Romans 9:17 - Forerunner Commentary

Romans 9:17

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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans 9:17:

Romans 9:14-21
Excerpted from: Self-Government and Responsibility (Part Two)

This section begins by stating the ground of what we are and what we know in relation to God's purpose. Our being in the church and knowing what we know is entirely dependent on God's compassion and mercy. God is not obligated! This ties right in to Luke 17. God is not obligated, because we have performed well, to do anything for us, but rather it is the appointment of God, by God, that has put us in to this position and it has obligated us. It is the other way around, if we are going to look at this responsibility correctly.

Paul shows this in the illustration about Pharaoh that is given as an example of one put under obligation to carry out God's will. God clearly shows in the book of Exodus that Pharaoh's hardness of heart was the product of his own making. God did not literally harden Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh did that himself, but God raised him up to be the Pharaoh because God knew the way this man would react. How did He know? Because He knew the thoughts of the man and the thought of the man was, "That I will never let the Israelites go." That is something that was so against the grain of Pharaoh's mind, because these slaves represented the wealth of Egypt.

They were the ones that produced the wealth of Egypt. They were its craftsman its workers, its architects, they did the kind of engineering that was required to do things and to make Egypt beautiful. He was not going to give away the wealth of Egypt, and so he was a man ideally suited for God's purpose. So, God maneuvered so this man would be in the Pharaoh's office when the time came for God to release His people and the Pharaoh responded exactly the way God wanted him to respond. The Pharaoh still retained his own will, but he met his responsibility perfectly.

It is an interesting argument, and because the man was that way, because he did not want the Egyptian wealth to be let go through the Israelites leaving, he fought against it tooth and toenail. In reality, the Pharaoh was incorrigible—that is really the way we would look at it from a spiritual standpoint—he was incorrigible, and God simply used him to fulfill His sovereign purpose. But, as Paul was pointing out there, it is very possible that the man would never have been on the throne, except God manipulated it. So God raised him up to be there.

That brings us to verses 19-21, where there is the more direct and practical application to us, and that is that God is obviously doing His thing in our life. That thing has been through an act of His. It has come to involve us, all of us, in a relationship called a church and that in turn has brought upon us responsibilities.

What Paul is asking here is, why do we resist fulfilling our responsibility? See, in verse 19, "Why does He still find fault, who has resisted His will?" Why does Paul ask that question? It is not quite translated properly there. In verse 20 it makes it a little bit clearer, "But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God?" for calling you into the church, for putting this on you; to overcome sin, to keep the commands of God. If we were going to put it into an English form that might be more understandable, "Who are you who makes a judgment against what God has done?"

What Paul is saying is that it does not help anything for a man to adopt this tone. Does not the potter have power over the clay? Now why would he say that? Because no man can win against God—that is the point—so why not, Paul is arguing, bend your will to carry out your responsibility and submit to God? Otherwise, you are going to lose anyway, and in the process, only make it much harder on yourself.

Romans 9:10-21
Excerpted from: The Divine Warrior

These passages give us a theological basis for God doing these things to the Amorites and the Amalekites and others. Paul's overall argument is that God is justified in what He does. I mean, that is pretty simple. God is justified in what He does. He does not do anything wrong. He does not do anything that is unfair or unrighteous. He is God! He sets all the rules. He lives by those rules. He has perfect character. Not only that, He is the Creator. He made us all. He made everything. He made His law known.

In addition, because He is God, He is sovereign over all things, He can choose or prepare certain peoples to bring about His plan of redemption. He can choose them to be vessels of mercy and honor, or He can choose them to be vessels of wrath or dishonor. He is God. He can choose whomever He wants. He can enlighten some, He can harden others. And He does this in righteousness according to His holy character, and no one has standing to gainsay His decisions. You have no argument against what He does if He is acting as Judge and He judges righteously and fairly.

Articles
God's Sovereignty and the Church's Condition (Part Two)
The Christian Fight (Part Four)
The Mixed Multitude
The Sovereignty of God: Part Two

Booklets
The World, the Church, and Laodiceanism

Essays
A God of Many Dimensions

Sermons
Judgment is a Merciful Blessing
The Sovereignty of God (Part Two)
Mercy and Justice
Faith and the Christian Fight (Part Two)
The Faithfulness of God (Part 3)
Wilderness Wandering (Part 1)
Ecclesiastes Resumed (Part Five)
Who Deserves Our Loyalties?

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