So you've never read any Scripture, them??? What do you make of Romans 9??
Here's what my study Bible says about it.
9:1 Can God be just, even if so many of God’s Old Covenant nation, the Jews, are lost? After this long demonstration of the way God’s righteousness is preserved in the gospel, and yet sinners can still be saved, another question arises: How can we say that God is righteous or just if, according to the gospel, one must trust in Christ in order to be saved? This would mean that many Jews who have not trusted Christ are lost. But then how could God be true to His promises to the Jews as His people? Paul answers this question in chs. 9-11.
9:2 Paul expresses genuine sorrow over the unbelief of the Jews. See Ezek. 33:11; Matt. 23:37-39.
9:3 Paul does not actually wish that he was cut off from Christ so that other Jews would be saved, but his grief for them is so deep that it brings him virtually to that very point.
9:11 God’s choice of Jacob instead of Esau was not based on anything either had done or would do in the future. This is the mystery of divine election.
9:14 God is never unjust in dealing with people. As sovereign Creator, He has the right to deal with people according to His will, whether it is in the exercise of His compassion (vv. 14-16) or in the exercise of His wrath (vv. 17, 18).
9:19 Paul anticipates this common objection to his teaching in the previous verse. If God chooses to have mercy on “whom He wills” and to harden the heart of “whom He wills” (v. 18), and if His choice is ultimately only based on the “purpose of God” (v. 11), then how can it be fair for God to judge those who refuse to believe?
9:20 To question the morality of God’s actions is incongruous. Creatures have no right to object to what their Creator does. However, such teaching should never lead us to think that sinners could not believe if they wanted to, for Scripture does not teach that. It repeatedly affirms that “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (10:13). This appeal of Scripture to unbelievers is consistent throughout both the OT and NT (see Ezek. 33:11; John 6:37).
9:22 God exercises His sovereignty in abundant mercy, not in strict justice. His longsuffering patience with Israel proves His willingness to save and confirms the fact that the nation’s failure was not His fault.
9:24 God’s mercy is also evident in His dealings with the Gentiles. To support his teaching that not all who are called to become “vessels of mercy” (v. 23) belong to physical Israel, Paul quotes from Hos. 2:23 and 1:10. In their original setting the verses refer to the restoration of sinful Israel to God. Paul sees in them the inclusion of the Gentiles (see 1 Pet. 2:10), indicating that there is a spiritual Israel (the church) beyond a national Israel (see Gal. 6:16).
9:27 Paul quotes from Is. 10:22, 23 and 1:9 to confirm that God in His mercy has preserved a remnant of physical Israel. Had He not done so the entire apostate nation would have been wiped out.
9:32 The stumbling stone is Jesus Christ, the Messiah (see 1 Pet. 2:6-8), who offers salvation by faith, not works, and thus requires that human pride be humbled.
10:3 God’s righteousness, that is, right standing with Him, comes through faith in Christ alone.
10:4 Some interpret Christ to be the end of the law in the sense that He is the goal or fulfillment of the law. However, “law” here refers to the system of earning righteousness in one’s own strength. Christ indeed is the perfect fulfillment of everything the law requires, but He also put an end to the law as a way of achieving righteousness for everyone who believes. Thus, Paul emphasizes the sufficiency of faith in receiving the righteousness of God because in fulfilling the law’s demands, Christ terminated its claim. The verse does not mean that a Christian may ignore God’s moral standards or commandments (see note on 6:14).
10:6 Paul asserts that the righteousness of faith does not demand human merit or effort. Christ has already achieved all that is necessary for our salvation.
KINGDOM DYNAMICS
10:9 Continuing in Faith As We Have Begun, FAITH’S CONFESSION. Here is the most foundational lesson in the importance and power of faith’s confession found anywhere in the Bible. The principle is established at the very beginning of our life in Christ. Just as salvation (God’s righteous working in our behalf) is appropriated by heart belief and spoken confession, so His continuing working in our lives is advanced by the same means.
The word “confess” (Greek homologeo ) has the connotation of “a binding public declaration by which a legal relation is contractually established” (Kittel). Thus, as our words “contract” from our side the salvation God has fully provided from His by Christ’s saving work and power, so we have a principle for all of life. Beginning in this spirit of saving faith, let us grow in active faith—believing in God’s mighty power for all our needs, speaking with our lips what our hearts receive and believe of the many promises in His Word. Let us accept God’s “contracts” for all our need by endowing them with our confessed belief—just as when we were saved.
10:9 Oral confession declares, confirms, and seals the belief in the heart.
10:11 The gospel is universal in its application and demands a universal proclamation.
Jack W. Hayford, Spirit Filled Life Study Bible
But I love you man. Tulips and all.
