Romans 9.19-33

Two great truths collide in this passage…God’s sovereignty and our responsibility. Both are true. God chooses and yet we have a choice. Nothing happens contrary to God’s purposes and yet we can’t say, “It’s not my fault.”

But we don’t want to miss Paul’s point…he’s not trying to create a Gordian knot for theologians to argue and debate over. He ultimately wants to bring us back to the gospel…to God’s love and His mercy, His patience even with those who reject Him, and His plan to redeem His creation.

The idea of God’s sovereignty often causes folks to immediately question His fairness. And yet if God acted on the basis of fairness, none of us would be saved. It’s not fair that any of us would receive His mercy. We all deserve to be vessels of wrath destined for destruction because of our sin. It’s only His mercy that allows even one of us to be a vessel of mercy…to make known the riches of His glory to a watching world.

Mercy and wrath. Heaven and hell. Definitely not topics that folks like to talk about these days, and yet it’s imperative that we understand that one day we will all have to give an accounting for the lives that we lived. The only determiner of our final destination will be whether or not we trusted in Jesus. If you have, you are a vessel of mercy prepared beforehand for glory. If you have not, you are still under God’s wrath. So will you choose to trust in Jesus today?

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Romans series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Twitter: @ccclancaster