AN ALL-IMPORTANT THREE LETTER WORD

Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea.  It will come to pass, in that place where it is said to them, “You are not My people,” it will be said, “You are the sons of the living God.”  Hosea 1:10

    The nation of Israel was under God’s displeasure.  They were walking in disobedience and God got creative in the methods He used for getting a message to His people.  He told Hosea to marry a prostitute.  Then, God named each of his three children.  All three names sent the Israelites a personal message.  1.) “I will crush your fighting strength because you have forsaken me.”  2.) “You will experience me as a God who has run out of mercy, so long as you fail to repent.”  3.) “Your rejection of me will cause others to say that I am not your God.”  Each one was a tragic word which should have grieved the hearts of His children but they continued to walk in perverted paths.

    In spite of this, God followed up these messages with another one that began with the word “yet”.  In that turn of a phrase, salvation and redemption flowed from the mouth of a heartbroken Father.   Continue reading “An All Important Three Letter Word” →

As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ” Romans 9:25-26

         Paul has been clear.  Not all Jews are the true seed of Abraham; only those who come by way of Christ, through faith.  Not all Gentiles share in the promises of Abraham either; only those who come by way of Christ, through faith.  Each resulting child of God was pre-destined to be the recipient of grace while also exercising free will to choose or reject Christ.

It is of grace that Paul speaks now; the same grace Hosea offered his unfaithful wife, Gomer, after she betrayed his love, walked out to a life of prostitution and ignored his pleas to come home.  He even looked after her from afar and made sure her needs were met financially.  Patiently, he waited with a broken, longing heart.  The analogies to every repentant sinner are humbling.

When I was unfaithful and spurned the love of God, He called out to me.  I was His enemy and yet He pleaded, “Come, I’m offering to make you mine and give you a place in my family.” 

When I carried on like an unrepentant prodigal, He continued to call me “Beloved” and loved me anyway.  Instead of shaming me in public and washing His hands of me, He sacrificed the life of His Son so that I would understand my sin and His love.  The hands that could have brought judgment were nailed to the cross instead, offering every sinner the promise of restoration.  The story of Gomer (and Israel) is the stunning reminder that no one can mess things up so badly that God ceases to want them.  Grace knocks incessantly at the door.

Gomer’s three children bore the names of judgment but You changed their names.  You condemn and You restore.  You strike and You heal.  Bring someone home to You today who has been far away for a long time.  Amen

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?”  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?   Romans 9:20-21

I was created for the glory of God.  My body, soul, and spirit – and how they work together – display His brilliance.  Before the creation of the first human being, He decided what would make man thrive; what would make him happy and productive.  The divine strategy?  To live a life that glorifies God.

To glorify God is to give Him a place of honor.  To de-glorify God is to put Him on trial and dishonor Him.  Never will I do anything that destroys me more from the inside out than when I arraign my Creator in the courtroom of my heart.   In pride, I rise up to believe that I am qualified to be His judge.  I drag Him to the witness stand, demand answers, and wonder why He is silent.  He is an uncooperative defendant and as a prosecutor, I am out of line and stand in contempt of court.

To think God guilty because He chooses some and not others is to insinuate that all people are innocent and deserve His salvation.  The fact is ~ all are guilty.  Every one of us is on death row and perfect justice has already been served.  But Jesus marched into hell on the other side of Calvary and earned the right to snatch some sinners from the fire.  That God would choose to save anyone is cause enough to walk humbly.   That He passes over others is not for me to judge nor understand.

I just have to know this, and I do.  He is merciful.  And He is just.  And in both, He is glorified.

When I try to understand the mystery of Your ways, I do so with trust and reverence. Forgive me for ever putting you on trial for anything.  Amen

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” →