Audience of Romans 7-11

Dr. Couch, is Paul writing to the Jews in Romans 7:1-11:12, and therefore, should the passage be read exclusively to the Jews?

ANSWER: No, not at all. He speaks about the Jews in this section in the third person, "they." He is addressing Gentile believers. He says in 11:13, "I am speaking to you who are Gentiles, inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry." And in 10:1 he says "My prayer to God for THEM (the Jews) is for their salvation."

He uses the illustration of God's election with the Jews but he also says "Who are you, O MAN, WHO answers back to God ..." (9:20). Election is personal and includes both Jews and Gentiles. Paul writes "Just as He chose (elected, "called out") us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will" (Eph. 1:4-5).

Thanks for asking.
—Dr. Mal Couch (2/11)

Elect

Dr. Couch, the doctrine of election is an awesome truth. What does the word "elect" mean? ANSWER:  The Hebrew word for "elect" is Bah' Char and means "elect" or "chosen."    (A) In a corporate sense the nation of Israel is chosen even though individually the Jews have sinned in that they have not accepted their own promised Messiah. God's promises still remain—the Jews will someday turn to Christ and be back in the good graces of the Lord once more. The Jewish people are "chosen" through the Abrahamic covenant (Psa. 105:8-11). The Abrahamic covenant was confirmed "to Jacob for an everlasting covenant, saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance." Notice that the giving of the land is the sign of that covenant. It belongs to the Jews as a perpetual inheritance. The foolish covenant guys (allegorists) try to say that the land no longer belongs to the Jewish people. They have not read their Bible!    God's chosen ones, with a shout of joy" were given "the lands of the nations, that they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples' labor. … Praise the Lord!" (vv. 42-45). As the "chosen ones" they will someday receive prosperity (106:5).    (B) There are two classes of the angelic host. There are those who are joined to the devil; they belong to him (Matt. 25:41). They were cast forth from heaven when he fell. But there are those who did not leave their position with the Lord. They are the "holy" angels (Luke 9:26), and the elect or chosen angels (1 Tim. 5:21).  Then there are the believers who are the elect of the Lord. "... just as He chose us ..." (Eph. 1:4). The Greek word here is eklego which means "to out call." Or, "to call out." We can call this word also "to elect." This election took place before "the casting down of the world," or "before the foundation of the world" (v. 4). The result of this calling would make us "holy and blameless" because we are now placed into the holy Son of God—this is our new position! This includes also His predestination which means "to before encircle," or "to put a fence around." The word is "pro-orizo" in Greek.The word of God is so clear and makes such sense when we let it just speak to us! It is not complicated!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (12/10)

Calvinism

Dr. Couch, it seems to me that the five points of Calvinism, particularly the belief in limited atonement, cannot be proven scripturally. What do you say? ANSWER:  You are absolutely correct. In the presentation of the five points by those who hold that view, the advocates have the least to say about limited atonement because they cannot prove this as scriptural. It is a long story as to why they even came up with that view, which I won't take the time here to go into.    The other four points are certainly defensible by the Word of God, but limited atonement just won't fly!    The Bible clearly teaches absolute salvation by predestination, and it teaches total depravity, and eternal security, but not the limited atonement view. Salvation is offered to all, but because of depravity, none will by themselves come to Christ. Thus, sovereign election kicks in and those to be saved are brought to Him. There are so many verses that make this clear I don't have space here to present all of them. Just one: "As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48b). "Appointed" is the Greek word "tasso" as a Perfect Passive Participle. "The ones who have been brought to this point of an appointment, a position," they believed.    Here are some verses that I think go against "limited atonement":   Christ "is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but for the whole world" (1 John 2:2).    "Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4).    "Who gave Himself a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2:6).    "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared" (Titus 3:4).    "Not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9).    Even the false prophets "denying the Master who bought them" (2 Pet. 2:1).    "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men" (Titus 2:11).    Remember, no one can come to Christ without His drawing him. "There is none who seeks after God" within himself (Rom. 3:11)! Salvation is a sovereign work of God. Though the door is open for all, none will come by themselves! Thus no one can say, "You kept me from coming to You!"    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (Mar., 10)

The Chosen Angels

Dr. Couch, what is meant by "the chosen angels" in 1 Timothy 5:21? ANSWER: The Greek word for chosen is "eklectos" and is two Greek words put together meaning: "The out called ones." In the NT it is used some 29 times, with 28 times referring to the election of the saved in Christ. God protected and preserved many of the angels and did not allow them to apostatize when Satan fell from the presence of God.    Many believe that when Isaiah said that Satan said in his heart that he wished to "raise his throne above 'the stars of God,'" (14:13) he was referring to the heavenly angelic host. Unger also writes: "The sinless angels of light, are His first creatures—including the greatest of them, who later became Satan—were also called 'morning stars' (Job 38:7), because they were resplendent, unfallen creatures of light."    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Inclusivism and Preaching Christ

Dr. Couch, I believe Romans 10:13-14 indicates pagans are lost, so then we should preach Christ to them, right? Otherwise, why not let them be saved by some other way. What do you think of inclusivism? ANSWER:  These verses are looking at the lost from the earthly perspective. And yes, they cannot be saved without accepting Christ, and they cannot hear of Him without a "preacher" ("proclaimer"). This does not negate the doctrine of absolute predestination and election. These verses in Romans are giving us the subjective or the human perspective. If you want to fully understand the doctrine of predestination you need to study Ephesians 1:3-14. Read it carefully and slowly. Notice that "belief" is not mentioned because Paul is taking us up to heaven to observe the Divine perspective on salvation.    Remember my little saying, God is absolutely 100% sovereign and man is 100% responsible. I really cannot understand this but this is what the Bible proclaims from Genesis to Revelation. Paul points out in Romans 1 that men are responsible for seeing God in nature, but even with that revelation, they still refuse to come to Him. Paul is not suggesting that they can be saved by seeing God in nature but his point is that they do not even go past that revelation. They still refuse to believe in Him no matter how great or small the knowledge they have of Him.    Paul's conclusion on the subject is important: He writes "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, thee is not even one" (Rom. 3:10-12). This comes under the heading of  Total Depravity! In some ways 1 Corinthians 2:14 is even stronger. "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for these things are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually understandable." Thus mankind is really cut off from God and does not wish to seek Him!    I am not sure what you mean by inclusivism. Please explain.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

What Happened in the Elections?

Dr. Couch, what happened in the elections?

ANSWER: First of all God is in charge. There were no accidents. He is in command of all of history. And, beside, America, and the entire world, is receiving the judgment due for its gross sins. We are moving rapidly into the apostasy. Now as to what happened from the human level, it is really very simple.

Our nation is divided between, say, (1) those who are thirty and under, and (2) those who are older. The older ones were looking for

A. Wisdom
B. Experience
C. Morality in leadership
D. Conservative and sound principles that can be found in Scripture

The younger crowd was looking for

A. One with charisma
B. One with socialistic and psychological leanings
C. One who would advocate and be for same-sex marriage, abortion, and feminism
D. One who does not understand history and what America is really all about

The younger will dominate. We will never go back to common sense. The younger, three out of four, voted for liberalism and against common sense. There is no turning back! You need my book: For The Cause of Zion.

Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch

What About Faith Being a Gift of God?

Dr. Couch, thank you for some clarification about faith being a gift of God. It seems as if the best of theologians agree, right? 

 

    That is correct. And especially those who know Greek. 

    What I teach from the Greek text is that faith is merely the instrument by which we are saved, but it is clearly the gift of God. A. A. Hodge writes: “Faith is the gift of God—Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1:29.” Thiessen writes:

From the divine side: The writer of Hebrews speaks of Jesus as being “the author and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2). Clearly, faith is a gift of God (Rom. 12:3; 2 Pet. 1:1), sovereignly given by the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 12:9; cf. Gal. 5:22). Paul speaks of the whole aspect of salvation as being a gift of God (Eph. 2:8), and surely that includes faith.

    The former president of Wheaton College (where I attended and Walvoord also), James Buswell, said in his Systematic Theology: “Saving faith is a Gift of God. In Eph. 2:8 touto is neuter, showing that it is not merely grace, and not merely faith, but the entire concept of grace accepted by faith, which must be regarded as a gift of God.”

    Shedd in his Systematic Theology writes:

Election does not rest upon faith …, any more than upon a foreseen outward work. Faith is a gift of God to man (Eph. 1:8); therefore it cannot first be a gift of man to God, as the ground and reason of his electing act. If election depends upon foreseen faith, God does not first choose man, but man first chooses God, which is contrary to John 15:16. The Bible represents God as the author alone of election, regeneration, faith, and repentance (Rom. 9:16; 8:7; John 1:12-13; 3:5; 6:44, 65).

    Thanks for asking.

    Dr. Mal Couch

Does God Love the Non-Elect?

Dr. Couch, does God love the non-elect? I noticed that A. W. Pink argues that He does not love the elect. What do you say? 

 

    ANSWER:  I always say what the Bible says. Later Calvinists went to extremes and pushed some of their election thinking too far, and certainly beyond what the Bible says.

   

1. Total Depravity shows that no man can come to God on his own, by himself. He is dead in trespasses and sins.
   
2. God provides redemption for all but the “all” (or none) will by themselves come to Him. “The sacrifice of Christ is sufficient for all but applied only to the elect.” Many Calvinists agree with this statement.
   
3. Since none will come of themselves God divinely calls only the elect. He clearly is not “wishing” that any should perish, but He has not willed that ALL come to Him—and that is obvious to anyone who thinks about it!
   
4. Election is specific. Only those whom God draws will come to Him!

    Many men like Pink went philosophical and left being biblical. You can’t do that! You have to take a passage at face value. You cannot say “well, it doesn’t mean that!” I’m specifically thinking of the passages that speak of God loving the world. The hard-core Calvinists have to say, “That means the world of the elect. It doesn’t mean what it says!” The passages do not say what they want them to say!

    Here are the verses that I think destroy their view of Limited Atonement, i.e., the view that says the atonement of Christ was ONLY for the elect. Don’t simply follow what the hard-core Calvinists say about Limited Atonement! Look up the passages for yourself:

• John 3:16
• 1 Tim. 2:4, 6
• 2 Pet. 3:9
• Titus 2:11; 3:4
• I Tim. 4:10
• 1 John 2:2

    I have a theological friend everyone reading this answer would know. He began to lean toward Limited Atonement and we were arguing. I said “what do you do with 1 John 2:2?” He went brain dead and finally answered: “Well, yes, I do have a problem with that passage!” I answered back “Dick Tracy, no kidding!” He never brought up the subject again. 

   Thanks for asking,

   Dr. Mal Couch