[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”1891px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
\u201cSo then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Refers to how people are given God\u2019s salvation, in answer to the question Paul was looking at, of why some people are saved and others are not, or of how God chooses whom to give salvation.<\/p>\n Refers to a person choosing or desiring salvation (an inner activity). This means that the reason God gives salvation to someone does not depend on the the strength of their desire for it. Refers to human effort or works. Trying to win salvation by our own effort in the race of life has no effect (our external activity). These two activities represent all that mankind could do in relation to earning God\u2019s favour, both our inner and outer activities.<\/p>\n This states that salvation is entirely from God, it is completely undeserved and depends entirely on His mercy; we cannot earn it in any way, by inner or outer activity. What I find interesting here is not the question of \u201cHow God chooses whom to give salvation?\u201d, but of what that question indicates about fallen people who ask it. The example given by Paul of Jacob and Esau was to bring us to humility by showing salvation is not due to any human effort or desire. But this example can be misused to build fanciful human doctrine, like an intellectual house of cards, that does not serve God\u2019s purpose of spreading the gospel, but is simply a monument to human ingenuity, the very opposite of what Paul used it for. Humility and thankfulness are the appropriate response to God\u2019s provision of salvation in Jesus. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cSo then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.\u201d It: Refers to how people are given God\u2019s salvation, in answer to the question Paul was looking at, of why some people are saved and others are not, or of how God chooses whom to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-verses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28834"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28840,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28834\/revisions\/28840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questionsandbelief.org\/sw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}It:<\/h3>\n
Him who wills:<\/h3>\n
But this seems contrary to Jesus statement in the Beatitudes, in Matthew 5:6, \u201c Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.\u201d<\/p>\nHim who runs:<\/h3>\n
But this seems to contrast with verses where Paul uses this image of running the race in a positive way:
1 Corinthians 9:24, \u201c\u2026 those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.\u201d
And 2 Timothy 4:7, \u201cI have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.\u201d<\/p>\nBut of God who shows mercy:<\/h3>\n
To expand on this, Paul uses the example of Jacob and Esau, for while Jacob desired God\u2019s favour and Esau did not value it above a bowl of soup, God\u2019s favour was decided before they were born, before they could desire or act.
So, salvation is entirely God\u2019s undeserved gift, not based on any merit in people.
Hence the doctrine (Sola Fide) of justification by faith: \u201cby God\u2019s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.\u201d<\/p>\nPitfalls of Human Doctrine<\/h3>\n
When people ask about the criteria for how a winner is chosen, it is not to admire the person who hands out the prize; it\u2019s about self-advancement, how to find the easiest way to win, with minimum effort on our part. In this verse we may ask how the winner is chosen, not to worship God as judge, but to gain his knowledge to work out what strategy we can adopt to gain the prize with minimum effort. It\u2019s the old self-worship showing up yet again, and it reminds me of Jesus\u2019 condemnation of the Pharisees for devising rules about God\u2019s Law by which only they could win.<\/p>\n
(May God save us from using bible study for academic self-aggrandizement.)<\/p>\nPersonal response<\/h3>\n
But when in thankfulness we see that the value of this gift is more precious than anything of this world, we desire it beyond anything else, so that can create a will or hunger.
And when we are humbled, all of our outward activity changes, it takes on a new direction to serve God\u2019s will instead of our own. So, we serve with an energy driven by a debt of gratitude that we can never begin to repay, and we strive to finish the race to His glory, not ours.<\/p>\n