An excellent treatment to answer a very difficult passage:
Romans 11:32 - “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.”
What?! That seems to pretty straightforwardly say that God causes our disobedience. That’s a difficult thing to reconcile (unless you’re a Calvinist).
@Johann hey brother can you give us your language dissection of Romans 11:32 please? My take is that God isn’t particularly fair, (obviously since I can’t do a 360 degree slam dunk, and I sure would like to), but He IS merciful to all, and set the hurdle high enough so that none could reach it, thus putting ALL in the “rebel” category.
I am not a Calvinist and are you seriously suggesting that God causes our disobedience?
In context Romans 11 is addressed primarily to Israel and Gentile believers in Rome. Paul is explaining the mystery of God’s plan for Israel. Some of Israel has been hardened temporarily while Gentiles have been grafted in so that mercy may be extended to all. The recipients of the teaching are both Jewish and Gentile Christians and the broader argument is about God’s faithfulness, human unbelief, and the display of His mercy, not a statement that God actively causes anyone to sin.
So what does “hardening” and “bound over to rebellion” mean? Hopefully you might not mind doing your word analysis?
Of course I’m not suggesting that God causes our disobedience. In fact, that’s my whole body of work/ministry - that God is never the author or immediate cause of evil. I’m saying that the verse seems to straightforwardly say that God has bound everyone over to rebellion. So what does the verse actually mean?
I feel I’ve caused us evil by derailing the thread. SO if it continues in a new direction, I’ll probably start a new thread.