he includes in this
term.
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Who or what is the called??
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Paul's next observation is that "the called" are not just Jews, in the early days after
Pentecost it was; but by the time Paul writes here there are more Gentiles, eqnoj, in the body.
9:25-33 Judicial blinding of
1. 9:25-26 prediction of Gentile salvation.
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There is a new relationship, no longer
is it just
Hosea was a prophet
to the N.K. Israel in the 8th century BC. before God
sent the Assyrians in 722 BC to administer His judgment on them for their
spiritual adultery and apostasy, having pursued after the false gods who are
not gods of the Canaanite peoples.
Idolatry is
destructive for a nation, for a people then and still is!
Idolatry consists
not merely in erecting an image and worshiping it. Its seat is in the heart, which stupidly
stares in other directions and seeks help and comfort from creatures, saints or
devils...
How godless do you
think it is to rely on these things and to reject confidence in the eternal and
omnipotent God?
Do you suppose there
is an application that can be made here to our generation today?
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So in the context of Hosea the point or
principle in view is that here is the people of
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The spiritual restoration in view in Hosea takes place at the end of the
Tribulation, the time of Jacob's trouble, the last 7 years of the age of
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God in His mercy is taking a previously rejected people into a relationship
with Himself. This aspect is what Paul applies here;
Paul is not saying
that this is a fulfillment of Hosea in any way; but is an application of the
principle there.
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Paul takes this prin. not My people, becoming My
people as applying in our context in Rom 9:25-26 to apply to the Gentiles
becoming a part of the called, a part of this new relationship that includes
both Jew and Gentiles.
- God's choice of