Romans 9:19
in Romans 9One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will?
KJV
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
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This verse in Romans 9
Commentary
13 notes on this verseIt is superfluous, then, what you say to the Apostle, O you who oppose: "Why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will?" It is certain indeed that no one withstands the will of God; but it is fitting that we know his will to be just and right. For that we should be good or evil is a matter of our own will; but to what sort of stripes the evil man is destined, and to what sort of glory the good man, is a matter of God's will.
This site's exposition
why does God still find fault
on Romans 9:19-21
The objector asks why God still finds fault if no one can resist His will. Paul answers with the potter and the clay from Jeremiah 18:1 to 6. The potter holds the right over the same lump, and the thing formed does not question its maker.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Having given his conclusion [in the last verse] Paul plays devil's advocate by asking a rhetorical question.… He responds to this question in a sensible way so that we might understand that the basic rewards of faith and of unbelief are made plain only to spiritual people and not to those who live according to the earthly man. Likewise with the way God in his foreknowledge elects those who will believe and condemns unbelievers. He neither elects the ones because of their works nor condemns the others because of theirs, but he grants to the faith of the ones the ability to do good works and hardens the unbelief of the others by deserting them, so that they do evil. This understanding, as I have said, is given only to spiritual people and is very different from the wisdom of the flesh. Thus Paul counters his inquirer so that he may understand that he first must put away the man of clay in order to be worthy to investigate these things by the Spirit.
Paul teaches us first that nobody can resist God's will because he is more powerful than anyone else. Next he teaches us that God is the Father of all and therefore does not want anyone to suffer evil. What God has made he wants to …
"Therefore He hath mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he then find fault? For who hath resisted His will?" See what pains he takes to embarrass the subject in every way. And the answer he does not produce forthwith, it being a useful thing not to do so, but he first stops the disputant's mouth, saying as follows.
The Medieval Church2 voices
The Apostle, as I have repeatedly said, strives in every way to prove that the dispensations and judgments of God are known to God alone, and therefore everywhere gathers a multitude of difficulties and does not offer solutions, so that, having placed the listener in …
Having solved the question proposed, the Apostle objects to the solution, particularly to the last part, which states that God has mercy on whom he wills, and hardens whom he wills (Rom 9:18). First, he places the objection; second, the solution, at O man, who …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Had the apostle been arguing only for God's sovereignty in appointing and ordering the terms and conditions of acceptance and salvation, there had not been the least colour for this objection; for he might well find fault if people refused to come up to the terms on which such a salvation is offered; the salvation being so great, the terms could not be hard.
Therefore is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth - It is not the effect either of the will or the works of man, but of the grace and power of God. The will of man is here opposed to the grace of God, and man's running, to the divine operation.
Thou wilt say then unto me,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thou shalt say then unto me, Why--"Why then" is the true reading. doth he yet find fault? for who hath resisted--"Who resisteth" his will?--that is, "This doctrine is incompatible with human responsibility"; If God chooses and rejects, pardons and punishes, whom He pleases, why are those blamed who, if rejected by Him, cannot help sinning and perishing?
Why doth he yet find fault? - The apostle here introduces the Jew making an objection similar to that in Rom 3:7: If the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory, that is, if God’s faithfulness is glorified by my wickedness, why yet am I also judged as a sinner? Why am I condemned for that which brings so much glory to him? The question here is: If God’s glory be so highly promoted and manifested by our obstinacy, and he suffers us to proceed in our hardness and infidelity, why does he find fault with us, or punish us for that which is according to his good pleasure?
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thou wilt say then unto me - The apostle here refers to an objection that might be made to his argument. If the position which he had been endeavoring to establish were true; if God had a purpose in all his dealings with people; if all the revolutions among people happened according to his decree, so that he was not disappointed, or his plan frustrated; and if his own glory was secured in all this, why could he blame people?
The words behind it
13 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἐρεῖς | ereis | You will say | G4483 → | 46 times |
| μοι | moi | to me | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| οὖν· | oun | then: | G3767 → | 497 times |
| τί | ti | Why | G5101 → | 563 times |
| οὖν | oun | then | G3767 → | 497 times |
| ἔτι | eti | still | G2089 → | 140 times |
| μέμφεται; | memphetai | does He find fault? | G3201 → | |
| τῷ | to | The | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| βουλήματι | boulemati | purpose | G1013 → | |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τίς | tis | who | G5101 → | 563 times |
| ἀνθέστηκεν; | anthesteken | has been resisting? | G436 → | 14 times |
ἘρεῖςYou will say
ereisG4483 →46 times
μοιto me
moiG3165 →1936 times
οὖν·then:
ounG3767 →497 times
τίWhy
tiG5101 →563 times
οὖνthen
ounG3767 →497 times
ἔτιstill
etiG2089 →140 times
μέμφεται;does He find fault?
memphetaiG3201 →
τῷThe
toG3588 →19766 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
βουλήματιpurpose
boulematiG1013 →
αὐτοῦof Him
autouG846 →5565 times
τίςwho
tisG5101 →563 times
ἀνθέστηκεν;has been resisting?
anthestekenG436 →14 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Daniel 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain…
it leads to
- Job 42:2
“I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
- Psalms 135:6
The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.
- Psalms 115:3
Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.
- Romans 11:33–36
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Isaiah 40:15–17
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
- Job 42:2
Through
1 Corinthians 15:12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
it leads to
- Acts 26:8
Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
- Acts 17:32
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.”
- Acts 26:8
Through
2 Chronicles 20:6and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:39
Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
- Deuteronomy 4:39
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies20
On this verse
On this chapter
About Romans
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Augustine of Hippo, AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 62; Charles Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, sermons on Romans 9; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Romans 16; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Romans and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Romans.