Basically, by Paul's logic, I should be allowed to buy an animal and maim and torture it because it's my property and I own it.
Romans 9:22-23
22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—
If you were a father of two boys, would you beat one of them with a belt until they pass out in order to show the other one how much you love him?
I don't get it anymore.
Romans 9 has nothing to do with how men are saved or lost per Calvinism's wrong ideas of election. In Romans 9 Paul is dealing with the Jews. In Romans 9, Paul already knows God has cast the Jews off (Rom 11) and they were cast off for unbelief and in Romans 9 Paul is refuting any argument the Jew had that God was unfair and acted unrighteously in casting off the Jews. Paul proves God was in fact just and right in casting off the Jews.
As far as God "
endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction", back in Genesis God promised Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed therefore God chose Abraham and his descendants Isaac, Jacob and Israel to being the Messiah to all nations. Yet the OT is a written history of Israel's constant disobedience and rebellion to God and God's longsuffering with them. The Jews understood the Messiah would come through them, therefore that knew no matter what they did God would preserve them until the Messiah came forth, that God would preserve them even in their sins, so they continued to rebel against God.
They murmered against Moses and the manna, God sent fiery serpents among them but they still rebelled. They turned again and again to idols and God would allow them to go into captivity but they still rebelled. They told Samuel they wanted a King to rule over them like other nations rejecting God, (1 Sam 8:7) God sent prophets to them to warn them but they killed those prophets. God allowed the northern kingdom to go away but they still rebelled against God right up to when the Messiah did come and when He did come they even rejected Him. When the Messiah came God had fulfilled His promise to Abraham, therefore God had no reason to endure with longsuffering these vessels of wrath, the Jews....God's longduffering came to an end. As Paul points out, those Jews certainly were deserving of being cast off and face God's wrath. Even Jeremiah and Ezekiel said they were evil as Sodom (Jer 23; Eze 16).
Paul compares them to Pharaoh. God was longsuffering with Pharaoh's disobedience and God used Pharaoh's choice to disobey to accomplish God's own will in showing His power over him and magnify His name (Rom 9:17) with Pharaoh being destroyed in the end in the sea. Likewise God was longsuffering with Israel and used their disobedience in crucfying the Messiah to bring about God's will that Christ die for men with the Jews being destroyed in the end being cast off and Jerusalem be flattened by the Roman army. Yet the difference between Pharaoh's deatruction and Israel's is that with the destruction of Israel that brought about an open door to the Gentiles for the Gentiles to be saved (Rom 11:25). Yet God did not violate the free will of Pharaoh or Israel in bringing about His will for again, God used their free will choices to being about His will.
Therefore from the immediate and remote contexts we can see that the verb "fitted" in Rom 9:22 would be in the middle voice, that being, those Jews
fitted themselves to be vessels of wrath. Arndt and Gingrich: “
having prepared themselves for destruction” (1967, 419).
"
The form of the word rendered “fitted” may be regarded as a middle voice, which implies action done by oneself with a view to one’s own aims and interests. There is a suggestion, therefore, that the persons referred to as “vessels of wrath” have fitted themselves for destruction" (Vine 1948, 147-48). We see from (Acts 13:46) the Jews of their own will put God's word away from themselves, (Acts 28:27) they closed their own eyes, (1 Thess 2:15-16) they killed Christ and the prophets and persecuted Paul and other Christians.
Rom 11:20ff
Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
God here warns the Gentiles that because He cast off the Jews and grafted them in, they should not be highminded lest God not spare them just as He did not spare the Jews. But God's goodness would be upon the Gentiles "IF" they continue in God's goodness and "IF" the Jews would not abide in unbelief, then God is able to graff them in again.
This does not make any sense when viewed under the lens of Calvinism. Under the system of Calvinism's election, elect people cannot be cast off (elect Jews cannot ever be cast off for they were and the now elect Gentile can never be cast off even though God said they could "
spare not thee") nor can unelect people (Gentiles) ever be saved/elect but they were.
Nor does it make sense in God saying IF the Gentiles continue in His goodness else they would be cut off and IF the Jews abide not in unbelief God is able to graff them in again if God has already predetermined all that happens and
unconditionally predestined each man's eternal destiny before the world began.
I would also argue that even if it could be proven "fitted" to be passive voice, that being, God fitted the Jews to be vessels of wrath, we can see from various BIble contexts that this fitting was not something God capriciously, unconditonally predetermined to happen before the world began regardless of what the Jews choose to do. But that the basis of God fitting them for destruction was due to the Jews OWN FREE WILL choice to disobey God. Paul again speaks of vessels of honor and dishonor in 2 Tim 2:20ff where the basis of determining a vessel be one of honor or dishnor is not capricious for Paul speaks of those who "purge themselves" will be a vessel of honor. Hence IF those Jews 'purge themselves' and not continue in unbelief, God is able to graff them in again whereby they too can be vessels of honor and not have to remain vessels of dishonor.
