“5 But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? I am using a human argument: Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? 6 Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world? 7 But if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, ‘Let us do what is evil so that good may come’? Their condemnation is deserved!”
Paul opposes a new question in verse 5. What about those Israelites who chose not to follow God? God used them for good, even if they meant it for evil. God used their disobedience and disbelief for the good of the Gentiles so that they might be brought into the folds of the covenant and have salvation in Jesus.
“For if their rejection brings reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” — Romans 11:15
Can God blame those who do evil when He intends to bring about good from it? Paul says this is an arrogant, short-sighted human argument. We’ll address this issue in a greater capacity in Chapter 9. For now, here are the key verses:
“What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” — Romans 9:14-15
“So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” — Romans 9:18
“You will say to me, therefore, ‘Why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will?’ On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory — on us, the ones he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” — Romans 9:19-24
If God can raise up a vessel for honorable use, and one for dishonorable, why not continue in evil and do what we want? Who can resist God’s will anyway? Paul also addresses this argument in chapter 6:
“What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” — Romans 6:1-2
Paul’s hypothetical question is this: “Is it right for God to inflict His wrath upon the evil if He intends to use it for good in the end?” Paul’s response: “Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?” (v. 6) What a chaotic and evil world it would be if God withheld His judgment from evildoers. In this kind of world, how would anyone determine what is right and what is wrong? How would anyone know what is pleasing to God, and what angers Him? How would it be possible for God to make any judgments if He allowed such evil to go unpunished? This is why, even if God intends to use the evil committed by people for His own glory, there must still be judgment and wrath upon those who carry out such evil. Paul summarizes what he thinks of those who live with this kind of evil mindset: “Their condemnation is deserved!” (v. 8b)
Wow!!!! This is a very deep and very interesting topic. And those are hard questions to answer if an unsaved person asks them. I remember a woman I was witnessing to a few years ago said, “Well I guess we’re all pawns in the game of life for God to play with, right?”
Another hard question to answer is this…….if God makes some vessels for honorable things and others He makes for dishonorable things, then how can He legitimately send people to hell for being some of the vessels that He made for dishonor? He chose some for salvation and some He chose for Hell, yet He condemns those who are chosen for hell, and they are held responsible for their sinful lives. Now that is a HARD question to answer. The only thing that we can say to that is “He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy and show compassion on those He chooses to show compassion. Great, great lesson today Tyler. Great food for thought!!!!!!!
Thanks for your comments Nana. This is a complicated topic! Ultimately, it is just as you said. God can do what he wants with His creation, including us, and yet, that does not relieve us of the responsibility we must take for our actions. Paul will interact more deeply with the doctrine of elections in the coming chapters. I’m looking forward to diving into it!