God's
Sovereign Choice
I
speak the Truth in Christ--
I
am not lying, my Conscience confirms it
IN
THE HOLY SPIRIT--
2 I
have great sorrow
And
unceasing anguish in my heart.
3
For I could wish
That
I myself were Cursed and Cut Off from Christ
FOR
THE SAKE OF MY BROTHERS,
4
Those of my own Race, the people of Israel.
THEIRS
IS THE ADOPTION AS SONS'
THEIRS
THE DIVINE GLORY, THE COVENANTS,
THE
RECEIVING OF THE LAW,
THE
TEMPLE WORSHIP AND THE PROMISES.
5
THEIRS ARE THE PATRIARCHS,
AND
FROM THEM, IS TRACED
THE
HUMAN ANCESTRY OF CHRIST,
WHO
IS GOD OVER ALL, FOREVER PRAISED! AMEN.
6
It is not as though God's Word had Failed.
FOR
NOT ALL WHO ARE DESCENDED FROM ISRAEL ARE ISRAEL.
7
Nor because they are his Descendants
Are
all Abraham's children.
On
the Contrary,
'It
is through Isaac that your offspring will be Reckoned.'
8
In other words,
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.
9
For this is how the Promise was stated:
'At
the Appointed Time I will Return,
And
Sarah will have a son.'
10
Not only that,
But
Rebecca's children had one and the same father,
Our
father Isaac.
11
Yet, before the Twins were born
Or
had done anything good or bad--
IN
ORDER THAT GOD'S PURPOSE IN ELECTION MIGHT STAND:
12
NOT BY WORKS BUT BY HIM WHO CALLS--
SHE
WAS TOLD,
'The
Older will serve the Younger.'
13
Just as it is written:
'JACOB
I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.'
14
What then shall we say>
Is
God unjust?
Not
at all!
For
He says to Moses,
'I
will have Mercy on whom I have Mercy,
And
I will have Compassion on whom I have Compassion.'
16
IT DOES NOT, THEREFORE,
DEPEND
ON MAN'S DESIRE OR EFFORT,
BUT
ON GOD'S MERCY.
17
For Scripture says to Pharaoh:
'I
raised you up for this very purpose,
That
I might display My Power in you
And
that My Name might be Proclaimed in All the Earth.'
18
THEREFORE GOD HAS MERCY
ON
WHOM HE WANTS TO HAVE MERCY,
AND
HE HARDENS WHOM HE WANTS TO HARDEN.
19
One of you will say to me:
'Then
why does God still Blame us?
For
who resists His Will>'
20
BUT WHO ARE YOU, O MAN,
TO
TALK BACK TO GOD?
SHALL
WHAT IS FORMED SAY TO HIM WHO FORMED IT,
'WHY
DID YOU MAKE ME LIKE THIS?'
21
DOES NOT THE POTTER HAVE THE RIGHT
TO
MAKE OUT OF THE SAME LUMP OF CLAY
SOME POTTERY
FOR NOBLE PURPOSES
AND
SOME FOR COMMON USE?
22
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?
23
WHAT IF HE DID THIS
TO
MAKE THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY KNOWN
TO
THE OBJECTS OF HIS MERCY,
WHOM
HE PREPARED IN ADVANCE FOR GLORY--
24
EVEN US, WHOM HE ALSO CALLED,
NOT
ONLY FROM THE JEWS
BUT
ALSO FROM THE GENTILES?
25
As He says in Hosea:
'I
will call them 'my people'
Who
are not My people;
And
I will call her 'My loved one'
Who
is not My loved one.'
26
And.
'It
will happen that in the very place
Where
it was said to them,
'You
are not My people,'
They
will be called 'sons of the Living God.'
27
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
'Though
the number of the Israelites
Be
like the sand by the sea,
ONLY
A REMNANT WILL BE SAVED.
28
FOR THE LORD
WILL
CARRY OUT HIS SENTENCE ON EARTH
WITH
SPEED AND FINALITY.'
29
It is just as Isaiah said previously:
'Unless
the Lord Almighty had left us Descendants,
We
would have become like Sodom,
And
we would have been like Gomorrah.'
Israel's
Unbelief
30
What then shall we say?
That
the Gentiles,
Who
did not Pursue Righteousness, have Obtained it,
A
RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT IS BY FAITH;
31
But Israel, who Pursued a Law of Righteousness,
HAS
NOT ATTAINED IT.
32
WHY NOT?
BECAUSE
THEY PURSUED IT NOT BY FAITH
BUT
AS IF IT WERE BY WORKS.
THEY
STUMBLED OVER THE 'STUMBLING STONE.'
33
As it is written:
'See,
I lay in Zion a Stone
That
causes men to Stumble
And
a Rock that makes them Fall,
And
the one who Trusts in Him
Will
never be put to shame.'
(Romans
9)
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