Romans 9- Glory To God

1 Reply

What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? Romans 9:22-24

This is a very powerful text or revelation from the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We as finite creatures, have these preconceived notions that we know God should be doing or how He should be doing it. And then we need to come to the realization that we are the creation and God is The Creator, the Boss of us all. And this really sums up the New Covenant in Christ. 

As the Apostle Paul begins here “What if God, willing to show his wrath, and make His power known, endure with longsuffering (patience) the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction” In other words what if God is going to show you His sovereignty and power by saving the Gentiles who were worthy of being destroyed? And of course this was sickening to the Jews, we are “Gods chosen people” why would our God save the “Gentile Dogs”? Well because they are Gods children also and He can! God doesn’t need your understanding or approval to accomplish His will

And the ironic thing is the Church today acts the same way. Most “Christians” today will say “The Jews are done away with” , they are all apostates worthy of Hell, but that’s not what the Word of God says! Well this is my theological doctrine belief and ect, ect. God is not impressed by your theological understanding, God is going to demonstrate His power on giving mercy to whoever He wants to give mercy!

As Paul continues here “And that He (God) might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, whom He prepared in advance for His glory” While this may be a shocking revelation to the Jews and Gentiles, this is not suprising to God, He already knew who His children are, He already knew that Jesus Christ would become flesh, die on the cross and defeat sin, death, hell, and Satan forever! 

Even Us, whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also the Gentiles! The New Covenant that was prophesied by the prophets is fulfilled in Christ, to the Glory of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!

Leave a reply
Daily writing prompt
Share a story about someone who had a positive impact on your life.
View all responses

Jesus Christ died for my sins on the cross, rose again on the 3rd day, defeating sin and death forever, gave me the Holy Spirit to live inside of me, and we will reign victorious forever as His return!

Romans 9- The Potter

4 Replies

Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? Romans 9:19-21

So as were working through the book of Romans, specifically Chapters 9 through 11, many people have different interpretations or understanding of the text. Many will argue their theological position to remain in the religious tradition they are in. However the bottom line, it doesn’t matter what you think or if you can even comprehend Gods will and plan. God is soverign, rules and reigns over His creation, and regardless whether you can comprehend his glory or holiness, doesn’t matter. In fact, if we are being honest, nobody could possible fully comprehend God, as we are His finite creation.

The old preacher John Wesley once said “Bring me a worm that can comprehend man, and I’ll show you a man that can comprehend the Triune God” Now skeptics will say this is an excuse, this is a copout to say we can’t comprehend God. Is it really? Or are we just being honest with our limitations as His creation? Can you explain to me how God created the Heavens and Earth, stars, moon, planets, humans, animals, ect from nothing? Nobody can explain the awesome power of our God

The Apostle Paul gives us gives us great insight in this text “Does not the potter have power over the clay” (v21) God is the potter and we are the clay, that should be a little humbling, right? Can the clay comprehend the Potter? Probably not, but does that matter? The Potter is in control, the Potter is the Creator and ruler of His Creation. The Potter has the power and authority to do whatever He wishes, regardless of how you feel about it or if it falls into your theological tradition or thinking

As scripture says “The Fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom and understanding” (Proverbs 9:10) One of the big issues with the Church today, is we lost our Fear, our Reverence of God our Creator.  Instead of obeying Gods Word, we argue well I was taught this or this person said that, they are all just Clay! The Potter is greater than all Clay, yet in todays Church we have elevated the Clay over the Potter. Professing ourselves to be wise, we became fools (Romans 1:22)

How can God harden Pharoahs heart? Because God is the Potter and Pharoah is the Clay, as the Apostle Paul says “But who are you to reply against God” (v20) But we argue against God, because we have no fear of God, we have no reverence of God, we have elevated the Clay over the Potter, the Church needs to Repent and sumit to our Lord Jesus Christ, and be filled and led by the Holy Spirit, Amen!

Romans 9- God Is Sovereign

3 Replies

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Romans 9:14-18

Now as we continue to talk about election and salvation, many of us define our preconceived ideas of who should be saved and who should not be saved. The problem is we are not God, when you start going down this trail, you are going way above your pay grade. As the Apostle Paul quotes Exodus when God told Moses “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy” God is going to save whoever he wants, this again is above our pay grade

This reminds me of the thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43) While he was condemned to die on the cross, Jesus told him “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43) While he was condemned to die, God chose to save him. The thief on the cross will probably be one of the most controversial people in Heaven. Even today, many legalists argue you must do this and that to be saved, but the thief on the cross did none of these things, it was Christ alone that saved him. This is a great example of Gods sovereignty, going against our man-made religious formulas for salvation.

Pharaoh is another great example, that the Apostle Paul brings up, “For this very purpose, I raised you up that I may show my power in you” (Romans 9:17) The evil Pharaoh actually fulfilled Gods will and purpose, by God demonstrating His power and sovereignty with the plagues and exodus of Egypt. (Exodus 9:16) As scripture says “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 7:3) Again the critics will say “This is not fair”, “why would God harden Pharaoh’s heart?” Because God is sovereign and we are not, going back to what He told Moses, God will have mercy on whomever he desires, and hardens whomever he wants to harden” (Romans 9:18)

Now on the flipside, did Pharoah have any opportunity to repent? Of course He did,  Moses went to Pharaoh ten times, and asked to “Let my people God” (Exodus 5:1, Exodus 8:1) Why would God grant him these opportunities if he couldn’t respond? But didn’t God already know how this was going to go? Of course because God is sovereign and Reigns over all the Heavens and The Earth!  (Psalm 113:4-6)

The problem is when we try to inject our will or ideas into Gods soverignty, you might say “I don’t understand how God has mercy on whomever he wants to have mercy, and Gods hardens whomever he wants to harden”  Yes because your a finite creature of the Creator, to think you can comprehend the mind of God is sure blasphemy in itself. God rules and reigns, submit to The Lord Jesus Christ today! Amen!

Romans 9- Election

Leave a reply

Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Romans 9:6-13

One of the great questions or mysteries about Israel, is how can they be Gods people when the majority of them reject Christ? The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit addresses this topic right here. Paul brings up the topic of election, which is a concept throughout the Bible, however I think most Christians don’t understand the concept of election. The late Dr. Michael Heiser I think did a great job explaining election, I would highly recommend you check out his work. The summary is, just because you are elect doesn’t mean your automatically saved!

There are many examples, but lets look at the example of the “Rebellion of Korah” (Numbers 16, a priest named Korah lead a rebellion against Moses and challenged his spiritual authority. The punishment was severe, as God opened up the ground and swallowed all 250 men destroying them. These rebellions of Korah were Israelites, they were part of the Exodus, they were elect, yet they all lost their salvation because of their disobedience to God. We can look at Angels, another elect group, where many lost their salvation due to disobedience to God (Jude 1:6)

So its important to understand election doesn’t automatically equal salvation. You can be elected and still lose your soul. You need to be Born Again in Christ (John 3:3) Salvation is only found in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12) So when were talking about Israel is elect, they are the chosen people of God, we are not saying they are all going to be saved. Obviously there is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ, however they have been elected to fulfill a purpose! Election caused many to great jealousy, as the Jews are jealous of the Church and the Church is jealous of Israel (Romans 11:11) You can’t allow that jealousy to reject the Word of God!

The Apostle Paul gives another great example of election, Jacob and Esau, God hated Esau, why? Well Esau sold his birthright (Genesis 25:29-34) Esau despised his birthright, it was a heart issue, Esau hated God, he was disobedient and lost his salvation. Esau was the firstborn, He should have inherited everything, He should have been a patriarch of Israel, however his disobedience to God lost his salvation! Amen!