Romans 9:20 Nay but,. man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?

'Nay but,. man' -'Nay, but who are you,. mere man' (Wey)

'Repliest against' -lit., to contradict in reply; to answer by contradicting, the spirit of contention. (Vincent p. 106) The present tense--go on answering back to, i.e. engage in quarrelling. (Lenski p. 619) Skeptics constantly reason about God in this arrogant way. (p. 618)

'It is the reply of. wicked man who is now denying God's right to use evil for his holy ends. It is. wicked man saying (in essence) that God has no right to make use of him (or his wickedness) without crediting him with doing God's will. It is as if he were saying: "God has no right to use me and then punish me since. carried out his purposes.. mustn't be used this way.. have rights".'

Note: This isn't talking about predestinating someone to eternal damnation, regardless of our own choices. That would be something to protest about!

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Old Testament