God is not arbitrary in his decisions or actions“What if God, although willing to demonstrate his wrath and make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” God was willing to punish those who rejected him but decided instead to be patient. This means that God was patient with the people of Israel even though they only deserved destruction. This is important because it shows us that God’s actions and decisions are not capricious or arbitrary but are rather governed by mercy and grace.
God always acts with a good purpose even if it is unknown to us. God had been very patient with Israel in the past and has now removed them from their prestigious spiritual position and he has done both of these things with a good reason.
These vessels, which represent either the nation of Israel as a whole or individual people - it is not clear which, were “prepared for destruction.” The word “prepared” makes it sound like God simply chooses and arbitrarily prepares some people for eternal destruction. This is not the case. The Greek word for “prepared” can also be translated as “suitable” or “fitting” and the word is in the passive rather than the active voice, which indicates that it is something they did to themselves rather than God did to them. Here’s the point, God has been very patient with those who were only suitable for destruction because of their own choices and actions. God’s choices were based on their choices.
God is not unfair! God is not capricious! God is not arbitrary in his decisions! In fact God has been very merciful and patient to those who do not deserve mercy. Every decision he has made has been governed by his mercy and grace. Why has God been so patient in withholding judgment? One reason is given in Romans 2:4 which says that God is patient in order to lead people to repentance. Romans 9:23 gives us a second reason why God has been so patient with rebellious Israel.
Paul says God did this to “make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy. . .” The “riches of his glory” refer to the greatness of his grace and mercy. In other words, we look at Israel with all of her rebellion and see that God must indeed be “rich in mercy.” The history of Israel that we have in the Old Testament glorifies God and encourages us because he has been so patient with those who been so rebellious. Some people misunderstand God’s patience as being unwillingness to judge or as lacking in goodness when actually just the opposite is true.
Contemporary Christian singer Chris Rice has a song that speaks to this issue. The song is entitled “Am I Naive?” Some of the lyrics to the song are:
I hear that a God who is good Would never let the evil run so long But I say it’s because you’re good You’re giving us more time Because I believe you love to show us mercy But when will you step into our sky blue And say that’s quite enough, and your time is up.
Chris Rice is saying the same thing as Paul was saying. God has not poured out judgment not because he is unwilling but because he is merciful, but the day will come when God will judge. In either case, whether God pours out judgment or shows patience and mercy, it is not an arbitrary decision. He does so for a good reason.
Christians are referred to as “objects of mercy” and indeed we are, but we are not “objects of mercy” because of God’s arbitrary choice. God chose us for a reason, albeit not a meritorious reason, but for a reason nonetheless. God did not show us mercy because we deserve it, worked for it, or were born of a certain nationality or ethnic group, but rather we are now objects of his mercy because of trusting in Christ and his righteousness.
Every one of us will encounter times when God seems unfair. We will all run into tricky theological questions and actions that seem to call God’s fairness into question.
Will you trust Him?
No comments:
Post a Comment