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 Dear
Bro. Turner:
Please explain ROM.9:16; and how does this
fit in with the necessity for obedient faith?
Reply:
"It
is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that sheweth mercy". God’s mercies are bestowed according
to God’s will. Man can will to serve or not to serve God, but
the outcome is God determined. God decided to bless the
faithful, and condemn the unfaithful — it is His will,
therefore, that is finally and eternally executed.
The
Jew tended to forget this (as do some of us), seeming to think
that (a) because he was a fleshly child of Abraham, God had to
save him; or (b) because he kept (?) the law, God had to save
him. Paul has already shown that all accountable men sin, and
are by justice condemned. He has also shown that our only hope
is forgiveness through Christ; and that this is offered to all
who put their trust in Him. But the Jew (generally) rejected
Christ, putting their trust in their fleshly relation to
Abraham, and in their law keeping. Such is the context that
brings about ROM. 9:16.
In
ROM.9:1-3 Paul shows his great concern for his people (Jews),
who have indeed received many blessings from God (vs. 4-5). But
even from a fleshly viewpoint, they are not all Israel which are
of Israel. (A place in the chosen lineage was by promise: God’s
will and doing. It was Isaac, not Ishmael; Jacob, not Esau; who
were children of promise. (vs.13, is from MAL.1:2-5, and
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refers to results of a time much later than
the before-birth choosing previously mentioned.)
In
context, ROM. 9:16 rebukes the Jew (and anyone) who would forget
the author of law or promise, and begin to think they could
control their eternal destiny apart from God. God chose a class
on whom He would bestow mercy. (The "us" of vs.24:
Christians, both Jews and Gentiles — those of all nations who
would trust in Christ.) The "sure mercies of David"
are the results of promise of Christ, and "by him all that
believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not
be justified by the law of Moses" (ACT.13:32-39). We
classify as recipients of the promised blessings when our trust
in Christ prompts us to obey Him as Lord.
The
contrast is not between "faith only" and
"obedient faith;" it is between trusting in self and
in God. Expositor’s Greek Testament puts it well: Everything
in religion depends on the nature of the start. You may start
from faith, from an utter abandonment to God, and an entire
dependence on Him, and in this case a righteousness is possible
which you will recognize as righteousness of God, God’s own
gift and work in you; or you may start from works, which really
means in independence of God, and try to work out, without
coming under obligation to God, a righteousness of your own, for
which you may subsequently claim His approval, and in this case,
like the Jews, all your efforts will be baffled.
Thank
God for the capacity to come to God, and to give Him the glory.
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