Rom 9:14-21 | KingComments | STEP | . From the examples of the last section, it is clear that God works according to election. This immediately brings opposition. You can feel this opposition rise inside yourself, saying: ‘This is not fair. God is not acting righteously when He deals with man in that way.’ We think or say this because our thoughts are centered on man rather than on God. Paul leaves no room for this thought. He writes: “May it never be!” Paul then cites two more examples from the Old Testament to clarify the reason for saying: “May it never be!” These examples show that God acts according to His own will, also called God’s sovereign will. He is the only One Who can act according to His own pleasure without having to give an account to anyone. This doesn’t mean God acts without a purpose. He is not a tyrant who makes and executes decisions without restraint. God can always defend everything He does before anyone. But if we think we can judge God, we assume an attitude that is not appropriate for us. As a result of this attitude, we’re not able to understand God’s actions. We must start by acknowledging that He is God and has the right to do whatever He deems necessary. Then we will have to acknowledge that we’re only tiny human beings, creatures completely dependent on our Creator. . God said to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Was this another instance of the unrighteousness and arbitrariness of God? Well, if you try to find out why God said this and what the occasion was, you might change your mind. So, what was the situation? While Moses was with God on the mountain, the people made a golden calf and then worshiped it. This was sheer idolatry and practiced by the whole people! The result was that God had to judge all the people. But because of the intercession of Moses, there was mercy and compassion. God is so merciful and compassionate that He didn’t wipe out all the people, but had mercy and compassion on some of them. . This history makes it clear that the main point is not what man does and works, “it [does] not [depend] on the man who wills or the man who runs”, but that “God … had mercy”. . After the example of God’s mercy comes another example regarding the judgment of God. starts: “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh.” When you look this quotation up in Exodus 9, you see it is God Himself Who said this to Pharaoh ( ). So if here in Romans 9 we find that “the Scripture” says it, this means God and the Scripture are in absolute harmony. This strongly emphasizes the importance of knowing what the Bible says. Then you will learn to know God and to be guarded from going astray. Pharaoh was raised up by God with a twofold purpose. God wanted to show His power in him, and to declare His own name to all the earth. Pharaoh could be used to this end by God. But don’t think that Pharaoh was a will-less instrument! Pharaoh remained fully responsible to God for his attitude and actions. Thus, it was only after Pharaoh had hardened his heart several times that God hardened his heart. Only then did God use him as an example of the judgment He would bring over people who continue to resist Him. God has mercy on whomever He wills (as with some of Israel when all of Israel were under judgment) and He hardens whomever He wills (like Pharaoh who was likewise under judgment). Maybe you are still wondering about the phrase: ”I have raised you up.” Does this mean God had him born for this purpose? No! ‘To raise up’ here means that God led Pharaoh’s life in such a way that Pharaoh would show by his actions what was in his heart toward God. Those actions clearly were a history of rebellion against God, and it became clear there was no desire to listen to the warnings God sent in the different plagues that hit the country. In the next section I will say more about this. Now read Romans 9:14-18 again. Reflection: Do you sometimes think God is unrighteous? How do you cope with this thought?

‏ Romans 9:14-21

God Is Sovereign

Rom 9:14. From the examples of the last section, it is clear that God works according to election. This immediately brings opposition. You can feel this opposition rise inside yourself, saying: ‘This is not fair. God is not acting righteously when He deals with man in that way.’ We think or say this because our thoughts are centered on man rather than on God. Paul leaves no room for this thought. He writes: “May it never be!”

Paul then cites two more examples from the Old Testament to clarify the reason for saying: “May it never be!” These examples show that God acts according to His own will, also called God’s sovereign will. He is the only One Who can act according to His own pleasure without having to give an account to anyone.

This doesn’t mean God acts without a purpose. He is not a tyrant who makes and executes decisions without restraint. God can always defend everything He does before anyone. But if we think we can judge God, we assume an attitude that is not appropriate for us. As a result of this attitude, we’re not able to understand God’s actions. We must start by acknowledging that He is God and has the right to do whatever He deems necessary. Then we will have to acknowledge that we’re only tiny human beings, creatures completely dependent on our Creator.

Rom 9:15. God said to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Was this another instance of the unrighteousness and arbitrariness of God? Well, if you try to find out why God said this and what the occasion was, you might change your mind. So, what was the situation?

While Moses was with God on the mountain, the people made a golden calf and then worshiped it. This was sheer idolatry and practiced by the whole people! The result was that God had to judge all the people. But because of the intercession of Moses, there was mercy and compassion. God is so merciful and compassionate that He didn’t wipe out all the people, but had mercy and compassion on some of them.

Rom 9:16. This history makes it clear that the main point is not what man does and works, “it [does] not [depend] on the man who wills or the man who runs”, but that “God … had mercy”.

Rom 9:17-18. After the example of God’s mercy comes another example regarding the judgment of God. Rom 9:17 starts: “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh.” When you look this quotation up in Exodus 9, you see it is God Himself Who said this to Pharaoh (Exo 9:16). So if here in Romans 9 we find that “the Scripture” says it, this means God and the Scripture are in absolute harmony. This strongly emphasizes the importance of knowing what the Bible says. Then you will learn to know God and to be guarded from going astray. Pharaoh was raised up by God with a twofold purpose. God wanted to show His power in him, and to declare His own name to all the earth. Pharaoh could be used to this end by God.

But don’t think that Pharaoh was a will-less instrument! Pharaoh remained fully responsible to God for his attitude and actions. Thus, it was only after Pharaoh had hardened his heart several times that God hardened his heart. Only then did God use him as an example of the judgment He would bring over people who continue to resist Him. God has mercy on whomever He wills (as with some of Israel when all of Israel were under judgment) and He hardens whomever He wills (like Pharaoh who was likewise under judgment).

Maybe you are still wondering about the phrase: ”I have raised you up.” Does this mean God had him born for this purpose? No! ‘To raise up’ here means that God led Pharaoh’s life in such a way that Pharaoh would show by his actions what was in his heart toward God. Those actions clearly were a history of rebellion against God, and it became clear there was no desire to listen to the warnings God sent in the different plagues that hit the country. In the next section I will say more about this.

Now read Romans 9:14-18 again.

Reflection: Do you sometimes think God is unrighteous? How do you cope with this thought?

Vessels of Wrath and Vessels of Mercy

Rom 9:19. Do you know what so often hinders us? Our human logic, our natural and darkened mind. We reason within ourselves saying: ‘Out of all human beings, God has elected a certain number to bless them. All others would not be blessed, so therefore they have been appointed by God to be lost. Who could resist His will? Isn’t everything fixed at our birth? Can anyone change this in any way?’

This kind of reasoning shows we are judging God. But the first thing we must keep in mind is that God is sovereign in all He does. He determines everything without having to answer to man. God judges and condemns man, not the other way around. The competence to judge is with God alone.

Rom 9:20-21. Paul wants to bring home to us the idea that God has the power to do all things without anyone having a right to say anything about it. God possesses absolute power and the absolute right to execute His will. What right do we have to call God to account by asking why He made us this way and not different? God’s sovereignty is compared with a potter’s sovereignty. A potter clearly has the power to make either an ugly vessel or a beautiful one out of the same lump of clay. Once more God’s sovereignty is stressed here, which doesn’t mean God acted in a similar way.

Rom 9:22-23. The way God acts is demonstrated by Paul in the following verses. To understand this, you must compare Rom 9:22 and Rom 9:23. You see two kinds of vessels here, vessels of wrath (Rom 9:22) and vessels of mercy (Rom 9:23). Notice the way these vessels are spoken of.

Of the vessels of wrath the following is said:

1. God wanted to show His wrath and to make His power known;

2. He has endured them with much longsuffering;

3. They were prepared for destruction.

The greatest difficulty is given by the last point. Who prepared these vessels for destruction? Did God do that? If you say this, you declare God to be a maker of evil as if He really urges man to do deeds that will bring destruction upon himself. But it is God’s longsuffering we are reading about here. What sense would it make to speak about God’s longsuffering if He was preparing these vessels for destruction? 2 Peter 3 tells us it is because of God’s longsuffering that the judgment has not yet come (2Pet 3:9).

No, these vessels prepare themselves for destruction. You understand that “vessels” refer to people (see e.g. Acts 9:15). As you have seen in Rom 9:17, Pharaoh is an example of such a vessel preparing himself for destruction.

Then of the vessels of mercy, the following is said:

1. God wanted to make known the riches of His glory on them and

2. God had prepared them beforehand for glory.

Here the big difference between the vessels of wrath and mercy becomes clear. God, not the vessels themselves, has prepared them for glory. And God has done this beforehand. He has not made it dependent on their behavior in this life.

So in these two vessels the following is presented – on the one hand man’s responsibility and on the other hand the counsels, the plans and the purposes of God.

You will find these two truths throughout the Bible. We as human beings are not able to connect them. Only God can do that. They have been compared to two rails of a railroad track that always run parallel. If you look far away, it seems as if the two meet. In a similar way, the lines of man’s responsibility and God’s counsels run parallel through the Bible.

At the cross, you see the two lines meet, as it were. In Acts 2 you can read about this (Acts 2:22-23). It says the Lord Jesus was:

1. given up by the counsel and foreknowledge of God (God wanted it to be that way) and

2. crucified and slain by the Jews, by the hands of lawless men (that is what man did, for which he is responsible).

Apart from God, who can connect these two sides of the cross?

Don’t try to comprehend the incomprehensible. This comprehension has not been given to us human beings. Thank Him that you can see both sides of the truth. It is important for you to gain insight into your responsibilities as a creature in regard to God. In your practical life you will take this into account, and the new insights into His counsels and plans will not fail to have their effects in your life. In this way, your life will be a rich life. The things God asks from you may be difficult, but if you see what His plans and purposes are, it will motivate you to honor Him in your life.

Now read Romans 9:19-23 again.

Reflection: Think of God’s greatness.