Dan Chapa

Conclusion So in conclusion, Paul is teaching how the doctrine of justification by faith is impacting both Jews and Gentiles. He reconciles justification by faith and the rejection of the Jews who do not believe with the promises God gave Israel. Israel is chosen and blessed, but with national blessings. The spiritual Israel consists of believers in Christ. Both of these truths are taught through God’s choice of the patriarchs. And both illustrate how God’s promises did not fail, even though unbelieving Israelites are rejected.

25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Greeks at the time had religions which restricted membership and did not disclose their “mysteries” till you got inside. Paul uses that concept here and other places to demonstrate to the Gentiles that God had a plan that He is now fulfilling. The Israelites didn’t know ahead of time that salvation would apply to Gentiles. Now everyone was realizing that the Gentiles could be saved. The fullness of the Gentiles refers to the spread of the Gospel thought out the world. The partial hardening implies that not all Jews are hardened, but there is a remnant left. The “until” hints that the end of the hardening is upcoming. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 for this is my co...

16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. “Firstfruit” refers to the Israel’s practice of offering the first and best of a crop to God. Through that offering the entire crop was sanctified unto God. “Firstfruit” and “root” are Abraham and the “lump” and “branches” are all the Jews. Holiness is the natural state for Jews, given their origins in Abraham. Jews are special to God, so their conversion back to God will be even more special than the Gentiles conversion. Their being formed out of the lump into vessels of wrath is unnatural. 17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. The Jews are the branches broken off from the root, which is Abraham and the promise God made to Abraham. They are no longer...

13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 14 if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. 15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? There is a minor textual variant at the beginning of verse 13. The Textus Receptus has “gar” (for) and the Westcott and Hort has “de” (but). Gar carries the sense of additional rational for what was just discussed. De can be either continuative or disjunctive. If it’s continuative, the sense is basically the same as gar. If it’s disjunctive it typically enters a new, but related topic. Gar is witnessed in the Byzantine majority text as well as the Bezae Cantabrigiensis (approximately 500 AD) as well as the Vulgate and Cyrillic translations. So, since it has both a majority as well as ancient witness, and it fits the rest of the passage, a compelling case can be ...

7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded This passage heralds back to 9:30-32: 30What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. Israel sought righteousness through the Law, but did not obtain righteousness. Rather, God’s choice imputes righteousness to believers. Paul introduces the concept of “the rest”. God’s election creates a group that excludes the rest. 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. 9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them: 10 Let ...

11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Here Paul quotes from 1 Kings 19:10-18: 10He said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." 11So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain befo...

Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. Paul loves the Jews, despite the fact they are lost. Paul confirms his statements in Romans 9 that the Jews seek salvation through the Law. Paul also claims that they are not hardened beyond salvation, just as he did in Romans 9:25. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. 6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: "DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, `WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?' (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or `WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?' (that is, to bring Christ u...

Connection between Romans 9 and Romans 10-11 The 10th chapter of Romans expands on justification by faith and the 11th chapter expands on the national election and subsequent rejection of Israel. In chapter 10, Paul goes into detail as to why the Jews are being hardened and also Paul explains God’s choice to save by grace through faith. In chapter 11, Paul explains the implications of the Jews hardening on the Gentiles and also talks about their future restoration.

24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? So God has chosen to save those who follow His call through faith without discriminating between nationalities. Now even Gentiles are blessed through God’s call of the Gospel. The “even us” demonstrates that Paul’s illustration of the potter was about the Jews but applies to the Gentiles as well. 25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. Here Paul quotes from Hosea 2:23: “"I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!' And they will say, 'You are my God!' " And Hosea 1:10: “Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be l...

19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? The term in Greek for “resisted” is anthistemi. It’s used 12 times in the New Testament; most typically meaning talking back to or opposing one in authority. We are told to resist the Devil (James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:9 and Ephesians 6:13) and the disciples were told that no one would be able to resist their speech (Luke 21:15 and Acts 6:10). Quite often anthistemi carries the connotation of evil insubordination as is the case of Elymas the sorcerer (Acts 13:8), apostates following Jannes’ and Jambres’ example of withstanding Moses (2 Timothy 3:8) and Alexander the coppersmith that opposed Paul (2 Timothy 4:15). However, sometimes it just means opposing one in authority, as Paul opposed Peter (Galatians 2:11). So resistance here is talking back or opposing. This understanding of anthistemi is confirmed in the subsequent verse (verse 20) by looking at the phrase “repliest against God”. In verse 19 anthi...

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. The Jewish objection is it unfair for God to reject the Jew’s who are earnestly seeking salvation through the law. God choose to reject those who follow the law, which leads to the condemnation of most Jews. Further, God chose without considering how hard they were trying. Paul’s response is that God is not unrighteous. God is righteousness. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. In the Greek, Paul follows the Septuagint. The KJV has “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy”, but the second mercy in the Greek and Septuagint is present tense. So it should be translated “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy”. The same is true of compassion. There is a second translation problem in the KJV translation. It doesn’t capture the indefiniteness in the Greek related to “whom”. In both the Greek and Septuagint “whom” is followe...

Middle knowledge is mostly an implication of the scriptural truths of God's providential governance of the world and man's choices, but there are some passages that do directly teach God knows what we would do in various circumstances. I came across a passage supporting middle knowledge this week: In Deuteronomy 28 , Moses first tells of all the blessings the people will receive if the follow God's commands 1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth... Then he lays down all the curses they will receive if they don't obey "15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you... One of the curses caught my eye. It...

10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; Paul strengthens the argument he explained through Isaac and Ishmael with the example of Jacob and Esau. He also confirms his identity with Israel nationally. The phrase “and not only this” indicates Paul continuation of his previous point. 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) Paul’s argument crescendos. God’s purpose was the reason He said to Rebecca, “the older will serve the younger”. Paul says this comment to Rebecca was made in order for God’s purpose to stand. Might stand (or remain) is the subjunctive of meno. Here the subjunctive indicates God’s intention. Thus a hyper-literal translation might be God’s purpose was to make His purpose stand. In other words, there are two purposes or intentions. The first is God’s purpose for telling Rebecca the olde...

The core grounding objection is 'how can counterfactual statements about a persons libertarian free will be true, given they do not actually make the choices in the real world?' Molinists may respond that God's unique ability to hypothesis enables Him to know what hypothetical people would do in various circumstances. At this point grounding objectors may take two distinct approaches to furthering the grounding objection. The most forceful is that asserting grounding for counterfactuals of freedom is illogical, because it entails a contradiction. The weaker response the grounding objector may take is to say that such grounding is implausible and it contains counterintuitive elements. Plantinga and Craig have refuted the stronger grounding objection. Thus Plantinga states "It seems to me much clearer that some counterfactuals of freedom are at least possibly true than that the truth of propositions must, in general, be grounded in this way."( link ) This move may s...

7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Here Paul quotes Genesis 21:12-13: But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed." This is the context: after Isaac had been born, Sarah wanted Abraham to throw out Ishmael and make Isaac his heir. Abraham at first worried about this, but God said go ahead and do it, Isaac will be your heir and so the nation of Israel will be established through him. To comfort Abraham, God also let him know that Ishmael would be fine and would become a nation. This is God’s reaffirmation of His original promise to make Abraham a great nation. God is revealing a bit more about how He will fulfil...

S ummary Paul’s overall message is that not all Jews are saved, but only those who believe. He explains that it has always been God’s plan to save those who believe the gospel and not those who perform the works of the law. He also handles objections raised by the Jews. The primary objection Paul deals with is that God’s plan to save Israel would have failed if God accepted those who have faith and rejected those who follow the law. Paul also deals with the subsequent objection that God is unfair to reject the Jews that follow the law to obtain salvation, because it was God’s choice to reject those who follow the law. Verse by Verse Analysis 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. Paul takes this matter very seriously. He is addressing Jews, and showing his great love for the Jewish people. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, which may have given rise to the ques...

Below are two recent exchanges I had with Paul Manata and Ron Di Gacomo on foreknowledge and freedom; specifically the argument from the necessity of the past. In both I argued that the classic argument based on the necessity of the past conflates truths and the basis of truth; there's a difference between me and propositions about me. In Paul's case I asked him to try to reformulate the argument, but he declined. In Ron's case I tried to reformulate the argument for him and he rejected my reformulation. Either way, these exchanges lead me to be more convinced of my hunch that the classic formulation is a train wreck in light of the distinction between truth and the basis of truth. I will be in blue; Paul and Ron in red. Exchange with Paul: The ability to do ~A being consistent with God's forebelief that you will A strikes me as obviously false given the foreknowledge argument. In the least, that's what is up for debate. Apparently, what you mean is that you hav...