Calvinism is a hot topic, and Israel is a hot topic, and Romans 9 through 11 deals with both. Hello, church. We are in our Romans series on Wednesday nights, and the last couple of weeks we have done an overview of those three chapters, trying to keep them in context, in the context of the whole of Scripture, viewing them through the lens of all of Scripture. If you are new here, I am Ryan Rench, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Temecula, California, and in today’s video I want to look at a few of the resources I have used recently in preparing to study Romans 9 through 11.
The Potter’s Promise
First is the book The Potter’s Promise. I have followed its author, Leighton Flowers, online for several years now, and I appreciate his work. Some Christians have made it their life’s mission to study one thing. As a pastor, that is basically impossible for me, but some people are known for one topic; it feels as if they have given themselves to it. Here is what he is more or less known for. He was a former Calvinist, a very aggressive one, who used to try to recruit people to Calvinism. A big part of this book is his story of coming out of Calvinism, and he has popularized the term provisionism. I do not know whether he coined the term or just popularized it, but that whole framework has been very, very helpful for me. In this book he deals with some of the often-debated passages, Ephesians chapter 1, Romans 8 and 9, and others. I would not subscribe to everything in this book or everything he teaches, but it is approachable. It is not overly technical or academic or scholarly. Some might see that as a flaw, but I believe he has a great mind, and he deals with the technical, scholarly, academic approaches in an approachable way and with a great heart. I have always appreciated his tone and his love for people, and yet he does not shy away from the hard questions, and he is one of the most active and vocal voices out there right now on this particular topic.
A Study of Ephesians 1
Another is a book I just got yesterday on Kindle, from a pastor friend up in Washington, Brother Tim Shellenberger. We talked last year about how to write books, and I gave him a little template I had put together, and he cranked out this book on Ephesians 1, a study of the background and information in Ephesians 1. I read it in one quick sitting. I got it on Kindle, so this is just a printout of the cover. It is very short and very pastoral, and it examines the questions of Ephesians 1, which talks about being predestinated unto the adoption. He ties that in with Romans chapter 8, the adoption mentioned there, the future glorification of our bodies, in a way that shows that those who have placed their faith in Christ are predestined to something in the future. He shows that it is not a “who is predestined” passage; it is a “what are the saints predestined to” passage. It is a good, pastoral book. It sounds like a sermon, with questions and repetition, as if he were sometimes addressing a live audience, so it is very readable, and very vulnerable, as he expresses himself as a student of the Word of God. It is a very, very good book, and I appreciated it.
Two Commentaries
The last two books, again, I am working from digital copies. I read these commentaries alongside other reading throughout the week, and the two I will highlight today are the Way of Life commentary on Romans by David Cloud and the analytical exegesis of Romans by Peter Ruckman. I do not know this author well, but it was recommended in the circles I run in. I have appreciated the book’s outline format; it deals with every phrase of the book, coming from our independent Baptist perspective, and I do appreciate that. And of course with David Cloud, you will never wonder where he stands on any issue. He makes it very plain, and I really appreciate his writings for that reason. As far as Calvinism goes, I have no intention of making the study of Calvinism or non-Calvinism my life’s pursuit, nor the study of Israel or of covenant theology. Those do have real-world implications, and at particular moments in history they have had far greater implications than at others. But I am through Romans 9 through 11 now, and I am eager to get into Romans chapter 12, which starts the application section of the book: how to live out your theology in an everyday sense. That is what I want most for our church. Our motto is “We bring the Bible home,” and I would love for our people to just love your neighbor and love the Lord and try to live for Him every day. So if you are interested in further study of the topics we mentioned in our Romans series and today, you can check out those resources, and I would encourage you to pick them up.
One last thing before I go. This video releases on Monday, and in just a few days, on Thursday of this week, we are launching our third ladies’ devotional, called Filtered Feelings. My wife wrote it. She just recently completed the ladies’ Bible study on Monday nights, and we have it all edited and sent off to the printers. It is our very first color devotional, and I am very excited about it. This is just a proof we got from Amazon; we have changed the cover a couple of times since this one. But it is coming out this week and should be available on Amazon. I am really, really excited about this one, about the content, and I really think it will be a great help to ladies all over the world. So just continue to grow. God bless you, church, as you grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. God bless you. We will see you in the next video.
