(Bible)
If God hath absolute sovereignty over the salvation or reprobation of man such as just shown in the past verses about Pharaoh. And if God can harden a man's heart and leave the man empty of saving grace then the question from prideful, boastful, arrogant men naturally arises: "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" As I asked earlier in verse 14, where a question is similarly asked, does your doctrine of election warrant this type of response? For most, the doctrine of election is bent in order to make it more appealing and more understandable to our human minds, this great doctrine suffers greatly because of its misunderstanding. Nevertheless the matter remains in the hand of God, and so the question above arises, which Paul doesn't necessarily answer more than he just makes it very clear that we are nothing to question the wise counsel of God. "But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?'"(cf. Isaiah 45:9).
This to Paul is absurd, for men to think they have any jurisdiction whatsoever to question God in His dealings with His own salvation. Paul declares the Lord as sovereign over all.
"Who art thou, thou that art so foolish, so feeble, so short-sighted, so incompetent a judge of divine counsels? Art thou able to fathom such a depth, dispute such a case, to trace that way of God which is in the sea, His path in the great waters? That repliest against God. It becomes us to submit to Him, not to reply against Him; to lie down under His hand, not to fly in His face, nor to charge Him with folly...we are the thing formed, and He is the former; and it does not become us to challenge or arraign His wisdom in ordering and disposing of us into this or that shape of figure. The rude and unformed mass of matter hath no right to this or that form, but is shaped at the pleasure of Him that formeth it." (Henry)
Paul then gives a comparison: "Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?" I think this proves the arbitrary and sovereign work of God in how He chooses to form the vessels that He does. We are all of the same lump of clay, no one more deserving than another. As the potter has the right to take a lump of clay and form one into a vessel for honor so he also has that same right to use some of the clay for dishonor.
"What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory..."
"What if..." has been taken by Calvin and most other theologians, not as a hypothetical statement, but as a more or less "so what" kind of statement. It is indeed a statement made in human terms but Paul is not giving a statement that would not be true of how it is God deals with His creation.
In order to make His power known and to show His wrath He, "endures with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction..." God is here pleased to show His righteous and great power in the destruction of the wicked. "Vessels of wrath" who are "prepared" as Henry would say, "fitted by their own sin and self-hardening...[and are made] combustible matter, fit for the flames of hell"(Henry).
Now there is a bit of a difference between the commentaries on double-predestination and God withholding saving graces. To be honest I am not going to go into any kind of differences or debate on a doctrine which really has "indirect bearing on Christian behavior"(Reformation Bible).
You'll notice here that all of this is to "His glory." The way in which He deals with those vessels fitted for wrath is to display the greatness and riches of His glory by the mercy He shows the vessels which He has chosen.
The end of all things that God has created is to display His glory. Everything from election to salvation to glorification and judgment are to display the greatness of God. Even the vessels fitted for wrath will make a display of that greatness, whether an unbeliever wishes to glorify God or not, he will do it one way or another.
"...us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles..." Simply put the God gives mercy to all different people, not of the Jews only but also of the Gentiles.
Citation:
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*Calvin Commentary
*Reformation Study Bible
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