“Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Romans 9:21
The object of studying the bible is to, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God…” that as Christians we are able to, “…rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2Ti 2:15. The words “rightly dividing” means - to make a straight cut, to dissect the word of God – When we “dissect” something we do so to understand the internal parts to understand the functioning or proper working of something. We do not just read the bible or look at it and move on, we focus on it so that our understanding is proper and right. I say often that searching the bible is like searching a diamond field so that we can be rich in knowledge and understanding. The more time and prayer you spend in God’s word the more truth God is going to bless you with. Our life as Christians are designed to bring glory to God, therefore our studying His word will make us wiser to what God choses to reveal to us. Therefore, the question is what exactly does God mean when He calls Himself “the Potter” and us “the clay”? The clay is never responsible for self-creation, the clay is the product of the Potters grace and mercy. We sometimes enjoy pointing out that God has made us Christians, but some Christians want to stop there and say that we make of ourselves what we choose. However, we need to understand the work of the Potter is not complete after salvation, God’s work is not complete until we are what He has elected to make us by His ordained will. God’s hand of ordination and predestination has decided what we will be in this life, and what happenings in our life are accomplished or not accomplished. God said in Eph. 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” God has ordained our good works, and ordained that we will walk in those ordained works. God does not leave His accomplishments in the hands of the clay, God does not save us and trust us to bring His will to a conclusion, God brings it to a conclusion through us by His power and the Holy Spirit. If we are well educated in God’s word, if we are good Pastors, or church workers, it is not our works that brings it about. God, who is the Potter, has sufficiently fine-tuned us by the Holy Spirits power to walk you step by step through the completion of His ordained will. The works of God are accomplished “through us” and by us by His power, we can no more take credit for any of our accomplishments than we can take credit for our own salvation. People go to church because God has inserted them into the church, people become Ministers as God has made them, and their work is what God has ordained and accomplished in them. Should people be criticized for not attending church, yes, because we should all go to church, we cannot blame God for not making some church members and not others. Regardless of what God does, the responsibility is ours. It is like sin, should people be charged with sin, yes because people are responsible for their sin, we are also charged with disobedience to God’s commandments. We are responsible for our failures; we cannot blame God who causes some to walk and work in righteousness and not others. We are responsible to study God’s word, but if the Holy Spirit does not teach us, God is not to blame for the ignorance of the uneducated. God is taking nothing but dead clay and making something wonderful and sometimes great, but He is not responsible to make every ounce of clay the same righteous vessel. The clay is His, and as He choses is what the vessels will be. God is not required to be what people consider fair, if God were fair, we would all die and go to hell. God has a will, and that will be what will control the population of this world in righteousness or unrighteousness. Therefore, we give God the thanks for His grace that brought salvation, then for anything else God has gifted to us. God warned us with these words, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Romans 12:3 One writer said, God has given every person the same amount of grace, what we do with it is up to us.” This writer could not be more wrong, God has given us the measure of grace He elected too. We will do with it as He has elected and ordained the Holy Spirt to empower us with. We are never due credit for our accomplishments in our Christian life. If we expect the credit of man, let us not expect the rewards of God. Let us end with these words, "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness." Romans 12:5 - 8
