This post is going to be my "goal" post (*groan). This is where I'm going with the next few posts on Romans 9 and how it ties in with unconditional election.
I am planning to point to Romans 9:6-13 to establish that God's love for his children is unconditional, dependent not upon our choice of Him (whether we have faith or not), but solely upon His choice of us. That before we were born, God said "you, you, you, and you I will love" done of His own free will, without conditions on who we were or what we were to become.
6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 8This 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. 9For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I will return and Sarah shall have a son." 10And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad--in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call-- 12she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 13As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."To get there, I need to do a few things.
1) Set the context - Answer the question, "what sparked this passage?" This answer will help determine exactly what Paul is talking about.
2) Explain the passage and what it does teach.
3) Defend my interpretation of the passage against other interpretations that have been put forth.
In dealing with the last point, I owe a great debt to two brothers, who, though we disagreed greatly on this topic, demonstrated to me great Christian charity and brotherly affection in discussing the passage. I still think you're wrong though =) , but I'm glad we're able to disagree in a cordial manner.
Labels: TULIP
