The Potter and the Clay

Read aloud

Paul voices an objection to God's sovereignty: if no one can resist His will, why does He still find fault? His answer begins with the difference between Creator and creature. A vessel cannot put its maker in the wrong by asking, “Why did You make me like this?”

The potter has the right to shape clay for different uses. God has authority over what He has made. Paul then speaks of God bearing with great patience the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and making known the riches of His glory to vessels of mercy prepared in advance for glory. Judgment is real, and mercy is purposeful.

Those called to receive mercy include both Jews and Gentiles. Paul turns to Hosea's promise that people once called not God's people will be called His people and sons of the living God. The Lord creates a belonging that those people could not claim for themselves.

Isaiah supplies a sober companion to that promise. Although Israel is numerous, a remnant will be saved. The Lord's judgment will be carried out, and the survival of a people is itself a gift. Without His preserving mercy, Isaiah says, they would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah. Their survival is reason for gratitude to the Lord who preserved them.

Paul is showing that the present gathering of Jews and Gentiles fits God's Scriptures. Neither ancestry nor numbers can force His saving hand. Those He calls have reason to marvel that the holy Creator has shown them mercy.