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So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ

  Good morning. Just because the gospel is preached does not mean that everyone who hears will be saved. However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? However, one does need to hear: so faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Hearing the gospel generates the faith necessary to be saved. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have. Here Paul is talking about the nation of Israel. “their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” Speaking of the Gentiles: I was found by those who did not seek Me; I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me. The Jews were trying to find God, but refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah – the Son of God. The Gentiles did not even care about God; and they found Him. God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! God did not reject them; they rejected Him. Even though we did not seek You, You allowed us t...
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Behold I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed

  Good morning. Paul says of the Jews who pursued righteousness by works: they stumbled over the stumbling stone. Behold I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed. Now Paul could’ve said about those Jews, too bad so sad. Instead he said, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. They have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God‘s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end (or fulfillment) of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. How does this happen? The righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart – that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. In these ...
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And He did it to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy which He prepared beforehand for glory

  Good morning. Remember that we are in the middle of “what if God“, endured with patience those (Gentiles) prepared for destruction. Why did He do it? And He did it to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy (he’s talking about us) which He prepared beforehand for glory, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. That is actually a very big deal. The Jews were God’s people. He promised them, not us. Quoting Scripture: I will call those who were not My people, My people. And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, you are not My people, there they shall be called sons of the living God. Also Isaiah talks about: it is the remnant that will be saved, not all those of Israel. Remember that all of this is “what if God…“ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at ...
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So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, why does He still find fault? For who resists His will

  Good morning. All right, so God chose one person over another, and chose pharaoh for destruction – what does that mean? So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, why does He still find fault? For who resists His will? In other words how can He condemn us to the bad place, since He is the one who chose us to not believe? On the contrary, who are you, O man who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, why did you make me like this, will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? Again it sounds like we don’t have a choice – it is predestination. This is what others would say, not what is reality. Then a hypothetical: what if God (Paul is not saying that God did, but rather what if He did the following), although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels ...
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For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God‘s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “the older will serve the younger.

  Good morning. So Abraham had two sons; but God chose Isaac. Paul then gives other instances where God chose one over the other. Remember that Rebekah had twins – Jacob and Esau. For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God‘s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of  Him who calls, it was said to her, “the older will serve the younger.“ Isaac did not earn God‘s choice, and neither did Jacob. And of course we also didn’t. In today’s world, people would say that God was not fair. He should’ve been all inclusive. We would’ve heard all about it over the news media. God is evil; He is not fair! What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? Never! But that is not how the news media would portray it. “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.“ So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God w...
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But is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel

  Good morning. Paul is getting ready to tell the Roman Christians something, and he wants them to know that what he saying is the truth, and that he’s not just being politically correct. I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. That’s pretty strong. It sounds like he would be willing to take their place; that he would be willing to give up his salvation, if all of them could receive theirs. Would we be willing to do that, even if they were our relatives? He then talks about the benefits of being Israelites. Remember that they are God‘s chosen people; and yet without Christ, they are doomed. Remember also the promise that God made to Abraham. But is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended...
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Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

   Good morning. Another one of our favorite verses: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Of course we already know the answer – nothing! What about all of these things that he talked about – that he actually experienced; did they get him down? But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. Wait for it – for I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Whee doggies! As the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz said: “Ain’t nuttin’, no how!” Notice that it does not say that we barely make it through – it says that we overwhelmingly conquer! We don’t just win by a field goal in the last second of the game – we win by seven touchdowns! Fat...
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