Rom 9:21 | KingComments | STEP | . 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. . 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. . The way God acts is demonstrated by Paul in the following verses. To understand this, you must compare and . You see two kinds of vessels here, vessels of wrath ( ) and vessels of mercy ( ). 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 ( ). No, these vessels prepare themselves for destruction. You understand that “vessels” refer to people (see e.g. ). As you have seen in , 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 ( ). 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.

‏ Romans 9:21

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.