Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump, to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?—Romans 9:20b
Three sources will be used for this discussion on the doctrine of predestination:
Dr. Nicholas Schaser, “All Israel Will Be Saved: Jewish Theology in Romans 9-11,” lesson 8-9, accessed November 15, 2023, Israel Bible Center.
Mark D. Nanos, Reading Romans within Judaism (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2018), 225.
Wayne Grudem, “Chapter 32: Election and Reprobation,” in An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine: Systematic Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI., 2020), 816-833.
Wayne Grudem, author, and research professor of theology and biblical studies, covers an expansive range of theological concepts in his textbook, Systematic Theology. He offers Protestant perspectives based on Reform traditions, including election, predestination, foreknowledge, and another topic not covered here, reprobation:
“We may define election as follows: election is an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them but only because of his sovereign good pleasure” (818).
As to predestination, Grudem notes: “Several passages in the New Testament seem to affirm quite clearly that God ordained beforehand those who would be saved” (ibid). Grudem follows up with a list of verses that use the terms or concepts “election,” “predestined,” and “foreknowledge.” For example, he interprets Romans 11:7 regarding Israel as having two distinct groups: those elected and thus obtained salvation and those not elected whose hearts were hardened, quoting:
“What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest are hardened” (Rom. 11:7 ESVi)
Grudem’s definition of election is based on God’s predestined “before the foundations of the earth” sovereign will—whom he will save or harden, according to his purposes (Rom. 9:14-18; Eph. 1:4-6). Two pericopes and their backdrops, Romans 8:28-30 and 9:11-18, will be analyzed since the other sources also refer to them. I am not quoting them to save space, and also because opening these texts before you as you work through this discussion will be helpful. In other words, once you see the patterns of rabbinic logic deeply embedded in Paul’s and, for that matter, Yeshua’s teachings, you will never unsee them.
In Romans 8:28-30 and 9:11-18, Paul is using the broader contexts of scriptural quotes, applying the principles or precedences established in those scenarios to ultimately collect evidence that God has used Gentiles in the past to save Israel. He is doing so again within the olive tree (e.g., Isaiah 45:1-4 is the context of Isaiah 45:9-11 quoted in Romans 9:20-21). Exegetical rule: Read the context of the cited material to see how Paul applies it in the New Testament.1
Summing up the predestination language of Romans 8:28-30 and 9:11-18, Paul uses the “potter and clay” imagery of Isaiah 45:9-11 and Jeremiah 18:5-10 to elucide how God’s sovereign choice operates. Israel, as a blessing to the nations—being given “sonship,” covenants, and the bloodline of the Messiah has stumbled in their irrevocable calling. Next, God uses Gentiles to bless Israel (Gen. 12:3-4; Romans 11 olive tree).
However, switching the focus in Romans 8:28-30 and 9:11-18 from Gentiles aiding Israel’s salvation to the doctrine of predestination misses the point altogether (Schaser). It dilutes the revelation given to Paul that God is saving all Israel by using the Gentiles (Romans 11:11, 25-26) just as he had done through the Medo-Persian king, Cyrus, in the context of Paul’s scriptural and historical allusions, and citations from Isaiah 45:1-4, 9-11 and Jeremiah 18:5-10. The underlying principle is revealed in the historical backdrop, and this is what Paul masterfully concludes: In Jeremiah 18:8-10, God is molding and shaping the clay based on the response of the clay to Him! The remnant of ethnic Israel chose Him! To them, he conforms/transforms to the image of Messiah, and the Gentiles are brought into this transformation, and more, aid God in this task. Ethnic Israel has been Paul’s focus until Romans 9:24.
Thus, these pericopes have nothing to do with “predestination,” as described by Grudem. If we follow the Reformed perspective, we are left with the disquieting notion that God is, indeed, a respecter of men, arbitrarily choosing vessels for mercy and others for destruction based on foreknowledge. Yet, God asks: “Is my desire that a wicked person should die? It is rather that he shall turn back from his ways and live” (Ezek. 18:23 JPS). God responds to our child-like response to Him.
Conclusion:
In Romans 9, Paul expounded on the predestination and foreknowledge mentioned in Romans 8 and furthered in 11:2 by providing a blessed lineage through whom God would bring the Messiah. Still, not all who were of Abraham’s loins within this promised lineage. For example, he predestined Isaac, not Ishmael. From Isaac, he chose Jacob, later named “Israel.” It is through Jacob’s lineage that the tribes of Israel birthed. Paul is building the case for ethnic Israel as the vehicle and only begins to mention gentile inclusion in 9:25.
It is worth mentioning Mark Nanos’ connection of the “elect” within ethnic Israel in Romans 8:29 and 11:2:
Romans 8:29
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed in the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Romans 11:2
“God has not cast away His people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, “Lord, they have killed the prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone are left, and they seek my life? But what does the divine response say to him? ‘I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
From the beginning of Romans 9, Paul is defining God’s sovereign election throughout the genealogies of Israel, so ethnic Israel is the context of Romans 9:20-21 where he quotes Isaiah 45:9-11. Even so, the historical backdrop for Isaiah 45:9-11 is Isaiah 45:1-4. Here is the historical setting (emphasis added):
“Thus said the Lord to Cyrus, His anointed (meshechô) one—
Whose right hand I have grasped, treading down nations before him, ungirding the loins of kings, opening doors before him, and letting no gate stay shut: I will march before you and level the hills that loom up; I will scatter doors of bronze and cut down iron bars. I will give you treasures concealed in the dark and secret hoards so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by name. For the sake of My servant Jacob, Israel, My chosen one, I call you by name. I hail you by title, though you have not known me.”
Paul’s historical backdrop is summed up with one question to his readers: “I say, then has God cast away His people?” (Romans 11:1). 1. God always reserves a remnant of Israel; 2. through the gentile remnant, all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26).
My concern about the Church’s Reformed perspective lay in the casting away of all things Jewish (Constantine’s expressed hope and later Martin Luther’s too). Accordingly, statements of belief, like the doctrine of predestination, in my opinion, exclude Jewish rabbinic logic employed by Paul. Thus, this “parting of the ways” began the slow siphoning—desiccation of limb and life—through conciliar canons, doctrines, and catechisms. My harshness is proportional to my agony. I pray continually for ecclesial unity. And that unity must exist within the olive tree.
The discussion concludes with Dr. Nicholas Schaser’s teaching on the doctrine of predestination from the Israel Bible Center. I am indebted to his keen insights.