Sunday School Notes: Romans 9:21-33
21 Or does not the potter have authority over the clay out of the same lump of clay to make on the one hand to make [it] unto a vessel of honor or one unto dishonor? 22 But [what] if God, wishing to demonstrate wrath and make known his power endured with much patience vessels of wrath having been prepared for destruction, 23 and in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy which He prepared beforehand unto glory? 24 Even us whom He called not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles. 25 Even as it says in Hosea, “I shall call those not My people, My people, and she who is not beloved, beloved. 26 And it shall be in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.” 27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “If the number of the sons of Israel should be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved; 28 for the Lord shall do His word upon the earth, completing and cutting [it] short.” 29 And just as Isaiah foretold, “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left behind a seed for us, we would have become as Sodom, and we would have resembled Gomorrah.”
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles–those not pursuing righteousness–attained righteousness, but righteousness from faith, 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness has not attain the law. 32 Why? Because [it is] not from faith but as from works; they stumbled against the stone of stumbling, 33 just as it has been written, “Behold, I place in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and the one believing upon him shall not be disappointed [or “put to shame”].
This week we went back over some ground we covered a few weeks ago, talking about the lump of clay, and the potter’s right to do whatever he wants with the lump. This bold expression of God’s sovereignty is troubling for some, and the question that Paul presents in verse 19 (“Why, then, does He yet find fault? For who resists His will?”) seems reasonable. It appears that Paul doesn’t really answer the question; he simply rebukes the questioner for talking back to God. Indeed, Paul’s response is reminiscent of the answer God gave to Job starting in Job 38: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements, since you know…”. Simply put: God is God and you are not. As Creator and Sustainer of the universe, as the One who is working all things out for His glory and the good of His people (Romans 8:28), He has the right to do as He pleases. We do not have the right, as the creation, to question God’s wisdom in ordaining our lives the way He has.
This led to an interesting and profitable discussion about God’s sovereignty, and reconciling the fact that God has the right to do whatever He wants with how that affects individuals. The text says that God “endured with much patience vessels of wrath,” to demonstrate his wrath and make his power known, and that He made his glory known through vessels of mercy. In other words, God shows his wrath and power in His patient endurance of those He has created to receive His wrath, and He shows his glory through those vessels that are the recipients of His mercy. But why does God “endure” the vessels of wrath? From a human perspective, it might seem as if God is “playing” with us, manipulating people to do evil. But the truth is far from this.
First we remember God’s character. He is love, and He exercises perfect grace, mercy, and justice upon all His creation. God never does anything out of malicious intent, or from vindictive motives. There is no sin in Him, so there is purity and righteousness behind everything that God does. Next, we must remember that man is sinful, and, as Paul has taught in Romans already, there is no-one righteous, and no-one who, by nature, wants to please God. Because of sin, there is no-one who deserves anything but God’s wrath and condemnation. God owes us nothing.
Given this scenario, God has the right to wipe us all out; but He doesn’t. He chooses to show mercy on some that He will save. But He also shows grace to those He has ordained will continue their path to destruction. God doesn’t have to persuade these to sin; they sin naturally and willfully. They are not concerned with their eternal destiny, because their hard hearts refuse to accept that they are under God’s wrath and are, therefore, in eternal danger. God is longsuffering toward these people: He lets them enjoy life, health, even prosperity. He allows them to know His communicable attributes (love, justice, happiness, creativity, etc.) and to experience these in their lives, giving them a rich and fulfilling existence, even while their hearts are at rebellion against Him. But, as He did with Pharaoh, God uses them in their sin to do things that are in accordance with their sinful natures, that in some or other way demonstrate God’s power and justice, and ultimately glorify Him.
So, God’s patient endurance of these people is so that there is opportunity for God’s purposes to be worked out through them. And God also uses this time to gather His people to Himself. Granted, God could instantly create all His people and immediately catch them up to glory. This sounds wonderful since it means we would never have to endure this fallen world and these clay vessels we are in that are ever prone to sin and the Enemy’s temptations. But it is part of God’s purposes in the world to allow us to work out our salvation, and to accomplish the work He preordained for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). Not only does this have a sanctifying and beneficial effect in our lives, but it also serves to show God’s glory in a personal way to the rest of the world, as He works through His people, the church. Even in our imperfection, God’s grace shines through as He shows Himself to be merciful and redemptive.
I skimmed over the quotations in verses 25 and following, partly for the sake of time, and also because here Paul starts transitioning into what is for us chapter 10. When we start the study back up again in September (Lord willing), I will go back and review these passages in a little more detail to help us set up for the discussion in Romans 10. For now, it is enough to see how they fit with what Paul has been saying to this point.
First, God has the authority to declare a people that are not His, His, and a people who are not His beloved, His beloved. The quotations from Hosea 2:25 and Hosea 1:10 Paul draws from in verse 26 were originally applied only to Israel. But I think in this context, Paul is using these quotations to say that if God is able to do this with Israel, He is most certainly able to do this with the Gentiles too (note verse 24, where Paul refers to “the called” being from among both Jew and Gentile).
Next, the quotation from Isaiah 10:22-23, which Paul derives from the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), talks about a remnant, and how as numerous as the people of Israel might be, God will only save some–and His word will be accomplished with certainty and finality.
The following quotation, again from Isaiah–this time Isaiah 1:9–speaks of God leaving behind a seed lest Israel become like Sodom and Gomorrah. Again, the theme seems to be one of a remnant, and Paul’s point appears to be that God’s intention was never that every child that might call himself an Israelite would be saved. God’s plan was always that only a remnant of Israel would be saved. And this remnant, along with the Gentiles, is what constitutes those who are God’s people today, those who are redeemed, not by works, but by faith.
Indeed, Paul states in verses 30-33 that while Israel pursued righteousness by means of the law, they failed to attain it; and yet the Gentiles, while not pursuing righteousness, attained it. The reason for this is that Israel pursued righteousness by means of works. They understood that perfect obedience to the Law would lead to righteousness; but the Law was never able to make them righteous, because they were never able to keep the Law perfectly. The Gentiles, on the other hand, put faith in Christ, the only perfect Law-keeper, who paid the penalty for sin and through whom they are able to come before God, standing in Christ’s sinless perfection. Insofar as both Jew and Gentile cling to Christ by faith, they can have the righteousness they so earnestly desire. Those Jews (and Gentiles), however, who stumble over Christ, for whom Christ is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (Isaiah 28:16), these will never know this righteousness.
Next week we will round off the Sunday School year with a relaxed, no-set-agenda kind of class. This means the weekly Sunday School Notes is going on hiatus for the Summer. Lord willing, the class will resume again on Sunday, September 9th, when we will start digging into Romans 10. The next Sunday School Notes will be on the following Tuesday, September 11th. Have a blessed Summer!
