Is God unjust to Condemn those He hardens? That’s the question posed in Romans 9:19. In the next five verses the apostle Paul answers that question, but in a way you might not expect. Man has no right to question God’s actions, and God has every right to do whatever He wants with His creation.
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Is God Unjust To Judge Those He Has Hardened?
Romans 9:19-24
In Romans 9 the apostle Paul is teaching us about the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation. God has made promises in His Word for the true Israel of God. God sovereignly brings people into the true Israel through His supernatural power like in the case of Isaac, or through His purpose, His choice, His call and His distinguishing love as in the case of Jacob. In neither case was a person included because of anything they did or their works.
Paul went on further to answer an objection he anticipated being raised – “Is God unjust to choose some and not others?” Paul’s basic answer is that God is God and has every right to do whatever He decides. This sovereign freedom is part of what makes God God. He is answerable and accountable to no one. Just as God can say, “I am who I am”, He can also say, “I have mercy on whom I have mercy.” And not only does God have mercy on whom He desires, but He also hardens whom He desires. Pharaoh is a case in point. God raised Pharaoh up and hardened Him. Why? To demonstrate God’s power in him, and that God’s name would be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. What does the Bible say about who God has mercy on and hardens? Romans 9:18 summarizes this question and says, “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”
You will remember that last Sunday, I told you that Paul deals with two objections to His teaching on God’s absolute sovereignty. The first objection was, “Is God unjust to choose some and not others?” Well, the second objection is found in verse 19, “Is God unjust to judge those He has hardened?” That’s the essence of the question posed in verse 19, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?”
Verse 18 leads logically to the question of verse 19. If God hardens whom He desires, then why does God find fault with the man He has hardened. That man can’t resist God’s will. In verse 18 Paul says, “He hardens whom He desires.” Then in verse 19 he says, “who can resist His will.” The desire of God in verse 18 is the same as the will of God in verse 19.
Folks, unless you come to the same objection raised in verse 19, you have not understood Paul’s argument here. Unless you also find yourself wondering how God could find fault with people He has hardened, because they can’t resist His will, then you have missed his whole flow of thought. And in case we think that Pharaoh was a unique exception to the rule, and that God only hardened him of all the people that have ever lived, look at Romans 11:7, “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened.” Who was hardened? Those people within physical Israel who were not chosen. This would include millions of people.
So, here’s the question – if no one can resist God’s will, because He hardens whom He desires, then how can God hold men responsible for their sin? Wouldn’t that make God responsible for their sin? God forbid! Paul would have recoiled in horror at the very thought. The Bible teaches two truths very clearly. The first is that God is absolutely free in showing mercy and hardening. He is not constrained by anyone or anything. He does as He desires in these things. He is not responding to people. He is the One who is ultimately calling the shots. Yet, the other truth is that God does this while preserving man’s accountability for his sinful actions and unbelief. If man perishes, he will perish on account of his real sin and real guilt. He is truly at fault, and his conscience will condemn him on the last day. Human beings are not puppets or robots. We have a mind, emotions and a will, and we make real choices that we are accountable for. You see, the truth is that when God hardens, He doesn’t harden innocent people and infuse evil into them. He hardens people who already have sinful hearts. He merely makes hardened the kind of hearts they already have, which are rebellious and sinful. We must always hold these two truths together – God is sovereign and man is responsible. Exactly how those two truths fit together, we are not told in the Bible. So we must live with mystery and tension.
Now, let’s take Romans 9:20-24 and see how Paul answers this objection.
1. Man Has No Right To Question God’s Actions
Notice verse 20, “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? We have no right to demand that the Almighty explain what He is doing and why! Why do we have no right to demand an explanation from God? Because we are man and He is God. Who are you? You are a man (or woman). You are a creature. You have been created by Him. He is infinitely high above you. He is far higher above you, than you are above a cockroach. Both you and the cockroach are creatures. He is the Creator. He is the Self-Existent One. All things that are, were brought into being by Him! Our moral and spiritual faculties have been impaired by sin. It is ludicrous for sinners to question the moral uprightness of God’s actions.
The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? What do you think? Does the clay jar that the Potter made for people to put trash in have the right to complain about it? Will that clay jar object to the Potter and say, “why did you make me like this? It’s not right for you to make me like this? You shouldn’t have made me like this! I don’t like the fact that you made me like this?” Paul says the thing molded will not say any of those things? Why? Because it has no right to criticize or challenge the Potter. The clay pot was created and brought into existence by the Potter. It would have no existence without him. Therefore, the pot can’t blame the Potter for anything.
2. God Has Every Right To Do What He Wants With His Creatures
Romans 9:21 says, “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?” Paul’s point is that the Potter has a right to do whatever he wants with the clay. He can make a beautiful exquisite vase or a sewage pipe from the same clay. We should understand this well, for we grant that an artist has the right to paint whatever they want. If an artist wants to paint a beautiful landscape filled with bright colors and flowers and sunshine, that’s his prerogative. If an artist wants to paint a terrible tornado destroying a town, that is his prerogative. Because the painting has no existence apart from the painter, the painter can do whatever he wants, and the painting can’t object or complain. When I write a song, I can choose whatever kind of song I want to write. It can feel happy and upbeat, or I can create a song that sounds sad and doleful. But I am free to create whatever kind of song I want. A builder can build a magnificent temple or he can build a primitive mud hut. He decides what it will be, and his creation can’t accuse him of wrongdoing in the matter. You women who create bouquets of flowers to the same thing. You may choose some of the flowers to put in your vase, and you pass by others, throwing them away. This is your right as the creator of the bouquet. Either we must be silent before God’s absolute authority or we must say that the potter has no right over the clay, which is patently false and ridiculous.
The same lump of clay. The potter makes different kinds of vessels from the same lump of clay. God creates vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy out of the same kind of human beings. What kind of clay does God work with? It is a fallen lump. Both wrath and mercy presuppose that the persons who receive it are fallen. Wrath is God’s response to sin. Mercy is God’s response to sin. If people were righteous, there would be no reason for God to show wrath. If people were righteous, God would not need to show mercy. So, God is dealing with a sinful fallen lump of clay, out of which he creates vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. Therefore, if God makes a vessel of mercy out of that lump, the vessel of mercy can’t claim that God did this because he was better than the vessel of wrath. Both came from the same lump. Both are sinful. God makes a sovereign choice. Some are appointed to eternal life; others to wrath. Acts 13:48 says, “as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” Those that receive wrath can’t accuse God of injustice, for they are getting what they deserve. Those that receive mercy can’t boast in themselves, for their mercy is undeserved.
So, is God unjust to judge those He has hardened? If God found people as righteous, and then infused sin into them, and then hardened them in their sin, and then judged them for their sin, that would be unjust, because it would mean that God is punishing those who are not at fault. But, if man rebels against God, and then God brings a judicial hardening on this man in his sin, and then judges him, there is no injustice. Man is truly at fault, and has deliberately sinned against His Creator. If God decides to punish hardened sinners, He is not unjust. In fact, He is just, because He is righteously punishing evildoers, which is the definition of justice.
3. God Deals With All Men, Either as Vessels of Wrath or Mercy
- Vessels of Wrath. Paul changes his metaphor a little in verse 22. In verse 21 he speaks of a vessel for honorable use and a vessel for common use. In verse 22, he speaks of vessels (plural) of wrath and vessels of mercy. What is a vessel of wrath. It is a vessel which is destined for wrath. There are people (vessels) which are destined to obtain wrath, and vessels which are destined to obtain salvation. That is what 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The fact that these vessels are destined for wrath presupposes that they are sinful and fallen vessels. God hates sin, and His holy indignation must be brought against all sinners.
The vessels of wrath are illustrated by Pharaoh, because he says that God is “willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known” just as He said that He raised Pharaoh up to demonstrate His power in him. Also, just as God endured Pharaoh with much patience, by allowing him to go on resisting him plague after plague, so too God endures with vessels of wrath very patiently. God could have destroyed Pharaoh instantly the first time he refused to let the people of Israel go. And could have destroyed every sinner, the first time they rebel against Him. But He is patient and longsuffering towards sinners.
The vessels of wrath are prepared for destruction. Now, there is a difference between what is said of vessels of wrath and what is said of vessels of mercy. When Paul speaks of vessels of mercy, he says “which God prepared beforehand for glory…” When he speaks of vessels of wrath he says, “prepared for destruction.” We are definitely told that it is God who prepares vessels of mercy for glory. However, we are not told who prepares vessels of wrath for destruction. I believe Paul did this on purpose. He stopped short of saying that God prepares people for destruction, because that might lead us to imagine that God is actively working to make people sinful so that He can destroy them. God forbid! The truth is that sinners are preparing themselves for destruction. They go on in their sins, refuse to repent even after hearing the gospel call over and over. And God hardens them in their unbelief and rebellion, so that they end up being destroyed. But their own wicked heart has been preparing them their whole lives for destruction. Remember what Paul said in Romans 2:5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God…” I believe Paul would say, “man is responsible for his damnation; God is responsible for his salvation.”
- Vessels of Mercy. If vessels of wrath are people destined for wrath because of their stubborn and unrepentant hearts, then vessels of mercy are people destined for mercy because of God’s purpose, choice, and call. Out of this great fallen lump of clay, God has fashioned vessels that He will have mercy upon and bring to glory.
God is making known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy. God’s glory is the demonstration of His Name, His character, His person. It is the outshining of all that He is as God. God’s delight is to make known, not just His glory, but the riches of His glory, upon vessels of mercy. God loves to put His glory on display in showing mercy to His chosen ones. What is it of His glory that He is making known? His sovereignty, His grace, His kindness, His love, His power, and His immutability. God delights to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy! Are you a vessel of mercy? If you are a Christian you are a vessel of mercy. God’s purpose and desire is to make known the riches of His glorious attributes upon you!
Make Known. Don’t miss that phrase. It is very much like the word “demonstrate” in verse 17, and verse 22. These two phrases are very important. God’s ultimate purpose in the judgment and salvation of sinners is to “make known” something, and to “demonstrate” something. Let’s read those verses again.
9:17, “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.”
9:22-23, “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? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.”
Think of it this way. The earth is a theater upon which God is Producer and Director. The unfolding history of this world is a great dramatic play He has written. The purpose of the Play, is to put the genius and creativity of the Author on display, and so increase their everlasting enjoyment in Him. He is demonstrating something! He is making something known! What is it? Verse 17 says it is His power. Verse 22 says it is His wrath and power. Verse 23 says it is His glory. God is putting His wrath, power, glory and mercy on display to His creation, that they might behold their Creator in all His glory.
God has prepared the vessels of mercy beforehand for glory. If sinners prepare themselves for destruction through their willful rebellion toward their Creator, God Himself prepares some sinners for glory. But notice that both the vessels of wrath and mercy are fashioned from the same lump of clay. All mankind is fallen and sinful. But God reaches down, scoops up some of the clay, and fashions it into vessels upon whom He will show mercy. The words “He prepared” teaches us that the fact that we know something of God’s glory, is not because we made ourselves to differ from the vessels of wrath. We were all from the same lump. The Potter is the one who makes one piece of clay to differ from another. We didn’t get to where we loved the glory of God on our own. God took us, and shaped us and molded us, and sometimes pounded us into vessels that could know His glory. Our ability to see and delight in God’s glory is only because of His mercy toward us! This is the same truth Paul gave us in Romans 8:30, “and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” He prepared the vessels of mercy for glory, by foreknowing them, predestining them, calling them, and justifying them. It is His work from beginning to end!
God makes sinners into vessels of mercy by calling them. God reaches down, apprehends them, opens their eyes, and ears, and heart to Christ, awakening in them a hatred of sin and fear of God and desire of holiness, replacing their hearts of stone for hearts of flesh. He calls them by His grace! But from whom are they called? Not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.” This is one definite proof that Paul is not talking in Romans 9 about God choose one nation over another. He is talking about God choosing individuals from among the Jews and also from among the Gentiles. Paul started off in Romans 9:6 by saying that “they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel.” Well, now we understand that the true Israel are all those who are children of God, children of promise, those chosen and called and loved, vessels of mercy. The true Israel are all the true people of God everywhere in all the world.
Why Did God Ordain That Sin Should Be? Have you ever wondered about that question? You say, “God didn’t ordain that sin would be!” Well then, how did sin come into God’s universe? Did it take Him by surprise? Did He not see it coming? And, if He did know it would come into the world, didn’t He have a choice, either to go ahead and make the world, or not? And, if He did make the world, knowing that sin would be introduced into it, isn’t that the same as ordaining that sin would be? But if God did ordain that sin would exist in His world, why did He do it? Certainly God could have created a world in which it would have been impossible for evil to enter. I think that Romans 9:22-23 comes the closest to any place in the Bible to explaining that for us. I think the ESV is the best translation here. This is how it is worded, “What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory…” Why does God desire to show His wrath and to make known His power? It is in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy. God’s wrath and power presuppose sin. God ordained that sin should be, in order that His wrath and power would be made known, in order to make known His mercy and grace to others. There can be no proper appreciation of God’s mercy and grace, unless it is against the black backdrop of His power and wrath.
A quote from Jonathan Edwards is helpful here: “It is a proper and excellent thing for infinite glory to shine forth; and for the same reason, it is proper that the shining forth of God’s glory should be complete; that is, that all parts of his glory should shine forth, that every beauty should be proportionably effulgent [radiant], that the beholder may have a proper notion of God. It is not proper that one glory should be exceedingly manifested, and another not at all . . .
Thus it is necessary, that God’s awful majesty, his authority and dreadful greatness, justice, and holiness, should be manifested. But this could not be, unless sin and punishment had been decreed; so that the shining forth of God’s glory would be very imperfect, both because these parts of divine glory would not shine forth as the others do, and also the glory of his goodness, love, and holiness would be faint without them; nay, they could scarcely shine forth at all.
If it were not right that God should decree and permit and punish sin, there could be no manifestation of God’s holiness in hatred of sin, or in showing any preference, in his providence, of godliness before it. There would be no manifestation of God’s grace or true goodness, if there was no sin to be pardoned, no misery to be saved from. How much happiness soever he bestowed, his goodness would not be so much prized and admired, and the sense of it not so great . . .
So evil is necessary, in order to the highest happiness of the creature, and the completeness of that communication of God, for which he made the world; because the creature’s happiness consists in the knowledge of God, and the sense of his love. And if the knowledge of him be imperfect, the happiness of the creature must be proportionably imperfect. (Jonathan Edwards, “Concerning the Divine Decrees,” in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, 528)
Conclusion
The Converted:
Hold 2 Truths Together In Tension. Sometimes in the Bible you are going to run up against two different doctrines that are both true, but you will be unable to reconcile them in your own mind. That’s what we have here. The sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. The Bible teaches both. God is sovereign. That’s what Romans 9 is all about. Man is responsible. Listen to what Paul has already written in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Eternal death is the consequences of man’s sin. Man is culpable and responsible for his sin. However, eternal life is the consequence of God’s free gift. God is responsible for salvation; man is responsible for sin. Salvation is all of God; damnation is all of man. All glory goes to God in salvation; all blame goes to man in damnation.
Family Secret. The truth of God’s sovereign election and predestination is a family secret. It is reserved for those whom He has called and brought into his family. Therefore, it is not the truth that we should emphasize in our evangelistic preaching or witnessing. When you are sharing the gospel with a lost person, your starting point should not be that God might have chosen you, and then again, He might not have. The starting point is to point out their great need of salvation because of their sin, and then point them to Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Mediator between God and men. Show them the cross. Point to the Savior making expiation for their sin, and bearing God’s awful wrath on account of their sin. Then point to the empty tomb and declare that this same Jesus has risen, and is alive forevermore, and they can know Him personally. After they have come to Christ is the time to tell them, “By the way, I have a glorious little secret to share with you. God chose you in Christ from before the foundation of the world to be His! He set His love on you, and called you. That’s why You came to Christ. He has loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with the cords of lovingkindness He has drawn you!!” (Jer.31:3)
The Unconverted
A few months ago, my 17 year old niece was visiting us from Austin Texas, and she heard my sermon on Romans 8:29-30, where we saw that God has foreknown and predestined some to glory. When we asked her about the sermon later, she broke into tears because she didn’t know whether she had been chosen by God. I told her, “Sweetheart, if you want Jesus, you can be sure that He wants you!” That’s the same thing I would tell you today. Do you want Jesus? Are you willing to come to Him on His terms? Are you willing to forsake your sins, and follow Jesus wherever He leads? Then you can know that He is at work in you to bring you to that place, and that He has purposed to save you from all eternity. Come to Him! Believe! Repent! Follow!
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