Romans 9:14-24: "God's Sovereignty"

Paul just finished explaining that God in His sovereignty had chosen out some of the descendants of Abraham, not by physical birth, but by faith in Him. Not only this we learned that they were chosen before birth and, therefore, "had not done anything good or bad". We can see God's divine hand in the choosing of those who would be saved before they were even born. Therefore, Paul will attempt to answer questions who anticipates may be asked because of this. His first question begins, "What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there?" He anticipates the objection that some may claim that God is unjust in choosing someone for salvation and others for eternal damnation before they even had a chance to respond. How could God be just and righteous and decide such things? Paul uses his typical response to such questions, "May it never be!" or "God Forbid" as is translated in the KJV. Paul explains, "For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion'". Paul, citing Ex. 33:19, uses the example of God's response to Moses during Israel's turning to idol worship in their Egyptian exile. Explaining the situation, MacArthur writes, "In response to that great apostasy, God commanded that 'about three thousand men' be put to death (v. 28). He would have been perfectly justified in killing all the Israelites who had participated in the idolatry, but He sovereignly chose to execute only those three thousand as a warning to the others and to preserve His witness nation . . . Moses made intercession for his people . . . and the Lord replied, 'Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin" (vv.33-34) . . . this loyal man of God deeply sensed his own inadequacy for such a formidable task . . . In reply to that additional entreaty, God gave assurance, tempered by the declaration of His divine prerogative: 'I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion' (v.19). In other words, His sparing the people and continuing to guide and protect them was purely reflective of His mercy and grace. he had the absolute right to condemn or to save as He divinely saw fit. God's sovereignty and His grace not only are compatible but are inseparable". Paul is pointing out that justice would be that we are all damned to hell. Because of all we have learned of our condition before Christ, we can all say we are sinful and deserving of death. It is only in God's mercy that we are saved to eternal life.

Paul continues, "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy". It is not up to man and his attempts to attain salvation that will cause him to be saved, it is fully based on the mercy and grace of God. For example we saw that Ishmael and Esau desired the promise and blessing, but did not receive it. MacArthur writes, "It is not man's choice or pursuit but God who initiates mercy for the sinner. Salvation is never initiated by human choice or merited by zealous human effort". We have learned throughout Romans that man left to himself will never choose God and that no human "work" can ever attain salvation.

Paul moves to another biblical example to support his point. He writes, "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth'". It is shown that God allowed Pharaoh to raise up to become a very powerful figure. It is not that Pharaoh had done anything to deserve this, rather, God allowed it to happen so that He might "demonstrate My power in you". The very power that Pharaoh was fighting against was the very God that had created Him and allowed Him to rise through the ranks to a powerful position. MacArthur writes, "Using Pharaoh's proud arrogance, the Lord demonstrated that His miraculous power was far greater than the Satan-empowered miracles of Pharaoh's magicians. He made a path through the Red Sea to deliver His people and then brought back that same sea to rush over and drown Pharaoh's entire army". This was all done that God's name might be known throughout the world, and His people would worship Him for His wonderful grace and mercy. MacArthur also writes, "That mighty act of God demonstrated two great truths. He delivered Israel to exhibit His sovereign mercy on those whom He desires, and He raised up and destroyed Pharaoh to exhibit the corollary truth that He hardens those whom He desires. Only His divine desire determines which it will be". It may seem unfair from our perspective that God has randomly chosen certain individuals for salvation, and that he would "harden those whom He desires". However, we must take God at His word. A God who is rich in mercy and says, "the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out" (John 6:37), has in His perfect mind justly allowed His sovereignty and our responsibility to coexist and not contradict one another. Because God's mind is infinitely higher than ours, and His ways we will never be able to attain to, Paul continues to declare truth and facts about God. He does not attempt to philosophically explain how God's sovereignly choosing us and our responsibility to respond in faith is rationalized. He merely takes what He knows of God and points us back to Scripture.

Paul then moves to another objection he anticipates. "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?'" Basically Paul is saying that many would ask how it would be fair for God to hold us responsible for their own unbelief, when in fact it is all dependent upon God's sovereignty? How can we be responsible for something that has already been determined? Interestingly, Paul does not choose to systematically explain it to us, but rather, exclaims, "On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God?" MacArthur writes, "In other words, it is blasphemous even to question, not to mention deny, God's right to hold men accountable when they are captives of His sovereign will". Paul is fighting against the popular thought in that culture of attaining salvation through works. MacArthur explains, "It is obvious from Paul's wording that the ones who might be asking such questions would not be seeking God's truth but rather self-justification. Attempting to excuse their own unbelief, sinfulness, ignorance, and spiritual rebellion, they would be apt to accuse God of injustice". Those who may claim it is not fair that man should be held responsible if their destination is already determined, are looking at it from the wrong perspective. They are trying to in some way take credit for their salvation, and Paul wants them to understand it in the right perspective. That perspective is: who are we to question God? Paul, taking ideas from Isa. and Jeremiah, retorts, "The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this,' will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?" Isaiah had said in Isa. 64:8, "But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand". Jeremiah had said in Jer. 18:6-10, "Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it;
if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it". We know that God is gracious and merciful, we can see His lovingkindness in all He has done to provide a way for us to be reconciled, but it all comes down to the fact that we are His creation, He is creator, and all His decrees will stand forever. He has the right to say and do as He pleases. It is as foolish of a clay pot to say to the potter a word of disagreement of its creation, as man to say the same to God. As Paul answers with a rhetorical question, "Or does not the potter have a right over the clay?" Of course he does, just as God has a right to do with His creation as He pleases.

Paul's rhetorical questions continue as he asks, "What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?" MacArthur comments, "God is glorified in displaying His wrath, just as surely as in displaying His grace, because both of those attributes, along with all the others, comprise His divine nature and character, which are perfectly and permanently self-consistent and are worthy of adoration and worship". When we read about and see God's wrath and power on display, it put's us in our place. It shows us who we are in relation to Him, which is, completely powerless and helpless. God allows His wrath and power to be displayed, even enduring the sin of his people and the success of the unrighteous on earth, that we might come to glorify and honor Him. God has endured sin and allowed the unrighteous (here described as "vessels of wrath") to live in order to one day show his power and make it known to all. MacArthur writes, "Vessels of wrath prepared for destruction is surely one of the most tragic identifications of unbelievers in all of Scripture. Paul, of course, is speaking of ungodly and unrepentant human vessels, all of whom will feel the ultimate wrath of God, for which they have been prepared for destruction by their own rejection of Him. As already noted, it is not that God makes men sinful but that He leaves them in their sin unless they repent of it and turn to His Son for deliverance".

Paul gives us God's motive with allowing for the destruction of vessels of wrath, "And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles". Pauls shows us that God allows for those who are vessels for wrath to reject God and die in their sins, in order that He might show His wonderful glory and grace to those He saves. Often times things are more appreciated when they are held up in contrast or when we can see the alternative. How much more do we appreciate water when we have been exposed to tremendous dehydration? How much more wonderful does salvation seem when we understand where those who are not saved go? How much more glory and gratitude does God receive when His graciously saved, those who were chosen by Him, and given salvation and eternal life? We can obviously see how grateful and overwhelmed we should be that God would choose us despite our horrible sinful nature. Paul finishes by including all races. Whether Jew or Gentile we are all saved the same way.

Let me finish by quoting this selection from MacArthur, "The unfathomable truth that God chooses some men for salvation and other for destruction is not revealed to confuse us or upset us, and certainly not to tempt us to question the character of God's person. That truth is given to demonstrate God's glory and sovereignty to all men. It is also given to make believers thankful that He has chosen us, who, in ourselves, were not and are not more worthy of salvation than those who remain lost".