Jesus Christ has authority over individuals and nations without violating free will; John 15:16.

 

Title: Jesus Christ has authority over individuals and nations without violating free will; John 15:16.

 

Jesus Christ controls human history and He has the omniscience to harden a heart by manipulating circumstances without manipulating the free will of that heart.

 

Cyrus’ actions set in motion the release of the captive Jews in Babylon. Esau’s actions set in motion the communication of the truth of the spiritual heritage of Israel over her racial heritage. Pharaoh’s actions set in motion the evangelization of the entire Middle East. God used them for this end but He in no way forced them to make the decisions that they did.

 

Paul, anticipating what the next question might be, beats the inquisitor to the punch.

 

ROM 9:19 You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"

 

Mankind will never acquire all the facts needed to put them on the same plane as God so as to find fault.

 

God alone reserves the right to condemn and judge those who reject Christ and to discipline believers who reject doctrine.

 

How can God be fair and do that? This is the anticipated question.

 

If God offered Himself, salvation, and deliverance from all things and the creature said no, then isn’t God just in giving the creature what he has decided - separation from God?

 

The question of who resists His will is a silly one since all of mankind fell at the fall of Adam, so technically all of us have resisted His will.

 

Those of the fallen creatures who reject the work of Christ for salvation also resist His will. Those who believe but reject Bible doctrine also resist His will.

 

God used Moses’ positive volition and Pharaoh’s negative volition to accomplish His will.

 

It was God’s Sovereign will that the Jews be set free from Egypt in order to establish the first client nation. God in His genius found a way to do this by means of His power, but without coercing anyone’s free will. God kept Pharaoh alive so that his heart would become so hard that he would release the Jews. God kept Moses alive so that his heart would become so humble (humblest man) that he would be a great natural leader and spiritual leader.

 

No one can outsmart the omniscience of God. God controls history in order to accomplish all His good pleasure without coercing the free will of billions of creatures.

 

The number of decisions by each person multiplied by the amount of people make for a number of decisions that is beyond human comprehension. The number of effects from those decisions grows exponentially to a multidimensional system that only omniscience can manipulate.

 

When the finite mind stands on the threshold of the infinite mind it must admit in humility that there are just some things it cannot understand. This is where rationalism and empiricism fail and faith becomes a peaceful mind that pleases God. Many teachers stop too soon and say that they cannot understand why God elects some and not others. The clear answer is that it is based on foreseen faith or lack of. Many teachers go too far and think they can figure out all of God’s multidimensional system that only omniscience can manipulate.

 

We have 7 principles to consider before we move on to verse 20 and the answers:

 

1. The imputation of divine righteousness to those who believe in Christ means that the justice of God has the right to condemn those who do not believe in Christ.

 

2. On the basis of the potential of the imputation of blessing in time to the target of imputed righteousness God also has the right to administer punishment and discipline to those believers who do not attain maturity, who reject doctrine, who are distracted from doctrine, and who resist doctrine.

 

3. The perfect righteousness of God is imputed to mankind at salvation through faith in Christ, and that imputation, even though it resides in each one of us, it is still incorruptible.

 

4. The possession of divine righteousness makes it possible for God to deal in grace with the believer and eventually to bless him.

 

5. The justice of God can impute blessing without compromising divine essence where the righteousness of God is imputed.

 

6. The only way for the believer to miss blessing is to try to reinvent the wheel - self-righteousness, legalism.

 

7. The wheel is God’s plan which operates on the perfect axle of divine righteousness imputed and when the believer attempts to use his own self-righteousness as the axle he reinvents the wheel by substituting his own plan for God’s plan, hence failing to exploit the imputation of divine righteousness.

 

The first half of the book of Romans tells us how righteousness is imputed. The last half of the book of Romans tells us how to exploit the imputation of divine righteousness. The parenthesis or the transition becomes the motivation, the encouragement, the understanding, getting back to reality by facing the facts of doctrine.

 

ROM 9:20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to [or contradicts] God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?

 

On the contrary to your erroneous conclusion that God cannot find fault since no one can resist His will - who are you to contradict God?

 

If you don’t know who you are - a fallen sinner who needs a Savior - then you will not know who God is - the deliverer.

 

Faith believes in the deliverance from God and faith believes that one is hopeless and helpless to save oneself. Faith believes that God is infinite in thinking and planning and that the creature cannot attain the level of intelligence where he can intelligently answer back to God in contradiction.

 

By answering back or contradicting God you are overestimating yourself and you are underestimating God.

 

This also refers to our very limited intellect when we unwisely evaluate another’s dealings with God. We may see someone getting away with something, seemingly, and we scream unfair when we were caught.

 

We may see someone getting blessed when we are not. They’re not following God, so we unwisely evaluate, and we think we are following God and we scream, unfair!

The older son of the prodigal son screamed unfair!

 

Ps 73:3

 For I was envious of the arrogant,

As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

 

Ps 73:17

Until I came into the sanctuary of God;

Then I perceived their end.

 

Ps 37:7

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

 

The creature has no more right to challenge the creator than a pot can challenge the potter.

 

ROM 9:20b The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?

 

Make me like what - a believer or unbeliever? Absolutely not. God used Pharaoh’s negative volition to evangelize the world. God could have stopped at one plague or five plagues but He went right on to ten plagues since He knew it would harden Pharaoh’s heart as far as it could go.

 

Man has free will and that alone creates inequality. Man cannot blame his mistakes, failures, and decisions on perfect and incorruptible God.

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