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conversion of the Gentiles is a vindication of God’s faithfulness to His promises, and not the opposite, as these Jews were affirm ing. God had rej ected the ten tribes for their wickedness, and this rejection was reckoned just and in no way invalidating the covenant; why should the rejection of a part of the Jewish nation in Paul’s day, because of unfaithfulness on their part, be considered a violation of the righteous ness and faithfulness of God. God has been perfectly fair, righteous, and faith ful in His dealings with His people. While He can do whatever He chooses to do, yet what He chooses to do is always absolutely right, just, and merciful. II. T he Cause of Israel’s Rejection— The A rgum ent P resented from Man’s Side— Israel to Blame (9 :3 0 -1 0 :2 1 ). 1. Israel would not accept God’s way of salvation ( 9 : 30 - 10 : 4 )’. The Jew would be saved by law and not by faith, and because of this the Messiah became to them a cause of offense. “They aspired to acceptance; God wanted them to submit to it. To them it was attain ment; to God it was surrender. They sought salvation by their own zeal; God offered it through Christ’s blood. They wanted it for self-exaltation; God offered it by self-humiliation.’’ Instead of building on Christ they stumbled over Him. In pursuing after Christ in their own way they lost Him, while the Gentiles, seeking Him in God’s way, found Him. So it is ‘•‘not of him. that willeth nor of him that runneth.” - The Jews are not taken to task becanse of their lack of interest in the plan of sal vation. Paul was a Jew and very zealous. Fault is found with the Jewish manner of seeking to secure salvation. They had false ideas of righteousness. 2 . Israel stumbled over, the simplicity of God’s plan ( 10 : 5 - 13 ). Had God asked them to do anything hard such as ascending up to heaven to bring Christ down, or going down to the deep to bring Him up, they would gladly have done
a man and allowed him to be raised up on ’ the stage of history, not that He, person ally, might harden or damn him, but as a sample of the man ■Who hardens or damns himself. The wonder to n s is that any man could have been stubborn and hard enough to resist such dealings as God had with Pharaoh. Pharaoh, however, had set himself deliberately to oppose God. Many times, probably ten, he is said to have hard ened his own heart. Only after repeated self-hardening did God harden Pharoah’s heart. A careful reading of Exodus 9 :23- 27 gives us Pharaoh’s own confession that he was responsible for his own condition. This Ought to put an end to our caviling about God’s dealings with Pharaoh. (c) Because-God is Creator He has sov ereign rights over'His creatures ( 9 : 19 - 23 )- The irreverence of the creature is rebuked by the Creator in these verses. God has reasons for His dealings with man which the creature cannot understand and consequently should not question. Man, because he is a sintier by nature and action, has -forfeited’ all claims to the mercy of God. - God, therefore, has the right to exercise^ mercy or judgment. How Beautifully these verses show us that God exercises mercy and long-suffering towards sinners, even in their wickedness and hard ness. These He endures with much long- suffering. It is interesting, also, to note that the vessels of wrath fitted to destruc tion, are S b fitted by themselves, by then- own hardness 6 f heart; whereas'the ves sels of mercy are fitted by God. Men fit dhemselves for hell; God fits them for heaven. God is responsible for grace but Tint Tor Sin. It is true, man is in relation to his Creator like clay in the hands of the potter, but we must remember that the Potter is loving and merciful, add also that man has a free will—something which the clay does not possess. ■ (d) That the Gentiles should be saved as well as the Jews is the testimony of S criptare ( 9 : 24 - 29 ). The Jews ought to have known this fact, for the Scriptures were full of it. The
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