Romans 9:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”

NIV: One of you will say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?'

NASB: You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?'

CSB: You will say to me, therefore, "Why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will? "

NLT: Well then, you might say, 'Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?'

KJV: Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

NKJV: You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”

Paul imagines his readers raising another objection about God's fairness. The previous verse referred to the time in Israel's history when God hardened Pharaoh's heart, despite the plagues God sent against Egypt (Exodus 10:1). Pharaoh is the one who said no at first, but God is the one who made sure Pharaoh's heart did not soften in surrender or repentance, so that Pharaoh would keep on saying "no" to Moses and Israel.

Is that "fair" of God? That's what Paul's imagined readers are asking. How can God find fault with Pharaoh when God is the one who caused the hard heart? After all, how could Pharaoh, or anyone else, resist God's will? Isn't God treating Pharaoh as a puppet, punishing him for actions he cannot actually avoid?

It's a sensible question, from a human perspective. If any person was able to do to Pharaoh as God did, we would universally agree: it is not "fair" to hold someone responsible for a decision which some other person irresistibly forced them to make. What do we make of this, when it comes to God? We might debate whether God really forced Pharaoh to say no, or whether He just unbalanced Pharaoh's emotions. We might point out—validly—that Pharaoh hardened his own heart repeatedly (Exodus 7:13; 8:15) before God stepped in to make that hardening permanent.

For the sake of Paul's current point, however, none of that matters. Paul will respond to the questions of this verse by insisting that human terms don't apply to God. He can do as He wishes. He is God. Not only is His perspective more complete than ours (Isaiah 55:8–9), He is in the position of Creator; we are not.

God did as He liked in Pharaoh's heart because He is God and He has an absolute and sovereign right to do so. That is the first, foremost, and main answer to any charge that God treated Pharaoh in an "unfair" or "unjust" way. This, again, falls under the realization that nobody deserves mercy (Romans 3:10; 3:23), so the fact that God withholds it from certain people is not unfair to those particular persons.

Romans 9:19–29 deals with the issue of whether or not God's sovereign choice to bless some, and not others, is ''fair,'' in the way we often use that term. Paul's essential argument is that God is God, and as the Creator, He has the right to do as He wishes with His own creation. A potter can choose how to use clay, and that clay has no cause to complain that it was chosen for one purpose or another. In the same way, God has the absolute right to choose whom He will save. Quotations from Hosea and Isaiah are used to show that this sovereignty extends to God's plan to include Gentiles in the plan of salvation.

Romans 9 begins with Paul describing his anguish for his people Israel in their rejection of Christ. After describing all the privileges God has given to the Jewish people as a nation, Paul insists that God will keep those promises. However, not every person born to Israel belongs to Israel, he writes. God reserves the right to show mercy to some and not others, as Paul demonstrates from Scripture. God is like a potter who creates some vessels for destruction and others for glory. God has called out His people from both the Gentiles and the Jews to faith in Christ, the stumbling stone.

Romans 8 ended with Paul's grand declaration that nothing can separate those who are in Christ Jesus from the love of God. Romans 9 turns a sharp corner and finds Paul heartbroken that his people, the Jews, have rejected Christ. He insists that God will keep His promises to Israel, but that not everyone born to Israel is truly Israel. God will show mercy to whomever He wishes, calling out His people from both the Jews and the Gentiles to faith in Christ. Romans 10 will find Paul discussing how Jewish people can be saved.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.