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Romans 9:18 – God and God Alone

Posted on June 6, 2018 by Will

So, then, He has mercy on whom He determines, and whom He determines He hardens.

Truth to Learn

God makes the decisions regarding whom He shows mercy to.

Behind the Words

The word “mercy” is from eleeō, which we looked at in verse fifteen. It refers to God’s action of showing mercy, not just His feeling of compassion.

“Determines” is translated from the Greek verb thelō, which we looked at in verse sixteen. It refers to God’s determined will and so we translated it as “determine.”

The Greek verb translated “hardens” is sklērunō, which is based on the noun sklēros, meaning “hard.” In reference to a person, it carries the idea of being “stubborn, unyielding, or unmoved by persuasion.”

Meaning Explained

Paul now makes his second summary statement regarding God’s sovereignty and his purpose in election. He has just shown that it was God who controlled the heart of Pharaoh after he had hardened his own heart against the Israelites and their God. And, Paul has shown in the previous verses that God chooses whom He will love and whom He will hate. Paul has quoted the Old Testament where God said,

I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (Exodus 33:19b)

Paul then used Pharaoh as his example of this declaration. He now restates it as a summary statement of fact:

Therefore He has mercy on whom He determines, and whom He determines He hardens.

If you read the previous verse explanation and all the verses quoted, you will see that it was Pharaoh who initially hardened his own heart out of his own sinful and prideful nature. But eventually, God took over and caused him to harden his heart even more. There are two principles to understand here. The first is that we are all sinful, and left to our own devices we will commit sinful acts against God. The second is that God is overall sovereign and will, at His own choosing, either pardon that sinfulness and declare us righteous through the blood of Christ, or He will allow our sinfulness to send us to everlasting punishment in Hell, which is what we all deserve.

“But what about man’s free will?” you may ask. Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that unregenerate man has a free will. That is a concept of theologians and others who don’t think it is fair for God to make all the decisions regarding our eternal future. The only free will that is spoken of in the New Testament is the free will that born-again Christians have regarding how they behave after salvation. As children of God, Christians can choose to obey God or to obey their sin nature.

Application

God is ruling all of creation, including you and me. If you are a born-again Christian, do you choose to submit to Him, or do you want to be in control?

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 7:19 – Surrender to Him

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Will

For the good that I determine to do, I do not do; but the evil I determine to not do, that I practice.

Truth to Learn

Overcoming our enemy, our sin nature, is not ours to do.

Behind the Words

Back in verse sixteen we looked at the word “will.” There are two Greek words that are translated “will” or “wish:” thelō and boulomai. The difference is that thelō implies an active impulse whereas boulomai implies a passive acquiescence. Therefore, boulomai implies simply a wish or a desire whereas thelō implies a preference, a choosing, or a determination. To understand the difference, imagine that you give a child a dollar and let them go into a candy store to buy anything he or she wants. The child’s desire is to buy everything (desirous will) but the child determines to buy something specific for a dollar (determined will). The word in the current verse translated “determine” is thelō, determined will.

“Good” is from agathos, which refers to goodness in general. It is sometimes translated as benevolent, profitable, useful, or excellent.

“Evil” is from kakos, which refers to something that is worthless or wicked. It is believed to be derived from the verb chazō, meaning “to retreat.” It is a picture of a worthless soldier who, instead of standing up against the enemy, retreats.

Meaning Explained

At first glance this verse seems to say the same thing as verse fifteen did. But on closer inspection we can see that there is a slight difference between these verses. Verse fifteen says:

For the thing I do, I do not understand. For what I determine to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. (Romans 7:15)

In this earlier verse Paul is contrasting what he is determined to do versus what he hates. In the current verse (Romans 7:19) he is contrasting what he is determined to do versus evil. Paul is saying that his determined will is to do good but he doesn’t do it. His determined will is also not to do evil, but that’s exactly what he does do. This is another indication that Paul is truly saved. Only someone whose heart has been regenerated will truly desire to do good and truly desire not to do evil. Unfortunately for Paul, and for the rest of us as well, the sin nature that dwells in this flesh of ours continues to overpower us even against our desire.

The significant thing to take away from this verse is the fact that it is not the will of man that draws him away from God. Few people, if any, actually want to be evil, but none of us, left to our own devices, will avoid evil because of the powerful sin nature that has mastery over us.

Once again let me say that the only way to have victory over this sin nature is first to be genuinely saved and then to submit our will to God and obey Him as our master instead of obeying our sin nature. As we submit to Him and commit to His ways, we have victory and peace!

Application

It is far easier for us to do that which is evil than to stand and fight for that which is good. And, it is easier to stand and fight against evil in the face of incredible odds, than it is for us to stand against our sin nature. That’s why we need the power of the Holy Spirit. Only a committed Christian surrendered to the will of God can succeed in overcoming his or her sin nature.

And, who gets the praise when we submit to God’s will?

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 7:18 – Surrender is the Key

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Will

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but to perform what is good is not.

Truth to Learn

We can’t work, or fight, our way to victory as a Christian.

Behind the Words

The word translated, “I know” is eidō, meaning “to see with perception.” By implication it means “to know” or “to be aware of.” This word is used here in the perfect tense, which indicates past completed action with an ongoing effect, where the emphasis is on the ongoing effect. What Paul means is that he knows it and has known it for some time because he learned it sometime in the past. That is, it’s not new knowledge to him.

Thelō is the Greek word translated “will.” As we saw in verse 16, this refers to our determined will.

“Perform” is from the word katergadzomai, which we saw back in verse fifteen, meaning “to work fully, to finish, or to fully accomplish.”

Meaning Explained

Paul has just told us that it is the sin dwelling in him (that is, his sin nature, his predisposition to sin) that causes him to do things that he has determined not to do. He now amplifies that a little bit. He says that he is aware that there is nothing dwelling in his flesh (that is, dwelling in the non-spirit part of him) that is any good. You will recall that back in chapter 3 verses 9 and 10, Paul quoted part of Psalms 53:1-3 which says:

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable wickedness; there is no one doing good. God looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind, to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Every one has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is no one doing good, not even one.

The reason that there is no one doing good is because of this sin nature that dwells in each and every one of us. It is what drives us to do that which we don’t want to do and it is what keeps us from doing what we want to do.

Paul now restates the fact that he is determined to do what is good but he can’t. He says, “For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good is not.” The determination (will) to do good is there, but how to accomplish it isn’t. As much as Paul is determined to do right, his sin nature won’t always let him do it.

That’s why we have said before that an unsaved person has no choice but to sin. There is no free will in those who are unsaved. Those of us who are saved, however, have the Holy Spirit living in us and we do have free will. We can choose to obey God by turning our will over to the Holy Spirit and letting Him have control of our lives. So you see, the only way we can have the free will to obey God is to surrender that will up to Him. Only then can we even hope to obey. And because we have a sin nature, we then take it back and exert our own will, leading us to sin. We all know how frustrating this is.

Application

As we have said before, the way to victory in the Christian life is through surrender. We don’t stand up and fight to get the victory, we simply give in. It’s totally against everything we have ever learned. We have to surrender to win the battle. Let us all pray that we will continually surrender our will to Him who has declared us righteous. After all, we’re not righteous because we earned it, but because He declared it!

In God's service, for His glory,

2 Peter 3:5 – Intentional Ignorance

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Will

For this is hidden from them by their own determination, that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by the word of God.

Truth to Learn

The world system today chooses to ignore God’s truth.

Behind the Words

“Determination” is translated from a form of thelō, which means “to wish or to will.” But it implies more than simple desire because it carries an intention with it. Hence, it is often translated as “to determine.”

The word “hidden” is translated from the Greek word lanthanō, which is from a primitive root lath, meaning “to escape notice.” The word lanthanō means “to lie hidden” or “to be unaware of.”

The words “long ago” are from ekpalai, meaning “from a long time ago.”

Meaning Explained

Today’s verse is a very difficult one to translate accurately as evidenced by the wide variety of translations that exist. It literally starts out with, “for determining to be unaware of …”

The thing that they are intentionally unaware of is explained in the following phrase: “that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by the word of God” This, too, is a difficult phrase to translate, but it appears to mean that the heavens were created a long time ago by the word of God, the earth was once formed by the word of God out of water.

The first of these is pretty easy to understand. “Long ago by God's word the heavens existed;” that is, they existed, or came into being, a long time ago, and the instrument which brought the heavens into being was the Word of God. The next phrase, “and the earth was formed out of water and by the word of God,” This is explained in the second verse of Genesis, “And the earth was without form and empty. And darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters.” In this verse from Genesis, the word translated “the deep” can be referring to “surging waves of water.” We can clearly see from Genesis 1:2 that the earth was covered with water, and land was formed from the midst of it.

What today’s verse is telling us is that these scoffers have made a conscious decision not to believe reality because they don’t want to admit that God exists. They cannot understand the reality of God’s creation because they willingly ignore the truth. As a result, they have to make up theories that explain all that exists around us apart from a creator God.

Application

Just because all of our public schools teach that all matter spontaneously came into being at the Big Bang doesn’t make it so. Just because they teach that life spontaneously came into being and evolved into all life forms we see today, without God, doesn’t make it so. People don’t have to believe these lies, but they choose to because they reject God. Do you choose to believe the Word of God or humanistic lies?

In God's service, for His glory,