Lesson 32
The Epistle to the Romans
World English Bible translation
Today's Scripture
9:14 What will we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 9:15 For he said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 9:16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy. 9:17
For the scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I caused you
to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name
might be published abroad in all the earth." 9:18 So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires. 9:19 You will say then to me, "Why does he still find fault? For who withstands his will?" 9:20
But no, man, who are you who replies against God? Will the thing formed
ask him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?" 9:21 Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?
Today's Lesson
Paul
had used the example of Jacob and Esau and quoted the scripture, "Jacob
I loved, but Esau I hated." He used this passage to prove the idea that
God makes sovereign choices in the lives of men. By grace, God chooses
some sinners for redemption and does not choose others. Neither is
deserving of God's grace and it is not based on merit. Some people are
disturbed by the sovereignty of God. We would prefer to be free agents
capable of being responsible for our own fate and for our own choices.
So Paul asks, if God does make choices and elects some to salvation,
"Is there unrighteousness with God?"
Because
this discussion is primarily used in this Epistle to discuss why some
Israelites have been chosen to follow Christ and some have not, Paul
uses another example from the history of Israel. When Israel was at Mt.
Sinai and the law was being given, Moses asked to see God so that he
might know that God had truly chosen him. He requested a special
revelation. God granted his request partially and told Moses, "I will
have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I
have compassion."
God
chose Moses before birth but God did not actively begin to use him
until he was almost 80 years old. Moses had had to flee Egypt when he
had committed a murder. He was an exiled stranger in a foreign land
when God appeared to him in the revelation of the burning bush. The
choice of Moses was one of the choices of God that was not based on
merit or talent. Even Moses did not think himself to be an appropriate
choice to be the leader of the people and God had to persuade him that
he would be assisted by his brother and by the power of God. Moses had
been a prince in Egypt and God had not used him at that time. God
waited until he was an old man, without personal power or authority and
discredited in the land where he had been raised.
Paul
contrasts Moses with Pharaoh, who opposed Moses and at first refused to
release the people from the bondage of slavery. Pharaoh was the most
powerful ruler in the world. God opposed the most powerful man in the
world with an old man who had spent forty years in a backwater working
principally as a shepherd for his father-in-law. God makes these
choices in order to demonstrate His power and authority. The Jews had
made Moses into a hero and a champion. God had chose him because he was
powerless and discredited. It was a choice based on grace and mercy.
God
is the creator of this world. He is like a potter who looks at one lump
of clay and makes a common bowl for everyday use. The potter looks at
the next lump of clay and chooses to make a beautiful vessel for a
special purpose. The glory is not in the clay but in the artistry of
the potter. It is not for us to question the purposes of God. We are
the work of God's hands, created for his purpose and designed according
to His plans.
We
are responsible to God for our own lives and conduct. In whatever
circumstance we have been placed in life God's desire is that we bring
glory and honor to the Creator through our lives and our faith. God has
formed your life. Moses waited in the desert of Midian for forty years.
He had been a prince in Egypt with riches and power. Now he was an
exiled murderer assigned the task to watch over a few sheep. He tended
the sheep and grew older and for forty years God did not speak with him.
Sometimes
the potter chooses the most unlikely lump of clay to make the most
beautiful of vessels. Especially the best of potters. Is your life open
to the touch of the potter? Do you believe in a God who can make
something beautiful out of even your worst experiences?
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