9:1
Some people regard chapters 9-11 as something of an aberration in Romans, not really fitting into the letter as a whole and being something of a nuisance. Such ideas are absolute nonsense. They are an integral part of the letter, and fit perfectly well with the rest of it. There are also some Calvinists who seem to think the sole purpose of chapter 9 is to prove predestination. I believe in predestination, and chapter 9 contains examples of this, but that is not its primary purpose. Indeed the Bible has little interest in “proving” predestination, the whole Bible is founded on the premise of the absolute sovereignty of God.
Anyway, to the text. An important thing to note is that chapter 9 follows on from chapter 8, and that there were no chapter divisions in the original text. At the end of chapter 8 Paul has been talking about how nothing can separate us from the love of God. That leaves an important question, what about Israel? Most of the early opposition to the church came from the Jews, and the Jewish leaders had played a leading role in the crucifixion. So was Israel separated from the love of God? This is the question that Paul deals with in chapters 9-11, and the answer is a resounding no.
No comments:
Post a Comment