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Verbs and Biblical Exegesis – Two Examples
I recently came across the following paragraph that captures an issue that turns out to be significant for exegesis as it relates to Calvinism and also to Hell. Any event can be construed from a variety of perspectives. While this flexibility is fundamental to human ingenuity, it poses a challenge for language learners who must…
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Rebuttal Thoughts – Romans 9 Debate
These will not make a lot of sense without the context of the debate, and I may pull this post shortly. The main counter-point to consider is this: what does God take credit for? The short answer: everything. Remember how all things work together for good to those who are the called? The same point…
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Exegetical Thoughts on Romans 9:14-33
Romans 9:14-33, gets us into the meat of the tangent Paul is providing. Remember that in Romans 8, we saw Paul set forth the idea of God’s unbreakable love. In Romans 9:1-13, we saw Paul beginning to address the objection that God’s love broke or failed as applied to the Israelites. Paul’s response was to…
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Exegetical Thoughts on Romans 9:6-13
Romans 9:6-13 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are…
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Textual Variant Consideration – Romans 9:1-13
The most surprising differences between the KJV and ESV in Romans 9:1-13 are two places where the ESV is actually longer than the KJV reading: “and cut off” in Romans 9:3 and “next year” in Romans 9:9. While there is a slight difference between the NA28 (link) reading and the TR reading at Romans 9:3,…
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Romans 9:1-5 – Exegetical Thoughts
Romans 9:1-5 9 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites;…
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Romans 8 and the Westminster Confession
The Westminster Confession was adopted without proof texts. Nevertheless, it was sent back to the Assembly to include proof texts. Accordingly, the Assembly did include proof texts after the fact — not as though the doctrines were not based on Scripture, but simply because that format of the Confession was not the original vision. The…
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Origen on the Golden Chain
Rufinus (d. 411) provided Latin translations of many of Origen’s works, including his commentary on Romans (published in two volumes in the Fathers of the Church series). Origen, of course, predates the Calvinism/Arminianism debate by more than a millenium. Nevertheless, it is interesting to hear his comments on the text. Origen agrees with my point…
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Exegetical Thoughts on the Golden Chain in Romans 8
Our text for consideration today is Romans 8. The passage is a marvelously Trinitarian passage, with the activities of the Father, Son, and Spirit shown to be in harmony throughout. The passage is part of a larger passage designed to comfort the Romans reading this letter, because the Trinity is on their side. Romans 8:28-308:28 …
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Trinitarian Harmony in Romans 8
There is a Trinitarian harmony that shines forth in Romans 8. This can be seen if we highlight the references to each of the person of the Trinity: 8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the…