Title: Objection Two! God is not fair.
Let me again comment on how pleased I am in the level of comprehension, thought, and reflection that I see the majority of you engaging in concerning this chapter. I have received a wealth of positive feedback, thoughtful questions, and reflective comments as we work through the theological rich chapter of Romans 9.
Again, let me stress, that as we study the doctrine of predestination, this is a secondary issue. It is not something that should cause us to part ways in worship, or in evangelism. Primary issues include the infallibility of the Scriptures, the exclusiveness of Christ being the only way to salvation, the deity of Christ, etc. Predestination, Calvinism, Arminianism, these are secondary issues, not primary.
Now, again, how you view and understand your salvation, what your role in salvation is, what God’s role in salvation is, these things will drastically shape how you view and serve God, so they are worthy of intense and deliberate study, such as we have done the last few weeks.
Again, at the conclusion of today’s service I will be opening the floor to questions and comments, so if you have a question, wright it down and we will address it at the conclusion of today’s message.
Join me in reading Romans 9:19-21
Is God fair?
Read v. 19 again with me.
Paul brings to light a very practical question here. Essentially he says, “If God made me the way I am, then how can he then blame me for being this way?”
Another way to phrase this, “Even if I did sin, isn’t my sin ultimately God’s fault for making me desire to sin?”
And yet another way to word it:
“How can God punish me for just being natural?”
If God’s will is to harden some and soften others, are we not in control at all? And if we are not in control, we can hardly be held responsible for our actions. If I approach my 12 year old nephew Patrick and grab his wrists so that I have control over both of his arms and use my power to overpower him and make him punch his sister Lexus in the stomach, should Patrick or myself be held accountable for the assault?
There are two problems with this line of thinking. Paul addresses only one of the lines of thought in this passage, the other line of thought he deals with elsewhere so I’ll fill you in.
What Paul doesn’t take the time to remind the audience of is this: There is nothing “natural” about our current nature.
We were not originally created with an evil nature. We chose this path. The issue of sin is not up for debate. We all are both born into sin, and presently fall to sin in our lives, whether we are saved or not. Again, being a believer does not mean we are without sin, it means that we are forgiven from sin.
Therefore to blame God for our sin is to ignore our responsibility for sin on two levels. First of all, it is to ignore the original fall of Adam and what he represented as mankind. Secondly, it is to ignore your much more personal involvement with sin in your own life.
But the explanation Paul chooses to give is not so much theological as it is practical. Paul radically challenges the very mind set of the question that is being asked.
Read vv 21-22
Who are you to question God? Now this is not Paul simply pulling rank and saying, “Who are you, pawn, who are you, foot soldier, to question your master, to question your Lord?” It is much, much deeper than that.
What I believe Paul is saying is this: We are men and women. We were created by the ultimate God. Our idea of what is fair, of what is right, of what is just, is tragically flawed by two things: First of all, it is flawed because we are not God, our understanding and our comprehension is limited by our capacity as humans. Secondly, and even more importantly, even if we could understand these concepts on a deity level, our understanding is tarnished by sin.
In other words: How can a sinful creation question the righteousness of a sinless creator?
God is the potter. And from the same sinful lump of clay that is humanity, he has made vessels. All of these vessels have meaning, all of them have purpose, all of them honor God.
The vessels chosen for dishonor stand before God as guilty sinners, and God is glorified is his perfect justice.
The vessels chosen for honor stand before God as guilty sinners, and God is glorified in his perfect mercy.
How or why he chooses some and not others is not only none of our business, it is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond our ability to even understand His sovereign choice.
We in this room today have been chosen, and given a command to take the message of the Gospel to the very ends of the earth. And yet, far too many of us haven’t moved an inch, because we are demanding that God explain himself to us.
I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to trust God the most when I don’t understand what He is doing.