Quote taken from the Handbook of Denominations in the United States; tenth edition, page 261; by Frank S. Mead and revised by Samuel S. Hill:
This family of Protestants stands squarely in the tradition of Calvinist thinking about Christian meaning. It makes a great deal of the theological dimension of church life, stressing the sermon and sound doctrine. More rationalist than pietist, its conservatism takes the form of strict theological orthodoxy. It is not fundamentalist, however, inasmuch as it systematically correlates a wide range of Christian teachings, rather than listing doctrines one by one and ranking them for priority.
Of European origin, it bases its theology on the Belgic, Heidelberg, and Dort confessions. Its roots lie mostly in the Netherlands but extend to Germany, Hungary, and France to a smaller degree. In the U.S., the immigration of Calvinists from Holland to the upper Midwest has provided its largest population and the strength of its leadership.
When the Belgic Confession was written in 1561 as the creedal cornerstone of the Reformed churches in Belgium and Holland, the "Churches in the Netherlands which sit under the Cross" gave thanks to God in the preface of the document: "The blood of our brethren . . . crieth out." There was real cause for crying out at that time, as the Reformation spread during the Netherlands long struggle against Catholic Spain. The Dutch Reformed Church was cradled in cruelty.
The Reformation-founded churches called Reformed, as distinguished from those called Lutheran, originated in Switzerland under Zwingli, Calvin, and Melanchthon. They were called Reformed in Switzerland, Holland, and Germany; Presbyterian, in England and Scotland; Huguenot, in France; and various national names, for others in Bohemia and Hungary.
As they moved overseas to the American colonies, they formed into four groups: from Holland, (1) the Reformed Church in America, and (2) the Christian Reformed Church; from the German Palatinate, (3) the Reformed Church in the United States, later known as the Evangelical and Reformed Church, now merged with the Congregational Christian church in the United Church of Christ; and from Hungary, (4) the Free Magyar Reformed Church in America. All were and still are Calvinist and conservative, basing their doctrine generally on the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons of the Synod of Dort. They use a modified Presbyterian form of government.
End of quote.
There were many other Reformed churches in America mentioned in the above book, the one I attended in San Andreas was Baptist.
A Simplified Evaluation of Calvinism
In the beginning, even after Adam sinned, the world knew God and His requirements. "So [men] are without excuse, because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened" (Rom. 1:20b 21). Although Cain was a sinner, God did not hate him but rather showed His love and concern by personally appealing to Cain to do what was required in order to be accepted. Cain was still capable of complying with God’s requests, because God said the sin that was crouching at the door of his life in an attempt to control him was his responsibility to overcome (Gen. 4:1 7). But Cain did not respond as God directed and he murdered his own brother (Gen. 4:8).
The more that the people neglected the honor, the glory, and the instructions of the Lord, the more corrupt they became in their actions. When they finally became totally unresponsive to their creator, God turned them over to their own vile affections, and they became more like animals than human beings (Rom. 1:24-31). In this type of a condition, totally unresponsive to God, it has become necessary, on various occasions, for God to choose a person or a people to work with, in an attempt to once again bring a God consciousness to His creation. God’s choice of people, such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or the nation of Israel was not an indication of a lack of love for the rest of His creation, or of a desire to send all the others to an eternal hell. Ezekiel 18:23, 32; 33:11; Matthew 18:14; 1 Timothy 2:3 4 and 2 Peter 3:9 all say that God’s desire is that all should be saved.
"Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord, and not rather that he should turn from his evil way and return [to his God] and live? . . . For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the Lord God. Therefore turn (be converted) and live!" (Ezek. 18:23, 33). "Say to them, as I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezek. 33:11). "Just so it is not the will of My Father Who is in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost and perish" (Matt. 18:14). "For such [praying] is good and right, and [it is] pleasing and acceptable to God our Savior, Who wishes all men to be saved and [increasingly] to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the Truth" (1 Tim. 2:3 4). "The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people’s conception of slowness, but He is long suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
Some of the teachings of extreme Calvinism are in direct contrast and opposition to the above Scriptures and hundreds of others wherein God has shown us that: (1) He loves all His creation and wishes to do them good; there is no hatred in the heart of God for sinners – only their sin, (2) God does not choose or predestine some to be saved and others to be lost, (3) sinners are held responsible by God to choose to believe the Gospel, or to remain in rebellion against Him, and (4) it is not God’s fault that people end up in hell – He has done everything that His love and justice require to avoid any such occurrence.
People who try to read, into chapters eight through eleven of Romans, election characteristics of God that disallow the truth of the above and similar Scriptures, are just as guilty of nullifying and making void and of no effect the Word of God through their tradition (Mark 7:13), as the Israelites were in Jesus’ day. When God chose Jacob instead of Esau, He was not deciding their eternal destiny or salvation, He was choosing the man through whom He would raise up a nation and eventually a Savior. "And not only that, but this too: Rebecca conceived [two sons under exactly the same circumstances] by our forefather Isaac, and the children were yet unborn and had so far done nothing either good or evil. Even so, in order further to carry out God’s purpose of selection (election, choice), which depends not on works or what men can do, but on Him Who calls [them], it was said to her that the elder should serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated (held in relative disregard in comparison with My feeling for Jacob" (Rom. 9:10 13). Why God chose Jacob is no concern of ours – God can do as He pleases, but Esau’s lack of concern or desire for the birthright and its responsibility would certainly be reason enough. I don’t believe God does things purposelessly, God has very good reasons for what He does (1 Kings 14:13)! But He did not seal Esau’s fate by this choice that He made, that would be determined by Esau’s own choices.
Rules For Scriptural Interpretation And Comments
The primary and most important rule of Scriptural interpretation is that Scripture shall interpret Scripture, or the explicit shall interpret the implicit, or whatever is clearly stated must be used to explain or interpret that which is not so clear, or no Scripture can be so interpreted in such a way as to contradict a clear statement in the Word of God. We have already shown above that some Calvinistic teachings are in violation of this most important principal. Samuel Fisk, in his book Election & Predestination (p. 37), quotes Dr. H.A. Ironside as saying, "Nowhere are we told in Scripture that God predestinated one man to be saved and another to be lost. Men are to be saved or lost eternally because of their attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Predestination means that someday all the redeemed shall become just like the Lord Jesus!" Another words, there is no such teaching in the whole of the Word of God that says God elects some to eternal life and others to an eternal hell. If we can accept his, as well as many other’s scholarly training, ability and conclusions, we will save ourselves from a very painful entanglement in a controversy that has raged for centuries.
When the words predestine, predetermined, elect, choose or chosen are used to indicate that God has chosen some for eternal life and some for eternal death, it is contrary and in violation to the whole of God’s Word. You have to make these words mean something God did not intend and Scripture does not support in, order to inject these false teachings into Christianity. It was through human philosophy and the reasoning of finite minds that such thoughts have been conceived. The more familiar we become with the whole of God’s Word, the clearer we will see that these teachings are completely foreign to God’s revelation.
This paragraph is from Schaff’s History in QuickVerse. "Logic is a two edged sword. It may lead from predestinarian premises to the conclusion that God is the author of sin, which Calvin himself rejects and abhors as a blasphemy. It may also lead to fatalism, pantheism, or universalism. We must stop somewhere in our process of reasoning, or sacrifice a part of the truth. Logic, it should be remembered, deals only with finite categories, and cannot grasp infinite truth. Christianity is not a logical or mathematical problem, and cannot be reduced to the limitations of a human system. It is above any particular system and comprehends the truths of all systems. It is above logic, yet not illogical; as revelation is above reason, yet not against reason."
As has already been stated, God chooses for a special purpose, mission, ministry, position, etc., He does not choose some to be saved and some to be lost, the following examples are given to illustrate this principle.
God chose the nation of Israel to be His people, but the majority of them rejected Him and forfeited eternal life (Isa. 43:20 28). God chose them for a special purpose, not to eternal life. Even after delivering them out of Egyptian bondage and bringing them into the land of promise, Joshua, just before he died, called upon the Israelites to, "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve," and commanded them to put away their foreign gods (Joshua 24: 14 25).
In Romans 8:29-30 we read, "For those whom He foreknew, He also destined from the beginning to be molded into the image of His Son, that He might become the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom He thus foreordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified. And those whom He justified, He also glorified." What did God destine or predestine? – that those who would receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior would be molded into the image of His Son, God choose a plan, design and purpose for the elect, but each of us must decide for ourselves to accept or reject this plan.
If we can accept Dr. Ironsides above statement, we can save ourselves a lot of research and study, if not, we will have to attempt to reconcile each questionable passage of Scripture with the whole of God’s Word.
It is a mistake that can cause us much grief, to believe that we can or must perfectly understand all of God’s Word or actions. There is nothing wrong with speculating or having opinions on subjects not specifically dealt with in Scripture, but we have no right to draw conclusions that are knowingly contrary to the revealed Word of God. When we cannot reconcile what appears to be conflicting passages, we must accept each at face value until such a time as God gives the solution. It is apparent from church history that election and eternal security are two such topics that we should remain opened up to God about. There is a time to live with what God has given us, and to wait for additional light from above. It is never safe to go beyond that which is written (1 Cor. 4:6), nor to read something into the passage of Scripture or the meaning of a word that the whole Word of God does not substantiate.
"I have seen that everything [human] has its limits and end [no matter how extensive, noble, and excellent]; but Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity]" (Ps. 119:96). "The sum of Your word is truth [the total of the full meaning of all Your individual precepts]; and every one of Your righteous decrees endures forever" (Ps.119:160).
Our Understanding Is Limited
1 Corinthians 13:8-13…. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth]. For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect). But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).
11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside. For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [by God].
13And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.
This is truly a remarkable bit of information found in God’s Word that should help us in understanding better all that God has revealed to us about Him and all that He has created. While we are in our fleshly bodies our knowledge is only partial and blurred, but when we go to be with our Lord our knowledge will be full and clear. This should help us to understand why we so often misunderstand what God is trying to reveal to us in His Word; we get confused because we can only relate to what we know in our earthly experience, unless we have been taught to distinguish between the flesh and the spirit.
The following quote is from The Institute for Creation Research’s Days of Praise, Thursday, February 11, 2021.
The Living and the Written Word
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)
The Holy Scriptures and the person of our Lord Jesus Christ are so inseparably bound together that whatever calls into question the integrity and authority of one correspondingly casts aspersion on the other. Let us not be guilty of saying that the written Word and the incarnate Word are in all aspects the same, but the Bible does clearly reveal Christ as "the Word… made flesh, [who] dwelt among us" (John 1:14). "And his name is called The Word of God" (Revelation 19:13).
In carefully worded arguments, Christ time and again called attention to the fact that the teachings of the Old Testament Scriptures were actually teaching about Him. "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me…. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" (John 5:39, 46-47). "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16:31).
Therefore, those who diligently search the Scriptures find in them sufficient testimony to Christ, and where there is faith in the witness of Scripture, there will be faith in Christ and His words. But if men reject the testimony of Scripture, they will not even be convinced by His miraculous resurrection from the dead.
Christ claimed that all of Scripture pointed to Him. On the road to Emmaus, He taught that all three popular divisions of the Old Testament traced one progressive Messianic revelation. To understand the New Testament, we must know the Old, for both tell the same story, each amplifying the other. They are forever inseparable. JDM
End of quote
In the Bible, which is indeed the Word of God, God has so fully and completely revealed Christ Jesus to us that Jesus Himself can be referred to as God’s Word. Yet as JDM above points out they are not exactly the same, so we must still make plain which one we are speaking of when we use the phrase, "The Word of God". Likewise, we must know and understand when what we read or hear is referring to material things or spiritual things.
Jesus in desiring for His disciples to properly understand and apply what He was telling them, sometimes in parables using words they were familiar with, hoped that they would recognize they were meant to be applied to their new spiritual life in Christ and not to their old crucified life, and thereby, not become discouraged and fall away as some of them did on this occasion; when He said this to them:
John 6:48-66…. I am the Bread of Life [that gives life--the Living Bread]. Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and [yet] they died. [But] this is the Bread that comes down from heaven, so that [any]one may eat of it and never die. I [Myself] am this Living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever; and also the Bread that I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh (body).
52Then the Jews angrily contended with one another, saying, how is He able to give us His flesh to eat? And Jesus said to them, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, you cannot have any life in you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood [unless you appropriate His life and the saving merit of His blood]. He who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has (possesses now) eternal life, and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day. For My flesh is true and genuine food, and My blood is true and genuine drink. He who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood dwells continually in Me, and I [in like manner dwell continually] in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I live by (through, because of) the Father, even so whoever continues to feed on Me [whoever takes Me for his food and is nourished by Me] shall [in his turn] live through and because of Me. This is the Bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the manna which our forefathers ate, and yet died; he who takes this Bread for his food shall live forever. He said these things in a synagogue while He was teaching at Capernaum.
60When His disciples heard this, many of them said, this is a hard and difficult and strange saying (an offensive and unbearable message). Who can stand to hear it? [Who can be expected to listen to such teaching?] But Jesus, knowing within Himself that His disciples were complaining and protesting and grumbling about it, said to them: Is this a stumbling block and an offense to you? [Does this upset and displease and shock and scandalize you?] What then [will be your reaction] if you should see the Son of Man ascending to [the place] where He was before? It is the Spirit Who gives life [He is the Life-giver]; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever [there is no profit in it]. The words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life. But [still] some of you fail to believe and trust and have faith. For Jesus knew from the first who did not believe and had no faith and who would betray Him and be false to Him.
65And He said, this is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted him [unless he is enabled to do so] by the Father. After this, many of His disciples drew back (returned to their old associations) and no longer accompanied Him.
The following paragraph is from Right Now Counts Forever by R.C. Sproul, an article taken from Tabletalk, October 2000.
Christianity contains mysteries that we do not at present understand. Such mysteries may become clear to us in heaven, but some may never be grasped, as we still will be finite in heaven. Yet there are many things that are mysterious for a time but for which more information or explanation provides understanding. That can never happen with contradictions, since real contradictions are inherently unintelligible, even for God.
End of quote
My Personal Opinion
My opinion of Calvinism at this point is that it is a Protestant form of thirteenth century Scholasticism, which was an attempt to categorize, by logical human reasoning, all the truths of the Bible and the meaning and mode of all life. Both of these systems became so structured that they squeezed the life right out of Christianity, making it a dead system of the letter instead of life in the Spirit. Even Calvin is reported to have said concerning predestination: "If anyone with carefree assurance breaks into this place, he will not succeed in satisfying his curiosity and he will enter a labyrinth (maze) from which he can find no exit." We do not limit or dishonor God by claiming that He does not elect, choose or predestine some for hell, but rather honor Him. And we do not honor man by saying whosoever will may come to Christ when drawn of the Father, but rather hold him responsible to a holy God.
The excessive practice of evaluating the meaning of specific words to support their opinion, seems to be a major contributor to the system of thought that is commonly known as Calvinism; their evaluation became speculation, and thus qualifies for God’s rebuke to Job, "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" (Job 38:2). The word elect has been badly misused, abused and extended to the point of contradicting other Scripture passages, and as such deserves a strong rebuke. Christians in the Bible are called the elect, and were destined or foreordained to be molded into the image of Jesus (Rom. 8:29). We are chosen or elected for a purpose, position and function, not salvation. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord (invoking Him as Lord and Savior) will be saved (Rom. 10:13).
From ICR’s Days of Praise devotional, Wednesday, March 2, 2011:
"Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:16)
From the above verse they stated:
"This is an amazing verse, testifying as it does to the omniscient fore-planning of our Creator for each human being. Each person has been separately planned by God before he or she was ever conceived; His eyes oversaw our "unperfect [not imperfect, but unfinished] substance" – that is, literally, our embryo – throughout its entire development. Not only all its "members," but also all its "days" (the literal implication of "in continuance") had been "written" in God’s book long ago. . . .
"Not much is known about how a baby receives its soul, but the baby is surely an eternal human being from the moment of conception, with all its future days already well known in the mind of God, "when as yet there was none of them," as our text points out."
End of quote.
Ps 139:13-16.... For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother's womb. I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery]. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. AMP
Dr. Henry Morris, his family and those at ICR are of the Reformed or Calvinistic theological persuasion. As such, they are inclined to carefully examine every word in the Bible in an attempt to extract the smallest details that will in turn enable them to rightly interpret it. Such a practice often leads to assumptions, exaggerations and speculations, as it did with the Roman Catholic theologians known as the Scholastics. As with the Scholastics, their conclusions are often based upon assumptions and not true deduction which are then accepted as fact, then, this accepted fact becomes a base for additional so-called facts; the Reformed doctrines of election and predestination are examples of this type of Biblical interpretation.
It appears to me that the above article has certain elements in it that are of this type of interpretation, such as the assumption of the "omniscient fore-planning" of God, which includes "all its future days already well known in the mind of God" of each individual who has ever lived. I doubt that God would busy Himself with all these details when they are subject to being changed by the individual, but Reformists don’t believe in the free-will of man. No one knows for certain because God doesn’t give us the details in His Word, but it seems more probable that while God does set certain characteristics in each individual – let’s say in the DNA, the details of a person’s life are worked out together with God (2 Cor. 6:1) as they progress in life.
Pastor Walker, of the Baptist Reformed church I attended in San Andreas, suggested I read, and lent me R.C. Sproul’s book Chosen By God. The following is my evaluation of this book.
Before commenting on the book it would be well to record some observations regarding evaluation methods. Theologians are the church’s philosophers, and use many of the same tools and techniques. Logic is a favorite tool of the trade, and RC uses it profusely throughout this book. Pages 26 through 40 are good examples of his use of this tool. In an attempt to reason from the sovereignty of God to the foreordaining of God he rationalizes that, "If He (God) decides to allow something, then in a sense he is foreordaining it." If the arguments don’t match exactly, in the reasoning process, free use is made of slight variations such as "in a sense" to gain the objective. This is a mere assumption that is not supported by Scripture, and is a good example of how supposedly true statements or conclusions can be fabricated by this process. He proceeds from that assumption to his next which is, "God foreordained the entrance of sin into the world" (p. 31).
The above use of human wisdom is the kind of worldly wisdom that God has rendered useless as a tool to know Him. "For it is written, I will baffle and render useless and destroy the learning of the learned and the philosophy of the philosophers and the cleverness of the clever and the discernment of the discerning; I will frustrate and nullify [them] and bring [them] to nothing. [Isa. 29:14.] Where is the wise man (the philosopher)? Where is the scribe (the scholar)? Where is the investigator (the logician, the debater) of this present time and age? Has not God shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world’s wisdom? For when the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know God by means of its own philosophy, God in His wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching [salvation, procured by Christ and to be had through Him], to save those who believed (who clung to and trusted in and relied on Him)" (1 Cor. 1:19-21).
Nothing can be gained by a point by point appraisal of the rest of the book, a summary will suffice. There is far more Scripture that contradicts this system of theology than the Scripture used to try and support it. And since there can be no contradictions, I have to conclude that the system is false. In support of that position Dr. Ironside and others, as quoted previously, have said, "Nowhere are we told in Scripture that God predestinated one man to be saved and another to be lost."
Reformed theology is not reformed enough. It is still bound by the errors of Rome. In an attempt to ask and answer every conceivable question, more and more speculation is required, involving them, as even Calvin himself implied, in an endless round of reasoning in circles that captivates them in a maze that cannot fulfill their desires and from which they cannot escape. The unlikelihood of anyone generation being able to pass from the medieval dark age into the full glorious light of the Gospel of Christ is perfectly understandable. But almost five hundred years has transpired, and we should have grown past this infant stage, and most assuredly not go back into it as many are doing in the ecumenical movement. Truth can be taken to a point, or applied to a situation where it no longer is true, and whatever is not clearly revealed about God and by God, cannot be found out by any of man’s ability.
A Review of Romans chapter 11:
The eleventh chapter of Romans shows that both sides of this issue have stressed or stretched their personal opinions beyond the intended meaning of God’s Word.
ROMANS 11.... I ask then: Has God totally rejected and disowned His people? Of course not! Why, I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin! [1 Sam. 12:22; Jer. 31:37; 33:24 26; Phil. 3:5.] No, God has not rejected and disowned His people [whose destiny] He had marked out and appointed and foreknown from the beginning. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? [Ps. 94:14; 1 Kings 19:1.] Lord, they have killed Your prophets; they have demolished Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life. But what is God's reply to him? I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal! [1 Kings 19:18.]
We always think that we are the exception to the truth that all can be deceived by his own mind and heart when it comes to being right or wrong.
5So too at the present time there is a remnant (a small believing minority), selected (chosen) by grace (by God's unmerited favor and graciousness). But if it is by grace (His unmerited favor and graciousness), it is no longer conditioned on works or anything men have done. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace [it would be meaningless].
7What then [shall we conclude]? Israel failed to obtain what it sought [God's favor by obedience to the Law]. Only the elect (those chosen few) obtained it, while the rest of them became callously indifferent (blinded, hardened, and made insensible to it). As it is written, God gave them a spirit (an attitude) of stupor, eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear, [that has continued] down to this very day. [Deut. 29:4; Isa. 29:10.] And David says, Let their table (their feasting, banqueting) become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a just retribution [rebounding like a boomerang upon them]; [Ps. 69:22.] let their eyes be darkened (dimmed) so that they cannot see, and make them bend their back [stooping beneath their burden] forever. [Ps. 69:23.]
11So I ask, Have they stumbled so as to fall [to their utter spiritual ruin, irretrievably]? By no means! But through their false step and transgression salvation [has come] to the Gentiles, so as to arouse Israel [to see and feel what they forfeited] and so to make them jealous. Now if their stumbling (their lapse, their transgression) has so enriched the world [at large], and if [Israel's] failure means such riches for the Gentiles, think what an enrichment and greater advantage will follow their full reinstatement!
13But now I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I lay great stress on my ministry and magnify my office, in the hope of making my fellow Jews jealous [in order to stir them up to imitate, copy, and appropriate], and thus managing to save some of them. For if their rejection and exclusion from the benefits of salvation were [overruled] for the reconciliation of a world to God, what will their acceptance and admission mean? [It will be nothing short of] life from the dead!
If the Jews had fallen into a state where they could not be retrieved, God would not have Paul attempting to bring them back.
16Now if the first handful of dough offered as the firstfruits [Abraham and the patriarchs] is consecrated (holy), so is the whole mass [the nation of Israel]; and if the root [Abraham] is consecrated (holy), so are the branches. [Num. 15:19 21.] But if some of the branches were broken off, while you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them to share the richness [of the root and sap] of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches and pride yourself at their expense. If you do boast and feel superior, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root [that supports] you.
19You will say then, Branches were broken (pruned) off so that I might be grafted in! That is true. But they were broken (pruned) off because of their unbelief (their lack of real faith), and you are established through faith [because you do believe]. So do not become proud and conceited, but rather stand in awe and be reverently afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches [because of unbelief], neither will He spare you [if you are guilty of the same offense].
They had been cut off because of unbelief, and so can we.
22Then note and appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's gracious kindness to you – provided you continue in His grace and abide in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off (pruned away). And even those others [the fallen branches, Jews], if they do not persist in [clinging to] their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and against nature grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier will it be to graft these natural [branches] back on [the original parent stock of] their own olive tree.
The nation can be restored if they return to faith in God.
25Lest you be self opinionated (wise in your own conceits), I do not want you to miss this hidden truth and mystery, brethren: a hardening (insensibility) has [temporarily] befallen a part of Israel [to last] until the full number of the ingathering of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. [Isa. 59:20, 21.] And this will be My covenant (My agreement) with them when I shall take away their sins. [Isa. 27:9; Jer. 31:33.] From the point of view of the Gospel (good news), they [the Jews, at present] are enemies [of God], which is for your advantage and benefit. But from the point of view of God's choice (of election, of divine selection), they are still the beloved (dear to Him) for the sake of their forefathers. For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]
30Just as you were once disobedient and rebellious toward God but now have obtained [His] mercy, through their disobedience, so they also now are being disobedient [when you are receiving mercy], that they in turn may one day, through the mercy you are enjoying, also receive mercy [that they may share the mercy which has been shown to you through you as messengers of the Gospel to them]. For God has consigned (penned up) all men to disobedience, only that He may have mercy on them all [alike].
This last sentence reinforces the fact that men, not God, chose their own eternal fate.
33Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)! For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood His thoughts, or who has [ever] been His counselor? [Isa. 40:13, 14.] Or who has first given God anything that he might be paid back or that he could claim a recompense? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.] To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it).
God seems to have put this last paragraph where it is so that we would be reminded or warned not to put too much confidence in our ability to properly understand what He’s talking about, especially in chapters 9 through 11, and the issues raised concerning predestination, election and perseverance.
It seems that both sides of the Reformed or Calvinistic issue have wrongly interpreted some of the words involved, taken them beyond the point God intended them to be understood, and now to rightly speak of God they must retreat from their exalted or extended position into the dwelling place of God.
Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible , an English version of the Bible which claims to Capture the Full Meaning Behind the Original Greek and Hebrew.
