God is free to do whatever He wants. Ponder that for a moment—whatever He wants.
Are you thinking, Umm, yeah, He kind of is God, so…; or are you chewing on the nugget of Whoa, is Paul saying what I think he’s saying? Perhaps you’re not sure about following a deity who, at any moment, could release His anger in the form of destruction if He desired. Yeah, that’s a lot to unpack, and as we see in Romans 9, Paul thinks so too.
Paul is wrestling with the idea of “what if?” in a big way. What if God, the Alpha and Omega, stowed away objects filled with His wrath for all to see His unlimited power and destruction? What if He released all that furry when His authority as the Creator of all was questioned? When He was demeaned? Doubted?
Paul also paints a picture of a God who better shows His sovereignty by flooding us with undeserved mercy. He chooses “great patience the objects of his wrath” rather than punishment. The next time you consider dishing up revenge or feel the need to whisper advice into God’s ear on how He should discipline others, consider the benevolence and compassion with which He pardons us when He could choose the opposite. We all fall short. No one is without fault, and yet He chooses mercy.
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