Archive for May, 2007
I get a lot of email but most of it is spam. But some are from innocent bystanding readers who’ve witnessed a Rey-Post-Astrophe and had some questions. More often than not, these folk drop me a line and I stammer out an answer but some questions have come up often enough that I feel confident in rewording the questions and sharing my general response sharing my response and Putting It Out There as an Old Testament witness (you know, where you hiss as you walk by the ashes of a blog and see the goatlings prancing about and not even the Spammers make their home there since its so devoid of life). As homage to
Click and Clack, here is my first Stump the Chump question plus response: If Adam and Evil were tricked by the Devil—why did they get in trouble?
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Posted in apologetics, stump | Comments (0)
It is patently unfair when dispensationalists are attacked for making a distinction between the Church and Israel when theologians outside the dispensationalist camp have made a similar distinction. Indeed Paul doesn’t shy away from making the distinction when he points out that the Messiah came from the Jews.
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Posted in church, dispensationalism, israel, romans | Comments (1)
Some have taken the fact that Gentiles have been grafted into Israel’s natural olive tree to mean that Gentiles are now actually Jews. They might try to argue the point by highlighting several verses in Romans (for instance in Romans 2 where Paul points out uncircumcised Gentiles living circumcised lives proving themselves to be more circumcised than Jews).
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Posted in church, dispensationalism, israel, romans | Comments (0)
How anyone can read Paul and see no future for the literal Israel perplexes me to no end. Why would Paul compare a Gentile Branch to an Israel Branch if there is no future for a literal Israel? And if Israel’s Future is just to be part of the Church why would Paul make a big deal about God potentially removing the Gentile Branch?
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Posted in church, eschatology, israel, romans | Comments (2)
As I took up Paul’s main thought in regards to Israel’s salvation I intentionally glossed over a major section…with no manipulative intent. I wanted to look at the problem of Israel’s unbelief without going into an odd theological place: namely the breaking off the Israel branch from the tree.
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Posted in church, romans | Comments (0)
Paul in examining if the message of the Gospel has reached Israel, offered up four questions and we take up our notes now to examine the third: It’s not is it, that God has rejected His people? (Rom 11:1)
“Yes we heard and yes we understood but we couldn’t believe because God rejected us beforehand. We couldn’t believe even if we wanted to.”
Once again Paul’s answer demands the negative: of course the Jews have not been rejected. Here people are quick to point out that the seven thousand saved are the believing remnant of Israel and Paul being one of them shows that God has an Israel within Israel but Paul isn’t defending the Israel within Israel—he’s praying for the salvation of Unbelieving Israel.
Paul, speaking as a Jew shows himself as proof that the Jews have not been rejected for the gospel is available to them. God foreknew his people and just as in Elijah’s day when the man stood thinking that he was alone as he pled against Israel, God pointed out that there were seven thousand (a perfect remnant you can read it) of men who haven’t bowed the knee to Baal. Elijah wasn’t alone but there was a perfect counting of men who stood with Elijah and thus continuing to preserve the nation.
This remnant remains such by God’s grace and mercy—He has not wiped out the Jews but rather is preserving them for a specific, as of this point, unmentioned purpose. And this believing portion holds on and the rest were partially hardened so as to stumble.
Posted in israel, salvation | Comments (1)
Paul in examining if the message of the Gospel has reached Israel, offered up four questions and we take up our notes now to examine the third: It’s not is it, that they have stumbled so as to fall? (Rom 11:11)
“So fine, we were hardened so we stumbled so that we couldn’t believe and thus be ultimately cast off—is that what you’re saying Paul?”
The original question demands the negative: they did NOT stumble so as to fall. But their stumbling was to make the Gospel available to the Gentiles and then to provoke the Jews to be jealous.
Their stumbling brought riches to the world, brought salvation to a foreign people—how much more will the salvation of all of them (for that is what the full number means) bring to the rest of the world? How much greater will that be for everyone?
For you see, Paul’s point is that although they did stumble, because God had partially hardened them in unbelief, it wasn’t for the end goal of making sure they were damned to hell and cast off—but rather so that the entire world can reap the benefits of His awesome salvation.
All in all, Paul examines this as a group: Elect Israel was partially hardened so that the Gospel could go out to the entire world of UnElect Gentiles and finally in the end, Elect Israel as a Whole will believe bringing unimaginable riches (not in finances) to the entire world.
All of Israel will be saved just as it is written (11:26) and although the unbelieving Israel is currently (in regards to the gospel) enemies but according to God’s election they are loved because God’s gracious gifts are irrevocable.
Jews and Gentiles both stand on God’s mercy: both elect and unelect (categories which our Christian theologies have forced to mean unconditionally saved before the foundation of the world and unconditionally damned before the foundation of the world) stand on God’s mercy.
The truth of the matter is that God has shut everyone up as disobedient so that H could show mercy to all.
It’s no wonder that Paul can collapse into adoration and wonder at the depth of God’s riches and His unfathomable wisdom, unsearchable judgments and untraceable ways—for no one can know the mind of God who has conceived such a plan whereby all, and I mean all, can be saved.
Posted in israel, salvation | Comments (1)
Paul in examining if the message of the Gospel has reached Israel, offered up four questions and we take up our notes now to examine the second: It’s not is it, that Israel didn’t understand? (Rom 10:19)
"Well, true God we heard the message but our minds and hearts were darkened so we couldn’t possibly understand it therefore we couldn’t believe it." Is that their defense? Is that the unmentioned defense made by proponents of such a system?
Paul’s answer is once again grounded in Scripture after phrasing the question in such a way that it demands the negative.
As early as Moses, the Jewish writings taught that God would make them Jealous by means of a nation without understanding and Isaiah boldly states that God was found by those people that didn’t seek Him and He became manifest to those who didn’t ask for Him yet to Israel He says that He’s been waiting, with outstretched hands, to a disobedient and obstinate people.
In other words, the Gentiles were being converted by droves and the Israelites were witnesses of this as well. Indeed, their Bible said this was going to happen and if anyone would understand it they did because it was provoking to jealousy. These same Gentiles that were formerly pagans were now worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These same Gentiles were now calling on the name of the Living God and worshipping a Jewish Messiah as Lord.
And what were they doing? They were being disobedient while God in His longsuffering mercy and compassion stretches his hands out—look at the picture like a father with a disobedient and wayward child—all day long, waiting for them.
Oh the words of the Lord Jesus when He stood before Jerusalem and wept before entering in "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"
Posted in israel, salvation | Comments (0)
Paul in examining if the message of the Gospel has reached Israel, offered up four questions and we take up our notes now to examine the first: It’s not is it, that Israel didn’t hear? (Rom 10:18)
For if Israel could state that they have never heard Christ’s Words then they might have a leg to stand on when it comes to judgment. Imagine the cosmic court room where Israel can say "No we didn’t have faith."
"Well then why not?"
"Well, we never heard anything."
"Yes, sorry, the preacher I tried to send could go so in turn you didn’t hear and thus you could never have faith. Be that as it may, you’re damned for eternity. Next."
So it’s not is it, that Israel has never heard? No, of course not—for they did hear, says Isaiah. The message has gone forth, it has gone out into all the earth. This doesn’t underscore the fact that Israel is part of the earth so they should’ve heard but rather it underscores the reach of the Gospel which the Jews were witness to.
They had the prophets before them speaking about this sort of thing, and they ignored it and denied it and railed against it: but it’s written down years before that this sort of thing was going to happen.
So they have heard.
Posted in israel, salvation | Comments (0)
Now then, if God shows mercy, and salvation is so near to everyone, and it is brought so undeniably near by the Lord God why is Israel not saved?
Well, Paul pointed out that they must call on the name of the Lord to be saved but one must realize that for someone to call they must have some prerequisites filled out. "They must be chosen before the foundation of the world" someone might say but not Paul.
A person can’t call on someone they haven’t believed. And to believe someone they must have heard them—not about them, but actually them. And for someone to hear them someone must be saying Something. And for someone to say Something they must have been given the mission to go Say.
So this preacher has the wonderful mission of preaching good news and he preaches the good news to the Jews and in that preaching they must hear the Lord speaking and from there they might believe and following that call on Him. There’s the actual steps.
The point Paul is making that for someone to be saved they must have faith and to have faith they must first have heard the word of Christ. That’s it.
Now, has the message gone awry when it comes to the Jew that they don’t believe? Is there a point where we can see the thread broken for Israel and thus find the reason they are not saved lying in some other domain?
Paul proceeds to ask four questions in a form that demands the negative.
Let me unpack that, when we ask questions we can form them in such a way that they are merely questions.
"Are there bears outside the tent?" is an open ended question that can be answered with either a Yes or a No, it’s purely informational and the answer can go either way.
But a person can ask "There aren’t bears outside, are there?" which is formed in a way that demands to be "No, there are no bears outside". Sometimes sneaky people frame their questions like this when they’re being sarcastic or some such, but that is not the case here in Paul’s argument.
- Question 1: It’s not is it, that Israel didn’t hear? (Rom 10:18)
- Question 2: It’s not is it, that Israel didn’t understand? (Rom 10:19)
- Question 3: It’s not is it, that God has rejected His people? (Rom 11:1)
- Question 4: It’s not is it, that they have stumbled so as to fall? (Rom 11:11)
Four questions all asked to demand the negative to prove that God did not falter in his offer of salvation.
Posted in calvinism, israel, salvation | Comments (1)
Interesting to note that a man who understands the Gospel like no other is one who is especially concerned with the salvation of Israelites. He has not abrogated them to some category of "vessels of wrath" nor has he tossed his hands up as "not chosen before the foundation of the world." Indeed, even in Acts where he wipes the dust off his feet he makes repeated efforts to win them for Christ and here he earnestly prays for them and bears witness of them.
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Posted in arminianism, calvinism, israel, salvation | Comments (1)
So what is righteousness anyway? What is God’s righteousness? What rightessness did the Gentiles attain and the Jews fell short of? I’ve spoken about this before and more often than not people say something like “Righteousness is goodness.”
But note the text states that the Gentiles were not pursuing righteousness: we can’t say they weren’t pursuing goodness. It would be ridiculous to state that for years upon years Gentiles were ignoring The Good and trying to attain only evil especially in light of the moral arguments of philosophers prior to Paul’s day.
Rather this righteousness was attained by faith and here people will be quick to interject their arguments about the Jews working for their salvation in the Law and the Law being useless and the Law detracting from Grace, but hold one minute. This is God’s Law, a perfect and holy and just law: how dare we.
Paul says that Israel was “pursuing a law of righteousness but did not arrive at that law.” Note what’s being stated here, the Jews were actually following the law of righteousness yet they didn’t grip the law, come to terms with it, arrive at it.
Here our Gentile minds start filling up arguments that Jesus was the only one that kept the entire law perfectly thus actually being the only man to have kept the Law.” And when we mention the Sabbath we get into sticky territory where we border on the edge of blaspheming the Lord by either supplanting the Sabbath or ascribing it to some tripartite division of the Law under the Ceremonial header or merely getting rid of the thing altogether.
They didn’t pursue God’s Law of Righteousness by faith but as though it were something to be attained by their doing so then they stumbled over the stumbling stone.
Here’s what Paul is actually saying. The Law wasn’t describing how to be good, although it did do that, nor was it describing what exactly you have to do to be saved on your own accord. The Law by making its propositions of do and do not is describing, by inference somebody who doesn’t have to be told all that.
I am reminded of the Father who tells the child “sit up in class, listen very well and take notes” knowing full well that such sort of actions point to an individual who will do well from that sort of attention—even if that individual is a myth in dad’s mind.
But the Law was perfect and belonged to God so there’s no hypothetical’s about it. The Law was pointing to an individual—not to individuals who could actually earn the status the Law was pointing to. That’s where Israel stumbled, on the stone that was laid down and by its very existence points out that no one could attain that status: it can only be bestowed and that by faith (note Romans chapter 4 for further analysis on faith).
Therefore Israel is not saved because of the way they tried to attain a perfectly right righteousness: by earning it. With this fact in mind Paul finds himself still praying for their salvation!
Posted in israel, study | Comments (0)
Last time I said that God’s unmerited mercy was being poured out on vessels of wrath: stupid, pagan Gentiles who weren’t even looking for God in the first place—but what about Israel, these vessels that were prepared beforehand for glory? What about their fate?
Paul’s overarching point, if you recall, is especially concerned with the salvation of unsaved Israel—a point that seems to be quickly ignored in many debates. If the argument here is that God has decided not to save Israel there is truly a problem with God’s word which will always stand yet in Paul’s day (and presently) Israel as a whole does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
The evidence stands against them for the prophets had spoken about God’s mercy left and right (a fact that is overwhelmingly ignored when looking at God in the Old Testament). Speaking about a cast off Israel, God through Hosea says He will take those cast off Israelites and call them His People and they will thus be called living sons of the living God. Speaking about a chastised Israel, Isaiah says that the entire Israelite nation will not be wiped out but there would be a remnant, a small shoot, that will be saved and preserve Israel for God has left them this posterity instead of wiping them out like Sodom and Gomorrah.
So God did in fact show mercy to Israel that He hasn’t wiped them out and He doesn’t intend to wipe them out but currently Israel does not believe because in the way they pursued God’s righteousness.
Posted in israel, salvation, study | Comments (0)
