the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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Read the Bible
Tyndale New Testament
Romans 9:14
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- BridgewayEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
So what does this mean? That God is not fair? We cannot say that.
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be!
What can we say, then? God is not unrighteous, is he? Of course not!Deuteronomy 32:4; 2 Chronicles 19:7; Job 1:8:3; 34:10; Psalm 92:15;">[xr]
What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? Far from it!
So what should we say about this? Is God unfair? In no way.
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
What shall we say then? [Is there] unrighteousness with God? By no means.
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!
What will we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be!
What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? God forbid.
What then are we to infer? That there is injustice in God?
What therfor schulen we seie? Whether wickidnesse be anentis God?
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not!
Are we saying that God is unfair? Certainly not!
What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Certainly not!
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
What may we say then? is God not upright? let it not be said.
So are we to say, "It is unjust for God to do this"? Heaven forbid!
What shall we say then? [Is there] unrighteousness with God? Far be the thought.
What then say we? Is there iniquity with Aloha? Not so:
What shall we say then? Is there iniquity with God? Far be it.
What shall we say then? Is there vnrighteousnes with God? God forbid.
Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not!
What about it then? Can we say that God is not fair? No, not at all!
What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!
What shall wee say then? Is there vnrighteousnes with God? God forbid.
What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Far be it.
What, then, shall we say? Is there injustice with God? Far be it!
What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? God forbid!
What shall we say then? Is there any vnrighteousnes with God? God forbid.
Shall we say, then, that God is unjust? Not at all.
What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
What then shall we say? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!
What then shall we say? Is there not unrighteousness with God? Let it not be!
What, then, shall we say? unrighteousness [is] with God? let it not be!
What shal we saye then? Is God then vnrighteous? God forbyd.
What do we say then? is there injustice in God?
Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair? Not so fast, please. God told Moses, "I'm in charge of mercy. I'm in charge of compassion." Compassion doesn't originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God's mercy. The same point was made when God said to Pharaoh, "I picked you as a bit player in this drama of my salvation power." All we're saying is that God has the first word, initiating the action in which we play our part for good or ill.
What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
Does that make God unfair? Absolutely not!
What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!
What shall we say then? Is there any unrighteousness with God? May it never be!
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
shall: Romans 3:1, Romans 3:5
Is there unrighteousness: Romans 2:5, Romans 3:5, Romans 3:6, Genesis 18:25, Deuteronomy 32:4, 2 Chronicles 19:7, Job 8:3, Job 34:10-12, Job 34:18, Job 34:19, Job 35:2, Psalms 92:15, Psalms 145:17, Jeremiah 12:1, Revelation 15:3, Revelation 15:4, Revelation 16:7
Reciprocal: Joshua 22:29 - God forbid Job 34:17 - wilt Job 36:3 - ascribe Job 36:23 - Thou Psalms 18:25 - thou wilt Psalms 119:137 - General Matthew 20:13 - I do Romans 2:2 - judgment Romans 3:4 - God forbid Romans 9:30 - shall
Gill's Notes on the Bible
What shall we say then?.... A form of expression the apostle frequently uses, when he is about to introduce an objection, as is what follows:
is there unrighteousness with God? This is not an objection of his own, but of an adversary, which he takes up and returns an answer to; and which itself greatly serves to settle and confirm the true sense and meaning of the apostle in this place; as that it could not be, that election and rejection of men should proceed according to their merits; or that God chooses some for their good works, and rejects others for their wicked works, because no man could ever pretend to charge God with unrighteousness on this account; nor could it be that God chose and rejected men, upon a foresight of their good and evil works, for this also would not be liable to such an objection; nor that the Jews, having made the law of none effect by their traditions, despised the Gospel, crucified Christ, and persecuted his disciples, are therefore cast off, and the Gentiles, being obedient both in word and deed, are received into favour, for this likewise would not be chargeable with unrighteousness by men; but that two persons, as Jacob and Esau, and the same may be said of all mankind, being upon an equal foot, not being yet born, nor having done either good or evil, an inequality, a difference is made between them, by God himself; the one is chose, the other passed by: now in this is some show, some pretence at least, for such an objection; nor is it any wonder to meet with it from the carnal reason of men; wherefore we may be sure that the latter, and not either of the former, is the true sense of the apostle; since only this, and not either of them, is liable to such an exception: let us attend to the apostle's answer, which is "first" in his usual manner, by way of detestation and abhorrence,
God forbid: God is not unrighteous in his nature; nor in any of his ways and works; nor in this, in choosing some and rejecting others. There is no unrighteousness with God in that part of predestination, commonly called election; for this is neither an act of justice, nor injustice; not of justice, but of grace and mercy; of undue and undeserved grace and mercy, of mere sovereign grace and mercy; and is what God was not obliged to do; wherefore to choose some and not others, is no act of injustice; for injustice is a violation of justice, which has no place in this affair: if it is an act of injustice, it must be either to them that are chosen, or to them that are not; not to them that are chosen, to them it is an act of favour and good will, they are chosen to grace and glory, to holiness here, and happiness hereafter; not to them that are passed by, because they had no right nor claim to the grace and glory, which by this act are denied them, and therefore no injustice is done them. Every prince may choose his own ministers and favourites, and who he will have of his privy council, without doing any injustice, to those he takes no notice of; every man may choose his own company who he will converse with, without doing any wrong to such he does not think fit to admit to an intimacy with him; and yet men are not willing to allow the Most High that liberty, which every man daily takes, and may lawfully make use of: nor is there any unrighteousness with God in the other branch of predestination, commonly called reprobation, which is either negative or positive; negative reprobation is the act of preterition, or God's passing by, leaving, taking no notice of some, while he chose others: now the objects of this act are to be considered either in the pure, or in the corrupt mass; if in the pure mass, i.e. of creatureship, which seems to be the apostle's meaning, as being not yet created, made, or born, and having done neither good nor evil; no injustice is done by this act, for as it found them, it left them; it put nothing into them, no evil in them, nor appointed them to any, of any kind; man after, and notwithstanding this act, came into the world an upright creature, and became sinful, not by virtue of this act, but by their own inventions: or if considered as in the corrupt mass, as fallen creatures, sunk into sin and misery, which is the case of all mankind; since God was not obliged to save any of the sinful race of men, whose destruction was of themselves, it could be no injustice to pass by some of them in this condition, when he chose others; for if it would have been no injustice to have condemned all, as he did the angels that sinned, whom he spared not, it can be no act of injustice in him, to leave some of them in that condition, which sin had brought them into, whilst he has mercy on others; unless to have mercy on any, can be thought to be an act of injustice: what unrighteousness can there be in this procedure, any more than in drowning the world of the ungodly, whilst Noah and his family were saved in the ark? or in raining showers of fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities of the plain, whilst Lot, his wife, and two daughters, were delivered from the same? Positive reprobation is the decree, or appointment to damnation: now as God damns no man but for sin, so he has decreed to damn no man but for sin; and if it is no unrighteousness in him to damn men for sin, as to be sure it is not, so it can be no unrighteousness in him to decree to damn any for it: upon the whole it appears, that whatever show, upon first sight, there may be for a charge of unrighteousness against such a procedure of the Divine Being, there is no real foundation for it. The objection is to be treated with abhorrence and indignation.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
What shall we say then? - What conclusion shall we draw from these acknowledged facts, and from these positive declarations of Scripture.
Is there unrighteousness with God? - Does God do injustice or wrong? This charge has often been brought against the doctrine here advanced. But this charge the apostle strongly repels. He meets it by further showing that it is the doctrine explicitly taught in the Old Testament Romans 9:15, Romans 9:17, and that it is founded on the principles of equity, and on just views of the sovereignty of God; Romans 9:19-23.
God forbid - Note, Romans 3:4.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Romans 9:14. What shall we say then? — To what conclusion shall we come on the facts before us? Shall we suggest that God's bestowing peculiar privileges in this unequal manner, on those who otherwise are in equal circumstances, is inconsistent with justice and equity? By no means. Whatever God does is right, and he may dispense his blessings to whom and or what terms he pleases.
