Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what He makes them do?” No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the One who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t He have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show His anger and His power, He is very patient with those on whom His anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of His glory shine even brighter on those to whom He shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. And we are among those whom He selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.
Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea, “Those who were not My people, I will now call My people. And I will love those whom I did not love before.” And, “Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not My people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.'”
And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out, “Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved. For the LORD will carry out His sentence upon the earth quickly and with finality.” And Isaiah said the same thing in another place: “If the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of our children, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah.”
Romans 9:19-29
This opens with the third of Paul’s rhetorical questions. It is like Paul is thinking through or predicting what the man in the street will be saying or thinking about these things. He is carrying the predestination concept to the extreme. If indeed God knows me from before I was created and He knows all about me and He is the one who gives me the desire or not then why does He blame me? I am a puppet in His hands. I simply do what He makes me do.
Some translations use
- Why does he still hold us responsible?
- Are we responsible or not?
- Whose responsibility is it?
- If I am like I am then how can God judge me?
But God’s judgements always come from His high vantage point where He sees everyone laid bare and naked before Him. He knows it all. Remember He loved you while you were still a sinner. All He requires is that you take responsibility for your actions and your state. God takes the “clay” as He finds it. He is not responsible for you being a sinner? You are.
Paul uses the terms vessels of honour and vessels of wrath. There is a deep meaning behind these terms but I don’t have to time to go into it now. Sometime when I get the website sorted out I will post my sermon series on the Vessels on it. But basically Paul is saying “God wants to demonstrate his wrath and reveal his power” as we saw in the early chapters. He is willing to be patient and extend grace but sometime He wants a response. As Paul says “can’t He be extremely patient with the objects of His wrath that are made for destruction?” and “Can’t he also reveal his glorious riches to the objects of his mercy?”. God does both . . . but we as the clay don’t have the right to question. He is God and I am not. He knows not only what we have done. He knows all the hidden things. He also knows all things in the present, the things we can’t even work out in our responses and reactions. He knows those too. And what’s more He knows what we are going to do far into the future, right to the very last breath we will draw. Now with that perfect knowledge He is wonderfully positioned to make a fair, just and righteous judgement.
He chose both Jews and Gentiles. (He has returned to his earlier theme.) Paul is already making it clear that God will call the Gentiles (those who are not My people) and I will call them my people. They will be called children of the living God. Yet they don’t deserve the relationship. Well neither did the Jews but they were chosen to show forth His glory. But only a small number will be saved, the majority have not understood and have disqualified themselves.
Are you following the argument? This is typical Paul. The same Paul and he is still on the same theme, talking about the same things.
The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.
Anon
The West is praying for comfort for Chinese Christians; Chinese Christians pray for persecution for the Western Christians.
A Chinese Pastor