fine, but this is a useless discussion.[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]
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Why? Isn't what the thread is all about? About the verses 22 and 23 from Romans ch. 9?
So, why is everybody talking about calvinism when the verses are clearly not about predestination, but about God's plan to save the world?
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[/FONT]1. No. Predestination just happened to come up.[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]
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Really? The topic of predestination just happened to come up? Out of nowhere? Does Paul talk in a vacuum, not in a continuum?
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[/FONT]2. Paul said that because he meant it. In following after Christ, Paul would have given himself up if it meant the salvation of another.[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]
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That is beautiful. But, since the topic of predestination just "happened to come up"...is it possible that Paul felt deep sorrow for his people because God's chose them to be "vessels of wrath"?
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[/FONT]3. In context? Clay pots.
-in extended context? Pharaoh.
-in hyper extended context? Any antichrist.[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]
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I am glad you didn't forget about Pharaoh. The example of Pharaoh doesn't just simply come up in Paul's letter. He is saying that just as God hardened Pharaoh's heart in order to accomplish the exodus...so did God hardened Israel, in order to deliver (bring to an exodus from death to life) the whole world.
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[/FONT]3part 2: yes, the Jews were hardened. Do you know what that means, or are you making anti semitic assumptions?
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Yes, that is the correct answer.
I do not appreciate the part when you say that I am making anti-semitic assumptions. All I do is showing you what Paul says.
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