It's ironic because I was just talking about this issue with my friend Evan last weekend, but I'm reading through Romans with reformed commentary, and bumped into Romans 9 today. So, basically, Paul says, God chooses before you're born whom He will Love and whom he will hate (using Jacob and Esau as examples). This means God's favor is not dependent on our actions.... which is good for most of us as we are all hopelessly sinful (duh!). But here's the clincher.. if it's only by grace that any of us find favor, and God punishes the sins of those he chooses to hate, why is it those peoples' fault?? I mean, take Pharaoh for example. Was so close to letting the Israelites go quite a few times, but then God hardens his heart and now he's gonna be held accountable for that. Now Paul also uses clay as an example. The potter gets to decide if it's gonna be an favored ash tray, or a piss pot, or a goblet used by a king. O.K. I get that, it works, but then, isn't the piss pot just being virtuous by being used for "low" tasks? Aren't they just doing what God decided ahead of time they would do? So who's fault is it really?
Now, don't get me wrong, I know that my sin is my sin! I know that I can (at least as far as I know) choose to do right. But it's more the idea of Salvation that seems "unfair". I guess it's like the Newsboys said it "when we don't get what we deserve, it's a real good thing, a real good thing, when we get what we don't deserve, it's a real good thing..."
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Ephesians 2
ReplyDelete1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.