What if God Really Did Do This One Thing? by ALEX KOCMAN

We like to keep God in our own theological box, but the hardest pill to swallow in the book of Romans is that God is perfectly justified in condemning or saving whomever He pleases. (CreationSwap/Travis Silva)

What if God Really Did Do This One Thing?

5/6/2014 ALEX KOCMAN  CHRISTIAN LIFE NEWS

Whenever I’ve had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with someone, perhaps the biggest regret I have in every conversation ismaking too little of God’s justice.

We pray for help, healing, guidance, and the salvation of others. We thank God for good things, like food in our stomachs and a roof over our heads. When we’re feeling inspired, we give God some holy attention in worship. And, in moments of great clarity, we may even have the wisdom and soberness to thank Him for the cross.

But almost never do we dare let our minds wander to God’s justice—much lest praise Him for it.

What if God _________?

Theologians argue in circles over God’s sovereignty and our own free will, and countless volumes have been written throughout church history with little consensus. And in the name of unity, many young Christians tune the whole thing out.

But as a result, one of Paul’s most frightening verses has been profoundly ignored.

“What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy…?” (Romans 9:22-23a)

Many believers, upon reading this verse, will barge into Scripture to douse the fire of this verse. “Surely God doesn’t create people just to send them to Hell,” we are quick to specify—and rightly so, of course.

But that said, the problem is that Paul’s point isn’t mainly to teach a theological principle about how we get saved. His main point is to ask one question:

What if?

What if God did have full control over who chooses Him and who didn’t?

What if He did have the ability to force everyone into Heaven by trusting the Gospel, but to glorify Himself, He didn’t?

Am I suggesting that God made certain people just for the hell fire? Certainly not. But regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, consider this.

Before You Answer…

How you answer the questions of God’s sovereignty in this passage is not the point. The point is that God has the right to do whatever He wants.

He is not arbitrary, unjust, or egotistical.

He is, simply put, God.

He does nothing that’s inconsistent with His perfect justice and righteousness—even forgiving us required that His wrath be unleashed against a substitute. But His sense of justice is just a wee bit superior to ours.

Are we okay with the possibilities that opens up?

Respectable thinkers can make compelling arguments for both sides of the Calvinism/Arminianism debate. But whoever you are, as soon as you find yourself clinging at all costs to, “God can’t do _______,” you might be thinking in the flesh.

We all must realize already that God would have been perfectly justified not to saveanyone at all; why are we so quick to limit the character and behavior of a God whom we can only access at a blood-bought, great and terrible price?

“Perfect love casts out fear,” we cite over and over again, reminding ourselves that we don’t have to be scared of God. But even this oft-used verse implies that there was some fear to begin with in need of being cast out.

In other words, God is fearsome—yet the sacrificial punishment of Christ grants us the tremendous gift of full access to His love and mercy only, Christ having absorbed all His justice and wrath.

The mercy bought to us at the cross gives us access to the same God who proclaimed against His own chosen people: “Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!” (Isaiah 10:5, ESV)

Regardless of where you stand theologically, do not forget that you—the clay has no right to question the potter (Romans 9:21).

The Right Reaction

Biblical theology has its place. But, to butcher Paul’s words from Romans 11 and 12…

Who can fully understand the depths of the riches of God’s knowledge, planning, and power over the human heart? Who can give God advice? To whom does God owe anything? Answer: no one.

By contrast, everything—from the greatest galaxies to the insects crawling the earth, including you and the person you’re sharing the Gospel with—is all for God, from God, to God, and through God. His glory is chief.

So give Him glory sacrifice yourself to Him, and let Him transform your limited human mind.