THE POTTER AND THE CLAY

 

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? 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, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory ~ Romans 9:21-23

Why do people find it hard to accept that God has already chosen those whom He will save?

Does Ephesians 1:4 not say that God chose us in Christ BEFORE the foundation of the world?  Who is the "us" that Paul is referring to?  It's the elect, of course.  How do we know this?  Because in verse 1 of this same chapter, Paul says, "To the saints who are in Ephesus, and who are faithful", so we know Paul is referring to those who are already believers.

A gentleman in a FB group asked if there were really those in that group who truly believed that God would choose just some and leave the others in their sin, and I replied that, yes, there were those of us who believed that based on Romans 9.

If you go to Jeremiah 18, you'll see an account of where God Himself is represented as The Potter, and in Romans 9:21 we read, "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?", and in the next verse he mentions vessels of mercy and vessels of wrath "prepared for destruction". 

Lumps of clay don't form themselves on the potter's wheel.  The potter uses his/her hands to mold and shape the clay into what he/she desires.  They could take one large lump of clay, divide it up, and make one piece of the clay into a beautiful piece of art fit for the finest art gallery in the world, and with the other piece make it into a bowl for a dog to eat out of.  It is up to the potter to decide what he/she wants to do with that lump of clay.

Same with God, THE Potter.  He has the right to make from the same clay (humanity) one a vessel of mercy and another a vessel prepared for destruction and it's not for us to question God WHY He did so (Romans 9:20).  This is not a hard doctrine to understand, but it's one that many find hard to accept.

Why do they find the idea of God showing His love and mercy towards them by choosing them so offensive?  Does not the Bible say, "We love Him because He first loved us"?  Does Jesus not also say, "You did not choose me, but I chose you"? 

Think about it.  God chose those whom He would save based not on anything we did, but because of His own good will and pleasure. There was nothing we had to do to receive this free gift of salvation.  No hoops to jump through.  There were no good deeds good enough to cause God's eye to turn to us and say, "Wow!!  He/she is such a good person, I think I'll save them!"  In fact, it was the opposite.  We were wretched sinners.  The Bible says there is no one who does good.  Not one person.

John 6:44 says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day."  See, people think they can come to Christ any time they choose but, that's NOT true.  It says no one CAN come UNLESS the Father draws them.  There's that stipulation of "unless the Father draws" them.  So that tosses free will out the window.

Also, in John 6:65 the Bible says, "....no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."  There's that word "unless".  "Unless" is a conjunction and it's the same as saying "except if".  It introduces a condition or circumstance that prevents something else from happening, or being done, or being true.

So, yes, based on Scripture, we believe there are those whom God will leave in their sin (vessels of wrath) while showing grace to others and giving them the gift of salvation (vessels of mercy).  No one can come of their own free will.  They CANNOT come unless the Father draws them, and unless it is granted to them by the Father.  Their free will cannot override what God has decreed from the beginning.

If you've been saved, it wasn't by your free will, it was because God drew you to Himself, gave you a new heart, placed in that new heart the desire to follow Christ, and you acted upon that desire, and surrendered to Christ, and thus, you are a Vessel of Mercy.