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What Is The Meaning?


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Romans 9:21-23

King James Version (KJV)


21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
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:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

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Wow! This must be a very difficult passage. There have been 20 views and no responses! As I've looked for answers to this passage elsewhere I've found a wide variety of views. Does no one here have any idea as to what the meaning of this passage is? How this passage applies to our lives?

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Romans 9:21-23

King James Version (KJV)


21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
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:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,


Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? Romans 9:21

Firstly, God made us as a son of Adam as we were made in the image of Adam. That placed us under a curse. As far as our responsibility is concerned that actually means nothing.
No man can use the fact that he is born a sinner to reject Christ. Paul said, “now commandeth ALL men EVERY WHERE to repent (Acts 17).

Notice that vs. 21 -23 does not take place in eternity as the Calvinists teach.
“Shall the thing formed…” Nothing was formed before Genesis 1:1
“Hath not the potter power over the clay…” There is no clay that is formed by the potter until Genesis 2:7.

There are no eternal decrees of election or reprobation in the passage. What God makes, He makes in time, what God forms He forms in time.
What we have in verse 20 is a fully formed vessel speaking to the potter. That vessel was formed in time, not eternity past. Notice with me some things we need to know

First - The purpose of the vessel is never etched unchangeably in stone by the Potter. Paul speaks of vessels unto honour and vessels unto dishonor. If you couldn’t change your status from that of dishonor to one of honour that would be one thing. But what does 2 Tim 2:20, But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. IF A MAN PURGE HIMSELF from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. So your status as a vessel of either honour or no depends upon what you do with the things that defile you.

Second - The potter can change His mind as He is forming the vessel and make another vessel. Jeremiah 18:3-4, Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: The Potter did not mar it Himself. So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. What is the application? O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? God can take a marred vessel and make a new, better vessel out of it. The difference is obedience. Jeremiah 18:7-8, At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

Thirdly – The potter can take a good vessel and break it and throw it in the garbage. That is what happens in Jeremiah 19:1, 10. The reason had nothing whatsoever to do with “God willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known”. It was because the vessel had forsaken God. Jeremiah 19:4, Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place…
So when it comes to what kind of vessel God makes of us, he does it with our participation. Therefore! The sinner has no right to accuse God by saying, Why hast thou made me thus? At any time the sinner could repent and changed the God made the vessel.

The problem with Calvinism is that he bases his theology on a supposition. He goes to verse 22 to show that God reprobates some men to Hell, and he goes to verse 23 to show that God elects some men to Heaven. The sentence of verse 22, 23, and 24 all begin with WHAT IF! What a dumb place to begin your theology! What if He didn’t!!?? Ever thought of that!?
The Calvinist in their eagerness to rid themselves of their responsibility towards God have overlooked the fact that every vessel born on this earth is under the wrath of God until that vessel receives Christ (John 3:18,36) EVERYBODY is born a vessel of wrath.

The real truth in this passage is in answering the question What if? We can do that later.

God bless,
calvary
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We covered that passage in Bible Institute a couple weeks ago. In context, that chapter is talking about national election - how that God will raise up a people for His glory and specific purpose - how He for a time is placing Israel on the backburner until the times of the Gentiles be complete and will then raise up the remnant of believing Israel again. The passage is not referring to individual election for salvation.

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Thank you Calvary for taking the time and effort to give an answer! Your response is actually much clearer and more understandable than what I read in most commentaries.


Thank you John. I tried to look at what you asked, How this passage applies to our lives? I'm guessing you already knew that chapter 9-11 are about the great question What relationship does the Jew now have with the church, with the promises of God and his future delaing with Jehovah.
Alan Carr has a web site called Sermon Notebook. There you'll find hundreds of good messages. He has a series on Romans, there are 4 really good practical messages in there on this parenthetical section of Romans.
I always prefer application to theology. ... :D

God bless,
calvary
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Thank you John. I tried to look at what you asked, How this passage applies to our lives? I'm guessing you already knew that chapter 9-11 are about the great question What relationship does the Jew now have with the church, with the promises of God and his future delaing with Jehovah.
Alan Carr has a web site called Sermon Notebook. There you'll find hundreds of good messages. He has a series on Romans, there are 4 really good practical messages in there on this parenthetical section of Romans.
I always prefer application to theology. ... :D

God bless,
calvary

I will check that out, sounds good, as I also prefer application to theology! Thank you!!
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