Well, as we continue our journey in Romans, we are right in the middle of chapter 9, looking at verses 19 through 29 today. So if you have your Bibles, please open them there to Romans chapter 9, verses 19 through 29. This passage is not unique in that It contains another question that Paul asks, but it is unique in that, unlike the other instances in Romans where Paul raises the questions of his opponents, here he does not give an answer. Everywhere else the question is raised. Paul answers the question. Oftentimes he answers the question, then explains his answer, and then reiterates his answer. Here, the question is raised, and Paul does not answer the question. In fact, he answers the question with a question. And the question that he asks in return is basically, who do you think you are? Sometimes that is a very appropriate response to certain kinds of questions. Who do you think you are? Join me in Romans chapter 9, beginning at verse 19. You will say to me, then, why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will? But who are you, O man, or who do you think you are, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, why have you made me like this? 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, notice that these are all questions, 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 even us whom he has called not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles as indeed he says in Hosea those who are not my people I will call my people and her who has not believed I'm sorry her who was not beloved I will call beloved and in the very place where it was said to them you're not my people there they will be called sons of the living God and Isaiah cries out concerning Israel though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea only a remnant of them will be saved for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay and as Isaiah predicted if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah he doesn't answer the question Now he has already answered the question numerous times in Romans, but here he doesn't answer directly this question. A couple of things I'd like for us to observe before we delve more deeply into this passage. Listen to this observation from Charles Hodge in his commentary on Romans. There will be no room either for this objection or for that contained in the 14th verse, if Paul had merely said that God chooses those whom he foresees would repent and believe, or that the ground of distinction was in the different conduct of men. It is very evident, therefore, that he taught no such doctrine. How easy and obvious an answer to the charge of injustice would it have been to say God chooses one and rejects another according to their works? but teaching, as he does, the sovereignty of God in the selection of the subjects of his grace and of the objects of his wrath, declaring, as he does so plainly, that the destiny of men is determined by his sovereign pleasure, the objection, how can he yet find fault, is plausible and natural. Follow what Charles Hodge is saying here. There are people out there who argue that the Apostle Paul teaches that God elects people based on His foreknowing who will choose Him. that he looks down the corridor of time and determines who is going to believe and who is not going to believe and then elects people based on that kind of foreknowledge. If that's what Paul was teaching, this question and the question in verse 14 would never and could never have been raised. But the fact that these questions are being raised of the Apostle Paul is evidence of the fact that Paul teaches that God is sovereign in election and it has absolutely nothing to do with man. He has mercy on whom he will have mercy and he hardens whom he will harden. Doctrine of election and reprobation has been clear here. Remember, reprobation is the idea of God passing over some and electing others. It is not as though God has to make people sinful. Man is born in sin. Every human being on planet Earth, born with a sinful nature, which by the way, we've said this before and I'll probably say it again, this is why the virgin birth is not something that we can give up on because it is the virgin birth that separates Christ from original sin so those out there who argue well it doesn't really matter all of the technical stuff as long as you just believe in Jesus No, if you believe that Jesus was not virgin born, then you believe that Jesus had a sin nature. And if you believe that Jesus had a sin nature, then you must also believe that his death would not be sufficient to cover the sins of other sinners because he would have had to pay for his own sin and therefore have been unable to pay for yours. The virgin birth matters. Doctrine matters. And so man is born in sin. Man is shaped in iniquity. And the doctrine of reprobation is simply this. God passes over some and elects others for salvation. And our question ought not be, how dare God save some and not others? Our question ought instead to be, How could God save me? Why would God save any of us? But the reason we don't ask that question is because we think too much of ourselves. And that's right where Paul goes. Who do you think you are? And the answer is, we think we're the center of the universe. That's the answer. Listen to this from James Montgomery Boyce. He puts an even finer point on the matter. But now the wicked resourcefulness of the human heart comes in. For if a person cannot deny God's sovereignty over human affairs and human destinies, or even God's right to save some and pass over others, as God does, the person will at last try to deny his or her own responsibility in the matter. If I can't get at this angle and attack the sovereignty of God, if I cannot attack God's right to pass over some and to save others, and I have to acknowledge God's sovereignty, then the next way for me to alleviate this pressure that is upon me, because I don't want to acknowledge the sovereignty of God, the next way for me to alleviate that pressure is to question God's justice and to question my own responsibility or accountability for my sin. And therein lies this question that Paul faces, and that you and I will face as we talk to people about the doctrines of grace. If you talk to people about the doctrine of God's sovereign electing grace, this question is going to arise. But here's the pressure that you feel when the question arises. The pressure that you feel is to defend God. Can't say amen, you ought to say ouch. Because people are basically saying that God's a big meanie and he's not fair. And we feel like we have to defend God. So we go round and round and round trying to defend God so that God doesn't look to them as a big meanie. Whereas Paul looks and square in the face and says, who do you think you are? Oh, but I could never do that. Why? Well, I could never do that because the person wouldn't be satisfied with that response. And the Lord knows I live for the satisfaction of other people. Oh, I could never say that, because if I said that, then the person might harden their heart and God might not be able to save them. Let me see if I get this straight. If you are pressing the point of God's sovereign election and salvation, and somebody gets offended by you pressing the point of God's sovereign election and salvation, then you're afraid that somehow God won't be able to sovereignly elect them because you offended them. That dog won't hunt. Paul's response is important. And he is not merely trying to be offensive. Let's examine his response more carefully. His response is all about contrast. The first contrast, you are man and not God. Newsflash. Look at me if you will. There in verse 19. You will say to me then, who can resist his will? But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Now, in the Greek, this is even more poignant, because in the Greek, there is a definite article here. And so basically, he's saying, who are you, man, to answer back to not just God, but the God? You are a man. He is the God. There is but one God, and He's not you. Who are you to answer back to God? Don't move past that too quickly. Because here's part of our problem with the sovereignty of God and election. Part of our problem with the sovereignty of God and election is that we think too much of ourselves. I would say we think too much of mankind, but that's really not the case. I don't think too much of mankind. I just think too much of me. I think more of myself than I do of anyone else. And it's really not a problem for me that God has not explained himself to you. It's a problem that he hasn't explained himself to me. Can I get a witness? The problem is I think too much of me. And I think God owes it to me to explain Himself at every step. And even beyond that, I think God owes it to me to explain to my satisfaction at every step what it is that He does. And even beyond that, I think God owes it to me to explain to my satisfaction everything that He does. And if I don't like it, it's incumbent upon Him to fix it so that I do. That's what I think of me. And more correctly, that's how little I think of God. That's what you think of you. And that's how little you think of God. You know, our problem with the doctrine of election is not that Romans 9 is unclear. It's that we think it unkind. Our problem with the doctrine of election is not that Romans 9 is somehow confusing or cloudy. The problem is it's not what you would do. That's our problem. And that is why Paul goes to the heart of the issue in asking, in essence, who do you think you are? You are a man. He is the God of the universe. There is a distance between you that is unfathomable. He is independent and unmade. You are created. God is immutable. And you are ever-changing. God is eternal, and you are temporal. God is omnipotent, and you are frail and weak. God is omnipresent, and you are finite. God is holy, and you are sinful, and you dare question God. Who do you think you are? The psalmist writes in Psalm 115, 3, Our God is in the heavens. He does all that He pleases. Again, Psalm 135, 6, Whatever the Lord pleases, He does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps. So again, who do you think you are? You don't even like this. Some of you are uncomfortable because I keep asking you that question. Because you just think that that's just not the way that someone ought to respond. You just think that maybe it's not pastoral. Maybe it's not godly to get in someone's face and say, who do you think you are when they question God? The only way that that's not godly is if it's not something that God himself would condone. Or if it's not something that God himself would do. Go to Job 38 with me for a moment, please. Job's had some difficulties, shall we say, in his life. He and his friends are trying to figure things out theologically. Job comes to a place where he forgets himself, questions God, And in Job 38, not only in Job 38, but in Job 38, God begins to respond. Let's listen to how this loving God responds to being challenged and questioned by finite man. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man. I will question you and you make it known to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know. Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when it made clouds its garment, and fit darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it, and set bars and doors, and said, Thus far shall you come, and no further, and here shall your proud ways be stayed. Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? It is changed like clay under the sea, and its features stand out like a garment. From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken. Have you entered into the springs of the sea and walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare if you know all this. And he continues, and continues, and continues, and continues, and in essence, he looks Job in the face and says, who do you think you are? I'm God, I answer to no one. And if this answer bothers you, hear me when I say, you think too much of yourself. If this answer bothers you, hear me when I say, you do not reverence and worship the God of the universe the way you ought to. If this answer does not suffice for you, be afraid, be very afraid, because you dare challenge the God of the universe, and He will not share His glory with another, and He will not have His decrees challenged by those who borrow the very breath that they use to speak to Him. He is God and you are not. That's His first response. Secondly, you are creature, not creator. You are creature, not creator. Look as he continues in Romans 9, will what is molded say to the molder, why have you made me like this? Will what is molded say to the molder, why have you made me like this? God created you. You did not create God. God is not a figment of your imagination. God is the one who created the world and he's the one who created you. So first of all, He's God and you're not. Secondly, He created you and not the other way around. Think about this before you go questioning God. Think about this before you lay charge against God because something doesn't agree with you or doesn't sit right with you. God created you. That means first that you exist for God's purposes. You exist for God's purposes. You do not exist at your own pleasure. You do not exist for your own purposes. Nor do you get to determine the purpose for which you exist. God has determined the purpose for which you exist. And the shorthand answer is, the purpose for which you exist is the glory of God, however He chooses to glorify Himself in and with and through your life. Therefore, you owe God worship and obedience. You owe God worship and obedience. Nothing else makes sense from the perspective of the creature toward the Creator. Is this not the problem that Paul identifies in Romans chapter 1? Look with me at Romans chapter 1 beginning in verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him. But they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. They worshiped the creature rather than the Creator. But note his statement. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. I don't like the sovereignty of God. My wisdom as a finite created being is not satisfied with the way that God has decided to save some and not save others. Therefore, in my finite created state, I will come before God Almighty because I deem myself to be wise and I will demand that He answer to me. You fool. Thinking yourself to be wise, you have become the epitome of a fool. God is the creator of the universe. Bow down before Him. Worship Him. That is what He deserves. That is what you owe to Him. Obey Him because He made you. You exist for His purposes. Worship God. Obey God. Don't question God. If you do have questions for God, they had better be questions that are designed for you to be better equipped to worship God the way He deserves to be worshipped. Questions like, what would you have me to do, God? How would you have me to worship you, oh God? How may I know you better, God? Those are our questions. Not, here I am God, explain yourself to me so that I can determine whether or not you are worthy of my worship and obedience. That's the wrong answer. Salvation is a gift, not a reward. It's a gift, not a reward. You question God because you think He owes you your salvation. Salvation is a gift. You did not earn it. If Paul has said anything up to this point in the book of Romans, he has said that again and again and again and again and again. You're fallen. You're broken. You're sinful. You're alienated from God. And God has saved you. God has adopted you. God has called you His own. God has wrapped His saving and loving arms around you. And He has pulled you to Himself. And you have the audacity to question Him. It's the height of ingratitude. It's the height of ingratitude. Listen to the attitude of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 4. Next to Romans chapter 9, if you just want to bathe in election and predestination. Just read Daniel chapter 4 and the salvation of Nebuchadnezzar. God calls his shot long before he takes it. Here's what I'm going to do to you and then here's what's going to happen afterwards. Here's how long it's going to take. Verses 34 and 35. At the end of the days. What a statement. Which days? The days that God, through Daniel, told Nebuchadnezzar he was going to experience. Seven years, he was going to live as a wild beast. And he did. At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven and my reason returned to me. Notice what he said. My reason returned to me. You think you're so smart. I'll take your mind from you. Do you know who I am? I'll take your reason, which is finite to begin with, for seven years. Then I'll give you your thinking back and we'll see what happens. My reason returned to me and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever. for his dominion is an everlasting dominion his kingdom endures from generation to generation all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing and he does according to his will among the host of heavens and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can say his hand or say to him what have you done preach it Nebuchadnezzar Again, who do you think you are? Really, who do you think you are? I'm not saying that it's wrong to ask questions. But what kind of question are you asking? And what is your motivation? Thirdly, you're the clay and not the potter. Paul points out that you're the clay and not the potter. Here in Romans 9, back in verse 21, he says, 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? This is not just a great illustration, but this would have been a familiar illustration. Isaiah chapter 29, verses 15 and 16. You who hide, excuse me, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, who sees us, who knows us? You turn things upside down. Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say to its maker, he did not make me? Or the thing formed say to him who formed it, he has no understanding? Again, Isaiah 64, 8. But now, O Lord, You are Father. We are the clay, and You are our potter. We are all the work of Your hands. And again, in Jeremiah 18, 3-6. So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand. And he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done, declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. They remember the prophet. God is the potter and we are the clay. This goes beyond just God has created you. This is God can continue to shape and mold you like the potter can continue to shape and mold the clay. Our attitude toward God is not God made me and then He gave me my life so that I could do with it as I please. No, the idea here is that God not only made you, He is making you. You not only exist because of God, you exist for God. You not only came into being because of God, you continue being because of God. This is the God whom we serve. He is the potter, and we are the clay. So what does this mean? He draws these distinctions. Here's what we take from it. Your knowledge is limited to what God has revealed. Your knowledge is limited to what God has revealed. Know that. Be aware of that. That helps keeps us in our place. Do you know and understand everything that God has done? No, you don't. Your knowledge is limited to what God has revealed. You can even put a finer point than that. Your knowledge is limited to your ability to comprehend what God has revealed. Amen? You don't even understand all of God's revelation. In fact, you prove that to yourself. Anyone who has read and re-read any portion of the Bible has already proven this to himself. You read the Bible, and then you come back and you read it again, and what happens? You see things that you didn't see the first time. And guess what will happen next year if you read it again? You'll see things that you didn't see this time. And what's that going to remind you of? You do not have complete knowledge even of what God has already revealed. Your knowledge is limited to what God has revealed, to your ability to comprehend what God has revealed, which is finite, number one, and secondly, dependent upon the illumination of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit of God that brings God's truth to your mind. That is why lost people can read this same Bible and miss God altogether. It is the grace of God that allows you to understand. So before you gird up your loins and stand before God and shake your finger in His face because you don't understand Him, remember, you don't understand Him. Your knowledge is limited. Listen to this, Arthur Pink, in The Sovereignty of God, that this branch of the subject of God's sovereignty is profoundly mysterious. We freely allow, yet that is no reason why we should reject it. the trouble is that nowadays there are so many who receive the testimony of God only so far as they can satisfactorily account for all the reasons and grounds of his conduct which means they will accept nothing but that which can be measured in the petty scales of their own limited capacities and only going to allow of God that which I, in my finite mind, can comprehend. And if God dares go beyond my finite mind, He must answer to me. Who do you think you are? Here's what Paul does. He makes this point, and then he illustrates this point. First of all, if you go back to Romans 9, verses 3-5, what you see is Paul gives us a brief salvation history. Look at verses 3-5. For I can wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Look at verse 4. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. Paul just gave a brief synopsis of salvation history. Don't miss that, okay? That is just a brief synopsis of the history of Israel, of salvation history. It's great that they have salvation history. Now Paul goes on in Romans chapter 9 to explain what should have been caught through salvation history, and that is God's sovereignty and election. First, in verses 10 through 13, he goes through the patriarchs. Now, that would be found in Genesis. So the story of Jacob and Esau is in Genesis. So he uses the patriarchs in Genesis in order to explain the doctrine of election. You should have understood the doctrine of election because you know Genesis. Well then in verses 17 through 18 he points to Pharaoh whom we find where? In Exodus. so he says you should have known the doctrine of election and salvation and sovereignty of God in salvation through not only Genesis but also through Exodus now in Romans 9 24 to 27 he points to the words of Hosea and to the words of Isaiah so now he says not only the law but also the prophets catch that Paul's making an argument for the doctrine of election and predestination. And first he says salvation history of Israel ought to demonstrate that to you. Then he says Genesis and the patriarchs ought to have proven that for you. Then he says Exodus. and Pharaoh and the crossing of the Red Sea should have demonstrated that for you. And then he says also the clear teaching of the prophets should have demonstrated that for you. In other words, Paul doesn't answer the question. He merely points to the fact that the question has already been answered. Here's the beauty, and this is why it's doubly sad for us. Paul says you should have known because you read your Old Testament. These people didn't have a New Testament. Now you and I come in we have the Old Testament and the New Testament and we still can't figure this thing out because we think too much of ourselves. You see it's been said that you know the Old Testament is like a dark room filled with furniture. In the New Testament the furniture doesn't move, the lights just come on. Amen. And Paul is saying to the people who had nothing but the dark room and all the furniture, you should have been able to figure this out. And yet, you and I, who have all the lights on, are still trying to figure out why the sofa's right there. Not because we don't see the sofa, But because we'd like for it to be somewhere else. Who do you think you are? So it goes to these Old Testament passages. The statement here in Hosea, those who were not my people, I will call my people and her who was not beloved, I will call beloved. Isn't that great? Paul says, you should have understood and not been surprised that God brought in Gentiles. The very place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God. Isaiah cries out concerning Israel. Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved." By the way, what is he going back to? His argument earlier on in chapter 9. His whole argument in chapter 9. People are saying, has God forgotten Israel? Isaiah says there's only going to be a remnant of national Israel who's going to be saved. Where have you been? Where have you been? Not everyone who is born of this stock is going to be saved. God has made that clear. God has also made it clear that there's some outsiders who are going to come in. Where have you been? This is not a new teaching. This is not a new message. This is the message of redemptive history. It's not hidden. Therefore, your best and only hope is to repent and believe what God has revealed. That's your best and only hope. To repent and believe what God has revealed. Yeah, but I don't understand this. OK. Are you trusting what you do understand? Are you obeying what you do understand? Have you done that? Have you? Or are you so caught up with the finer technicalities that that which is obvious and before your eyes is being neglected? Are you so caught up with the hows and where-to-fors of election and predestination that your ears have been dulled to repent and belief. Is that the case? Are you so worried about whether or not God has overstepped His bounds that you are no longer fearful before Him because you've overstepped yours? You're so caught up with the minutiae that you miss the neon sign that says, bow the knee before God. Do you realize who it is that you're dealing with? Do you realize that this One whom you question is not only sustaining you, but that He's coming again to judge the living and the dead, and that there will be no Q&A time? When He shows up with fire in His eyes and a sword on His thigh, you will ask Him nothing. You will merely bow. And if you have not done business with Him by then, you will merely beg for time that no longer exists for you, and for a chance that has passed for you, because you did not bow the knee when the opportunity was yours. Instead, you questioned God because your finite mind didn't like or understand some minor aspect of how He chose to save His people. Who do you think you are? Am I saying there's no place for questions? No, it's not what I'm saying. But Paul's not saying that either. He's answered question after question after question. He has explained the doctrine. But at this point, he gets to the heart, not of the question, but of the questioner. What I'm saying to you today, because we've answered this again and again and again, we've answered this. What I'm saying to you today is, Do you keep asking questions because you can't understand that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and that you desperately need to bow the knee and repent? Or are you asking questions because you wonder whether or not this God who saved you is worthy of your worship? Do you have a question because you desire to worship God in the fullness of His majesty and know Him more? Or do you have a question because you think He owes it to you to explain Himself? Do you have a question? Because you're confused. Or do you have a question? Because you're arrogant. Which one is it? Are you one of those people who just likes to sit up and ask theological questions because you like the sound of your own voice asking theological questions? Or are you a worshipper of the one true and living God who is in passionate pursuit of the one whom you love and whom you serve, and you want to love Him more deeply and serve Him more passionately? Which one is it? Do you recognize that He is God and you are man? Do you recognize that He is Creator and you are creature? Do you recognize that He is Potter and you are clay? Are there questions born out of that recognition? Or have you gotten things twisted? Have you forgotten your place? Have you forgotten the fear of God? I don't know about you, I don't want God coming to me like He came to Job. My desire is to always come before God with a bowed head and a humble heart, recognizing who He is and the reverence and the honor that is due to Him, that is owed to Him. Bowing before God and recognizing that He killed His Son for my sin. That changes what you ask God, and it changes the way you ask God. You come before God in humility saying, God, I don't understand how The spotless, sinless Lamb of God can be crucified for my sin. I do not comprehend how you can love me and save me and redeem me and receive me as your own. I do not understand how you can forsake your only and eternally begotten Son merely so that you can call me your Son. I don't understand that. Explain it, please. Or do you stand before God, whose hands, figuratively speaking, are red with the blood of His own Son who He has crushed and killed for you, and dare ask Him to explain why some are saved and others are not? How dare you? How dare you? Who do you think God is? Do you not know that our God is a consuming fire? Do you not know that your righteousness is but filthy rags in His sight? Do you not know that it was His mercy that woke you up this morning, because His justice would have demanded your death last night? Not saying you can't ask questions. Just don't forget your place in the process. And if you are here today, and you have never bowed the knee to this great God, and yet you think one day you will face Him on your own merit, I ask again, who do you think you are? Yes, His Son had to be crushed and killed for others, but you have enough merit in yourself to stand before Him. No. Run to Christ. Run to Him. Plead for mercy. Beg for forgiveness. Turn from your sin. Stop trusting yourself. Trust only in God. And come with a heart that is all at the same time terrified of the One to whom you are running, but recognizing that He is your only hope. So you press on beyond the fear. He is willing to save. Just come to Him. Not in arrogance, but in humility. But come.