Chapter # 11 Paragraph # 5 Study # 6
June 9, 2019
Humble, Texas
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1769 Translation:
29 For the gifts and calling of God [are] without repentance.
30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
1901 ASV Translation:
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of.
30 For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
31 even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy.
32 For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.
- I. The Second Factor, From Which God Will Not Be Dissuaded by Other Cares, is "Calling".
- A. Paul only uses this noun in this one text in Romans. He uses it mulitple times in his other epistles, but it is always used as what the theologians characterize as "an effectual calling".
- B. In Romans, all of the other references to "calling" by the word(s) involved are uses of the verb (kaleo, used 7 times) and the adjective (kletos, used 4 times).
- 1. That a person/thing can be characterized by the adjective "called" automatically assumes that the person has been "called" (verb); Paul's reference in 1:1 to himself as a "called apostle" (the adjective "called" tied to the noun "apostle") is true only because God "called" (verb) him into the ministry as an apostle.
- 2. Because the adjective assumes the verb, we will focus upon the uses of the verb by Paul in this epistle.
- a. Paul's initial use of this verb is found in 4:17 where he uses it to characterize God as The One to be Believed.
- 1) The characterization is that God "calls things that do not exist as though they do exist".
- a) For most people, to say something exists that does not exist makes a person a "liar".
- b) But, in respect to God, to say something exists that does not exist makes Him an "omniscient and determined Revealer of plans He has for an historical future development".
- i. With God, a declaration that something exists when it does not [yet] exist, is simply His way of telling us that "this is the way things will ultimately pan out".
- ii. In this 4:17 text/context, God said to Abraham, "I have made you a father of many nations". He said this before Abraham had fathered Isaac, and no "nations" yet existed as the offspring of Abraham. The verb is in the Perfect Tense ("I have made you..."), which indicates an action of the past that has continuing impact into the present, and into the future to some extent.
- iii. What is going on here is that God has declared what "will be" long before it "has come to be in human history": this is "prophecy" as well as "promise"; it is not "lying".
- 2) The focus at this point is that God can be "believed".
- b. The second use of this verb is found in 8:30 where there is presented an unbreakable chain of actions.
- 1) The first link is "...whom He did foreknow...".
- 2) The second link is "...He also did predestinate...".
- 3) The third link is "...them He also called...".
- 4) The fourth link is "...them He also justified...".
- 5) The fifth link is "...them He also glorified..."; this final "link" is another example of God calling something as existing when it does not yet exist as "glorification" is the final end of redemption when the saints are "conformed to the image of the Son" in moral purity both of motivation and of activity.
- c. The rest of the uses (5 more) are all found in chapter nine.
- 1) The third use is 9:7 where Paul points out that "Isaac" is "thy seed" and then goes on to explain that it was God's "promise" of "Isaac" that formed the foundation of "faith" and Ishmael was discounted, and again Jacob was "promised" and Esau was discounted.
- 2) The fourth use is 9:11 where Paul doubles down on the fact that the "calling" was completely/absolutely separate from any "doing" (whether of good or of evil) and was intimately tied to "...the purpose of God according to the standard of election..." so that the purpose might actually "stand" (an echo of 4:16 where the issue is whether the "promise" will be "sure" [anything committed to man is "unsure" because men are notorious for dropping the ball]).
- 3) The fifth use is 9:24, the sixth 9:25, and the seventh 9:26, the three being tied together in the explanation that God's "calling" is "not of Jews only, but also of the Gentiles" because of the prophecy quoted in 9:25-26 where God declares that He will "call" some who formerly were "not My people" and these "shall...be called the children of the living God".
- 3. Thus, when we get to our current text (11:29) we can easily see that the reason God's "calling" is above "revocation" is that His integrity in "promise" is on the line.
- II. At issue in this "calling" is not simply the "revelation that leads to knowing" (10:18-19). When "calling" is considered as "summons", there is an entire gamut of levels of effectiveness in the "call".
- A. There are "summonses" that address "hearers" that are not combined with sufficient potency to over-ride the "other cares" involved in the distraction from faith that results in decisions to ignore the "summons". This results in a "failure of faith" (Luke 8:13).
- B. And there are "summonses" that are attended by such a level of potency that the "hearers" simply cannot ignore them no matter what "other cares" may be at risk.
- C. Paul's declaration to the Thessalonians regarding the "coming of the Gospel" to them fits here.
- 1. That "word" was attended by "power" so that the Thessalonians became a pattern for all the other churches (1 Thessalonians 1:5-7) and Paul declared that this reality revealed the fact of their "election" (1 Thessalonians 1:4).
- 2. Alternatively, the Galatians are a counter-example where "apostasy" was just around the corner and there were serious questions as to whether, or not, the Galatians would "continue in faith" (Galatians 4:11).
- II. This "calling", from which God will not turn no matter what "other cares" may lose out, is generally known as "an effectual call" because it is attended by a power of God that simply will not accept any refusal.
- A. Moses' "summons" at the burning bush immediately springs to mind.
- B. Saul's "summons" on the road to Damascus also comes to mind.
- III. God has plans that He has announced as promises for those who believe and, once they "believe", He is "on the hook" to fulfill them without regard for any other issues.
- A. This does not mean that the human side of the issue -- a "believing" hearing -- will result in an easy process for the human (Luke 22:31).
- B. It does mean that God will win, over the reluctance and pain of the process.
- C. Paul's words to the "Ephesians" fit here: we are God's workmanship, created in Christ, unto good works that are pre-ordained (Ephesians 2:10).