Romans 9 Footnotes

Interestingly, the Prophet Jeremiah also used the potter as an illustration of how God works, acknowledging that God may vary his responses given human reaction to his words (Jr 18:5-10). God desires people to repent and turn to him. The potter illustration shows that God is not immovable nor impassive; he does not carry out his plans without aim.

9:16-21 Though God sovereignly raised Pharaoh up for his own purposes, Pharaoh willingly made his own choices in rebelling against God. Scripture always upholds complete divine sovereignty and human responsibility (see note on Ex 4:21).

9:22-23 Three interpretations diverge here. (1) Paul taught “double predestination”: before creation, God determined to save some and condemn others (a view often associated with Calvinists). God fixed the number he will glorify and the number he will destroy. Given that all sinners deserve condemnation, God’s choice to save some demonstrates his mercy. (2) God elects some to save, leaving the rest to their deserved fate. In both of these views the nonelect, objects of his wrath, justly deserve their fate; so God is not unjust by not electing them. (3) God predetermined the general outcomes—either wrath or glory—but the saved or the destroyed determine their own fates in response to God’s initiating grace. In this view, the criterion for inclusion or exclusion in “my people” (v. 26) is whether sinners pursue righteousness by faith or in self-reliance (v. 32; 10:3-4,9-10). That is, those destroyed prepared themselves for their destruction. People are predestined to condemnation so long as they choose to continue in their ways and resist God’s grace.