March 8, 2026 - Accountability of Man (Romans 9:19-23)
Notes
Transcript
We will continue this week, making our way through Chapter 9 of Romans...
...and if you were with us last week, you remember that what Paul walked us through was the Freedom of God in Election.
And last week, beginning in verse 14, Paul asked a question...
and that question, illuminated what Paul had been teaching us in the first 13 verses of this chapter...
In verse 14, Paul had said this:
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
This question points to the reality of what Paul had been teaching prior to it.
The question reveals that what Paul was teaching called into question God's justice, His righteousness.
And what was the teaching that would raise this very objection?...
Unconditional Election:
Unconditional Election says -
SLIDE:
God's favor in election is not based on what we do or what we think or what we feel or what we choose, but on God alone – the One who calls.
We've heard Paul hammering away at this truth...
And why is Paul even bringing this up?
Because he's addressing the thought by his listeners that the Word of God had failed, due to Israel's response to Jesus and the gospel.
If God had promised to bless Abraham, and his offspring, but then his offspring rejects Christ....then the conclusion was - Well then God must not be trust-worthy.
And so Paul begins to address that false idea...and he does so by:
Defining terms - He defines who TRUE Israel really is.
He defines who Abraham's offspring truly is...
He let's us know that God NAMES His offspring...COUNTS who is the TRUE offspring....and that those TRUE offspring are the children of promise.
And in Paul trying to make it known that the Word of God had not failed and will NEVER fail, Paul shows why we can be confident that the Word of God will NEVER fail...
He takes us back to Jacob and Esau, and reminds us that God chose Jacob and passed over Esau, before they were even born....
...before they had done anything at all....good or bad.
And so understanding this - Paul wants us to embrace the assurance that flows from us knowing that God's Word and His promises will never fail....
...BECAUSE it is NOT dependent on our will, but on God and His mercy.
Last week, we saw at least 3 reasons why Unconditional Election is good news....
Unconditional Election is good news because it means that no unbeliever is so bad that they can say in response to the gospel: "I can't be elect, I am too evil."
God's election is not based on how much we DO or DON'T sin!
It's not based on anything we do, or think, or feel, or choose...
And so when someone says to us - "No, God wouldn't accept me...I've been way to bad to ever think about that..."
Our response is:
No, God's unconditional electing love is not trumped by your sin.
God calls His children to salvation....
Repent and believe the gospel, and you will be saved...
Call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved...
2. Unconditional election is good news because it preserves the praise of God’s grace at every point in our salvation.
There is NEVER a point in time (past, present, or future) when we become the decisive cause of our salvation.
And that's good news because with unconditional election, we can boast ONLY in the Lord...
3. Unconditional election is good news because when, by grace through faith, you know yourself loved by God, forgiven, justified, accepted, this doctrine of election assures you that the roots of your salvation are not shallow, but go down deep into all eternity.
We talked last week about the absolute lack of security these days...
And it all boils down to this - if we find our ultimate joy in anything but God...we will live a life always searching for satisfaction.
This world is a shallow world...BUT...
If we are known by God....if we are a child of promise, then our assurance, based on unconditional election...is grounded in the soil of eternity.
Chosen before the foundation of the world.
Now, before we get into our text for today, as I said last week, I know that we're covering some hard and heavy truths of Scripture...
And that alone can shake us a bit.
I want to just read through some real life testimonies of how God's Sovereignty can comfort us...His children of promise.
A mother wrote this to a pastor who had been preaching about the Sovereignty of God over all things. Her son was in a coma, and had been in that coma for 2 years, and had yet to awaken from it. She said this to the pastor:
"Your statement, ‘In reality our pain and losses are always a test of how much we treasure the all-wise, all-governing God in comparison to what we have lost,’ brought me to my knees again. It has been very hard to give my ‘treasure’ back to the Lord. As you say, ‘This is a very precious discovery, because it enables us to repent and seek to cherish Christ as we ought.’"
A father said this about the time he realized that his daughters had been abused by their uncle:
"it was the truth of God’s absolute holiness and sovereignty that was the rock that got me through the last three months."
A woman wrote a letter to a pastor, explaining her situation:
She was born with a treatable disease, but was misdiagnosed, and she became paralyzed.
By age 14 she had had 21 surgeries and was cruelly treated by other children calling her "crippled."
She became a Christian in high school.
She married, had four miscarriages, and her second child died in her husband’s arms at two months.
She closed the letter by saying this:
"I have read many books on suffering, but they are often so man-centered and... nullify, or at least diminish the glory, majesty and sovereignty of God. It is radical thinking to say that God wills and ordains our suffering and not just passively allows it, hoping to make the best of it for us. As I have grown in my walk, I can see that nothing in this world happens apart from the sovereign will of God."
Comfort can be found in these truths that we walk through...for God is God, and we are not.
Last week, you remember that Paul asked a question in verse 14, and that question helped us understand what he was saying in verses 1-13.
And this week, Paul isn't done asking questions.
He's going to ask another question this week, that points to Unconditional Election, and more specifically, something that Paul stated last week in verse 18.
Let's start in verse 14, and then read thru verse 23.
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”
20 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?”
21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
Last week you remember that we talked about how asking a question, can help point back to the reality of something that had been said.
I gave an analogy saying - You walk into a room and 2 people are standing there - You hear one say to the other - - “OH, so your friend isn’t very patient?”
You weren’t there for the conversation - but HEARING that question - YOU KNOW what they were talking about.
Based on the question you heard, you know that what WAS said had something to do with a friend being impatient...
Last week, we saw Paul ask the question....in verse 14
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
Is there injustice on God's part?
We realized that this objection is raised by a specific type of teaching...
Unconditional Election
NOW - Let’s pause - because I ALSO want to address typical objections to all of this - AS WE GO.
I’ve mentioned several times that many people believe that this chapter has NOTHING to do with individual salvation - but simply God’s plan of redemption.
That God is just explaining that JUST because you are OF Jewish descent - that doesn’t MEAN you are a child of God!
And when it come to this verse specifically - they will say that this objection is actually coming from the Jewish Nation - who now realizes that there are JEWISH people OUT THERE - for whom their JEWISHNESS doesn’t grant them to be - OF GOD!....
And the Jewish Nation is saying - WAIT - that’s NOT FAIR God!
Let’s walk through that...briefly.
When Paul says in v6...
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
He’s saying....
SLIDE: True Israel
Not all Ethnic Israel - belongs to TRUE Israel!
Not ALL Ethnic Israel - is considered - Children of God
AND SO THEN - when the objection comes in v14...
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
When the response to this news is - WAIT - NOT ALL Israel - is counted by God as - TRUE Israel??
God is - NOT FAIR!
ALL Israelites adhere to the LAWS God set forth!
That’s NOT FAIR of God - to ONLY COUNT SOME Israelites as Children of Promise!!
So yes - the Objection could MOST CERTAINLY be coming from the Jewish Nation...
But that doesn’t MEAN - that Paul is simply talking about God’s PLAN of Redemption!
OF COURSE - what Paul is talking about pertains to God’s PLAN - but IN PAUL DESCRIBING the PLAN ...
The BULLSEYE of his argument - is God choosing individuals. <—- this is what we need to see!
The argument coming to Paul was - WAIT - SO THEN HOW can we GET TO BE a - - what?
a CHILD of PROMISE??
How do we get to be a part of - TRUE ISRAEL!??
Answer?
v16
16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
And then Paul says - Let me give you an example of God DISPLAYING His sovereignty in the life of a PARTICULAR man...
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
Now - what ALL is included in the phrase = “I have raised you up”
What does that mean?
God PUT Pharaoh into that role.
God ORCHESTRATED the entire situation so that God could - - SHOW His power IN Pharaoh...
How so - God HARDENED Pharaoh...
NOW- again - people will run to Exodus 8 and say - No Pharaoh hardened his OWN heart...
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Ok - we should believe this happened - because the Bible TELLS us it happened...
But it also says this - 4 chapters earlier...
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
God HARDENED Pharaoh’s heart...for God’s OWN purposes.
Pharaoh HARDENED his own heart… for HIS OWN purposes.
God did it - FOR GOOD.
Pharaoh - DID it - for EVIL!
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
And so this week, Paul's going to ask another question....raise another objection that's going to point to what Paul is really teaching...
ALL that we just walked through
v19
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”
Legitimate question?
Does this question MAKE SENSE with what we just walked through?
How God FREELY CHOSE to harden a man for God’s OWN purposes...and then hold that man ACCOUNTABLE for doing it?
We all know what HAPPENED to Pharaoh right?
He lets the people go - EVENTUALLY - but then CHASES after them.
God steps in - and DESTROYS Pharaoh
HOLDING him accountable for his REBELLION!
SO - If God wills to harden someone's heart, then since we know that no one can resist His will, how can God still find fault?
This is the objection...
Let's look at the arguments that Paul gives:
SLIDE: Accountability of Man: Man is to Clay as God is to Potter
Accountability of Man
Accountability of Man
20 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?”
I hope we understand that God could have used any analogy He wanted to...
And He chose one using a Potter and His clay...
In the Potter / Clay relationship...who has the knowledge?
The Potter
Does clay possess any knowledge at all?
What would happen if when you got home today after church....you walked into your house....
...and the wall said - "why did you paint me this color?"
...and then the hallway floor says - "why did you put me in this hallway?"
...and then all of your furniture in your living room says - "HEY!!! why did you put us in here...we can't see the TV!!"
But what is it about the relationship between CLAY and the POTTER that stands out?
Here it is - Authority
And in DIRECT connection with that - is - Glory
SLIDE:
The most passionate heart for the glorification of God is God’s heart
God’s ultimate goal is to uphold and display the glory of his name.
When Paul uses this analogy, I think he wants us to understand multiple things...
We, being the creation, have no knowledge at all compared to the infinitely wise Creator
Remember last week I asked - What % of the infinite wisdom of God have we figured out...?
Whatever % i gave, we just laughed...and rightfully so!
His ways are not our ways...
He is God and we are not...even close!
What else does Paul want us to understand?
2. Asking the question "Why have You made me like this?" - assumes that we, being the creation, have authority over the Creator
You messed up God...
You can't do that God...
Who do you think you are God?...
It’s no different than that question we hear from Atheist’s all time - PROVE IT! - Prove God exists!
Francis Chan has said this:
“Can you worship a God who isn't obligated to explain His actions to you? Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?”
“God is the only being who is good, and the standards are set by Him. Because God hates sin, He has to punish those guilty of sin. Maybe that's not an appealing standard. But to put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards.”
David Platt has said:
“We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.”
“God beckons storm clouds and they come. He tells the wind to blow and the rain to fall, and they obey immediately. He speaks to the mountains, 'You go there,' and He says to the seas, 'You stop here, and they do it. Everything in all creation responds in obedience to the Creator...until we get to you and me. We have the audacity to look God in the face and say, 'No.”
We say....No God....
You messed up God...
You can't do that God...
Who do you think you are God?...
The problem with this idea is actually found in verse 21
21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
Paul is saying - God has all rights! We have NO rights!
SIDE QUESTION:
Is Paul arguing here for the free autonomy of MAN?
NO - the OPPOSITE!!
Paul is giving us - REALITY - - You have NO rights!
Try running for President on that campaign slogan....You Have No Rights America!
SIDE NOTE - If you think the vessels mentioned here are AGAIN - simply “True Israel” and “Everyone Else” - OUTSIDE of a PERSONAL application here - that cannot be the case.
But listen to where Paul takes this...
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
Paul's saying - does God not have the right to do what He desires?
Well, what does God desire...?
22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
I'm well aware that the further we go into this chapter 9, the harder these words may be to hear...
AND YET...
...you have to remind yourself...if you're siding with the objections that Paul raises....
...if you're sitting back and saying - "Yeah Paul, well then how can God find fault...?"
If that's you...siding with the objections, then you are necessarily opposing the Apostle Paul - - and therefore - God
What does verse 22 say?
22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction
As a Christian, as one who believes that these words were given to us by God...
How high on your priority list is the demonstration of God's wrath in the making known of His power?
Think of the Exodus...
The Egyptian soldiers followed Pharaoh into the parted waters...
And each soldier had a name, and a family....
See - God is serious about making known His power....why?
verse 23
23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
Argument 2:
SLIDE: Accountability of Man: The Glorification of God is At Stake
Accountability of Man
Accountability of Man
God is serious about the glory of God!
Listen to this:
9 “For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
The most passionate heart for the glorification of God is God’s heart.
God’s ultimate goal is to uphold and display the glory of his name.
God chose His people for His glory:
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
God called Israel for His glory:
11 For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.
God rescued Israel from Egypt for his glory:
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.
God defeated Pharaoh at the Red Sea to show his glory:
Exodus 14:4,18
4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
God gave Israel victory in Canaan for the glory of his name:
God did not cast away his people for the glory of his name:
God saved Jerusalem from attack for the glory of his name:
Jesus sought the glory of his Father in all he did:
Jesus warned that not seeking God’s glory makes faith impossible:
Jesus endured his final hours of suffering for God’s glory:
Remember the Golden Chain of Redemption?
Foreknew, Predestined, Called, Justified, Glorified
All of this leading to the GLORY of God!
(vessels of - MERCY)
Back to v23
23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
Do you see, based on verse 23, that it's God mercy which leads to justification, which leads to glorification.
What is mercy...?
By definition, 'mercy' cannot be earned. It's undeserved.
If it’s something that is earned...then it's no longer 'mercy'
And so let’s think through this...
God had 3 options when choosing to create the universe.
He could have created a universe where:
All got saved
Some got saved
None got saved
If ALL got saved, God would never display His justice / We would never know if He is just or righteous
If NONE got saved, God would never display His mercy / We would never know if He is loving
But if some got saved, then God would display ALL of His attributes:
His wrath against sin, revealing that He's just
His mercy, revealing that He's loving
His justice, revealing that He's righteous
if God doesn't display wrath against sin, how would we ever have knowledge that God is just.
If God doesn't display mercy, how would we ever know that God is love.
If God doesn't display justice, how would we ever know that God is righteous
And so AGAIN - our 2nd point today is this....
SLIDE: Accountability of Man: The Glorification of God is At Stake
Accountability of Man
Accountability of Man
You might say - well how does our accountability before God affect the glorification of God?
I'll say it again:
In some people getting saved, God displays ALL of His attributes:
His wrath against sin, revealing that He's just
His mercy, revealing that He's loving
His justice, revealing that He's righteous
And only in ALL of these things, is HIS NAME MOST GLORIFIED!
What do I mean?
Think of your favorite food...
Now, 2 different scenarios:
Scenario 1 - - you live your whole life, and ALL you have ever eaten is -YOUR FAVORITE FOOD.…
Scenario 2 - - Not only have you eaten Your Favorite Food, but you've also tasted the worst food
In which scenario would your favorite food receive the most glory in your life?
In which scenario would you most glorify your favorite food?
In scenario 2 - When you've also tasted the bad right?
When we have knowledge of the bad, the good is ALL the better...!
If all we ever ate was sweet desserts, would we ever know how sweet they really are?
Now again, none of this may help you in dealing with what Paul is teaching...
As I said before...it's a mystery...we're not gonna have all the answers...until the day we see Christ face-to-face...and our knowledge will not be lacking.
Until then, we trust...as Paul did.
SUMMARY
We see that Paul raises an objection to Unconditional Election as being:
How can we be accountable to God if He chooses...
Paul responds by first putting man in his place, then by putting God in His place...
SLIDE:
The Accountability of Man:
1. Man Is to Clay As God Is to Potter
2. The Glorification of God is At Stake
NOW - quickly - Some people will say that these verses - this chapter - is not talking about Salvation.
I’ve heard it with my own ears...
Last look at v22-23
22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath PREPARED FOR DESTRUCTION, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has PREPARED BEFOREHAND FOR GLORY—
What’s in view here?
One on side - Destruction
On the other side - Glory
This is the END GAME for mankind… One or the other
And WHO’s preparing these vessels for each side?
God is.
These verses - THIS PASSAGE IS talking about salvation...and the SOVEREIGN God who REIGNS over all of it.
This is why Paul lived his life in complete trust of God, knowing that all that he came across, and every situation, and every decision...God would work all things together for the good...
Let's Pray...
