Romans 9: part 2

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”^[f] 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”^[g] 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As He says also in Hosea:

“ I will call them My people, who were not My people,
And her beloved, who was not beloved.”^[h]
26 “ And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,
‘ You are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”^[i]

27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:^[j]

“ Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
The remnant will be saved.
28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.”^[k]

29 And as Isaiah said before:

“ Unless the LORD of Sabaoth^[l]had left us a seed,
We would have become like Sodom,
And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”^[m]

I was reading a note on these verses, and was surprised to find something I had never thought of before.  The vessels of mercy are the believing Jews and Gentiles, and the vessels of wrath are the unbelieving Jews.  Now that I think about it, that makes a whole lot more sense than thinking that each individual person is elected to go to heaven or hell (vessels of mercy and wrath respectively).

30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.^[n] 32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.^[o] For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:

“ Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”^[p]

“The first answer to the paradox of Jewish unbelief is from God’s standpoint: His sovereign will. The second answer to the paradox is from humanity’s standpoint: faith. For “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith”, equally for Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles, who had been unconcerned about righteousness, now attain it by their faith in Christ. God mercifully overlooks their former unrighteousness practiced in ignorance. By contrast the Jews fail to attain even the righteousness of the law, for they do not pursue the law by faith but by works. Seeing only the letter of the law, not its spirit, they miss Christ in the law and try to keep the commandments apart from Him. They substitute what was “shadow” for substance. Jesus Christ becomes their stumbling block.”

Romans 6: part 1

More than a symbol:

1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

“Paul grounds freedom from sin in the Sacrament of Baptism: Do you not know? Ignorance of what happens when we are baptized is a great enemy. For because of ignorance many are miserably defeated in their battle against sin. What Christ accomplished on the Cross – an actual and real death to sin – baptism is to us: an actual and real death to sin, a liberation from it. Thus, in our union with Christ through baptism, in His death and Resurrection, lies the power for victory over the law, the power, of sin. In this sense baptism is an exact likeness to Christ’s death on the Cross. Baptism is reality! It is not something that somehow “stands for” reality.  The Cross is the power of God for overcoming sin (1Cor. 1:18), and baptism is our Cross! There we tap into the power of God to say no to sin’s commands and temptations.”

“If Christ was buried for us, how are we buried with Him? Through baptism. For what Christ accomplished in the grave – an actual and real burial of sin – baptism is to us: an actual and real burial of sin.  Our old, mortal nature is replaced by a renewed nature capable of living righteously.”

5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“United together refers to being planted and growing together, clearly implying the expectation of fruit. In the likeness of His death means baptism has a real unity with Christ’s death. For the Holy Spirit unites the reality of being immersed in the water to the reality of Christ going to the Cross and the grave. Yet we are not “united together in His death,” but in the likeness of His death. We did not die in our flesh with Christ on the Cross, nor does our human nature die. We also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection is literally translated “we shall be of the resurrection.” The likeness of His resurrection is the new life received in baptism. But Paul is referring here to the future resurrection of the body. If we truly participate in baptism’s likeness to Christ’s death, then we are prepared for the resurrection of the body.”

“Knowing this is understanding baptism and its reality in the Christian life. Old man does not refer to human nature as such but to the power of sin in human nature; the body (the complete whole) of sin refers to thew hole self, body and soul, under the law of sin and of death. And so it is sin that is crucified with Him, not some kind of “sinful nature.” We and human nature are not destroyed, sin is. Not only are we dead to sin, but sin is dead to us. The law of sin is completely defeated, and we are no longer to be its servants.”

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

“Do not let sin reign implies that sin’s power over us is not inevitable; it is something we allow by our free will. Man’s will was the first aspect of human nature damaged in the Fall and, therefore, is the first thing Christ heals. His healing enables us to make right choices, especially against in. For the Christian, sin is not longer a power which reigns and puts one in bondage. Though our mortal body demands pleasures, we can direct it rather than allowing it to direct us. Lusts, the sinful passions, we can resist, for sin has no power but what we give it. Only our own listlessness, dejection, indifference or laziness can defeat us. In Christ, we have no excuses. We can “help it,” we can avoid sin. For in Christ, we are restored to what God intended human nature to be.”

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Romans 5: part 2

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

“For Adam, sin came first… and then death. For us, it is the opposite: death, mortality, we inherit from Adam, and sin follows after.”

15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

“As immortality is not the opposite and equal of mortality but far outstrips it, so that grace of Christ far excels our inheritance from Adam. For by grace not only is Adam’s offense covered and our bondage to death overthrown, but the sins of the whole world are covered as well.  Justification through Christ far exceeds condemnation through Adam. As we all inherit Adam’s mortality, we all shall be raised to immortality.  But  the saving gift of Jesus Christ, though it is free, must be received through the life of faith.  Thus, some shall be raised to life, others to condemnation.”

18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

“Paul contrasts Adam’s disobedience with Christ’s obedience. Mnay were made sinners refers to mortality and subjection to the law of sin, not to an inherited guilt or an inevitability of sin. However, the first thing damaged in Adam’s nature was his will, and in the death and corruption we inherit our will is also weakened.

In Christ are two wills, human and divine; His human will is obedient to His divine will.  Through His obedience, His salvation brings healing to our will.  Therefore, many – that is, those who believe in Christ – are made righteous and able by grace to participate willfully by faith in God’s righteousness.”

I have not put my words to this topic mostly because I’m sure I would cause more confusion than clarity, and also because it’s a fairly touchy topic, especially considering my background with reformed theology.  I’m going to be posting another note in justification from an Orthodox perspective… a complete quotation from the Orthodox Study Bible in a little while.