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INDEX
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COLLECTIONS
Commentaries, Word Studies, Devotionals, Sermons, Illustrations
Old and New Testament |
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Summary of
Romans
9-11 |
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Romans 9 |
Romans 10 |
Romans 11 |
Past
Election |
Present
Rejection |
Future
Reception |
God's Sovereignty
Israel's Election by God |
Man's responsibility
Israel's Rejection of God |
God's Ways Higher
God Not Rejecting Israel |
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9:19 You will
say to me
then,
"Why does He
still
find
fault? For
who
resists His
will?" |
Greek:
Ereis (2SFAI)
moi
oun,
Ti
[oun]
eti
memphetai? (3SPMI)
to
gar
boulemati
autou
tis
anthesteken? (3SRAI)
Amplified: You will say to me,
Why then does He still find fault and blame us [for sinning]? For who
can resist and withstand His will?
Barclay: But, then, you may ask, “If this is so how can God go
on blaming men if they do not take his way? Who can withstand God’s
purpose?
ESV: You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault?
For who can resist his will?"
NIV: One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame
us? For who resists his will?"
NKJV: You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault?
For who has resisted His will?"
NLT: Well then, you might say, "Why does God blame people for
not listening? Haven't they simply done what he made them do?"
Phillips: Of course I can almost hear your retort: "If this is
so, and God's will is irresistible, why does God blame men for what
they do?"
Wuest: Then you will say to me, Why does He still persist in
finding fault?
Young's Literal: Thou wilt say, then, to me, 'Why yet doth He
find fault? for His counsel who hath resisted?' |
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YOU WILL SAY TO ME THEN WHY DOES HE STILL FIND FAULT: Ereis (2SFAI) moi oun ti (oun) eti memphetai (3SPMI):
(3:8;
1 Corinthians 15:12,35;
James 1:13)
(3:5-7;
Genesis 50:20;
2 Chronicles 20:6;
Job 9:12-15,19;
23:13,14;
Psalms 76:10;
Isaiah 10:6,7;
46:10,11;
Daniel 4:35;
Mark 14:21;
Acts 2:23;
4:27,28)
Find fault (3201)
(memphomai) means to blame, to censure, to be dissatisfied with
someone most commonly due to errors of omission.
What one might say based on the
preceding truths is that if God does what He wills then its not our
fault – we don't really have a choice.
Warren Wiersbe tells the following story:
I recall sharing in a street meeting in
Chicago and passing out tracts at the corner of Madison and Kedzie. Most
of the people graciously accepted the tracts, but one man took the tract
and with a snarl crumpled it up and threw it in the gutter. The name of
the tract was “Four Things God Wants You to Know.” “There are a few
things I would like God to know!” the man said. “Why is there so much
sorrow and tragedy in this world? Why do the innocent suffer while the
rich go free? Bah! Don’t tell me there’s a God! If there is, then God is
the biggest sinner that ever lived!” And he turned away with a sneer and
was lost in the crowd.
FOR WHO RESISTS HIS WILL: to gar boulemati autou tis anthesteken
(3SRAI):
Resists (436)
(anthistemi from anti = against, opposite + histemi
= stand) means to set one's self against or to arrange in battle
against. Anthistemi suggests vigorously opposing, standing
face-to-face against and so standing one's ground.
An opponent might say that Paul's conclusion in [v18] leads to
fatalism. Paul, however, does not give an analytical answer but rebukes
the questioner for such a preposterous conclusion. If a potter can do
what he wishes with his vessels, certainly God can with His. |
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9:20 On
the
contrary,
who are you,
O
man, who
answers
back to
God ? The
thing
molded will not
say to the
molder,
"Why did you
make me
like
this," will it? |
Greek:
o
anthrope,
menounge
su
tis
ei (2SPAI)
o
antapokrinomenos (PMPMSN)
to
theo?
me
erei (3SFAI)
to
plasma
to
plasanti, (AAPMSD)
Ti
me
epoiesav (2SAAI)
houtos?
Amplified: But who are you, a mere man, to criticize and
contradict and answer back to God? Will what is formed say to him that
formed it, Why have you made me thus? [Isa. 29:16; 45:9.]
Barclay:
Fellow! Who are you to be arguing with God? Surely the thing that is
molded into shape cannot say to the man who molds it, “Why did you
make me like this?”
ESV: But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what
is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"
ICB: Do not ask that. You are only human. And human beings have
no right to question God. An object cannot tell the person who made
it, "Why did you make me like this?"
NIV: But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what
is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'"
NKJV: But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will
the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like
this?"
NLT: No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to
criticize God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who
made it, "Why have you made me like this?"
Phillips: But the question really is this: "Who are you, a man,
to make any such reply to God?" When a craftsman makes anything he
doesn't expect it to turn round and say, 'Why did you make me like
this?'
Wuest: For, with respect to His counsel, who has taken a
permanent stand against it? O man, nay, surely, as for you, who are
you who contradicts God? The moldable material shall not say to the
one who molds it, Why did you make me thus, shall it?
Young's Literal: nay, but, O man, who art thou that art
answering again to God? shall the thing formed say to Him who did form
it, Why me didst thou make thus? |
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ON THE CONTRARY,
WHO ARE YOU, O MAN, WHO ANSWERS BACK TO GOD: o anthrope, menounge su tis ei (2SPAI) o
antapokrinomenos (PMPMSN) to theo: (2:1;
Micah 6:8;
1 Corinthians 7:16;
James 2:20)
(Job
33:13;
36:23;
38:2,3;
40:2,5,8;
42:2-6;
Matthew 20:15)
(Job
16:3;
Titus 2:9;
1 Corinthians 1:20;
1 Timothy 6:5)
Who do you think you are to
criticize, argue with, reply against & talk back to God like that? Can
an object that was made say to its maker, "Why did you make me like
this?"
Morris writes...
We have no right to ask God: "Why?" Remember that He answered
Job's pleas for understanding merely by reminding Job of the fact of
creation (Job38-41). As our great Potter, He has the right to make His
pottery vessels both for honor and dishonor (Ro9:21). We who have been
redeemed by His mercy should be grateful that He chose us even before
the world began (Ep1:3-4 2Ti1:9), confident that He--by whatever means
He chooses--is preparing His "vessels of mercy" (Ro9:23) to receive the
full manifestation of His glory in the ages to come (Ep2:10). The fact
that our finite minds cannot comprehend the simultaneous operation of
divine election and human responsibility is irrelevant. Both Scripture
and human experience demonstrate both to be true. We must both rest in
that fact and act in light of it.
THE THING
MOLDED WILL NOT SAY TO THE MOLDER, "WHY DID YOU MAKE ME LIKE THIS WILL IT: me erei (3SFAI) to
plasma to plasanti (AAPMSD) ti me epoiesas (2SAAI) houtos: (Isaiah
29:16;
45:9-11)
Don't you
know that God is sovereign, just, merciful & by all rights should have
condemned all men & yet He has sovereignly chosen to save some.
Then Paul describes 2 different vessels both made from the "same clay"
(v21 "same lump") so to speak. Both deserve destruction & I have had
mercy on some. God determines whether a man will be a Moses or a
Pharaoh. Neither Moses, nor Pharaoh, nor anyone else, could choose his
parents, his genetic structure, or his time and place of birth. We have
to believe that these matters are in the hands of God. However, this
does not excuse us from responsibility. Pharaoh had great opportunities
to learn about the true God and trust Him, and yet he chose to rebel.
Paul did not develop this aspect of truth because his theme was divine
sovereignty, not human responsibility. The one does not deny the other,
even though our finite minds may not fully grasp them both. |
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9:21
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 ? |
Greek:
e
ouk
echei (3SPAI)
exousian
o
kerameus
tou
pelou
ek
tou
autou
phuramatos
poiesai (AAN)
o
men
eis
timen
skeuos,
o
de
eis
atimian?
Amplified: Has the potter no
right over the clay, to make out of the same mass (lump) one vessel
for beauty and distinction and honorable use, and another for menial
or ignoble and dishonorable use?
Barclay:
Has not the potter complete authority over the clay, to make from the
same lump one vessel for an honourable use and another for a menial
service?
ESV: Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the
same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?
ICB: The man who makes a jar can make anything he wants to
make. He can use the same clay to make different things. He can make
one thing for special use and another thing for daily use.
NIV: Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same
lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
NKJV: Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the
same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
NLT: When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a
right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and
another to throw garbage into?
Phillips: The potter, for instance, is always assumed to have
complete control over the clay, making with one part of the lump a
lovely vase, and with another a pipe for sewage.
Wuest: Or, does not the potter possess authority over the clay,
out of the same lump to make, on the one hand, an instrument which is
for honorable purposes and, on the other hand, one which is for
dishonorable uses?
Young's Literal: hath not the potter authority over the
clay, out of the same lump to make the one vessel to honour, and the
one to dishonour? |
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OR DOES NOT THE POTTER HAVE A RIGHT OVER THE
CLAY: e ouk echei (3SPAI) exousian o kerameus tou pelou: (11,18;
Proverbs 16:4;
Isaiah 64:8;
Jeremiah 18:3-6)
It is not said
that we are as clay in the potter’s hands, but that God has the right
over us that the potter has over his clay. One lump the potter can use
for a splendid vase; another for a vessel for base uses.
TO MAKE FROM THE SAME LUMP: ek tou autou phuramatos poiesai (AAN):
(22,23;
Jeremiah 22:28;
Hosea 8:8;
Acts 9:15;
2 Timothy 2:20,21)
All
men come from the same "lump" of clay so to speak for...
just as through one man sin entered
into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men,
because all sinned (Ro5:12)
Thus all
are lost and destined for perdition. God does not have to choose them for
hell. They are already headed there because of their inherent and imputed sin
and
the sins they commit.
God in His sovereignty chooses some to be vessels
of mercy and with the others exhibits a long fuse even though He has every
right to destroy them. The vessels of wrath are not foreordained by God
or chosen by God to go to hell. They prepare themselves for their
ultimate destiny, which they receive because they have rejected the
truth about God and His righteousness available only in Christ.
ONE VESSEL FOR HONORABLE USE, AND ANOTHER FOR COMMON USE: o men eis
timen skeuos o de eis atimian:
Believer's Study Bible comments that
Although the illustration of the right
of the potter to do with the vessel as he wishes, whether to honor or
dishonor it, may certainly be applied to individual election,
nevertheless, the election of the nation of Israel is the primary
subject under discussion in ch9-11, and the principal application of the
passage is to Israel.
William Newell has an
interesting note writing that...
In His infinite wisdom and knowledge
God reads with unerring accuracy the operations of the human heart:
"Man looketh on the outward
appearance, but Jehovah looketh on the heart."
Man says,
"If I am not one of God's elect, an
object of His mercy, then I cannot do right, and God should not blame
me."
I asked an intelligent man in western
Michigan if he had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. He burst out into
loud laughing, saying,
"If I am elect, I will go to heaven;
and if I am not elect, there is no use in my worrying about the
question!"
I rebuked him sternly, with these
words:
"'God commandeth men that they should
all everywhere repent: inasmuch as He hath appointed a day in which He
will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He hath ordained.'
'God's commands are God's enablings, 'and if you will hearken to Him,
you will be saved. But you will not dare to say to God in that day, I
could not come because I was not of the elect; for that will not be
true! The reason you refused to come, will be found to be your love of
sin, not your non-election!"
God says, "Whosoever will" and the
door is open to all, absolutely all. God means "Whosoever": and that is
the word for you, sinner; and not election, which is God's business, not
yours. (Romans 9)
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