SOAP 05/28/2012; Romans 9:19-24

Today's reading: Proverbs 7, 8, 9; Romans 9
    
S)"¹⁹ You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?' ²⁰ On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this,' will it? ²¹ Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? ²² What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? ²³ And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles."
     

Romans 9:19:24 (NASB)

     

O) So, this is a lot of scripture to digest, but I simply could not dissect this to journal about one portion of it. Paul so bluntly, but so concisely and precisely addresses what is such a common, common argument from the world. People want to know why God would make them a certain way, and then tell them not to behave per their nature. I see this a lot with homosexuality (despite what I believe, regarding the idea of being born gay, or it being genetic, or anything along those lines). Paul skips right over any response that has to do with the broken world in which we live, and how sin entering the world means we are all born into sin. A person who feels like they were born gay is no different than a person who feels like they were born prone to substance abuse (or was subjected to it early in life with no defense for it), or a person who is constantly struggling with lust, or a person who struggles with greed and materialism. We're all born into a selfish mindset, just look at a toddler snatching a toy from another child. Paul skips any issue like that because it all boils down to one thing: are you going to humble yourself to acknowledge He's sovereign and we can't complain? Are we going to humble ourselves to accept His mercy, and admit that we need mercy, regardless of why we're a sinner? Because even if a person wants to argue that God should not have created them subject to a sinful nature, the simple fact is that He did - but He also offers mercy - all of us can have His mercy.
     
A) Humble myself before the LORD. Humble myself before the LORD. Humble myself before the LORD. Over and over this is in the Bible, not because God wants drones, but because it is impossible to accept His mercy, truly, without a humble heart. Setting aside the fact that arrogance is a sin, in itself, it's nigh impossible to avoid sin and walk in an upright heart with every other temptation, if I am being arrogant or prideful along the way. I cannot abide the lie that God is somehow unfair for my sinful nature. The truth is that God is unfair for His mercy toward me, toward all who are willing to turn their hearts to Him. Life is unfair, but as a child of God, life is unfair in the best possible way.

     

P) Father, I am humbled again in light of Your righteousness and my iniquity. I am humbled again in light of Your mercies and my guilt. Holy Spirit, when I hear that lie, that it's not fair about how God created man, whether I hear it from other people or in my own head as an attack from the enemy, remind me of this exact passage. God, You are unfair and I am thankful for it. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.