OK, if Paul was referring to "Israel's gifts", then where did he note or describe them IN CONTEXT? HUH?That is not what Romans 11:29 (NIV) teaches. Let's look at the verse of Romans 11:29 in context:
All Israel will be saved
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
‘The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.
28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all (Rom 11:25-32 NIV).
Applying 'God's gifts and his call are irrrevocable' to Christian believers to bolster your OSAS position defies the exegesis of this passage. That 'irrevocable' meaning applies to Israel's gifts and call. That's the context.
The problem is that he NEVER EVER described any "gifts" to Israel. Not in Romans, and not in any other epistle of his. So, just what these so-called "gifts to Israel" anyway? They sure aren't noted in Romans 11.
But, Paul DID describe some of God's gifts previously in his epistle to the Romans:
spiritual gifts in 1:11
justification in 3:24 and 5:15,16,17
eternal life in 6:23
Yet, no one has been able to show ANY OTHER gifts, especially any to Israel, anywhere in the epistle.
I don't understand why anyone would even think Paul was somehow referring to gifts only to Israel when he penned 11:29. Esp since he NEVER described such gifts.It's beyond my understanding why you do this when you violate the context to try to push your OSAS view.
Oz
The ONLY gifts he did describe are the ones I just listed above. Those are the gifts of God that Paul was thinking of when he penned 11:29.
That's what context really means. And is.