Don't Reverse the Roles

It becomes a stunning revelation to most people that most of the nation of Israel is in unbelief; rejected by God (Romans 9:1-5).  This is the God that made many promises to this nation.  But we have learned that God has not been unfaithful because the promises were misunderstood by many.  Many thought they applied to the whole nation, but they did not.  They applied to the righteous seed, the remnant, the elect (Romans 9:6-13).  Is God unrighteousness to be so particular and selective?  No. It is within His holy and glorious nature to have freedom of choice.  Some He chooses to save.  Some are left to their own choices, that will eventually harden them to the things of the Gospel (Romans 9:14-18).

How can God condemn those He has sovereignly left in their sin?  If that’s God’s choice, who is it that can change His mind?  Paul’s answer is that we need to be humbled before the infinite wisdom of God.

“. . . Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” (Romans 9:20–21, ESV).

As we can see in our Bibles, this is a quote from the Old Testament.  In Isaiah 29:16 (ESV) we read: “¹⁶You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” And in Isaiah 45:9 (ESV) we read, “⁹ ‘Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? ”

God’s Word reminds us that we can err in several distinct ways.  They are:

a. A pot could say that God did not make me; or

b. A pot could say that God erred in the way He made me.

The pot in Paul’s illustration is arrogantly complaining.  The pot is claiming to be wiser than the potter.  But the question that is left in our minds is this: “Has the potter no right over the clay . . .?”^[1]  Doesn’t God as sovereign Creator have ultimate rights over His creation?  In fact the Apostle goes on to say, “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” (Romans 9:21, ESV).  Contextually (referring back to Romans 9:1-5), isn’t Paul saying that God brought the entire nation of Israel into being.  Does He not have the right to take some of that nation and use them for “honorable” purposes?  And does He not have the right to take the other and use them for “dishonorable” purposes?

Again to expand this, doesn’t God have the right to take an Isaac, a Jacob, and a Moses and fashion them for uses of honor?  And can He not take an Ishmael, an Esau, and a Pharaoh and use them for dishonorable purpose?  Is this not God’s right?  “Out of the same original lump or mass He forms, in His holy sovereignty, one man unto honor, and another unto dishonor, without in any respect violating justice.”^[2]

As Paul extends his question outside the bounds of Israel to the person of Pharaoh, so we too can extend the thought to a universal consideration.  Therefore I agree with this notation: “The honorable and dishonorable vessels in this context represent those who are saved and unsaved. Paul affirms that humans are guilty for their sin, and he offers no philosophical resolution as to how this fits with divine sovereignty.”^[3]  Or also as stated here: “That God should show mercy to any from the Adamic lump and create vessels of honor from it is the kindness of grace; that others should become vessels for lesser use is a matter of His sovereign prerogative and is itself a display of perfect justice towards them.”^[4]

This, of course, leaves us with a huge tension.  How can God do this and be just?  Dr. Douglass Moo’s advice is important:

“The search for philosophical/theological explanations of the relation between God’s sovereign decision making and human responsibility is not wrong, but we must begin where Paul and the Bible begin: a vision of a God who is absolutely free to make whatever decision he wants about his creation. Paul would be the last to deny the importance of human decisions. His repeated pleas to people to believe in Christ and to reject sin reveal his belief in real human responsibility. Paul’s purpose, however, is not to offer an explanation of how God’s sovereignty and human responsibility fit together. He affirms both without resolving the tension between them.”^[5]

In seeking to resolve the enigma between God’s sovereignty and humanity’s free will, we will never get it right if we don’t start with the assertion of God’s free will.

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Previous Blogs on this topic:

1	The Truth. The Whole Truth. And Nothing But The Truth	Romans 9:1-2
2	How They Have Fallen!	Romans 9:3-5
3	Proceeding From or Belong To. The Difference is Life and Death.	Romans 9:6–9
4	It's Not Who You Are or What You've Done.	Romans 9:6–13
5	"Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."	Romans 9:13
6	Is God Unjust?	Romans 9:14-16
7	God Is Free To Be Just. Would You Not Agree?	Romans 9:17-19
8	Which Of You Will Contradict The Wisdom Of God?	Romans 9:20a
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^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Ro 9:21). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

^[2] Haldane, R. (1996). An exposition of Romans (electronic ed., p. 490). Simpsonville, SC: Christian Classics Foundation.

^[3] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2173). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

^[4] Whitlock, L. G., Sproul, R. C., Waltke, B. K., & Silva, M. (1995). The Reformation study Bible: bringing the light of the Reformation to Scripture: New King James Version (Ro 9:19). Nashville: T. Nelson.

^[5] Moo, D. J. (2002). Encountering the book of Romans : a theological survey (p. 153). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.