Romans 9:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

As I have said, such understanding is accessible only to spiritual people. It is far removed from the wisdom of the flesh.

Thus the Apostle answers the questioner so that he may understand that, first of all, he must lay aside the man of clay. Then he may deserve to examine all this with the help of the Spirit.

Likewise, can one complain when the all-knowing and just God manifests some people as “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,” for example, the rejected Jews?

And when He manifests over others the riches of His glory, as “over vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory”; Rom 9:22-23?

That is, over us, the chosen, the Apostle adds, “whom He called, not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles,” according to the prophecies of Hosea and Isaiah; Rom 9:24-29.

The Apostle later expresses this directly, saying in verse 22 that the Hebrews, by their quality, deserved only to be utterly destroyed, like defiled vessels.

Yet God spared them according to His mercy and in view of the higher purposes of the divine economy. In that economy the Gentiles were to receive a joyful share.

They proved to be vessels just as fit for the higher purpose as those Jews who were directly prepared for the great honor of being chosen believers in Christ.

The Apostle’s basic thought here is the same as in the earlier examples, especially in the last one. Everything is under the authority of God.

No one can resist this authority, nor even object to it. The creature must submit in silence and reverence to its Creator and Provider.

According to Chrysostom, the Apostle seeks here no other goal than to persuade the hearer to submit to God in all things, and to demand no account from Him in anything.

“As the potter makes what he wishes from the same lump, and no one contradicts him, so do not question or inquire of God why He punishes some and rewards others.

This is true even though they are people of one and the same nation. Instead, reverence Him and imitate the clay.

As it is submissive to the potter’s hands, so you should submit to the decree of the Ruler of the universe. He does not act without purpose, nor at random, though you do not comprehend the mysteries of wisdom.

Yet it does not depend on the potter alone that from the same lump one thing comes out for honorable use and another for low use. Rather, it depends on the use made by those who use the object.

So here also the matter depends on free choice. As Pharaoh became a vessel of wrath by his own lawlessness, so those who were saved became vessels of mercy by their piety.

If the greater part belongs to God, we nevertheless contribute something small from ourselves. Although one must both will and struggle, one must not rely on one’s own struggles.

Rather, one must rely on God’s love for mankind. As the Apostle also said about himself elsewhere: ‘not I, but the grace which was with me’; 1 Cor 15:10.

Why, then, do some become vessels of wrath and others vessels of mercy? By their own free choice.

Yet God, according to His immeasurable goodness, shows mercy to both. He had mercy not only on those being saved, but also on Pharaoh, as much as possible.

Both those being saved and Pharaoh enjoyed the same longsuffering. If Pharaoh was not saved, this was entirely by his own will.”

He did this in such a way that he did not conceal the second agent, human free choice. This choice is worthy, according to its disposition, of mercy or wrath. On the contrary, he let it be clearly understood.

Nevertheless, the proposed question arose by itself, especially after the concluding statement: “He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.”

If everything is from God, even dispositions of will that do not please Him, then why does He still reproach? For who can resist His will?

It follows that the one disapproved is not guilty when God makes him such, for he is not such by himself.

“If He has mercy on whom He wills and hardens whom He wills, then the human disposition depends on His will.

If this is truly so, then He does not justly impose punishment on those who sin. For it is impossible to resist what is pleasing to Him”; blessed Theodoret.

“He willed and hardened, and the hardened one sinned by necessity. How, then, can He accuse and punish him?”; blessed Theophylact.

This objection follows from the Apostle’s preceding words only in appearance. As has been noted, in the last verses he chiefly referred everything to God’s will.

Yet he did this while allowing the participation of human free choice, or the worthiness and unworthiness of men, to be understood.

Therefore he could have said: you have misunderstood my speech. But he grants something to the objectors. Let everything depend on the will of God, which no one can resist.

From this very fact it follows that you do not dare object. For the creature must submit to God in silence. How, then, do you dare to object?