Romans 9:19-29

Text

Romans 9:19-29. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will? Romans 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus? Romans 9:21 Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? Romans 9:22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: Romans 9:23 and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory, Romans 9:24 even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? Romans 9:25 As he saith also in Hosea,

I will call that my people, which was not my people;
And her beloved, that was not beloved.

Romans 9:26 And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them,

Ye are not my people,
There shall they be called sons of the living God.

Romans 9:27 And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved: Romans 9:28 for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short. Romans 9:29 And, as Isaiah hath said before,

Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed,
We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah.

REALIZING ROMANS, Romans 9:19-29

422.

Who would express the thought of Romans 9:19?

423.

If God is so powerful, why doesn-'t he destroy the Jews, or anyone else who opposes him? Is this the thought of Romans 9:19?

424.

One of our greatest needs is to understand, with our hearts, the nature of God. Is this what Paul is saying in Romans 9:20?

425.

How could the clay speak to the potter? Why then is the figure in Romans 9:20 b used?

426.

If God makes us honorable or dishonorable, are we responsible? Note please in answering this the meaning of honorable.

427.

What period of time and what event is referred to in Romans 9:22?

428.

In the case cited in Romans 9:22, who was responsible for the condition of the vessels?

429.

Does the foreknowledge of God relate to the reason for man's action?i.e., does man act because God knows how he will act? Does God influence the actions of man? If so, in what way?

430.

In what sense were Christians (saints in Rome) afore prepared unto glory?

431.

How does God call out a people for his name? cf. Romans 9:24.

432.

The quotations from the prophets prove two great points. What are the points they prove?

433.

We become the people of God by a definite process. What is God's part? What is man's part?

434.

Note carefully the words that discuss the beautiful relationship man has to God. cf. Romans 9:25-26

435.

Isaiah indicated how many Jews would be saved. How can we harmonize this with the thought, All Israel shall be saved in Romans 11:25-26?

436.

In this difficult section remember that the Christians in Rome understood this letter. You are no different than they. Define Romans 9:28

437.

What was the seed left by the Lord? cf. Romans 9:29

Paraphrase

Romans 9:19-29. But thou will reply to me, Since God is to cast off the Jews, why doth he still find fault? By destroying them, he might easily have put an end to their provocations. For who hath resisted his will?

Romans 9:20 Nay, but, O man, who art thou that arguest to the dishonor of God? Is it reasonable for the thing formed, who hath its being merely by the will and power of its maker, to say to him who made it, why hast thou made me thus?

Romans 9:21 To use the argument whereby God formerly illustrated his sovereignty in the disposal of nations, Jer. xviii. 6. Hath not the potter power over the clay, to make, of the same lump, one vessel fitted to an honorable use, and another to a meaner service?

Romans 9:22 Yet, not to rest the matter on God's sovereignty, if God, willing to show him wrath for the abuse of privileges bestowed, and to make known his power in the punishment of such wickedness, hath upheld, with much long-suffering, the Jews, who, because they are to be destroyed, may be called vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, where is the fault?

Romans 9:23 And what fault is there, if God hath long preserved these vessels of wrath for this other purpose; that he might make known the exceeding greatness of his goodness on the objects of his favor, whom, by his dealings with the Jews, he had before prepared for the honor of becoming his people?

Romans 9:24 Even us whom, instead of the Jews, he hath called his church and people, not only among the Jews, but also among the Gentiles, because we have believed the gospel.

Romans 9:25 This need not surprise the Jews: It is agreeable to what God saith by Hosea, -I will have mercy on her that had not obtained mercy;-' on the ten tribes whom I cast off for their idolatry: -and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people;-' I will call the Gentiles my people.

Romans 9:26 The calling of the Gentiles is foretold by Hosea still more plainly: And it shall come to pass, that in the countries where it was said to the idolatrous Gentiles, Ye are not my people, there they shall be called the sons of the living God; the heirs of immortality, by believing the gospel.

Romans 9:27 Besides, the rejection of the Jews at this time is not more contrary to the promises, than the rejection of the ten tribes who were carried into captivity by the Assyrians, a rejection almost total; for Isaiah lamenteth concerning Israel, that -though the number of the children of Israel,-' who are carried away captives, -be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them shall return.-'

Romans 9:28 For, as the same prophet adds, Romans 9:22. finishing and executing speedily this rejection, according to the righteous threatening of God, certainly the Lord will make their rejection a speedy work upon the land of Israel.

Romans 9:29 And as Isaiah hath said before, (chap. Romans 1:9), Unless the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant of our nation, we should have become as Sodom, and been made like to Gomorrah, we should have been utterly destroyed as a nation.

Summary

But if God makes men what he pleases, why does he still find fault with them? He does not do so, He finds no fault with them for being what he makes them, but only for their own voluntary wrong. Again, in these choices, God's creatures should not presume to question him. They must take for granted that he acts justly. He has the absolute right to do what he does, and since he cannot do wrong, he must not be questioned.
But God, though determined to punish evil-doers in the end, has always borne long with them. Surely none can say this is unjust. He may do as he pleases. And that he might show the abundance of glory he has to bestow on those who prove themselves worthy of it, he called his disciples both from among the Jews and the Gentiles. He has thus shown himself perfectly impartial.
God did no injustice in choosing the Jews at first and in rejecting the Gentiles. Neither now does he do any injustice in choosing the Gentiles and rejecting the Jews. He has always intended to accept those who obeyed his Son, whether Jews or Gentiles, and to reject all the rest. This he long ago foretold both by Hosea and Isaiah.

Comment

c.

Third Objection Stated and Answered. Romans 9:19-29

(1) Objection Stated. Romans 9:19. Paul is very patient with the prejudiced mind of the Jew. We find the apostle in the next verse inferring that the Jew would certainly place the wrong construction upon what he has just said. He has established the fact that in the Old Testament period God exercised his absolute sovereignty in certain worldly choices. Not one word was said about God's choices concerning eternal life, but from the questions of the Jew, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will?, we can see that the Jew supposed God's selections related to eternity as well as this world. Romans 9:19

(2) The Holy Spirit did not even deem this position worthy of consideration. So repulsive was it when viewed in its true perspective that to offer an answer would have been to entertain a thought that was totally out of harmony with the position of man and the character of God. Indeed, it would have been even as Paul stated. It would present the awful spectacle of a mere creature of dust arguing with the eternal Creator. The case is presented in the words of Isaiah (Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 45:9), Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, -Why didst thou make me thus?-' Isaiah 9:20

239.

What false construction was placed upon Paul's words by the Jews?

240.

What was evidently the Holy Spirit's estimate of the third objection?

241.

What illustration or analogy is used to show the absurdity of the objection?

This idea of man criticizing God's choices is utterly preposterous. Even if he did foreordain or predetermine every soul by external acts for heaven or hell (which of course we know he didn-'t) we would have absolutely no right to question his justice. The relationship of man to God is as the potter to the clay: Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? Romans 9:21

To ascertain the meaning and extent of the words honor and dishonor, all we have to do is to look back upon those vessels of honor, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and realize that the honor was purely of this earth and had to do with God's choice of men who would be best suited to carry out God's purpose through his children in the world. The honor bestowed upon them by God had nothing to do with their eternal destinies. And those vessels of dishonor, Ishmael, Esau and Pharaoh, were dishonored in a way which is the exact opposite of the way the other three were honored. Romans 9:21

Over against the facts just stated and in addition to them is the following thought: What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction:. Paul now adds this thought: You could not understand the selection of God in the cases just cited. Yet you agree to the justice in them, If you could not understand that, what will you say to the longsuffering of God with the sin of man? We all know that those who are wicked should be and will be punished, and Jehovah assents to this and is willing that it should be so. But are they who have fitted themselves for destruction, such as Pharaoh, punished immediately, or soon after their rejection of righteousness? We know that God is long suffering with them and withholds his punishment to the intent that they might repent (cf. Romans 2:4-5). This is all true, we know, but WHY? Oh, they are speechless before the mercy of Godthey have no answer. Well, how then can they be so egotistical as to question any of those decisions which are exclusively Jehovah'S? Romans 9:22

Romans 9:23 presents a reason for the action described in Romans 9:22. The purpose of God's longsuffering with the wicked is that in thus acting he can manifest the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy. How can this be? It is easy to see that if the judgment of God fell immediately upon the wicked, there would be no time for them to repent, and thus would there be torn up some potential wheat along with the tares (Matthew 13:28-30). He withholds his judgment even as he states that he might make known the riches of his glory (referring to the eternal glory in contradistinction to destruction) upon the vessels of mercy which he afore prepared unto glory. How was this accomplished? It was surely not done in an arbitrary way. We know this is true from what we have already studied on the subject. Then how? It seems to us that God long ago prepared (before the foundation of the world) a plan whereby man, if he were obedient to God's plan, could inherit heaven, that all those who were called by the gospel and were faithful to the plan of God were thus afore prepared unto glory. Romans 9:23

242.

What is the meaning of the words honor and dishonor in Romans 9:21?

243.

Explain the analogy of Romans 9:21-22.

243.

Explain how the riches of God's glory are shown in the lives of the saints by his long suffering with sinners.

Now comes the out-and-out statement of what has formerly only been directly inferred. What has been the purpose in all that has been said in this chapter? Has it not been to demonstrate to the Jews the reasonableness of their rejection in relation to the economy of God? If then the Jew is rejected, who is accepted? The answer is: all those in Christ Jesus. Whom does that include? Here we have the answer: ... even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. The statement just quoted is the latter portion of the repudiation of the question in Romans 9:19, but it also contains the conclusion to the whole matter. Romans 9:24

Paul, having established the reasonableness of God's rejection of Israel, now quotes from the prophets to show that they looked forward to this very circumstance. The first quotation is found in Hosea 2:23. It says that the time is coming when those that are not now accounted people, i.e., the Gentiles, will be called and considered as God's people, and those which are not his beloved (the Gentiles again) will be then beloved. Again another prophet is summoned to speak on behalf of this truth. Hear Isaiah as he speaks: And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there shall they be called sons of the living God. The place referred to simply means among the Gentiles generally. Romans 9:25-26

245.

Explain how the vessels of mercy were afore prepared unto glory.

246.

How does Romans 9:24 form a conclusion to all that has been said in this chapter?

247.

What do Romans 9:25-26 add to the argument just given?

There are two great facts to be established in this section: (1) that the Gentiles are to become the children of God; (2) that only a remnant of the Jews will be saved or finally become the true children of God. The first point was well established by the whole discussion from Romans 9:1-24. The quotations from the prophets corroborate it. The fact that only a remnant of Israel would be saved must have surely suggested itself to the mind of the thoughtful Jew; but now we find the full proof of this from their own prophet Isaiah. And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved. This prophecy is self-explanatory if we understand what has just been said. Romans 9:27-28

The final word of Isaiah on the thought of a mere remnant being saved is found in Isaiah 1:9: Except the Lord of Sabaoth (Lord of Hosts) had left us a seed (speaking prophetically of those Jews who would accept Christ) we (the nation of Israel) had become as Sodom and had been made like unto Gomorrah. That is, in the sight of God, if the small number of Jews that had accepted Christ would have failed to do so, God would have considered the Jews as extinct and condemned as Sodom and Gomorrah. What a need was there then and is there now for the nation of Israel to accept the Messiah! Romans 9:29