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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the Journey family. Let's dig into Romans chapters 9 through 11. Now let me give you a heads up. This is like objectively some of the most difficult content in the entire Bible. All right? Most Bible scholars, theologians, professors in school are all gonna just say like, hey, like if you thought Romans was difficult up until this point, go ahead and buckle up. And so I'm gonna do my best to guide us through Romans chapters 9, 10 and 11. Heads up, I'm not a Calvinist, all right? And there, this is like the foundational teaching for Calvinists. All right? Words like predestination are going to be found in Romans chapters 9, 10 and 11. And obviously Romans chapter 11, which is the curveball for everyone, is that all Israel is going to be saved. And so we got a bunch of theological landmines that we are going to avoid. I'm going to do my best to help us through Romans chapters 9, 10 and 11. And yeah, I hope that today's content is super, super helpful. Hey, if you have not done the reading, just go ahead and pause, pause this audio, pause this video and read Romans chapters 9, 10 and 11 and then come right back here. This content is going to make way more like a ton of sense. More sense if you've actually done the reading. So let's dive into some context clues.
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Co-host or Assistant
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
We got to talk about predestination, whether or not I'm predestined for anything. Okay, now remember, okay, the book of Romans is not written to John Calvin. The book of Roman is not written by a Calvinist.
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Co-host or Assistant
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
The book of Romans is written to a Greco Roman audience, a Roman gentile audience with a Greco Roman worldview. Now for the Roman person, we have to first ask the question, for the Roman individual, how does predestination work? Okay, now all over the ancient world there were what's called oracles.
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Co-host or Assistant
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
The most famous, which maybe you've heard of, is the oracle at Delphi. If you've ever watched a movie like 300 or any movie that prominently figures like Greeks or Romans, you would know that seeking the advice of an oracle is very common in the ancient world. So they had an understanding for predestination. And here's exactly how Predestination worked in the Greco Roman world, okay? In the Greco Roman world, you are predestined to have blank if you do blank.
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Co-host or Assistant
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
In the ancient world, predestination and obedience are linked. If you do blank and if you offer blank sacrifice, then it is predestined and predetermined that blank outcome will happen. There's no world, there's no place in the ancient world where things are predestined and predetermined outside of the activity or the action of humans at all. Okay? And so to assume that Paul is going to use words like foreknowledge, foreknew predestined election, and that he's using those words the way that Calvinists in our current day and age use those words would be a massive assumption. The safest actually assumption to make is that Paul is using these words in a way that is contextually accurate. That when Paul talks about predestination, he is saying, hey, these outcomes are predestined by God or predetermined by God based on your actions or your obedience or the part you have to play. In a Western world, we really do live in these polar opposites. So things have to either be the election and foreknowledge and predestination of God or free will, obedience, and the part that we play. And I think that for an ancient audience and definitely for an Eastern audience and definitely for a Hebrew like Paul, these are actually two halves that make up one whole. That what we do in our obedience and our action and our words and our decisions impact things that have been foreknown by God. Okay, so that's number one. That's the first context clue that we need. Here's another layer of just context. Three words that we need to know are not the same thing. Election, foreknowledge, and salvation are not the same thing. Okay, so there are going to be things that God foreknows. Now, whether or not what he foreknows impacts salvation or impacts decisions, very different. Does he foreknow that you and I are going to sin? Absolutely. But is he the author of sin in any way? No. The Bible's actually really clear, like all in all kinds of places that God doesn't tempt that God is not the source of sin, that yes, he knows that something is going to happen, but in no way, shape or form does his knowledge of that event manipulate or change whether or not humans still have to make a decision. Let's get to election. In the ancient world, election is Corporate, okay? Election is not you as an individual, but election is corporate. And God has elected Israel or God has elected the church, or God has elected Jesus and Jesus has chosen a bride called the church. And that is a group. And now I have a decision to make of whether or not I am going to make a conscious decision to be a part of this group that has been elected, that is going to come with certain benefits like salvation. But let's slow down. Salvation and election aren't even completely dependent words. They are independent words.
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Co-host or Assistant
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
I actually want to give a good example from the Old Testament because we have someone who's God's elect, who's God's anointed, but does not experience salvation.
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Co-host or Assistant
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
So we have an Old Testament example of someone who's elected by God, not a group, but an individual who's elected by God and anointed, but does not experience God's salvation because they don't make the decision to become a part of the group called Israel to experience those salvation benefits. Here we go. Isaiah, chapter four, 45. Isaiah, chapter 45. We're going to start reading in verse one. We may go to verse two. Says this, this is what the Lord says to his anointed.
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Co-host or Assistant
Okay?
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Dr. Manny Arango
To his elect. To his anointed. To Cyrus, who is God's anointed. A heathen pagan king, a Persian king named Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut. I will go before you and will level the mountains. I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. So the Bible says that Cyrus, the Persian king, Cyrus is God's anointed, God's elected. But does is there any point in the Scriptures where Cyrus repents, turns to God, becomes a God fearer? No. For all we know, Cyrus is someone who never experiences the salvation of the Lord even though he is elected and appointed and anointed by God to fulfill a purpose of God down here on the earth. So election does not guarantee an afterlife of salvation or acceptance or entrance into heaven. Okay, so God can foreknow something. That foreknowledge does not automatically mean that that's the outcome that's going to happen. Second, God's election is corporate more than it is for the individual. And we have an example here in the Old Testament where there is an individual who's elected, anointed by God, called by God, foreknew, predestined, even though they are predestined they still have to make certain decisions. And even though they're predestined, they're not predestined for salvation. They're predestined to fulfill a certain purpose that God has down here on the earth. That's a lot of background. But honestly, all of that is going to help us to read Romans chapters 9, 10 and 11 and understand that God, just because he foreknows something isn't predestining something to happen. And just because he predestines it to happen doesn't mean that he's elected anyone. And just because he's elected someone doesn't mean that he's elected them for salvation. It could totally mean that he's elected them for a purpose that he has in mind for them to fulfill down here on this earth.
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Unknown Speaker
What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just.
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Dr. Manny Arango
The tip of the iceberg?
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Unknown Speaker
The Bible department is actually powered by arma. What is arma?
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Dr. Manny Arango
I'm so glad you asked.
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Unknown Speaker
ARMA is an online subscription based platform that we designed to help people, everyday people, learn the Bible for themselves. We started ARMA so that anybody can, anywhere, could have access to trustworthy and.
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Dr. Manny Arango
Entertaining Bible and theology content.
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Unknown Speaker
In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing and women in ministry. But really, ARMA is a community. A community of people that I've gotten to know. A community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions and nerding.
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Dr. Manny Arango
Out on the Bible together.
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Unknown Speaker
If you want a community to read the Bible with you this year, or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want.
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Dr. Manny Arango
More exclusive access to me and the.
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Unknown Speaker
Entire armor team, how about you go to thebibledepartment.com I'll be sure to post.
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Dr. Manny Arango
The link in the description of this video.
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Unknown Speaker
Let's make this your year to become a Bible nerd.
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Dr. Manny Arango
Now that was a whole lot of context. So let me give you some nerdy nuggets. Okay, here we go. Let's actually start to like break down some verses.
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Co-host or Assistant
Okay.
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Dr. Manny Arango
Romans, chapter 9, verse 13. Here's one that may trip you up. Says this just as it is written. Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. Okay, why is God out here hating people? Well, there's a nerdy nugget. That word hate is meant in a comparative way. Okay, so God doesn't actually hate anybody here. Let's look at Luke chapter 14. Because Jesus is going to say something very similar. Luke chapter 14, verse 25 says this. Large crowds were traveling with Jesus and turning to them. Here's what Jesus says. If anyone comes to me and does not hate father, mother, wife, children, brother and sisters, yes, even their own life, such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Does Jesus literally mean that you can only be a disciple if you hate your mom, hate your father, hate your brothers, hate your sisters, hate your siblings, and hate yourself? No, it means that loving him has to be more of a priority than loving the people that are around us. But clearly we know that the Scriptures teach us to love our neighbors and to love our enemies. And so Scripture has to interpret Scripture. So God is not saying, hey, I hated Esau? No, he's saying that I elected Jacob. Does it mean that he elected Jacob for salvation? No, he elected Jacob to be the bearer of the promised seed or the lineage that was going to produce the Messiah named Jesus. And so is Esau damned to hell? No, Esau's not damned to hell. Esau is just not the Bahor or given the rights of the firstborn. Bahor is a Hebrew word that means firstborn. It means that you have the lion's share of the inheritance, not the lion's share of the blessing. Nope, it skips Esau, even though he's the oldest and it goes to his brother. So the passage here says, jacob, I loved Esau, I hated. So again, election doesn't mean salvation or the lack thereof. Here's another nerdy nugget that needs some context. In the ancient world, Caesar would actually go out on these bread and circus tours where he would give out bread and there would be a literal circus that would follow him like a theatrical show. And in the Greco Roman world, everyone knew this phrase. If you declare from your mouth that Caesar is Lord, you'll be saved. Okay, Paul takes this straight out of the Greco Roman world. And we get Romans, chapter 10, verses 9 and 10. It says this. If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord, not Caesar, but Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified. And is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Profess your faith. So what is faith? Because faith is going to get talked about a lot throughout the book of Romans. Faith means three things. A, it means belief. I just believe. Not just in God, but I believe God. I believe what God says. Demons believe in God, but they don't believe God. They don't think that what God says is actually what should be believed. Okay, Number two, it means that I trust that I go from belief, that's like mental knowledge, into experience. I trust.
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Co-host or Assistant
Okay.
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Dr. Manny Arango
I can't say I trust this chair until I sit in it, put my weight in it. Okay, so belief, trust, and then allegiance. That pistis, the Greek word for faith in context means that I pledge my allegiance. There's a really, really good book somewhere behind me called Salvation by Allegiance Alone by Matthew Bates. Great book. So Paul is not just saying, hey, if you've been elected by God, you're in no need to obey or do anything. You're predestined. You're good. Nope, actually, I have to profess faith. Have to profess my allegiance.
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Co-host or Assistant
Okay.
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Dr. Manny Arango
And lastly, Romans, chapter 9 and 11. Is Paul really talking about the Jews, like the Jewish people? And you could see how with the multiple groups that he's talking to in this letter, how up until this point, the Gentile Christians may be thinking to themselves, we've replaced these Jews. Like, yeah, man, we got the upper hand. No way. God's integrity is on the line. You like to use this example. If a man has cheated on someone in the past, he's probably going to cheat on you. And so Paul actually needs to communicate to the Gentiles God has actually been faithful in his covenant promise to the people of Israel. And if God has done anything against his covenant promises to the people of Israel, then why would you trust him? You can't trust this God until you trust his track record. And so Romans, chapters 9, 10, 11 really deal with, okay, so what's happening with unbelieving Jews? And Paul says he's heartbroken over unbelieving Jews, but he also goes on to say unbelieving Jews aren't a new thing. That actually there's always been Jewish people who are Jewish by ethnicity, but they're not Jews based on a circumcision of the heart. That's not new. But then Paul leaves us off on a high note. He says that somehow, and we don't know how, that all Israel, all Jewish people are somehow going to be saved. And we don't know how that's going to happen. We don't know if that includes the church being raptured up and Jesus coming back and revealing himself to them. We don't know how that's gonna happen. There's a lot of allusions in the Old Testament to people being believed. Not the first time they appear, but the second time they appear. And that could be a foreshadow for Jesus relationship with his covenant people, the Jews. We really don't know how, but what we do know is that God is faithful. And that's our timeless truth for the day, that God is faithful. The same God who's faithful to a permanent covenant, to a covenant that the Jewish people, whether or not they are believing or unbelieving, he's going to be faithful that that faithful God has said that there are branches that he's taken off, and then he's taken Gentiles and grafted us in. He has not replaced Israel with the Church. He has actually grafted us in to something that already exists. And he then Paul then goes on to say, whoa, the branches don't support the roots, but the root supports the branches. Us Gentiles, we're supported by a thing called Judaism. And that's the roots of the Christian faith. And how all of Israel is gonna be saved, I don't know. But that it's gonna happen. I know that. That I can bet my bottom dollar on. Why? Because God is faithful. And if he's not faithful to them, I can't trust that he'll be faithful to us. All right, Romans, chapter 9, 10 and 11. A lot to wade through. Enjoy the reading. I hope to see you right here tomorrow as we dive into Romans chapter 12. Really, this is another hinge point for the whole book. Things are gonna get way more practical, less theological, way more practical as we get into Romans chapter 12. I'll see you right here. I'm super, super, super proud of you. Love you guys. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department Podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebibledepartment. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses at thebibledepartment. Com. We'll see you back here tomorrow.