I'm nearing that 'Place Where I Can Stand' mentioned in my last (non-FfF) post. More on that later, first, on with my study of Romans.
Romans 9:30-33 - See here, the Gentiles attained something they did not pursue. How? One answer is simply that God gave it to them, and that is true. They didn't earn it. But, that's not what this passage says. It says that they attained it by faith, and Israel didn't because they didn't pursue with faith. So, yes, it is God that grants righteousness, but our faith plays a role.
Romans 10:1-4 - This passage nicely merges the two seemingly divergent topics. It is God who offers up righteousness, on His terms and His terms alone. We can then choose to submit to it,in faith, or try to achieve our own. Israel chose the latter, a path that is doomed to fail as it has from the day Adam and Eve left the garden (actually, from the bite of the apple).
Romans 10:9 - In my experience, one of the most ill-used verses in the Bible. Many use it to justify a faith that is empty believe. Belief = salvation. This of course, ignores the rest of the new testament that expounds on the implications of this faith in the radical man, Jesus. True faith is transformative, true faith moves us off our course, true faith radically changes us, true faith has on going, life altering, dope-slap-like implications on what we do on a regular, never ending basis. Any faith that allows us to live just as we had been is faith in something other than Jesus.
The other side (and where I've been in recent years) tries to pretend that it doesn't say what it says - faith in Jesus saves us. They point out that the context is a discussion on the differences between Jew and Gentile, which is true but beside the point. They want to say "Yes, but ..." and add in all kinds of things. Faith and .. baptism, obedience, purity, holiness, zeal, conviction, righteousness, etc. All of those things are important, but they all - ALL - rise from the root of faith.
Hmmm. Just had a thought tonight talking with a friend, and thought I'd relay it on to you.
What if God hardened Pharoah's heart just enough to keep him from being a weasel? He didn't harden Pharoah's heart against repentance, but just against letting the Israelites go cheaply. Pharoah almost wimps out and lets the people go half a dozen times. What if God said, "You don't honor Me as God, so I won't let you pacify Me by letting my people go insincerely."
I don't know that there's much validity in that point of view, but my initial thought is there just might be. Either way, I thought I'd pass it on.
I don't know that there's validity there either, but I like it if only because it points out that there are ways other than the obvious to interpret the passage. How many times in scripture did folks preconceived notions clash with what God was actually doing. What the Messiah would be is the biggest example.