5 Dollar Nachos

Romans 10
20 But Isaiah is very bold and says:

“I was found by those who did not seek Me;
I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

21 But to Israel he says:

“All day long I have stretched out My hands
To a disobedient and contrary people.”

Paul is saying, those that did not know they needed a savior have found Christ Jesus and by mercy and grace will receive salvation.
Israel KNOWS the Messiah was coming. They chose to reject Him. They chose to be disobedient and lead their own lives.

There are people in the church that will never find true salvation and in the end the truth will be revealed about their lives. On the other hand, there are those who look like the worst sinners, and they will find salvation because when the true experience manifests itself, they will bow a knee and repent before God.

Romans 10
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

“How beautiful are the feet of those who [b]preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

This is our job. We must bring the good news  of PEACE to the people. They cannot believe in what they don’t understand.
Now days it seems like everyone is a “christian” or at least everyone knows who Jesus is.
But do they?

Do they know the abundance that comes from serving the almighty?
Do they know about the hope that comes with serving God?
Do they know about the satisfaction you get when you are doing the Lord’s work?

They probably only know about the judgement Christians love to heap on others. They know about the condemnation we give to those who we think are not doing a good job.

Share peace and love with someone today in Christ.

Romans 10
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

“All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” is very clear. This scripture gives us the right to call upon the Lord and we shall be saved.

From the ESV:
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

From the Amplified:
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord [in prayer] will be saved.”

This means when we read a scripture like Romans 9:18 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

It must not be referencing people that called on the name of the Lord. Because all those people are saved. OR, Romans 9:18 is not about the salvation of ones soul.

What are your thoughts guys?

Romans 10
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

From my commentary:
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” Instead of having to go to great lengths to achieve righteousness by the law, we can immediately receive righteousness by faith, by trusting in the word of the gospel.

God made a way for us to momentarily bypass the law to receive salvation and righteousness. Then we spend the rest of our lives learning to honor His laws and commandments and follow His word.

confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

Notice this does not say “if you sin, we will revoke your salvation.”

Romans 10
Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God: Paul will readily recognize that Israel has a zeal for God but he also sees that it is zeal not according to knowledge.

This is where so many religious people – even sincere Christians – go astray. They have plenty of zeal but little knowledge.

Being excited about something, is merely step 1. You have to learn about it. You have to study it, you have to learn to operate it.
In the case of God, you also have to submit to it. You cannot call God Lord of your life, but not submit to Him and His will.

Romans 9
30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law [d]of righteousness. 32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, [e]by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.

This to me is a warning against pursuing righteousness through works. You cannot MAKE yourself righteous and holy. It is only through prayer, and FAITH in Jesus Christ who saves.

From my bible commentary:
The Gentiles who were saved came to God through faith, receiving His righteousness. The Jews who seem to be cast off from God tried to justify themselves before God by performing works according to the law of righteousness.

Lord I am unworthy. However, through your Son you call me righteous and Holy!

Romans 9
25 As He says also in Hosea:

“I will call them My people, who were not My people,
And her beloved, who was not beloved.”
26 “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,
‘You are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
The remnant will be saved.
28 For [b]He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”

The remnant will be saved:
Remnant: a small remaining quantity of something.
The passage quoted from Isaiah 10:23 speaks first to God’s work in saving a remnant from the coming Assyrian destruction. The suffering of God’s people at the hands of the Assyrians and others would make them feel as if they would certainly be destroyed. God assures them that this is not the case. He will always preserve His remnant.

Additional information:
Not all those who are of Israel, these are Israel.’ His compatriots were in error in holding that the promise of God applied to the whole of physical Israel. Paul is denying that it was ever intended to apply in this fashion. If descent from Abraham was what mattered, then the Ishmaelites and Edom were in the same position as Israel. But Israel was not ethnic Israel. Whatever might happen to ethnic Israel, the promise to Israel stood; the falling away of some, who were not true Israelites, had no bearing on the issue.…This was clear in Old Testament days, with the emergence of the concept of the remnant; it had long been obvious that the nation as a whole was not responding to God’s leading. It was a smaller group within the nation that was really God’s people. It was stupid to think that, since the whole nation had not entered the blessing, the promise of God had failed. The promise had not been made to the whole nation and had never been intended to apply to the whole nation.9 (Morris)

Romans 9
22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

What if God: Again, the same principle from God’s dealing with Pharaoh is repeated. If God chooses to glorify Himself through letting people go their own way and letting them righteously receive His wrath so as to make His power known, who can oppose Him?

The key here is that we have a choice. Our choice is not diminished because the Lord KNOWS what we are going to do. I know what my own children will do most of the time, I still give them a choice and pray everyday that they make the right choice.

Romans 9
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

In the first part, I noticed the word MERCY was used multiple times. We have been talking about predestination and the impact our decisions have versus God choosing to do what He wants. So to clarify, I believe mercy as referenced here is not the same as calling on the name of the Lord for salvation. All scripture must agree, and we know that anyone that comes to God and calls out His name with a repentant heart will be forgiven. So this must be a different group of people.

As for hardening of the hearts, this was in my commentary:

We should not think that God persuaded an unwilling, kind-hearted Pharaoh to be hard towards God and Israel. In hardening the heart of Pharaoh, God simply allowed Pharaoh’s heart to pursue its natural inclination.

Pharaoh was already the person he had chosen to be. God merely allowed that to mature into a perfectly hardened heart.

It does make me ask all kinds of questions about the scripture 1 Timothy 2: 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

What are your thoughts?

Romans 9
10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

Not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil: Paul points out that God’s choice was not based on the performance of Jacob or Esau. The choice was made before they were born.

That the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls: So we do not think that God chose Jacob over Esau because He knew their works in advance, Paul points out that it was not of works. Instead, the reason for choosing was found in Him who calls.

Our greatest error in considering the choices of God is to think that God chooses for arbitrary reasons, as if He chooses in an “eeny-meeny-miny-moe” way. We may not be able to fathom God’s reasons for choosing, and they are reasons He alone knows and answers to, but God’s choices are not capricious. He has a plan and a reason.

I believe that this is where we part ways with understanding God. This is where we must trust. Even though Esau was not chosen, that did not mean that his life was doomed. It was more that a choice had to be made and the Lord God made it, and He is Just.