and, "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed.
whereunto also they were appointed: In that stumbling is the natural and inevitable result of unbelief, this passage cannot teach disobedience by arbitrary and immutable decree. God did not decree that some would be obedient and that others were going to be disobedient. Their stumbling was neither by elect decree nor was it accidental: they were simply reaping what they had sown. That is the inevitable law of the harvest (Galatians 6:7). One may, in this sense, then elect whether he will believe in Christ or not. One may choose to be among the saved or he may choose to be among the damned (Mark 16:15-16; Romans 6:16-18). The word of God so ordains based on man’s response to its decrees. They stumble at the word God gave; they made the choice and suffer the consequence. They were appointed thus unto disobedience.