THE RECONCILIATION
THINGS
7
OF ALL
B. -- It is given in the verses that follow (Rom. 9:10-12). There the same principle that set aside Ishmael sets aside
Esau.
A. -- Do you mean that there is respect of persons with God? was Ishmael rejected because of his wild ways, or Esau
because of his easygoing nature?
B. -- It would be so much better for us both if you would allow the Scripture to finish its argument, and not to jump
to conclusions so hastily. God Himself says that the choice took place:
(1).
Before the children were born and
(2).
Before they could have done either good or evil; that the choice was
(3).
Not of works, but that
(4).
The purpose of God according to election might stand.
The whole subject resolves itself into a recognition of the fact of a `purpose of election' and a `promise'.
Elective purposes govern `All Israel' and `All in Adam'
A. -- Well, supposing with regard to this phase of the purpose I admit the limitation you suggest, how does that alter
such plain statements like:
`As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive' (1 Cor. 15:22).
`The Saviour of all men' (1 Tim. 4:10),
and many others?
B. -- Your question introduces a most important feature in the interpretation of the age purpose set forth in Scripture.
A Scriptural Principle of Interpretation
A. -- We are to consider a principle of interpretation, I believe, and one which is in some way connected with the
meaning you suggested of the words `all Israel'?
B. -- Yes, the principle of interpretation which I believe to be the true one is quite distinct from that which says `if
God be a God of love, then He must do this or that; that if He does not save every individual then Satan will
triumph', etc., etc.
A. -- But that is just what I do believe, what fault do you find with such reasoning ?
B. -- Chiefly that it is `reasoning'.
A. -- You surely do not believe that faith is unreasonable?
B. -- No, but I believe that revelation is not always explanation. Within the range of things proper to human
knowledge, generalization and deduction are both legitimate and essential to progress, but when we say that God
must do this or that or He denies His attributes, we are out of our depth. The Scripture does not present us with a
philosophic conception of God. It opens with what God did:
`In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth' (Gen. 1:1).
Philosophy would require us to search back and find out God first. Scripture takes the position that:
`He that cometh to God must believe that He is' (Heb. 11:6).
The revelation of the Deity throughout Scripture is always relative. The moment we take one step beyond the
circle of human things and the age purpose we flounder and fail. The method chosen by God for the purpose of
revelation, the method which His wisdom saw to be the fittest for His purpose, viz., the constant use of type, figure
and biography, is the method I am bound to follow in interpreting the record of the age purpose.