The Letters of Paul: Messages of Faith, Hope, and Charity Patrick D. Degn Session 2: Romans 9-11 The Abrahamic Covenant: The Lord s Promises: Land for him and posterity (Abraham 2:6) Blessing of a numerous posterity (Abraham 2:9) Right to the priesthood for posterity (Abraham 2:9) Right and responsibility to preach the gospel among all nations (Abraham 2:9) Exaltation (Abraham 2:11) 1. Property 2. Posterity 3. Priesthood 4. Preaching 5. Perfection Abraham Promises: Obedience to the Lord s commandments (Abraham 2:13) Walk before me, and be thou perfect (Genesis 17:1) Romans 9: The whole of the chapter had reference to the priesthood and the house of Israel, and unconditional election of individuals to eternal life was not taught by the apostles. God did elect or predestinate that all those who would be saved should be saved in Christ Jesus, and through obedience to the gospel. But he passes over no man's sins, but visits them with correction, and if his children will not repent of their sins, he will discard them (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 189). Paul in Romans Romans 9:7 Romans 9:9 Romans 9:12 Romans 9:13 Romans 9:15 Romans 9:17 Romans 9:20 Romans 9:25 Romans 9:26 Romans 9:27-28 Romans 9:29 Romans 9:33 Romans 10:5 Romans 10:6 Romans 10:7 Romans 10:8 Romans 10:11 Romans 10:13 Romans 10:15 Romans 10:16 Quotations from the Old Testament Genesis 21:12 Genesis 18:10, 14 Genesis 25:23 Malachi 1:2-3 Exodus 33:19 Exodus 9:16 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9 Hosea 2:23 Hosea 1:10 Isaiah 10:22-23 Isaiah 1:9 Isaiah 28:16; 8:14 Leviticus 18:5 Deuteronomy 9:4 Deuteronomy 30:13 Deuteronomy 30:14 Isaiah 28:16 Joel 2:32 Isaiah 52:7; Nahum 1:15 Isaiah 53:1
Romans 10:18 Romans 10:19 Romans 10:20 Romans 10:21 Romans 11:3 Romans 11:4 Romans 11:8 Romans 11:9-10 Romans 11:26-27 Romans 11:34 Romans 11:35 Psalms 19:4 Deuteronomy 32:21 Isaiah 65:1 Isaiah 65:2 1 Kings 19:10, 14 1 Kings 19:18 Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaiah 29:10 Psalms 69:22-23 Isaiah 27:9; Jeremiah 31:33-34 Isaiah 40:13 Job 41:11 There is no truth more plainly taught in the Gospel than that our condition in the next world will depend upon the kind of lives we live here.... Is it not just as reasonable to suppose that the conditions in which we now live have been determined by the kind of lives we lived in the pre-existent world of spirits?... Between the extremes of the noble and the great spirits, whom God would make his rulers, and the disobedient and the rebellious who were cast out with Satan, there were obviously many spirits with varying degrees of faithfulness. May we not assume from these teachings that the progress and development we made as spirits have brought privileges and blessings here according to our faithfulness in the spirit world? (Decisions for Successful Living, 164-65). Once the believer acknowledges that the past, present, and future are before god simultaneously-even though we do not understand how-then the doctrine of foreordination may be seen somewhat more clearly. For instance, it was necessary for God to know how economic difficulties and crop failures of the Joseph Smith Sr. family in New England would move this special family to Cumorah country where the Book of Mormon plates were buried. God's plans could scarcely have so unfolded if willy-nilly the Smith's had been born Manchurians and if, meanwhile, the plates had been buried in Belgium!" (Neal A. Maxwell, Foreordination, a talk given at the District Sacrament Meeting in Jerusalem, Oct. 1978.) The Doctrine of Foreordination: 1. To the House of Israel (Deut. 32:7-9, John 10:4-5, 14). 2. To the nations of the earth (Acts 17:24-26) based upon: 1. Faithfulness in the premortal realm. 2. For the best outcome for the individual and family. 3. What is best for the plan of God. 3. To favored families 4. To Priesthood Callings (see also Alma 13:3-9; Abr. 3:22-23; Jer. 1:5; 1 Pet. 1:19-20). 5. Foredesignated responsibilities for women (see 1 Nephi 11:18; Esther 4:14) 6. Foredesignated responsibilities for others. Elder Alvin R. Dyer wrote: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have come to know by divine revelation in our modern time the importance of the house of Israel and its relationship to the plan of the gospel. They have come to know that the house of Israel represents the chosen of the Lord. There is a chosen people-there is a royal lineage among men here upon the earth. Many are born into it by virtue of their pre-mortal worthiness, and others may obtain it
through adoption, by virtue of accepting the gospel here in mortality. Alvin R. Dyer, The Meaning of Truth (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1961), p. 19. President Harold B. Lee said that we have come into mortality to specific nations "as a reward for the kind of lives [we] lived before [we] came here. Harold B. Lee, in Conference Report, October 1973, p. 7. Elder Bruce R. McConkie, commenting on Paul's statement, explained how our place and time in mortality was foreordained. "God sends his spirit children to earth on a regular, organized schedule. There is nothing haphazard or accidental about the peopling of the earth or the assignment of various land areas to the races of men. The race and nation in which men are born in this world is a direct result of their pre-existent life. All the spirit hosts of heaven deemed worthy to receive mortal bodies were foreordained to pass through this earthly probation in the particular race and nation suited to their needs, circumstances, and talents. Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-73), 2:159-160. "The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammed, Confucius, and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others received a portion of God's light. Moral truths were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals. First Presidency statement, February 15, 1978, as quoted in Spencer J. Palmer, The Expanding Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978), p. v. It was decreed in the counsels of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that he should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people, and receive the fulness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eye upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father's father, and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, from the flood to Enoch, and from Enoch to Adam. He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 7:289-290. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught that there was "no scriptural justification... for the belief that we had the privilege of choosing our parents and our life companions in the spirit world. Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1972), p. 44. In 1971, the First Presidency once again declared that "we have no revealed word to the effect that when we were in the preexistent state we chose our parents and our husbands and wives." The First Presidency, 1971, as cited in Steve F. Gilliland, "I Have a Question," Ensign, June 1977, p. 40. As President Joseph Fielding Smith stated: "This belief has been advocated by some, and it is possible that in some instances it is true, but it would require too great a stretch of the imagination to believe it to be so in all, or even in the majority of cases. Most likely we came where those in authority decided to send us. Our agency may not have been exercised to the extent of making choice of parents and posterity. Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, pp. 44-45. Elder Boyd K. Packer also cautioned against the idea of a "predestined love" in an address entitled "Eternal Love" given at the BYU Tri-Stake Fireside, November 3, 1963. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that "every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose that I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council. Joseph Smith, History of the Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1967), 6:364. Warning Against Failure to Fulfill Foreordination: D&C 121:34-36 See Harold B. Lee, "Understanding Who We Are Brings Self-Respect," Ensign, January 1974, p. 5. 34 Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? 35 Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson
36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. 9:13 Peter warned that Paul had made some statements on this subject which are very difficult to understand for those who do not have the spirit of prophecy and those who have not studied deeply....from a casual reading of this scripture (Romans 9:9-14), one would be inclined to assume that it was before Jacob and Esau were born that the Lord said, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Let us see what the Lord did say before they were born: And the Lord said unto her [Rebekah], Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. (Genesis 25:23.) Thus, before these twin boys were born, the Lord knew what spirits he was sending to become Rebekah s sons and the manner of spirits he would send through them as their posterity, and he knew which one would be born first: And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. (Acts 17:26.) Even so the Lord had determined this to be the time and place for Esau and Jacob to be born. He knew them and the nature of their lives and what they would do under the circumstances and conditions surrounding them. Therefore, he was able to say, even before they were born, And the elder shall serve the younger. Now when did the Lord say, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated? Following are the words of the Lord to his prophet Malachi, spoken approximately thirteen hundred years after Jacob and Esau were born: The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob s brother? saith the Lord; yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. (Malachi 1:1-3.) Thirteen hundred years after the birth of Jacob and Esau, the Lord could well make such a statement. We will not take time to review the life of Jacob other than to remind the reader that the Lord changed his name to Israel because of his faithfulness, and he now stands at the head of the house of Israel. Paul gives us this account of Esau s unfaithfulness: Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. (Hebrews 12:16.) (A Marvelous Work and a Wonder [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1950], 341.) 9:21 Now let us consider another of Paul s statements that is often misunderstood. Contenders for the principle of predestination often refer to Romans, chapter 9, as A Bible within a Bible : (quotes Romans 9:20-23) From this scripture, it is reasoned that the Lord (the potter) has the power from the same lump of clay to make one a vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor, and that the thing formed cannot say to him that formed it: Why hast thou made me thus? Let us consider, in connection with this statement, another of Paul s statements bearing on this same subject: But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master s use, and prepared unto every good work. (2 Timothy 2:20-21.) From this statement of Paul s to Timothy, it is clear that no matter what may be one s handicaps or limitations in life, by purging himself he may become a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master s use, and prepared unto every good work. (A Marvelous Work and a Wonder [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1950], 343.) 9:24 He says also of members of the Church that God hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, and that we were foreordained to become the children of Jesus Christ by adoption, thus gaining a forgiveness of sins in this life and an inheritance of eternal glory in the life to come. (Eph. 1:7.) ( God Foreordains His Prophets and His People, Ensign, May 1974, 73) 9:30-31 There are many coming into the Church in this day and time who are not of the blood lineage of a specific tribe of Jacob. No one need assume that he or she will be denied any blessing by reason of not being of the blood lineage of Israel. Paul makes repeated references to adoption into the house of Israel through faith: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Rom. 8:9.) And again: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises (Rom. 9:4). King Benjamin refers to the faithful as the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters, thus being able to be spiritually begotten... through faith, and thus coming into the family of Christ through a spiritual birth (Mosiah 5:7). It really makes no difference if the blessings of the house of Israel come through lineage or through the spirit of adoption. Elder John A. Widtsoe stated, Whether this lineage is of blood or of adoption does not matter (Evidences and Reconciliations, pp. 72-77). (James E. Faust, Patriarchal Blessings, New Era, Nov. 1982, 7). 9:32 Meekness permits us to seek spiritual things by faith. Ancient Israel failed, said the Apostle Paul, for they sought it not by faith. (Romans 9:32.) They preferred something else: They despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. (Jacob 4:14.) (Meek and Lowly [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1987], 28.) 10:17 Faith comes by hearing the word of God, through the testimony of the servants of God; that testimony is always attended by the Spirit of prophecy and revelation. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 148). It is not the letter then that bringeth faith, but hearing the word of God dispensed by a living oracle or minister of God, clothed upon with power from on high. It is not a recorded gospel, but the preached word which emanates with power from a man of God inspired by the Holy Ghost.... (The Gospel Kingdom: Selections from the Writings and Discourses of John Taylor, selected, arranged, and edited, with an introduction by G. Homer Durham [Salt Lake City: Improvement Era, 1941], 332.) Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Now, at a time when our prophet is calling for more faith through hearing the word of God, we must revitalize and reenthrone superior teaching in the Church-at home, from the
pulpit, in our administrative meetings, and surely in the classroom. Inspired teaching must never become a lost art in the Church, and we must make certain our quest for it does not become a lost tradition. President Spencer W. Kimball once pled: Stake presidents, bishops, and branch presidents, please take a particular interest in improving the quality of teaching in the Church.... I fear, he said, that all too often many of our members come to church, sit through a class or a meeting, and... then return home having been largely [uninspired]. It is especially unfortunate when this happens at a time... of stress, temptation, or crisis [in their life]. We all need to be touched and nurtured by the Spirit, he said, and effective teaching is one of the most important ways this can happen. We often do vigorous work, President Kimball concluded, to get members to come to Church but then do not adequately watch over what they receive when they do come. On this subject President Hinckley himself has said, Effective teaching is the very essence of leadership in the Church. May I repeat that. Effective teaching is the very essence of leadership in the Church. Eternal life, President Hinckley continued, will come only as men and women are taught with such effectiveness that they change and discipline their lives. They cannot be coerced into righteousness or into heaven. They must be led, and that means teaching. (Jeffrey R. Holland, A Teacher Come from God, Ensign, May 1998, 25-26) 11:5-6 "The foreseeing of those who will accept the gospel in mortality, gladly and with alacrity, is based upon their parallel responsiveness in the premortal world. No wonder the Lord could say, as he did to Jeremiah, 'Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;... and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations' (Jer. 1:5). Paul, when writing to the Saints in Rome, said, 'God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew' (Rom. 11:2). Paul also said of God that 'he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world' (Eph. 1:4). "The Lord, who was able to say to his disciples, 'Cast the net on the right side of the ship' (John 21:6), knew beforehand that there was a multitude of fishes there. If he knew beforehand the movements and whereabouts of fishes in the little Sea of Tiberias, should it offend us that he knows beforehand which mortals will come into the gospel net? "It does no violence even to our frail human logic to observe that there cannot be a grand plan of salvation for all mankind, unless there is also a plan for each individual. The salvational sum will reflect all its parts. "Once the believer acknowledges that the past, present, and future are before God simultaneously-even though we do not understand how-then the doctrine of foreordination may be seen somewhat more clearly." ("A More Determined Discipleship," Ensign, Feb. 1979, 71). The statement by Elder Orson F. Whitney shared in class. We should all consider the statement and the Doctrine in its proper context. That context was provided by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve in Faithful Parents and Wayward Children: Sustaining Hope While Overcoming Misunderstanding, Ensign, March 2014. The Prophet Joseph Smith declared and he never taught more comforting doctrine that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.
Tell the people to be humble and faithful, and be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right.... Tell the brethren if they will follow the Spirit of the Lord, they will go right. Be sure to tell the people to keep the Spirit of the Lord; and if they will they will find themselves just as they were organized by our Father in Heaven before they came into the world. Our Father in Heaven organized the human family, but they are [now] all disorganized and in great confusion (Brigham Young, Journal History, 23 February 1847, emphasis added; cited in McConkie and Millet, The Holy Ghost, 10 11).