Chapter # 11 Paragraph # 1 Study # 7
December 9, 2018
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: The second "proof" of Paul's claim that it took "election" to bring some into the blessedness of acceptance by God is given by an appeal to "David".
Introduction: In our last study I argued that "the rest were hardened" is demonstrated by Israel's hyper-intensive commitment to "legal self righteousness": they would be satisfied by nothing except God's admission that they had qualified themselves, by their own efforts, to be admitted into the Kingdom with the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant". This proves that "they were hardened".
But, there was more "proof": Deuteronomy 29:3 and Isaiah 29:10 were used by Paul to make the case that the "hardness" was a divine, judicial action taken before God allowed Joshua to lead the people into the promised land. The argument of Deuteronomy 29:3 is that it is the natural condition of man to be blind and deaf, and that this natural condition can only be remedied by special action on God's part that ignores what those blind and deaf deserve as a consequence of their wickednesses that have arisen out of that hardness. In other words, it takes a "gracious election that is acted upon" to bring men out of their hardness.
Then, there was the New Testament confirmation of "hardness of heart" being the natural state and a condition that takes a great deal of "gracious" activities on God's part to remedy: Jesus' own "chosen" disciples revealed the on-going hardness of heart in their many failures to understand His words.
But, in the light of our study for this evening, Paul clearly felt that there was a need found in the on-going hardness of human hearts for more "proof".
- I. The Appeal to David's words.
- A. That Paul would appeal to David is instructive.
- 1. The two things that all who have any background in biblical history know of David is that he, first, defeated Goliath in battle for Israel, and that he, second, committed adultery with the wife of Uriah and then had Uriah killed so David could have Bathsheba as his wife.
- a. The David and Goliath story lodges in our minds because of our penchant for "heroism".
- b. And the David and Bathsheba story, being a salacious story, is far more likely to lodge in the depravity of the minds of men than many "other" stories told about David.
- 1) 1 Kings 15:5 deliberately highlights this story in its summary of David's life.
- 2) Matthew 1:6 also deliberately highlights David's adultery/murder as a part of the genealogy of the regnal line that qualified Jesus to be the King of the Jews.
- 2. The fact that Paul appealed to David's words raises an interesting "problem" in that his words seek everlasting condemnation upon those whose behavior is not so different from his own.
- a. How does David get off with seeking condemnation upon people whose depravity he clearly shares?
- b. Some reasons for Paul's use of David's words in light of this "problem".
- 1) First, David is a "classic" example of the reality of Paul's argument: it takes special divine intervention, in spite of a total lack of merit, for men to be stopped from destroying themselves in hardness of heart, blindness of eyes, and deaf ears.
- a) The "special divine intervention" consisted of two primary parts.
- i. Direct overt confrontation: "...you are the man..." (2 Samuel 12:7).
- ii. Powerful internal confrontation: Psalm 32 and further developed in Psalm 51.
- b) The roots of this intervention in "grace" is beyond obvious, especially in light of 2 Samuel 12:7 and following.
- 2) Second, David's "imprecations" are justly legitimate in a period of history given over to the big issue of Divine Justice.
- a) Paul argues that the period of "Law" was not designed to attempt to get men to handle their depravity, but to prove to men that even a "hyper-intensive" effort to do that will absolutely fail.
- b) He also argues that there was a "grace" shift in God's intentions of "revelation" in regard to His instruction of humanity.
- i. In Luke 9:53-55 Jesus rebuked His disciples for wanting to follow the example of Elijah in his day (the "Judicial Day") while being disciples of Jesus in their day (the Age of Grace).
- ii. In the Messianic Psalm from which David's words are drawn by Paul there is an abundance of evidence that it is "Messianic", but the psalm is in stark contrast to Jesus' words on the cross recorded in Luke 23:24.
- c) And his most powerful argument is that "grace" is made effective "by faith" so that "imprecations" are legitimate if there is no "faith".
- i. This David did have over his enemies: though his sins were as great as theirs in kind, his repentance by reason of grace, was totally dissimilar to their attitudes.
- ii. Paul would argue that "hardness" is shattered when grace brings repentance and if that does not happen "imprecations" are legitimate, but are to be left up to God.
- B. That Paul puts David's words in the present tense ("David is saying") means that his "proof" is that the long-ago imposition of hardness is a continuing reality that calls for a "present" statement.
- 1. Paul's argument is that "hardness" is a present problem that has come out of a long past.
- 2. His argument is the those not rescued from "hardness" will suffer the consequences of their participation in it.
- 3. Thus, the fact that the hardness continues to this day is established and their is a great need for an understanding of God's Larger Plan as a revelation of "Grace".