{"id":1959,"date":"2010-08-16T21:58:27","date_gmt":"2010-08-17T02:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.com\/blog\/?p=1959"},"modified":"2010-08-16T21:58:27","modified_gmt":"2010-08-17T02:58:27","slug":"romans-914-the-righteous-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-914-the-righteous-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 9:14 – The Righteous Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Romans 9:14 <\/strong>– The Righteous Choice<\/span><\/h2>\n

What shall we say then? Is there<\/em> <\/span>unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

God\u2019s choosing of some to be saved is totally right.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Paul asks the question, \u201c<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/em>Is there<\/span><\/em> unrighteousness with God?<\/span>\u201d However, the Greek text says \u201cnot unrighteousness with God?<\/span>\u201d In Greek, the double negative is not as it is in English where they cancel each other out. A double negative in Greek is a statement of emphasis of the negative. So this verse could be read, \u201cIs there any unrighteous at all in God?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly not!<\/span>\u201d is translated from m\u0113 genoito<\/em><\/span>. A literal translation of this would be, \u201cMay it not be!\u201d In our vernacular we might say, \u201cNo way!\u201d<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Now that Paul has very clearly stated the case for God\u2019s choosing (election) of those whom He wishes, he asks another of his rhetorical questions. He is doing this in anticipation of the expected objection to election, namely that it isn\u2019t fair. To say that it isn\u2019t fair is to say that it is not right, that it is unrighteous. Is there any unrighteous at all in God?<\/p>\n

We tend to think from the human perspective that some deserve God\u2019s divine grace and others don\u2019t. That is, we think that those of us who \u201caccept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior\u201d deserve God\u2019s grace and, therefore, are chosen. But that\u2019s not how it is from God\u2019s perspective. From His perspective none of us deserve His grace. Here\u2019s what Paul said in chapter three: <\/strong><\/p>\n

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.” <\/span>(Romans 3:10-12<\/strong><\/span>)<\/p>\n

In other words, none of us deserve God\u2019s grace. We all deserve eternity in Hell! We are unrighteous but God is not. That\u2019s why Paul proclaims once again regarding God being unrighteous, \u201cMay it not be!\u201d<\/p>\n

You may recall Abraham\u2019s conversation with God when God told him that He was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy the righteous people along with the wicked people. Here\u2019s what Abraham said.<\/p>\n

Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”<\/span> (Genesis 18:25<\/strong><\/span>)<\/p>\n

Abraham recognized that God always does what is right; therefore, he pleaded for the righteous inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah (even though we know in reality that there is none righteous). The bottom line is; we are totally unrighteous and God is totally righteous.<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

None of us deserves God\u2019s grace and God is not obliged in any way to show mercy to any of us. We are not chosen because we have accepted Christ as Savior; we accept Christ as Savior because we are chosen. That is why all of us who are born again Christians should proclaim<\/p>\n

Thank you, God, for choosing me!<\/strong><\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –<\/p>\n

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 9:14 – The Righteous Choice What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! Truth to Learn God\u2019s choosing of some to be saved is totally right. Behind the Words Paul asks the question, \u201cIs there unrighteousness with God?\u201d However, the Greek text says \u201cnot unrighteousness with God?\u201d In Greek, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-vB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}