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.
Let me start an investigation of the third movement of Paul’s defense by directing attention to Russ’ series on Calvanism. There are many discussions that may arise based on very old arguments that I don’t want to spend (too much) time discussing. Not that the discussions shouldn’t be—but rather it detracts from my purpose of going through the book of Romans. Calvinists and Arminians would both agree that their respective stance is a systematic doctrine. These camps do not establish their doctrine solely on the grounds of these three chapters of the Bible so I will not limit my overview of these chapters to those doctrines either.
In an effort to prove that God’s atonement is limited to elect individuals some Calvinists have taken to highlight the context of enemy camp proof-texts to show how the “all†contained in those verses refers to a limited group. That’s fine to do; context always defines a word so when I shout at the guests who have overstayed their welcome with “all people in my house; get out†I am not referring to all the people in the world nor am I including myself or my immediate family in the statement—I’m referring to the guests. The context restricted the meaning of the words and the fact that Calvinists point that out is to be applauded.
A concerned reader wrote in and asked me questions regarding my relationship (if any) with Baptist Fire. The question was most likely drawn from my comments on Strange Baptist Fire in response to some misrepresentations, textual presuppositions and/or bad opinion regarding Lost Season 3—I can’t remember. I figured the questions burned in one mind so it may have also found some kindling in the minds of others. That being the case, I choose to maintain this reader’s anonymity while answering the questions for the general public.
The meaty questions that we may get from looking at this chapter in detail: What are the implications of knowing good and evil in that experiential sense? What does it mean to future generations? How does separation from God affect man?s thinking and ability to act?