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NASB | Romans 9:15 For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 9:15 For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOMEVER I HAVE COMPASSION." [Ex 33:19] |
Subject: Mercy Essential? |
Bible Note: Greetings Lionstrong! I dealt with some of these questions in my recent post on Rom. 9:10-15, but allow me to briefly address them here. You said that Rom. 11:32 couldn't mean God will show mercy on all because of your understanding of Rom. 9. Here is an example of what I was refering to earlier my friend. We have a clear statement of Scripture that has to be changed to make it fit a different understanding of Rom. 9, which is open to several different interpretations. Perhaps the answer is that Rom. 9 can't possibly mean what you think it means, because Rom. 11:32 clearly says God intends on having mercy on all. In my opinion, your interpretation of Rom. 9 is based upon a faulty understand of "God's purpose according to election" (v. 11). That verse never spells out what God's purpose is in that passage. Hoever, verse 11 is not the complete sentence. Verse 12 continues the sentence and gives God's purpose according to election. It says, "The older will serve the younger.” Thus, the purpose of election refered to in Rom. 9 has nothing to do with the eternal destinies of Jacob and Esau. It has to do with the national destinies of their offspring. Jacob's descendants were part of Israel, while Esau's descendants were not. This is the whole argument that Paul has been making since chapter nine began. Follow the flow: 1) "For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel." - v. 6b 2) "For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel." - v. 7a 3) "On the contrary, ‘‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” - v. 7b 4) "it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring." - v. 8. 5) "For this was how the promise was stated: ‘‘At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”" - v. 9 6) "Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac." - v. 10 7) "Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand:" - v. 11 The topic is not the eternal destinies of individuals. The topic is the method by which membership in Israel is determined. Paul is arguing that it is based upon promise, not birth. There is another problem with your interpretation (in my opinion). The complaint in chapter nine is not that God has withheld His mercy. The complain is that God have overextended His mercy by including people in Israel that are not physical descendants of Abraham. Even in the Potters passage of chapter nine, God's mercy is the complaint. Rom. 9:22 says, "What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?" Does this verse say that God destroyed these objects? No! It says that He bore them with great patience. I will be posting about Pharoah later today. But concerning Esau. There is not evidence from Scripture that God rejected Esau. The "hate" passage is a quote dealing with Israel and Edom. Concerning your last statement "does your 'all' mean all." I wasn't sure from the context exactly what you were refering to, so I'll make a guess. I believe that God has extended His mercy to "all." So, yes, my all does mean all. He even extended His mercy to Pharoah, but Pharoah rejected it. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |