In verses 19-24, Paul anticipates, and answers, another objection to this teaching, and he states it in verse 19, "You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?'" The essence of the anticipated objection is this: "If God is sovereign in showing mercy to some, and hardening others, why does He blame those He hardens? How can He hold them responsible for their actions?" This objection is impudent and blasphemous, because it attempts to blame God for our sins, and accuses Him of being unrighteous and unfair for holding us accountable for our sins, when the truth is, we know in our own hearts that WE alone are responsible for our own transgressions. We choose to sin, God does not force us.

Paul's reply to anyone who would raise such an objection is found in verses 20-24, where an obvious reference to Isaiah 45:9 is made. In verse 20, he would humble such a person by reminding him of who he is, and Who God is, "But indeed, O man, WHO ARE YOU to reply against God? Will the THING FORMED say to HIM THAT FORMED IT, 'Why have You made me like this?' " And then, in verse 21, Paul introduces the example of a potter and a lump of clay, "Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?" An earthly potter may take a lump of clay and form from it one vessel that is glorious and beautiful, made for honorable use, while he may take the same lump of clay tobring forth a clay pot that has no beauty and is a vessel of dishonor, made for dishonorable uses.

In verses 22-24, Paul uses this analogy of the potter and the clay to show that God has, and definitely chooses to exercise, the same right over his fallen creatures as the potter has over a lump of clay.

"What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the VESSELS OF WRATH prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the VESSELS OF MERCY, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?"

In this illustration, God is likened to a Heavenly Potter, who brings forth from the same lump of clay, which represents the corrupt mass of mankind as fallen in Adam, two kinds of vessels. Some are vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for glory; that is, some persons He chose or elected beforehand (Ephes. 1:3-12) from among both Jews and Gentiles, and determined to display His mercy and grace in them by regenerating and saving them. [In this regard, please see Ephesians 2:1-7, with particular emphasis on verse 4.] He then brings forth other persons from the same lump of clay, again representing the corrupt mass of mankind fallen in Adam, as vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. God permits them to continue on in their natural self-will and rebellion, though He endures with them with much patience and longsuffering, but eventually displays both His power and His wrath in their everlasting destruction. There is by nature absolutely no difference between these two groups of individuals -- all are by nature guilty sinners before God (Romans 3:19), all are by nature dead in trespasses and sins, under Satan's power, and thoroughly deserving of the wrath of God (Romans 1:18; Ephesians 2:1-3). The only thing that makes the difference is the sovereign mercy and grace of God, bestowed upon, and displayed in, those whom He chooses (Ephesians 2:4-5). In order to bring this truth out more clearly, let's make a Biblical comparison of two men, Pharaoh and Saul of Tarsus.

Pharaoh, king of Egypt, hated the people of God -- so did Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:1). Pharaoh sought to kill the people of God -- Saul of Tarsus was hell-bent and determined to persecute and kill all the disciples of Christ (Acts 22:4-5). Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?" (Exodus 5:2) -- Saul of Tarsus believed Jesus of Nazareth was a fake and an imposter, and held the clothing of those men who stoned His disciple Stephen to death as Stephen called upon God, saying "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:58-59). Pharaoh dropped into Hell under the waters of the Red Sea (Exodus 14) -- Saul of Tarsus was unhorsed and destrutted on the road to Damascus, conquered and subdued by the manifested glory and marvelous grace of the risen and exalted Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 9:3-19). Later, he changed his name to Paul, was called to be an apostle of Christ, and eventually wrote at least 13 books of the New Testament! God said of Pharaoh: "Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee..." (Romans 9:17). The same God said of the murderer Saul of Tarsus, upon his conversion: "He is a CHOSEN VESSEL unto Me." (Acts 9:15)! The ONLY THING that made the difference in these two men was the SOVEREIGN, ELECTING GRACE OF GOD -- one was a vessel of wrath prepared for destruction, the other was a vessel of mercy, prepared beforehand for glory! (Romans 9:22-23)

In concluding this illustration, I direct your attention to Acts 22:1-16, where the converted Saul of Tarsus, now known as the Apostle Paul, gave his own personal testimony before a large group of unbelievers, who were so antagonistic against him and his preaching that they had already arrested him and given him a terrible beating. After telling these people about how the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him in His majestic glory on the road to Damascus, and about his own miraculous conversion, Paul boldly proclaimed before this group of unbelievers God's sovereign, electing grace as the sole cause of his own salvation! In essence, he tells them, "The reason I am a Christian is because God chose me to salvation, and I learned that the very first day!" In verse 14, Paul repeats the words Annanias spoke to him immediately after his conversion, "The God of our fathers HAS CHOSEN YOU that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth." According to these verses, Paul testifies that God's sovereign electing grace was the very first Christian truth Annanias taught him as a new convert, and as you can see from these verses, when Paul gave his own personal testimony, he was neither ashamed nor afraid to preach it before both believers and unbelievers!

Let's look at one more example of a bold, straightforward statement of this truth, and that is from Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, who wrote in Acts 13:48, "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the Word of the Lord: and as many as were ORDAINED to eternal life believed." The Greek root word translated "ordained" in this verse is TASSO, also translated "ordained" in Rom. 13:1. The NIV translates this phrase, "and all who were appointed for eternal life believed." In the context, it simply means that certain Gentiles ("as many as") were appointed (we could also say "chosen," or "elected") by God to eternal life, and as a result of this Divine appointment or election, they believed the Gospel message which was preached unto them by the Apostles.

My friend, in view of this tremendous revelation of God's sovereignty in salvation, made known to us in the passages above, we would be wise not to question the wisdom of our Maker (See Isaiah 45:9!), but to fall prostrate before Him in adoration and praise that He would choose to save any of us, and especially you and me! The real wonder is not so much that He hated and rejected Esau, but that He loved and chose Jacob! A study of the life of Jacob in the book of Genesis will show that it was only the grace of God that transformed him from a lying, deceitful rascal (Gen. 27:18-40) into a prince with God (Gen. 32:28)! And as I reflect and meditate upon these precious truths, I am filled with wonder and praise to our sovereign God that He would choose to have mercy upon me! But for God's electing love, and His tender mercy revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and His blood-shedding on Calvary's cross, I would have been in Hell a long time ago! I praise God that He did not reward me according to what I deserved, but that He dealt with me "according to His (great) mercy." I still don't understand it, and I know I'll never get over it! Truly, my dear friend, it would become poor sinful finite creatures such as we to accept by faith what we may not be able to reconcile by reasoning powers which have been corrupted and perverted by sin -- and then to exclaim with the Apostle Paul at the end of Romans chapter 11,

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Whom be glory forever. Amen." (Rom. 11:33-36)

In concluding this section on the definition of God's Remedy, we seek to give a fuller and more comprehensive definition of the sovereign grace and mercy of God below, with Scriptural support given in the footnotes:

"GRACE is that UNMERITED FAVOR OF GOD, whereby in His own SOVEREIGN good pleasure, IT PLEASES THE TRIUNE GOD to MANIFEST HIS OWN GLORY ¹ by showing KINDNESS and MERCY to those whom, before the foundation of the world, GOD THE FATHER CHOSE, OR ELECTED ² to save, or redeem (with absolutely NO consideration or foresight of anything in them) from among His enemies,³ ALL of which are by nature rebellious, Hell-deserving sinners ⁴ -- by effectually calling them through GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT,⁵ to repentance toward God, and faith in His dear Son,⁶ by justifying them,⁷ by delivering them from the reigning power of sin and Satan,⁸ by adopting them into His family and giving them the Spirit of adoption, the Holy Spirit, to indwell them,⁹ by giving them spiritual and eternal life ¹⁰ and transforming them by regeneration, or the New Birth,¹¹ so that they willingly ¹² become His true worshippers,¹³ and His obedient, loving servants,¹⁴ and who are ultimately to be glorified, or perfectly conformed to the image of His dear Son ¹⁵ -- all of this at a TREMENDOUS COST to Him of incomprehensible PERSONAL SACRIFICE: ¹⁶ the VOLUNTARY, SUBSTITUTIONARY, PROPITIATORY SACRIFICE,¹⁷ the shedding of the PRECIOUS BLOOD,¹⁸ of His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ ¹⁹ (who is GOD THE SON manifest in human flesh) in their behalf." ²⁰

¹ Ephesians 1:5-6,9, 2:4-9, Luke 12:32, Exodus 33:17-19, Romans 9:15-16; ² Ephesians 1:3-4, Acts 13:48, John 6:37, 17:2, 2 Thess. 2:13; ³ Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:21; Rom. 9:16; ⁴ Ephesians 2:1-3, Titus 3:3-7, Romans 3:9-12; 5:18; ⁵ Romans 8:28-30, 1 Corinthians 1:23-31, 2 Timothy 1:9, John 6:37,65, Jeremiah 31:3; ⁶ Acts 13:48, 16:14, 18:27, 20:21; ⁷ Romans 3:24-26, 4:5, 5:9, 8:30,33; ⁸ John 8:31-36, Romans 6:14-22, Acts 26:18, Colossians 1:13; ⁹ John 1:12, Ephesians 1:5, Galatians 4:5-7; ¹⁰ John 5:21,24-25, 10:27-28, 17:2; ¹¹ Ephesians 2:10, Titus 3:3-8; ¹² Philippians 2:13, Psalms 110:3; ¹³ John 4:23-24; ¹⁴ Psalms 119:57-60, John 14:15,21,23, Hebrews 5:8-9, I John 2:3-4, 3:14, 4:11-21, Revelation 14:12, 22:3; ¹⁵ Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; ¹⁶ John 3:14-17, 2 Corinthians 8:9, 1 Peter 1:18-19; ¹⁷ John 10:11,15, 2 Corinth. 5:21, Romans 3:24-26; ¹⁸ 1 Peter 1:18-19; ¹⁹ 1 John 4:9-10, 2 Tim. 3:16; ²⁰ Acts 20:28.

The rest of this book is devoted to a continuation of the development of each aspect of this definition, as we seek to explore in detail the wonderful revelation of the marvelous, sovereign grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, as it is set forth in God's Holy Word. We will see from the Bible how the three Divine Persons of the triune God cooperate together in the plan of salvation -- an agreement, or unity of purpose, conceived in the mind of God in eternity, before the creation of the universe, angels, or men. We will see from the Holy Scriptures that the Centerpiece, the grand focal point of God's eternal purpose, is the voluntary blood-shedding, the Substitutionary Sacrifice, of His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, nearly 2,000 years ago upon Calvary's cross. God has been pleased to reveal to us in the Scriptures much of the details of His great eternal plan which is called "His purpose" (Romans 8:28); "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11); and "His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Timothy 1:9).

With these thoughts in mind, let us see what the Holy Scriptures reveal concerning the participation of each Person of the Holy Trinity in that great "Plan of Salvation." First in our study, then, we will consider the work of GOD THE FATHER, Who is represented throughout the Scriptures as the One Who conceived, planned, and purposed man's redemption, even before the world began.