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NASB | Romans 9:21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 9:21 Does the potter not have the right over the clay, to make from the same lump [of clay] one object for honorable use [something beautiful or distinctive] and another for common use [something ordinary or menial]? |
Bible Question:
I am wondering if a calvinist could explain to me why God, if all things are ordained by him, would judge people? what I mean is, if God made us all, and God chose everything we would do, why did he give us the 'illusion' of freewill, and why would he judge us for things he made us do? I can understand it if I except God delegates Authority to man so that we may choose to love him, then I can see why all the suffering and death and pain are worth it to God, because some will "choose" to love him, But if in the end we cannot choose, why did he not simply make us perfect in the first place? God is outside of time, so to me words like foreordained, and foreknew, are meaningless in the context of God himself, though they obviously have meaning to man. |
Bible Answer: He did create us perfectly in Adam and Eve. God chose them to perfectly represent the whole human race. They made exactly the same choices we all would have made since they were our perfect reprresentatives. We pick politicians to represent us, but they don't do so perfectly. However, God was able to create two individuals to represent us all perfectly. Adam and Eve were created intelligent, free, and were warned about choosing to disobey and what the consequences would be. They got what they asked for. Fortunately, God is willing to save some of us from eternal Hell by taking that curse of sin on Himself in the person of His Son Jesus. Jesus endured the equivalent of spending an eternity in Hell for all those He came to save. Why did He choose some and not others? Here is a good site I found to help understand God's election / predestination. You will need to cut and paste the address into your browser: http://www.bible.org/docs/theology/proper/attrib/attrib-11.htm#TopOfPage |