Romans 9:19-24
To say that this is a hard passage is an understatement on two levels. It is genuinely hard to follow the argument that Paul is making, and the argument that Paul is making is hard to take in.
At first, the question that Paul is asking seems like the reasonable response to what we just read. God says that He Himself hardened Pharaoh’s heart to judge him. So Paul anticipates the question: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’” (Romans 9:19).
It sounds reasonable until you think about it. Paul’s entire argument thus far is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We as creatures have no standing to put our Creator in the dock, and as sinners we certainly cannot accuse Him of injustice for judging sin.
The point Paul is making is that there is no innocent clay at all. But God patiently endures vessels of wrath prepared for destruction while making known the riches of His glory to vessels of mercy. Evil truly faces His power and wrath. That judgment is no mere hypothetical. He is not capricious. He endures them with much patience. But ultimately, He gives them what they have earned.
Why? His wrath reveals that His justice is real. His mercy reveals that our salvation is grace. Neither allows the vessel of mercy to boast. It is not that we are better clay, nor that we have earned it, but that He doesn’t give us what we have earned.
So God remains both “just and the Justifier” (Romans 3:26). He is just in judging the wicked, and He remains just when He justifies the guilty who have faith in Christ.
It is not miraculous that God allows those who are earning their destruction to finally receive what they’ve earned. It is miraculous that God intervenes to save vessels of mercy who have been earning their own destruction.
-steve