In Romans 9 Paul tried to prove to the Jews that God has called the Gentiles also. He said that not all of the seed of Abraham were chosen; only Isaac was chosen. And not all of the seed of Isaac were chosen; God chose only Jacob. Since everything is of God’s choice, can God not choose the Gentiles as well? God will have mercy on whomever He will have mercy, and will have compassion on whomever He will have compassion. Humanly speaking, God loved the wicked Jacob, while He hated the honest Esau. He also hardened Pharaoh. Is He then unfair? We have to realize that God sits on His throne of glory, and man is under His authority. Who are we but humble mortals, nothing but dust. How can we reason with God?
He is God. He has the authority to do things. We cannot follow God on the one hand, while forcing Him to listen to our reason on the other hand. If we want to serve Him, we must give up all reasons. Every person who has met the Lord has to throw away all his reasons. We can only stand on the position of submission. We cannot stand on the position of interference, attempting to act as God’s counselor. God says that He will have mercy on whomever He will have mercy (9:15). How precious is the word “will have.” We have to worship Him for this. God does not reason at all. God chooses to do this. He delights in doing this. He is the God of glory. Paul went on to say, “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy” (v. 16). God said of Pharaoh, “For this very thing I have raised you up, that I might show in you My power” (v. 17). Moreover, He said that “He hardens whom He wills” (v. 18). To harden does not mean to cause to sin. It means to “give one up” as recorded in 1:26. Up to this point Paul anticipated that there would be more reasonings, such as, “Why does He still find fault? For who withstands His will?” (9:19). These reasons are very valid. Many will agree with them. Paul also knew that they were quite reasonable and sensible, but he retorted, “But rather, O man, who are you who answer back to God? Shall the thing molded say to him who molded it, Why did you make me thus?” (v. 20). Paul did not counter the reasons. Rather he asked, “Who are you?” Paul did not ask what kind of words these are. He asked rather what kind of person would dare reply against God. When God exercises His authority, He does not have to discuss it with us. He does not need our consent. All He asks is our submission to Him. As long as we say, “This is God’s doing,” everything will be fine.
Man is constantly trying to reason. But please consider whether or not our salvation had any reason behind it. There was absolutely no reason for our salvation. We did not will, nor did we run. But we were saved. This is the most unreasonable thing. But God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. Out of the clay, the potter can make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor. There is only the question of authority. There is no question of reason. The basic problem with man today is that he is still under the principle of the knowledge of good and evil, the principle of reasoning. If the Bible reasoned out everything, then we could be justified in reasoning out everything. But in Romans 9 God opened up a special window from heaven to shine on us. He did not reason with us. He only asked, “Who are you?”
It is not easy for man to be delivered from evil speaking. But it is more difficult for man to be delivered from reason. When I was young, I was always bothered by God’s unreasonable acts. Later, when I read Romans 9, I touched God’s authority for the first time. I began to see who I am. I am His creature. My most reasonable words are but stubbornness before Him. The God who is far above all is unapproachable in His glory. If we would see only a millionth part of His glory, we would bow down and cast off all our reasons. Only those who live far off can be proud, and only those who live in darkness can abide in reasons. No one in the whole world can see himself in his own torchlight. Only when the Lord grants us a little light and reveals a little of His glory to us will we fall down as dead, just like the apostle John (Rev. 1:16-17).
May God be merciful to us that we would see how unworthy and lowly a person we are. How dare we argue with God? When the queen of the south came to visit Solomon and he revealed a little of his glory to her, there was no more spirit left in her. But there is One who is greater than Solomon. Is there any reason in me that cannot be given up? Adam sinned because he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From then on, reason became rooted in man’s very being. But if God would reveal just a little of His glory to us, we would see that we are but a dead dog and a lump of clay. All our reasons would vanish in His glory. The more a person lives in glory, the less he will reason. However, the more you see a person reason, the more you know that he has never seen glory.
During these years I have found out one thing-God’s work is never according to reasons. Even if I do not understand what He is doing, I still have to worship Him because I am His servant. If everything that He does is understood and realized by me, I might as well be the one to sit on the throne. Once I see that He is far above me, that only He is the Most High One, and that I should bow down in the dust, all reasons will disappear from me. From this day forward, authority only is the fact, not reasons, rights, and wrongs. Those who know God surely know themselves, and once a person knows himself, all reasons are removed.
The way to know God is by submission. Everyone who lives in reason does not know God. Only those who willingly submit to authority can truly know God. All of the knowledge of good and evil that we inherited from Adam must be removed. Then our submission will be very easy.
Every time the Lord commanded the Israelites to do something in Leviticus 18-22, He inserted the words, “I am Jehovah,” in between the commands. There is not even the word because. I speak this way, for I am Jehovah. There need be no other reason. “I am Jehovah” is the reason. If we see this, we will not live by reason from this day on. We have to say to God, “In the past I lived by my thoughts and reasons. Today I bow down and worship You. As long as it is of You, it is enough for me. I will worship You.” When Paul was struck down on the way to Damascus, all reasons vanished from him. Once light shines in, a person falls down. The first word that came out of Paul’s mouth was, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10). Immediately, he became obedient. Those who know God do not reason. When the light judges, the reason disappears.
For man to reason with God is for him to say that God’s work requires our consent. This is the thought of the most foolish. God does not have to tell us the reason for anything He does. God’s way is higher than our way. If we pulled God down to the level of reason, we would have God no longer, because He would be no different from us. If we reason, there will be no more worship. When submission goes, a lack of worship follows. When this happens, the self becomes the judge of God and even becomes God. What difference then is there between the clay and the potter? Will the potter have to ask permission from the clay to do anything? May God’s glory be revealed so that all our reasons cease.
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