Author: Christine Wyrtzen

THE DEATH ANGEL AND MERCY

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 9:15

         When a Jewish household put blood on the doorposts of their homes, the death angel passed over.  Their first-born sons were saved.  Why were they saved?   Many Jews believed it was for the wrong reasons.  Some concluded that they were saved because they were Jews and therefore deserving.  Others believed that God was rewarding them for the suffering they had endured.  I’m sure there were still others who thought they were better, more moral, than heathen Egyptians.

         None of these were true.  They weren’t true for the Jews in Egypt.  They aren’t true where we are concerned.  God simply has mercy on people who are undeserving.  Why He chooses some and not others is a spiritual mystery.

         Where I can get trapped is when I begin the argument, “If God were just, he would choose everyone, right?” Continue reading “The Death Angel & Mercy” →

DOES GOD ELECT AND CONDEMN?

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.”  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.  Romans 9:14-16

         I’m writing prayerfully, and with trembling, about these passages of scripture.  These are, admittedly by teachers, scholars, and theologians, the most difficult to understand in all of Scripture.

         It is impossible to have God choosing some without the counterpart also being true; that He passes over others.  There is a blessing and a condemnation happening simultaneously.  But does God really pick out people to condemn?  Continue reading “Does God Elect And Condemn?” →

THE LOGIC OF GOOD BOYS AND GIRLS

Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”  Romans 9:12

         As a human being short on divine perception, I try to find loopholes around the truth that God elects who will be His child without any one of us earning our way into His good graces.

         Paul re-tells the story of Jacob and Esau.  He reveals that both are full-blooded Jewish children of Isaac.  Yet, before they were ever born and had done anything good or bad, God had already chosen Isaac.  This is a struggle, isn’t it?  I want to believe that Jacob’s heart was bent toward God and Esau’s wasn’t.  That’s why He chose Jacob.  But that just isn’t the case.  Their spiritual destiny was decided for them before conception.

         So whom does God elect today?  Can I tell ahead of time who will be God’s child?  Continue reading “The Logic of Good Boys and Girls” →

THE ELECTION OF A CHILD

Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.  Romans 9:7b

         Whom God elects, He draws to Himself.  He makes them His own and ownership means the full authority to do whatever He wants with His children.

         Abraham was called.  Isaac was called.  And once Isaac was named as the next in line for the promise, Abraham was accountable to God for the life of his son.  When God spoke to Abraham and told him to take Isaac up the mountain and offer him up as a sacrifice, Abraham obeyed.  He obeyed because God is God, but I suspect he also obeyed because Isaac belonged to God, not him.  God had elected him before his conception.  Nowhere was there a recorded conversation between Abraham and God where Abraham raged, “How dare you do this to my son!”  Continue reading “The Election Of A Child” →

THE BEGINNING OF ELECTION

Not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”  Romans 9:7-8

         Jewish history began with election.  Abraham did not go looking for God.  God came looking for him.  There was no possible way for Abraham to find God without God’s intervention.  He lived in Ur, a place where everyone worshipped idols.  No one there had ever heard of the true God.  Abraham’s entire generational ancestry practiced paganism.  Who could witness to him?

         God came looking for him and called him out from his family and his land.  He was to leave his family’s idols, go with God, and never look back.  Sounds like salvation, doesn’t it?   Continue reading “The Beginning Of Election” →

ELECTION

Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.  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.  Romans 9:7-8

         I’ve known this major section of Romans was coming.  Of all passages in scripture, Romans 9-11 are the most difficult to understand.  Election, God’s choosing some to be His children and passing over others, is a huge stumbling block to many believers.  This is the very teaching that causes a breach in their relationship with God.  They rise up in judgment rather than seek understanding.

         The Holy Spirit will help each of us understand His Word.  I don’t know how He will do it except I’m counting on His faithfulness.  Just as we’ve taken the first section of Romans verse by verse, we will jump into this section one verse at a time as well.  I need your prayers and want to assure you that you have my prayers as you learn along with me.

         If you have kept God at arm’s length because the doctrine of election appears to be unloving, I pray that these next weeks will vindicate the justice of God in how He chooses to act.  Continue reading “Election” →

THE TRUE TEST

It is not as though the Word of God has failed.  For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.  Romans 9:6-7

         Supposedly, 85% of all Americans call themselves Christians.  Sadly, many are not according to the definition of a Christian in biblical terms.

         The Jewish people, as a whole, call themselves Jews and sons of Abraham.  Sadly, most are not according to the definition of a ‘true Jew’ in biblical terms. Continue reading “The True Test” →

IS “IT” THE PROBLEM?

But it is not as though the word of God has failed.  Romans 9:6

         When those we love have heard the words of Jesus read to them and still exhibit unbelief, what is the problem?  Is it the Word of God that is ineffective or is it the depth of their unbelief?  I can jump to the right answer, as though it were on a test, and say that the Word of God is never ineffective but the inconsistency is not lost on me here.

         It wasn’t until 2009 that the light of truth about this very issue broke through to my heart.  Until then, I wrestled and self-condemned.  Continue reading “Is “It” The Problem?” →

 ANGUISH

I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.  Romans 9:1-2

Anguish is not a word to throw around carelessly.  Used too much by someone who loves drama, this person finds themselves in a position like the man who cried ‘wolf’ too many times.  When he really did encounter the wolf, no one believed him so help never came.  Words like anguish should be used sparingly. Continue reading “Anguish” →

PRAYER AND WEAKNESS

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  Romans 8:26

         It is not a sin to be weak.  Weakness is a human condition.  Frailty plagues the most righteous man or woman, especially when in the midst of suffering.  Quickly, every one of us loses our spiritual perspective.  Our prayers reflect this. Continue reading “Prayer and Weakness” →