Romans 9:20-21

Context

Romans 9–11 addresses the destiny of Israel, which rejected the Messiah. After stating that God showed mercy according to His own will in the cases of Jacob and Esau and of Moses and Pharaoh, Paul anticipates the objection, "Why doth he yet find fault?" Verses 20–21 are his answer to that objection. The potter metaphor draws on Old Testament imagery found in Isaiah 29:16 and 45:9 and in Jeremiah 18.

Interpretation

• Individual election and reprobation: The Calvinist tradition reads the passage as describing God's sovereign decision to appoint some people to salvation and others to just judgment. On this reading, the point of verse 20 is that human beings have no standing to dispute that decision.
• Roles in history: Many scholars in the Arminian and Wesleyan traditions hold that chapter 9 speaks not of the eternal destiny of individuals but of the roles that Israel and the Gentiles play in the history of salvation. They point out that, just as the potter in Jeremiah 18 reshapes the vessel, God's decisions may also change depending on how people respond (Jeremiah 18:7-10).
• Corporate reading: Another view holds that the "vessels" refer to Israel and the church as corporate bodies. Proponents note that chapters 9–11 conclude with the salvation of "all Israel."

Debates and Issues

A long-standing question concerns the "vessels of wrath fitted to destruction" in verse 22: were they prepared by God, or did they make themselves so? The question arises because the Greek verb can be read as either passive or middle (with a reflexive sense). Some also argue that using this passage to forbid questioning altogether goes too far, noting that Scripture also bears witness to a faith that questions and laments before God, as in Job and the Psalms.

Related Passages

• Jeremiah 18:1-10
• Isaiah 45:9
• Romans 9:22-23
• 2 Timothy 2:20-21