God’s Sovereign Will and Man’s Free Will Romans 9:19-24 Pastor Keone

Is there anything wrong with this question Is there anything wrong with this question? Why does God send good people to hell?

Is there anything wrong with this question Is there anything wrong with this question? Why does God send good people to hell? What’s this question asserting?

People are good Hell Heaven God refuses entry into heaven

Romans 9:14-18 14 What then shall we say. Is God unjust. Not at all Romans 9:14-18 14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

Romans 9:19 19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?"

Romans 9:19 19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?“ If God has sovereign choice to have mercy or harden, then why does He still hold us accountable for our sin? We are just doing what he has willed us to do.

Romans 9:20-21 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God Romans 9:20-21 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

Romans 9:20-21 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God Romans 9:20-21 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? Who are you to argue with God? He your creator. He can bestow His blessings where, when, and on whom He chooses. God’s will is sovereign!

However, while through our human logic God's sovereignty and human free will seem to be opposed to each other,

However, while through our human logic God's sovereignty and human free will seem to be opposed to each other, the Bible upholds both God's sovereignty and human free will.

Jeremiah 18:1-6 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 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. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like like in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Jeremiah 18:7-10 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

John 6:44-47 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

God’s will is sovereign, but man has the free will to respond to God.

God’s will is sovereign, but man has the free will to respond to God God’s will is sovereign, but man has the free will to respond to God. Each person will have to take responsibility for how you have responded to God.

Romans 9:22-24 22 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath-- prepared for destruction? 23 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-- 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

Objects of God’s wrath Borne with great patience To show God’s wrath and make know His power Prepared for destruction

Romans 2:4-6 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God "will give to each person according to what he has done."

Objects of God’s wrath Borne with great patience To show God’s wrath and make know His power Prepared for destruction Not divinely decreed to be objects of wrath, but through their refusal to respond in repentant are being prepared for destruction.

Romans 9:22-24 22 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath-- prepared for destruction? 23 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-- 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

Objects of God’s mercy Riches of His glory made know to them Includes people called from Jews and Gentiles Divinely prepared in advance for glory

Heaven Hell Double Predestination God has chosen from the beginning of time who would be saved and who would be condemned.

Heaven Hell Heaven Hell Double Predestination Single Predestination God has chosen from the beginning of time who would be saved and who would be condemned. Single Predestination All have been condemned to hell because of sin, but in mercy from the beginning of time, God chose some to be saved. Hell Heaven

Romans 3:10-12 10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." Romans 3:23 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

1 Timothy 2:3-4 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Takeaways Deeper gratitude for God’s mercy and blessings More ready and receptive response to God’s leadings Greater desire to be on mission with God