The Potter and the Clay

When discussing whether or not mankind has free will to choose to accept God, those who believe we do not have a choice, but rather are "predestined" by God to either go to heaven or hell, will use Romans 9:19-21 as evidence to support their belief. The passage reads, "One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?" The inclination is to say that because God has the right to do what He pleases with the clay, then that means that He has chosen the eternal outcome for each individual that has ever lived on earth. As one website puts it, "God predetermined that certain individuals would be conformed to the likeness of His Son, be called, justified, and glorified. Essentially, God predetermines that certain individuals will be saved." As I have stated before, I believe in predestination, but I don't believe in it the way those that say we do not have free will believe in it. Another verse used to support their view is Ephesians 1:11, which reads, "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will ..." I believe the answer is within the verse. When it says, "In him," this means that God has chosen the criteria by which a person is saved, not the individual themselves. If you have made the choice to accept Jesus Christ as your savior, you are, essentially, "in Him." Therefore, you have been predestined to go to heaven because you have accepted the criteria by which God makes that determination. Conversely, if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, and do not accept Him prior to your death, then you have been predestined to go to Hell. What is never mentioned by people who believe we have been given no choice in the matter of salvation are all the scriptures that talk about God's love and His command to preach the Gospel. Did God love the world so much that He gave His only Son (John 3:16) to die for its sins? Well, apparently, He did not love the world because a good portion of the world is predestined to eternal damnation. Was Jesus mistaken when He said to the disciples to "make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19)"? He should have just gave them a list of those who have already been chosen by God so they can just go speak to them, right? After all, what is the point of going to all nations when everybody can't respond to the Gospel? But, I digress. What about the example of the potter and the clay?

There is a parallel passage to the one in Romans 9, found in Jeremiah 18:2-6. There it reads, "“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel."" What I want you to look at is verse 4 where it talks of the clay being, "marred in his hands."When something is marred, it means it is resistant to some degree. Keep in mind that the Lord was speaking about the nation of Israel. We know all about Israel's disobedience to the Lord, even to this day. They were "marred" because of their resistance to what God wanted for them. What did the potter do with this "marred" clay? Continuing in Jeremiah 18:4 it says, "so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him." The potter did the best he could with the clay and formed it into another pot. In other words, God did/is doing the best He can with the nation of Israel given their resistance to Him. Therefore, when Romans 9 talks about God making the clay into pottery for special use and some for common use, it means God does the best He can with what He has been given to work with.There are people who want what God has to offer and some people who don't want what He has offered. Later in the same chapter, it says, "What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles (Romans 9:23-24)? The clay God is working with comes from the Jews and the Gentiles. This is another way of saying God has called the entire world to be "objects of his mercy who he prepared in advance for glory." He has not called certain individuals, but all the world to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Not everybody will respond to that call, but everybody is invited. Some will respond to His call, others will resist it. And God does the best He can with what He has been given. It is not about God choosing to send some people to hell and choosing others to be saved, it is about both being given the same choice to respond to His mercy, through faith in Jesus Christ. Some respond and are saved. Some will resist and will go to hell.