The Sovereignty Of God In Reprobation: Part Five
“Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God”(Rom. 11:22).
Verses 21-23. “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory.” In these verses the Apostle furnishes a full and final reply to the objections raised in verse 19.
First, he asks, “Hath not the potter power over the clay?” etc. It is to be noted the word here translated “power” is a different one in the Greek from the one rendered “power” in verse 22 where it can only signify His might; but here in verse 21, the “power” spoken of must refer to the Creator’s rights or Sovereign prerogatives; that this is so, appears from the fact that the same Greek word is employed in John 1: 12-“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God”-which, as is well known, means the right or privilege to become the sons of God. The R. V. employs “right” both in John 1:12 and Romans 9:21.
Verse 21. “Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” That the “potter” here is God Himself is certain from the previous verse, where the Apostle asks, “Who art thou that repliest against God?” and then, speaking in the terms of the figure he was about to use, continues, “Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it,” etc. Some there are who would rob these words of their force by arguing that while the human potter makes certain vessels to be used for less honourable purposes than others, nevertheless, they are designed to fill some useful place.
But the Apostle does not here say, Hath not the Potter power over the clay of the same lump, to make one vessel unto an honourable use and another to a less honourable use, but he speaks of some “vessels” being made unto “dishonour.” It is true, of course, that God’s wisdom will yet be fully vindicated, inasmuch as the destruction of the reprobate will promote His glory-in what way the next verse tells us.
Ere passing to the next verse let us summarise the teaching of this and the two previous ones. In verse 19 two questions are asked, “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will?” To those questions a threefold answer is returned.
First, in verse 20 the Apostle denies the creature the right to sit in judgement upon the ways of the Creator-“Nay but, O man who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus?” The Apostle insists that the rectitude of God’s will must not be questioned. Whatever He does must be right.
Second, in verse 21 the Apostle declares that the Creator has the right to dispose of His creatures as He sees fit-“Hath not the Potter power over the clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” It should be carefully noted that the word for “power” here is exousia – an entirely different word from the one translated “power” in the following verse (“to make known His power”), where it is duaton. In the words “Hath not the Potter power over the clay?” it must be God’s power justly exercised which is in view-the exercise of God’s rights consistently with His justice-because the mere assertion of His omnipotency would be no such answer as God would return to the questions asked in verse 19.
Third, in verses 22, 23 the Apostle gives the reasons why God proceeds differently with one of His creatures from another: on the one hand, it is to “shew His wrath” and to “make His power known”; on the other hand, it is to “make known the riches of His glory.”
“Hath not the Potter power over the clay of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Certainly God has the right to do this because He is the Creator. Does He exercise this right? Yes, as verses 13 and 17 clearly show us-“For this same purpose have I raised thee (Pharaoh) up.”
Verse 22. “What if God, willing to shew His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.” Here the Apostle tells us in the second place why God acts thus, i.e., differently with different ones-having mercy on some and hardening others, making one vessel “unto honour” and another “unto dishonour.”
Observe that here in verse 22 the Apostle first mentions “vessels of wrath” before he refers in verse 23 to the “vessels of mercy.” Why is this? The answer to this question is of first importance: we reply, Because it is the “vessels of wrath” who are the subjects in view before the objector in verse 19. Two reasons are given why God makes some “vessels unto dishonour”; first, to “shew His wrath,” and secondly “to make His power known”-both of which were exemplified in the case of Pharaoh.
One point in the above verse requires separate consideration-“Vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.” The usual explanation which is given of these words is that the vessels of wrath fit themselves to destruction, that is, fit themselves by virtue of their wickedness; and it is argued that there is no need for God to “fit them to destruction,” because they are already fitted by their own depravity, and that this must be the real meaning of this expression. Now if by “destruction” we understand punishment, it is perfectly true that the non-elect do “fit themselves,” for every one will be judged “according to his works”; and further, we freely grant that subjectively the non-elect do fit themselves for destruction. But the point to be decided is, Is this what the Apostle is here referring to? And, without hesitation, we reply it is not. Go back to verses 11-13: did Esau fit himself to be an object of God’s hatred, or was he not such before he was born? Again; did Pharaoh fit himself for destruction, or did not God harden his heart before the plagues were sent upon Egypt?-see Exodus 4:21!
Romans 9:22 is clearly a continuation in thought of verse 21, and verse 21 is part of the Apostle’s reply to the question raised in verse 20: therefore, to fairly follow out the figure, it must be God Himself who “fits” unto destruction the vessels of wrath. Should it be asked how God does this, the answer, necessarily, is, objectively,-He fits the non-elect unto destruction by His fore-ordinating decrees. Should it be asked why God does this, the answer must be, To promote His own glory, i.e., the glory of His justice, power and wrath. “The sum of the Apostle’s answer here is, that the grand object of God, both in the election and the reprobation of men, is that which is paramount to all things else in the creation of men, namely, His own glory” (Robert Haldane).