I read Romans 1 today devotionally. I noticed an interesting pattern throughout the chapter: God was in complete control of both the belief of the believers, and the unbelief of the non-believers.
Paul begins by saying that he himself is "called as an apostle"(v.1), "set apart for the gospel of God"(v.1), and that he along with the believers has "recieved grace and apostleship"(v.5), and that those to whom he is writing are the "called of Jesus Christ"(v.6). He addresses those believers, "to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints"(v.7). God called them; God set them apart; God gave them the grace and apostleship that they recieved, God loved them, making them beloved, etc.
Paul continues that God has made what is known about God evident to ungodly and unrighteous men (v.19). They did not honor or obey God (v.21). God, in ultimate control, gave them over to impurity (v.24), to degrading passions (v.26), to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper (v.28).
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes to believers, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Ephesians 2:1-6
God gave some over to their evil ways and yet, as we see in Romans and Ephesians, pulled those believers out of death and the lusts of their flesh into salvation. If hating God and reveling in our own sinful lusts merited God's wrath, why did God pull some out of it, and yet turn others over into it?
[emphasis mine]
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The cross before me, the world behind
Blog Archive
- September 2007 (1)
- June 2007 (3)
- May 2007 (7)
- March 2007 (1)
- February 2007 (3)
- January 2007 (4)
About Me
- Carmen
- Somwhere in, the, United States
- I'm a junior in college right now, and i'm majoring in foriegn languages. Jesus Christ is my Life; I have and am nothing apart from Him. He is the only way to eternal life; He is what's true; He is what never changes nor fails; He is the Everlasting God, the Eternal King. My entire being and identity is consumed by Him. I have nothing but Christ... I am engaged to the love of my life, my best friend, a beautiful work of God's grace... Jeff, I love you.
3 comments:
I love you baby. Not much to say except i agree and am very proud of you
Read Romans 1:21-24. There is a progression here. First they chose to ignore God and worshipped things other than God. Then verse 24 says "therefore, God gave them over .." etc. Because of their choices, God gave them over to their lusts, etc.
Absolutely, I agree. My question is why did God give them over to their sinful ways, and yet pull some out of those same ways? If God always followed the progression of events in Rom. 1, we all would be given over to the lusts of our flesh and wicked ways, and to death.
Both clearly deserved God's wrath; because Ephesians talks about our lives before Christ, and we were just as depraved and worldly. After both groups had merited His wrath, why did God give some over to their lusts, and deliver some from their lusts?
Post a Comment