Special Vessels (Bible E-Course 26 Romans 9)

How does God choose some to be special vessels and others not? Are the chosen people Jews or Christians or both? Let’s begin by asking, did Paul love his fellow Jews?

I’m speaking the truth in Christ—I’m not lying, as my conscience assures me with the Holy Spirit: 2 I have great sadness and constant pain in my heart. 3 I wish I could be cursed, cut off from Christ if it helped my brothers and sisters, who are my flesh-and-blood relatives. (Romans 9:1-3 CEB)

Did God choose (that is elect) physical Israel?

They are the descendants of Israel, and they are also God's chosen people. God showed them his glory. He made agreements with them and gave them his Law. The temple is theirs and so are the promises that God made to them. 5 They have those famous ancestors, who were also the ancestors of the Christ. I pray that God, who rules over all, will be praised forever! Amen. (Romans 9:4-5 CEV)

Is there another Israel, children of the promise?

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. (Romans 9:6-8 ESV)

Did Paul earlier teach about two Israels, one in the flesh and another of the heart?

For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That man’s praise is not from men but from God. (Romans 2:28-29 HCSB)

Could this Israel by the Spirit be like the child of promise?

For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election [God’s choice] might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) (Romans 9:9-11 KJV)

Is this a prophecy of the two nations descended from the two individuals? Could this also picture the older child as physical Israel and the younger as spiritual Israel?

it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” (Romans 9:12 NASB)

Could Esau picture fleshly Israel and Jacob spiritual Israel, Christian Jews and Gentiles?

As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. (Romans 9:13 KJV cf. Malachi 1:1-4)

Did God literally “hate”?

… God is love … (1 John 4:16)

Could it be a colloquialism like Jesus used, meaning to love less by comparison?

Whoever comes to me and doesn’t hate father and mother, spouse and children, and brothers and sisters—yes, even one’s own life—cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26-28)

Is God unjust?

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! (Romans 9:14 NKJV)

3 examples explain this: mercy, hard hearts and vessels.

1) Mercy

How did God explain His mercy to Moses, after Moses prayed that all Israel be spared despite their idolatry?

For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will show compassion to whomever I show compassion.” (Romans 9:15 NASB cp. Exodus 32:28-30; 33:19)

Is God’s mercy a gift or something we work for?

So then, it does not depend on the person who wants it nor the one who runs, but on God who has mercy. (Romans 9:16 NASB)

Do we and God both have a part? Whose is the bigger part?

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:6-7 NKJV)

2) Hard Hearts

Did God bring Pharaoh to the throne for a purpose? Was God giving Pharaoh up to a hard heart arbitrarily or because Pharaoh had already had numerous chances and hardened his own heart?

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires. (Romans 9:17-18 WEB cp. Exodus 9:16)

Do we trust God’s will or try to resist it?

So you are going to say to me, “Then why does he still blame people? Who has ever resisted his will?” (Romans 9:19 CEB)

3) Vessels

Has fleshly Israel become a vessel of dishonor and spiritual Israel a vessel of honor?

But, my friend, I ask, “Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did? 21 Doesn't a potter have the right to make a fancy bowl and a plain bowl out of the same lump of clay?” (Romans 9:20-21 CEV)

Is God’s decision regarding vessels of honor or dishonor arbitrary, or based upon our decision to obey or disobey?

Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:20-21 ESV)

Are we the vessels of honor?

And what if God, desiring to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath ready for destruction? 23 And what if He did this to make known the riches of His glory on objects of mercy that He prepared beforehand for glory— 24 on us, the ones He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? (Romans 9:22-24 HCSB)

Is law-righteousness or faith-righteousness the answer? In whom must we put our faith, Jesus, the rock of stumbling?

As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” 26 and, “In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’” 27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. 28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.” 29 It is just as Isaiah said previously: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” 30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 9:25-33 NIV)

If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use. Of course we need God’s help, but the decision is ours. Jesus knocks, but we let Him in. Jesus calls, but we answer. What do you choose? You decide!

No Condemnation in Christ (Romans 8)

Are we all condemned to hell because of our human weakness in the flesh?

Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:1-2 NASB)

Was God’s law weak or us?

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4 NKJV)

What occupies our minds, the flesh or the Spirit?

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. (Romans 8:5 NIV)

What does setting our minds on the flesh bring, and why?

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:6-8 ESV)

Are our lives controlled by sin?

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) (Romans 8:9 NLT)

What does the Spirit give?

But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:10-13 NIV)

Do God’s children ever suffer?

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:14-17 NKJV)

What if we do suffer because of our faith?

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (Romans 8:18-23 NLT)

The Bible describes salvation as were saved, are saved, are being saved and will be saved. What are the tenses here?

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? 25 But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:23-25 WEB)

What is another way that we are weak?

In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. 27 All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people. (Romans 8:26-27 CEV)

Did God have a destiny for those whom He foreknew would freely choose to obey Him?

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30 ESV)

Can anything separate us from the love of Christ?

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. (Romans 8:31-36 KJV)

If our lives were threatened how could we possibly overcome this weak flesh?

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39 NASB)

The flesh is indeed weak, but in Christ we can conquer. Let’s not fear persecution or even our own weak flesh. Do we trust that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord? You decide!

Flesh & Spirit (Bible E-Course 26 Romans 7)

How do the flesh and Spirit affect our lives and our relationship to the law? Is the law pictured as the husband of the soul in a similar manner as a man is to his wife?

Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. (Romans 7:1-2 ESV)

When did the law and its covenant cease?

The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. (Luke 16:16 ESV)

Jesus, the lawgiver, died on the cross. So is the time from John to the crucifixion a transition period for the people of God? When is someone free to remarry?

So then, if she gives herself to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she gives herself to another man, she is not an adulteress. (Romans 7:3 HCSB)

Though Moses allowed divorce for many reasons, did Jesus?

And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. (Matthew 19:9 KJV)

Because of Christ’s death on the cross, is the church now free from the old covenant to marry Christ? In Christ have we also died to the old marriage covenant? Does that free us to also be fruitful?

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:4 NIV)

Who will the Lamb marry? Does His Bride do righteous deeds?

“...Let’s rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let’s give the glory to him. For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Revelation 19:7-8 WEB)

Did the law cause or expose sin? Does a clearer translation help?

For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were brought to light by the Law, were at work in the parts of our body to bear fruit for death. (Romans 7:5 NASB)

Is there a moral spirit of the law that remains, like the two great commandments (Matthew 22:37-40) and the weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23)?

But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. (Romans 7:6 NKJV)

Was the law wrong?

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” (Romans 7:7 ESV)

Did sin rebel even more against the law? Did sin bring death? Is the law good or bad?

But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. (Romans 7:8-12 NLT)

Did our sins bring death? Did the law expose our sins?

Am I saying something good caused my death? Certainly not! It was sin that killed me by using something good. Now we can see how terrible and evil sin really is. (Romans 7:13 CEV)

Why?

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power. (Romans 7:14 HCSB)

Was Paul humble and open about his flesh apart from the Spirit? Do we all have the same struggles with our flesh? Is Paul speaking in the past or present tense?

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. (Romans 7:15-20 NKJV)

Are struggles with the flesh still there after conversion? Was Paul generally a good example (1 Corinthians 11:1 CEB), practicing righteousness (2 Corinthians 6:3-7) but acknowledged our common battle with the flesh? Do we trust someone this honest more than someone who pretends that they are so perfect? Are we saved by fellow imperfect church leaders or a perfect Savior?

So I find that, as a rule, when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. 22 I gladly agree with the Law on the inside, 23 but I see a different law at work in my body. It wages a war against the law of my mind and takes me prisoner with the law of sin that is in my body. 24 I’m a miserable human being. Who will deliver me from this dead corpse? (Romans 7:21-24 CEB)

Is there an answer to our flesh?

Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. (Romans 7:25 NLT)

Are we condemned because of the weakness of the flesh? What frees us from the flesh?

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2 NKJV)

We are all far from perfect. Church history is a mixture of sometimes terrible abuses and good works and Good News. An indigenous preacher once said that though immigrants had caused native peoples great suffering, they also brought the Gospel with them, and for that he was very grateful. Are we also grateful for the Good News brought by a church that sometimes behaves very badly? You decide!

New Holy Life (Bible E-Course 26 Romans 6)

May we Christians just believe and not obey Jesus Christ? Can we be attached to the vine and not bear fruit?

So what are we going to say? Should we continue sinning so grace will multiply? Absolutely not! All of us died to sin. How can we still live in it? (Romans 6:2 CEB)

May we return to living in our old life of sin? What should our baptism have portrayed about our life?

When we were baptized, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptized, so we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father. (Romans 6:4 CEV)

Is this a picture of both death and resurrection?

If we were united together in a death like his, we will also be united together in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:5 CEB)

After baptism should we still be slaves to sin?

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (Romans 6:6 ESV)

How are we alive with new life?

So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11 HCSB)

May a Christian allow sin to reign?

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (Romans 6:12 KJV)

What kind of instruments should our bodies be?

and do not go on presenting the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your body’s parts as instruments of righteousness for God. (Romans 6:13 NASB)

Because of God’s marvelous grace shall we continue to sin?

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! (Romans 6:14-15 NIV)

Do sin and obedience lead to different results?

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? (Romans 6:16 NKJV)

How do we now serve Christ, with empty faith alone or faith in action with righteous living, obedient to Jesus?

Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. (Romans 6:18 NLT)

What does this lead to?

I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. (Romans 6:19 NKJV)

Sanctification or holiness means becoming a saint, living a holy life. What does that holiness result in?

But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. (Romans 6:22 NLT)

What does sin result in? What is the undeserved, gracious gift of God?

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NKJV)

We are to be overcomers and no longer live in habitual sin. A living faith is not lazy, easy-believism alone, but alive with the good works of obedience to Christ, in righteous and holy living. Will you be holy? You decide!

Justified by Faith (Bible E-Course 26 Romans 5)

Does Paul teach that all nations are equally sinful and the only way for any of us to be justified is by faith? Do we then have peace with God through whom?

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1 ESV)

Is it a disobedient or an obedient faith? Can we believe in Jesus Christ without obeying Him in our works? Why has Christ brought us into this grace?

Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. (Romans 5:2 NLT)

Do Christians face times of suffering differently? Do troubles make us better Christians?

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5 ESV)

Is there proof that God loves us?

But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 CEB)

Were we once God’s enemies? How were we reconciled? How will we be saved?

For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! (Romans 5:10 HCSB)

Can we blame Adam alone for our own guilt or have we all sinned?

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12 KJV)

Was Adam similar to ground zero for a sickness that infected all humanity?

For if by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17 NASB)

How was Adam sinful before the law?

Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:19 NLT)

Do we bear Adam’s guilt or our own?

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18:20 NKJV)

Do some translations of David’s Psalm of repentance seem to dishonestly inject ideas into it that are simply not there? Did David describe the environment of conception and birth, or is a baby personally sinful? What can a more literal translation tell us?

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5 NKJV)

Were we born sinners or made sinners?

For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:19 ESV)

Why did God give the law?

God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21 NLT)

Since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. Do you? You decide!