Romans 9

"I will have mercy on Whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." v. 15

"O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the Molder, " Why did You make me like this?...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?" v. 20-21

I spent the last few days reading a sermon given by Charles Spurgeon in 1862 on "God's will and Man's will". If you have a chance to read it, I highly recommend it. He really puts light on the whole predestination arguement and talks about the providence of God clearly. www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0442.htm

Providence: God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.

"If we could imagine that one human action had eluded the prescience or the predestination of God, we could suppose that the whole might have done so, and all things might drift to sea, anchorless, rudderless, a sport to every wave, the victim of tempest and hurricane. One leak in the ship of Providence would sink her, one hour in which Omnipotence relaxed its grasp and she would fall to atoms." CH Spurgeon. "He hath not let slip the reins of the great chariot of Providence, and think you that when Christ goeth forth in the chariot of His grace it is with steeds unguided, or driven only by chance, or by the fickle will of man?"

We have no problem believing that God gives us gifts...we do not give ourselves gifts. Likewise with His mercies.

It is much like an eternal circle. Draw a circle: God's will chooses us ------>We choose to love Him and believe -------->We receive salvation and eternity with Him ------->God's will chooses us -------> and so on.... It truly is a mysterious working and not something we should worry about.

"Soul, if thou art anxious after Christ, He is more anxious after thee. If thou hast only on spark of true desire after Him, that spark is a spark from the fire of His love to thee. He has drawn thee, or else thou wouldest never run after Him. If you are saying, 'Come to me, Jesus,' it is because He has come to you, though you do not know it. He has sought you as a lost sheep, and therefore you have sought Him like a returning prodigal. He has swept the house to find you, as the woman swept for the lost piece of money and now you seek Him as a lost child would seek a father's face. Let you willingness to come to Christ be a hopeful sign and symptom." Spurgeon...Wow!

I will leave you with this quote - also from Spurgeon. I love the picture it brings.

"The hen goes clucking about the farm-yard all day long; that is the general call of the gospel; but she sees a hawk up in the sky, and she gives a sharp cry for her little ones to come and hide under her wings; that is the special call; they come and are safe." When danger is lurking, where do you run?

Romans 8: 29-30

"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified."


This verse is a warm security blanket. Once you are saved, you become one of the firstborn called by God. Back in the day, the firstborn was the only true heir. And also, since the called was predestined, you can not lose your salvation. But the rub, of course, is when do you know YOU (ME) were truly saved. IE: truly called by God to be His elect. Pretty high position to say about yourself, right? But then again, those who are not called, don't know it and don't care. The Bible does say that not all are saved but it is God's desire that everyone come to an intimate relationship with Him. But being omniscience, He knows. It is not up to us what happens to the innocent - babies - or the people "in the jungle" that never have a chance to know who Christ is, or of the Bible. It is already determined.


I was going to get into a whole, Calvinism vs Arminianism", but I'll let you do your own study on that. This is a simple, 5 point chart, that shows the different camps. http://the-highway.com/compare.html

According to Arminianism:
Salvation is accomplished through the combined efforts of God (who takes the initiative) and man (who must respond) - man's response being the determining factor. God has provided salvation for everyone, but His provision becomes effective only for those who, of their own free will, "choose" to cooperate with Him and accept His offer of grace. At the crucial point, man's will plays a decisive role; thus man, not God, determines who will be recipients of the gift of salvation.

According to Calvinism:
Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the Triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.

Romans 8

Romans 8 is a very familiar chapter to me, filled with promises. The first one being:
"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.' v.1

But the explanation for that is in v.2:
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."

The Spirit has replaced the law, the law that only condemned us. The replacement is a new simple law, and that is the law of faith, that will give us life. There is even more explanation if you continue reading into verses 3 and 4.
"He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." v. 8

Praise You, Abba Father!

"...you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!'. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..." v.15-17

Have you ever heard the explanation an adoptive parents gives their child - that the child is even more special than the natural born because he was chosen. Wow. An amazing promise! But the last part of the verse is a reminder:

"...if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."

"Suffer" is a relative term...especially here in America.
....to come to a knowledge of (something) by living through it - see experience

...to feel deep sadness or mental pain - see grieve

I liked both these synonyms, especially the second one. I do grieve that I can not always be faithful to my God or obey or be everything He would like me to be.

"For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eager; we wait eagerly for it." v. 24-25
"My hope is in You, God; My strength is in You Lord; My life is in You, Jesus!"

"In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." ..."He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." v. 26-27
I make use of this verse often, when I just don't know how to pray.

Starting in v. 31 to the end of the chapter, John MacArthur calls, "A hymn of security". I thought that very appropriate. It is a reminder of our security in walking with Christ.

"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 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, or any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." v. 37-39

And all God's children say, AMEN!

Romans 7

God never meant for us to be able to keep the laws He gave. He meant them to show us that we are not worthy of holiness; He gave them to humble us, to see that we needed to reach out to Him for help. Reaching for Christ to stay away from sin, not only saves us for eternity but gives us a richer life here on earth. But it is not of our own power, but the power of Christ within us.
"But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter." v.6

"For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law..." v. 5
I thought the word "aroused" was interesting. Our rebellious nature wants to do the very thing we are told not to; restrictions add a desire - almost a need - to do the opposite. Why is that? Well one, it is our nature, our nature that needs God's power. And two, for me, it is (was) almost compulsory for me to rebel against any kind of authority. I never liked feeling "squashed" under someone else's power and spent my young life disobeying and running from authority, authority that had been put in place by God to protect me. IE: my mom, my first husband, my first relationship with Christ, my first bosses, etc. I learned a valuable lesson the hard way. And like a wild horse, I was finally broken and I am the better for it, though I still struggle from time to time.

"Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" v. 24-25
"'Body of this death': Tradition says that an ancient tribe near Tarsus (where Paul is from) tied the corpse of a murder victim to its murderer, allowing its spreading decay to slowly infect and execute the murderer." John MacArthur
Wow, something we should try today? LOL

Praise God for His word and Paul's example:
"For what I am doing I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate...For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want." v. 15-19
We (I) are not alone in our struggle. But greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.

This video below makes me smile! I love this kind of music from the 70's. Fills me with such joy. Check out Johnny Cash - the man in black!

Romans 6

Sanctification.

Christ's resurrection was for more than our salvation; He rose again so that we might experience an amazing life here on earth as well.

"...Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." v.4

"But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." v.17

Form. "The Greek word means 'mold' such as a craftsman would use to cast molten metal. God pours His new children into the mold of divine truth." Wow! John MacArthur.

God does not expect us to be able to go through our daily lives avoiding sin all by ourselves. He has sanctified us; God is producing actual righteousness in the believer so that our lives may be abundant!

...life is worth the living just because He lives!

Romans 5

"...Adam who was a type of Him who was to come." v. 14

I'm pretty sure no other religion, belief or philosophy claims that one man's sin (Adam) affected the whole future of humanity. In the same way no other religion, belief or philosophy claims that one Man's act of selflessness (Jesus) saved that same humanity.

"But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many." v. 15

This chapter is filled with many verses similar to the one just stated.

Honestly, you have to believe it all or it doesn't work. The Bible, from Adam to Jesus is a love story of God and His relationship with us. There is not just Adam and original sin but there are other things: the parting of the red sea, Elijah, the virgin birth, the transfiguration, and the most important, the Resurrection of Christ, to name a few. These things - though I believe the Bible as an accurate, true account - still take faith to believe. They are supernatural. The whole Book is about the Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient God and His care for us. It is not a philosophy book. Though filled with amazing knowledge, insight, and direction, It also needs to be looked at in It's entirety.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." v. 8 "

Then one of my favorite verses:
"...but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." v. 3-5

Romans 4

"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to who God credits righteousness apart from works." v. 3-6

The word "credited", "credit", appears in this chapter 9 times. The Greek word means to take something that belongs to someone and credit to another's account. It is a one-sided transaction. I love this from the thesaurus: permission to defer payment. God credits us with His righteousness for no other reason than our faith and belief...and we don't have to pay for our sin. Praise God!

"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sins the Lord will not take into account." v. 7-8