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Established
November 2008
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson
78
Welcome back to
Home Bible Study one and all.
I’ve always believed
that people “want to hear the truth and they can handle it…,” it really doesn’t
matter the form of communication or the topic of discussion. When I was interviewed for my first Bible teaching
position many years ago, I told the gentleman over lunch that I had
reservations and I would need some time to think it over. I took a couple of days to consider his offer. I was almost certain my answer was going to
be no; thank you, but for two items I could not overlook and these eventually
influenced my decision. I was being
given the opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church and teach His Truths to students in grades 1-12 and adults - honestly.
If you were aware
of my background (childhood), this would make more sense to you; but we’re not
going there. Suffice to say I was “misled”
by the clergy for many years.
I couldn’t get
straight answers then and it’s not much different today.
Truth is getting
harder to come by. Everyone seems to
have their version of it.
Case in point: I posted a news article to my Facebook page
about the boy who said he died and went to heaven and then returned. The book titled: “The boy who came back from heaven”
is based on Alex’s story. The youngster
now admits it was a “lie.” Tyndale House
first published this book in 2010 but in light of this declaration has
announced it will stop selling the book and they are taking it out of
print. LifeWay bookstores
are taking it off their shelves.
People, not just
Believers, are hungry for Truth because they receive a steady diet of falsehoods
from a multitude of sources. There has been a disintegration of truth and
trust in our culture to such an extent that lying has become the accepted “norm.” Today people feel it’s easier to lie than to
tell the truth.
I’ve said this many
times, and I’ll keep on saying it until the Lord hauls me out of here:
The only source of Divine
Truth in this world is the Bible.
To dismiss the
Bible is to dismiss God Himself.
Thanks for joining
us today.
Romans
9-11 are parenthetical chapters. Paul begins
by expressing deep sorrow and concern for his brethren, who are perishing,
because they have failed to understand and believe in what God is
currently doing in this current dispensation (Divine ordering or His management
of human affairs on earth) and are vehemently resisting his teaching.
In
Romans chapter 9 Paul reviews Israel’s past, after his opening remarks.
I
trust you have your Bible with you and it’s open to Romans chapter 9 at verse
19.
Let’s
read some Scripture together.
Romans 9
19: You will say to
me then, “Why does He still find fault?
For who resists His will?”
20: 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?
21: 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?
Paul
has already dealt with this same argument back in chapter 3 of this
letter. We’re going there now to review what
he said because it will help us understand just how stubborn and resistant to
his teaching these Israelites actually were.
Please
flip back to Romans 3:1 – Paul begins with this question: Then
what advantage has the Jew... (Skip to verse 5). But if
our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we
say? The God who inflicts wrath is not
unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in
human terms.) May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the
world? (Romans 3:5-6)
As
a side note, verses 19-21 have been adopted by some to demonstrate their
version of “predestination” or “God’s Election.” They say these verses prove that God’s “creates”
some people who are destined for salvation while others are forsaken. In other words, salvation is NOT up to the
individual. God has preordained who will
and who will not be saved.
Nothing
could be further from the Truth! When
teaching or preaching Scripture, it all must be in harmony from Genesis to
Revelation– like a symphony orchestra playing the same sheet music, in
unison. The conductor would not allow
the string section to suddenly begin playing their own musical selection while
the orchestra continued to play Fur Elise.
The orchestra would be out of harmony.
This is exactly what happens when you try to bring imbalanced Bible
teaching, or a person’s own version of what the Bible says into the mix…this
too causes the Scriptures to be out of sync. Furthermore, it causes confusion and disruption
within the Body of Christ. Know
this: the Creator God is a God of order
and not confusion!
The
objection which arises in verse 19 presumes, incorrectly, that God holds people
accountable for things over which they have no control:
Is
God unjust when He hardens the heart of persistently proud people?
Is
God unjust in condemning the obstinate sinner who refuses His gift of grace?
The
critic in v19 presumes he has no control over his behavior and attitude.
I
hear this same protest echoed in the media on a regular basis where people blame
their misbehavior or their life of crime on the environment, their past, on
other people, or anything other than taking personal responsibility for their
own actions.
Jesus
said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that
those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those
of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are
not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to
them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin;
but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”
(John 9:39-41).
The
point Paul is making is this, if people were in fact ignorant, (blind) to their sins, they would not be guilty. If people were like pottery, or puppets (inanimate
objects) having no will of their own, they would not be guilty either.
But
the Truth is the Bible tells us that we are made in the image of God, since God
is Spirit, having no physical form, this means we are made up of spirit, soul,
and a body, which is basically a “tent” to house the spirit and the soul Our bodies are mortal which means they decay,
whereas our spirit and soul are eternal; our soul is made up of mind, will,
and emotions, therefore we are not inanimate objects (1 Corinthians 5:1, 1
Corinthians 15:50; 1 Thessalonians 5:23).
We
all know that to hold someone accountable for things over which they
have no control is unjust. So Paul
approaches the argument in this way. He
says, “OK, let’s say you’re pottery, or only a puppet. If that’s the case what’s your problem? Pottery does not answer back to its
maker. The fact that you are talking
back to God demonstrates that you’re not an inanimate object but that you have a
conscience, knowledge, a mind, and free will; therefore your argument doesn’t
hold water. But if you argue that you are
mere pottery (i.e. you have no control over the things you do), isn’t it true
that the potter has the right to make any kind of pottery He chooses (Job
38-41)?
These
Israelites were attempting to say they had no control over their behavior, for
it was His will, or “He made me this
way.”
A
friend of mine used this same argument years ago in our discussion. She told me God made her a lesbian and she had
no “control” over the situation. She
said, “Since God made me this way, I may as well go with it.” I spent a good deal of time showing her God’s
view of homosexuality so it was a certainty He did not bring her into this world
“a lesbian.” But she dismissed all my
comments and God’s Word with a shrug of her shoulders.
I
knew my friend. She had a troubled past,
involving her step-father. She had trust and deep-seated anger issues
towards men after this and that’s as much as I’m going to say. She used this argument to soothe her
conscience and to still the Bible Truths ringing in her head. My friend convinced herself that God would
not “judge” her for her sinful lifestyle because He made her a “lesbian.” She ran this lie over and over again in her
mind until it became the truth, from her perspective. Eventually, she left our church and joined a
group who believed homosexuality was acceptable behavior (2 Timothy
4:3-4).
Basically,
these Israelites confronting Paul were citing this same excuse! But a person can’t really invoke arguments of
injustice if their premise is that they are merely a “pawn” in God’s game of
life. Issues of injustice don’t come
into play when it comes to punishing inanimate objects.
Romans 9
22: What if God,
although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power
known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
23: And He did so to make known the riches of His
glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
24: even us, whom He also
called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.
Verse
22 begs the question, “Who are the objects of God’s wrath?”
The
answer is everyone! Our Apostle Paul
writes, Among them we too
all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by (what) nature children of wrath, even as the rest (Ephesians 2:3).
When
you hear the Gospel of Grace and believe it, you are no longer an “object of
wrath” but an “object of God’s mercy” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
Please
turn to Ephesians, chapter 2.
Ephesians 2
4: But God, being
rich in (what)
mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us,
5: even when we
were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace
you have been saved),
Skip
to verse 8.
8: For by grace
you have been saved through faith (plus nothing else);
The
following Bible verse appears at the top of everyone of my Bible lessons
because I want everyone to know the Truth, This
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all
men (and women) to be saved and to
come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
I
pray you can see that this verse is in “harmony” with all of Scripture.
I
have another verse in mind that’s says pretty much the same thing.
Please
go to 2 Peter, chapter 3.
2 Peter 3
9: The Lord is not
slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is (what) patient toward you, not wishing for any to
perish but for all to come to repentance.
Our
Apostle Paul delivers this thought provoking remark to the critics in his audience
and to the skeptics of today: Or do you think lightly of the riches of
His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God
leads you to repentance? (Romans
2:4)
Because
each individual has free will (the ability to choose) sometimes God’s patience leads
them to repentance/salvation but the sad truth is not everyone answers His call. Paul writes: It is a
trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason
I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might
demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who
would (do what exactly) believe in
Him for eternal life (1 Timothy 1:15-16).
Paul
isn’t saying he’s the foremost (greatest)
sinner who ever lived before he found (God’s)
mercy (Acts 9). He’s saying he’s the
first person God saved by grace (alone).
Whether
Jew or Gentile, the great patience
the Lord Jesus Christ has shown toward us Believers who have been led to
salvation will be the theme of our eternal praise to Him,
Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has
caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to obtain an
inheritance which is imperishable and
undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you (and for me), who are protected by the power of God
through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1
Peter 1:3-5).
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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