Romans 9:23-24 – Vessels of Mercy

One of the problems we have with Bible study today is that in our fast-paced world we’ve lost the art of reading the way things were written in past ages. We, today, need short sentences and short paragraphs showing short single points that can be scanned quickly.
Then suddenly we’re confronted with the Bible and a totally different style of literature, where keeping in mind the main point is critical to understanding.
It helps to approach verses like Romans 9:23–24 with these points in mind.
It also helps if we use the principle that hard-to-understand passages can very often be interpreted by clearer ones, not by reading new ideas, our own ideas, into them.
Scripture seldom introduces a completely new doctrine in a difficult verse, so we should always remember what’s already been taught and keep that context in mind.
Sometimes stepping away from a difficult verse and growing in other parts of Scripture helps us return with a clearer understanding, but the most helpful study tool of all is, truly, understanding the context and the thing that causes the most confusion, by far, is not understanding the context.
I would even go so far as to say that the Bible can never be properly understood without understanding the context to which each chapter and verse belongs.

The context of Romans 9 begins in Romans 9:3–4 with Paul’s sorrow for his unbelieving kinsmen, Israel.
They were given great privileges—adoption, glory, covenants, the law, service, promises, and even Christ Himself.
Now, many commentators and teachers will add to that statement by saying that in spite of all of those privileges, many of them don’t believe, and that’s why Paul has great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart for Israel, his kinsmen, and they’d be absolutely correct; however, we don’t actually learn that until the last four verses of the chapter.
This is exactly what we’ve just spoken about with Paul’s “points within the point”.
He makes the statement in the first few verses of the chapter that he’s got this great heaviness and sorrow for his kinsmen, and then begins to explain why by pointing out the privileges that Israelites have because of the promises to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then he spends the next 20 or so verses explaining how those privileges were obtained by promise, not by works of flesh or by inheritance alone.
He doesn’t actually arrive at the reason for his great heaviness and sorrow until verses 30 to 33.
There he explains that the Gentiles, who never sought after righteousness, have now attained righteousness by faith, whereas Israel, who did seek after righteousness, did not attain it.
So the whole reason for this great sorrow is righteousness, righteousness that can only be received by faith, which Paul’s kinsmen did not have.
He continues to explain that the reason Israel didn’t attain righteousness was that they tried to attain it by keeping the law of righteousness, Moses’ law!
In verse 32 (Romans 9:32-33), he clarifies this by saying they didn’t attain righteousness,
Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

This is exactly what the Lord foretold through Isaiah.
The Messiah’s coming to Jerusalem would have a twofold effect. To some people He’d prove to be a stumbling stone and rock of offence, as Isaiah 8:14 prophesied. Others would believe on Him and find no reason for shame, offence, or disappointment, as Isaiah 28:16 prophesied. In other words, those who believed were righteous before God and what made them righteous was faith alone.

So Paul’s overall point in Romans 9 is that he’s got a heaviness and great sorrow for his kinsmen, Israel, because they tried to obtain righteousness by works, not by faith and therefore missed out on the righteousness necessary for salvation.

By recognising this “points within the point” style of Paul’s, we can then examine those “points within the points” and get the tremendous riches from the “extra” knowledge that Paul includes in between his opening point about his sorrow and closing point of why he sorrowed.
Paul takes us on a sort of wonderful excursion of God’s Word, weaving to and fro between the opening and the closing points.

The verses we’re taking a harder look at in this episode, Romans 9:23-24, are smack in the middle of this excursion.

In Romans 9:4 we see that these Israelites, who’re the subject of Paul’s sorrow, had glorious privileges given to them by God.
The adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and to top it off, the promises made to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and he points out that through the flesh, or through that line of descendants, Christ came.
Christ coming was the key moment when centuries of promise to Israel should have been fulfilled.
Paul now highlights a serious problem in Romans 9:6 that many people may choose to believe.
If God made promises to Israel as His chosen earthly people, how can this be squared with Israel’s present rejection and with the Gentiles being brought into the place of blessing? Did you miss that point?
If you did, it’s because this is not mentioned until the last four verses in the chapter, where Paul shows the Gentiles have received, came to, righteousness while Israel has not. And why not? Because the Gentiles received righteousness by faith while Israel tried to “earn” it by attempting to gain it in their own strength, without God, by law-keeping.

In verse 6 (Romans 9:6), Paul anticipates that many people might say, “Well, if God made promises and they didn’t happen, doesn’t that make God’s word ineffective in accomplishing what it was intended to do?”
Paul’s already handled this in Romans 3:3, where he argues that human unbelief does not cancel or invalidate God’s faithfulness.
Paul insists that this doesn’t mean that God broke His promises to Israel.
He goes on to show in much detail, using Scripture, how God’s always had a process based on Him promising and the ones the promises are intended for receiving that promise by faith, by simply believing that what God has said, He will do.
In Romans 4:14, he says that if inheritance of God’s promises comes through law-keeping, then faith becomes pointless, and yes, if that was the case, God’s promise would indeed lose its purpose. But that isn’t the case!
The promise does not come purely by being a physical descendant. Just because a person’s born into the nation of Israel doesn’t mean that he’s an heir to the promises. Neither do those who don’t believe but try to be righteous in their own works receive the promise.
So, does their unbelief mean God’s Word has failed? Paul says no.
He goes on to explain in Romans 9:8 that the children of promise, not the children of the flesh, receive God’s blessings.
Abraham had two sons, but only the promised son received the covenant. This pattern appears throughout Israel’s history.
Within the nation of Israel, God has always had a true, believing remnant.

Paul continues in Romans 9:16–18, teaching that God gives mercy according to His own will, not human effort or desire.
Israel can’t claim blessing simply because they want it; God’s got to provide it. All people—whether hardened or shown mercy—must repent, meaning to turn in their thinking: a change of mind, a change from thinking we’re good enough to be righteous in our own works and in our own flesh, to seeing ourselves for who we really are and acknowledging our need for God’s grace.

In Romans 9:20–23, Paul uses the potter and clay illustration, drawn from Jeremiah 18:4-6, to show that God formed Israel and can shape or judge the nation as He chooses.
A vessel made by the potter can be either for honour or dishonour. Israel, though formed by God, can be judged if they reject Him.
This is in keeping with God’s dealings throughout the Old Testament. Being part of the clay doesn’t guarantee glory; some vessels are destroyed.

Romans 9:22 explains that God, in His righteousness, may show wrath and power by enduring “vessels of wrath fitted to destruction” with great patience, waiting for them to become “vessels of mercy” through their belief.
Scripture gives many examples of this—such as the long‑suffering before the flood or God’s patience with idolatrous Israel in Hosea’s day, which we’ve just spent 20 episodes studying. God endured their rebellion so that, in time, He might reveal the riches of His glory to “vessels of mercy,” those who respond in faith.

Throughout Israel’s history, some of the nation were vessels of mercy and others vessels of wrath.
Paul’s point is that Israel’s current unbelief doesn’t mean God’s Word has failed. God’s promises, His mercy, and His sovereign forming of the nation remain intact, and He’ll ultimately accomplish His purpose.
Jesus did the same in His earthly ministry.
He came to Israel, and, as we see in John 1:11, “His own received Him not.”
The disciples once asked Him to call down fire from heaven, but He refused because He was enduring those fitted for destruction with long‑suffering, giving space for repentance so He might reveal mercy. This connects directly to Paul’s point: Israel can be God’s clay—formed by Him—and still fail to receive glory.
Paul longs for his kinsmen to be saved by receiving that righteousness offered through faith, and God Himself wanted Israel to repent, yet most refused His mercy.

Now we come to Romans 9:23-24, which we’ll read again to familiarise ourselves, but first we should notice the previous verse, Romans 9:22, which begins with “What if”. We see here that our two verses are part of Paul’s answer to his previous questions, going right back to verse 14 about whether there’s unrighteousness in God because His word has failed. He’s answered by saying, “Who do you think you are, O mere man, that you think you, as the created thing, can tell the Creator what He can and can’t do? It’s the Creator who has power over the created.”
Then he goes on with the same line but using the example of the potter, “Doesn’t the potter always maintain the power over the clay? Can’t He use one lump of clay to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”
This leads into verse 22 (Romans 9:22), which is asking “what if”.
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

What Paul’s using there is called a rhetorical question, which is a question that’s not asked to get information, but to make a point so strongly that the answer is perfectly clear. Romans 9:23-24 is part of this rhetorical question, and so it reads when in the correct context of verse 22,
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
And that he [God] might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

Calvinism, along with a lot of other groups, claims that God created certain Israelites to receive grace and others unable to receive grace, and they often use key phrases within these verses to “prove” that theory. Those key phrases are, “which he had afore prepared unto glory” and “whom he hath called”.
Firstly, in answering those allegations, Scripture shows God continually appealing to them, actually over centuries and by many means. Some believed and received righteousness through His mercy while many rejected Him, refusing to believe. But it was always the belief, the faith, that was the game changer, not God’s predetermining.
Of course God foreknew who would and who wouldn’t believe, but the choice was always the individual man’s choice.

These vessels of mercy come from the same clay as the vessels of wrath.
What makes the difference is their response to God—faith, repentance, and receiving His mercy.
We also saw last time that Pharaoh hardened his heart, yet Scripture shows people can repent even after God has hardened them.
At the same time, some who receive mercy fail to walk in it.
The dividing line is always faith. Throughout Israel’s history, in Jesus’ ministry, and in Paul’s own life, there were Israelites who became vessels of mercy.

Now, Romans 9:24 that we’ve just read contains another phrase that causes many people to stumble.
They see “Jews and Gentiles” and immediately think “body of Christ,” but in Romans 9 Paul’s not yet explaining the mystery or the church, the Body of Christ. He’s dealing with Israel’s unbelief and whether God’s Word to Israel has failed.
There are hard verses in Romans chapters 9–11, and all of them involve the Jew–Gentile issue, which is also central to the mystery.
That’s why people confuse Israel’s prophetic program with the body of Christ.
Some conclude the church is simply “believing Israel” fulfilling prophecy, but a more careful reading, with a view to God’s dispensations, sees that Paul received a distinct revelation about the body of Christ, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, and that Israel’s promises and the church’s blessings are not identical.
When he refers to the Gentiles as also being vessels of mercy, he doesn’t say how that happened.
Both Jews and Gentiles became vessels of mercy through faith, but that faith was based on two different programs, and Paul’s not in the midst of a discussion about those separate programs here. He’s talking about mercy, the vessels of mercy, and how not only Jews but also Gentiles are included in that mercy.
Here’s why: when we face hard passages, we shouldn’t force them to reinterpret the clearer ones.
We should read what the text actually says, in context.
If we do that, we won’t read ideas into Romans 9:24 that just aren’t there, like “this must be the body of Christ.”
This is always the danger of basing our theology, our knowledge of God, on random verses.
The Bible simply doesn’t work like that.
When we have a passage that throws up questions, as this one often does, we should take extra time to read what came before and what comes after it in order to see what the context is talking about. Context matters because there are very few verses in the Bible outside of maybe Proverbs that are random, stand-alone verses.
The majority of Bible verses are in a context, and we should understand the context in order to understand the verse correctly.
We let the surrounding teaching guide us, and in this particular case, Paul’s explaining how God’s prophetic Word to Israel remains effective in spite of their unbelief.
He’s using Scripture to explain this by distinguishing vessels of wrath from vessels of mercy. These are those in Israel (and now also Gentiles) who receive God’s mercy by faith. The fact that both Jews and Gentiles receive mercy by faith is the point!

Paul’s phrase “afore prepared unto glory” in Romans 9:23 doesn’t refer to the body of Christ.
The mystery—the new creature—was kept secret since the world began, as we see throughout Paul’s epistles, especially Ephesians 3:9. It wasn’t being formed in prophecy, and it wasn’t the clay being shaped by the potter in Israel’s history.
The potter and clay imagery goes back to Exodus and Jeremiah, where God is forming Israel, judging some vessels and showing mercy to others.
That clay is Israel, not the church.
The mystery body of Christ couldn’t possibly have even existed until after Christ’s death and resurrection. And it was never revealed until the resurrected Jesus Christ revealed it directly to Paul in Acts 9. Therefore, the vessels “afore prepared” have to be Israel’s believing remnant.

Paul’s point is simple here: the same God who formed Israel’s clay can destroy unbelieving vessels and show mercy to believing ones. Israel’s vessels of mercy receive covenant blessings through their promised New Covenant.
We, today, receive mercy too—but through a different means.
Our mercy today comes by the gospel of grace and the new creature that we become a part of the moment we believe that gospel. The source of mercy is the same Jesus, but the program, the method, and the way we receive access to that source are different.

Mary’s prophecy in Luke 1:50 about her child bringing salvation was true, but she wasn’t revealing the mystery.
We benefit from everything related to Christ’s coming, and yet we’re simply not the recipients of Israel’s promises in prophecy.
Zacharias also affirms that Jesus’ coming fulfils what the prophets spoke: “since the world began.”
In Luke 1:70–77, Zacharias praises God for fulfilling His covenant with Israel—saving them from enemies, performing the mercy promised to the fathers, and remembering the oath to Abraham.
This is not the mystery truth given to Paul, and we mustn’t read Romans 9:24 as if Paul were teaching “replacement theology”- that the church, the Body of Christ, is now Israel or that he’s even talking about the body of Christ at all.
Hard passages should always be interpreted by the easier ones.
Paul’s discussing Israel’s unbelief and whether God’s prophetic Word has failed, not the mystery church.
If Paul meant to teach the mystery here, he would’ve plainly said so as he does throughout his letters.

As we’ve already mentioned, Romans 9–11 contains several difficult verses, for example, Romans 9:24; Romans 10:13–17; and Romans 11:17.
All of them involve the Jew–Gentile issue, which we need to understand in order to understand the mystery and the position we’re in today within the Body of Christ.
This overlap between Israel and the Body of Christ often confuses where it shouldn’t. Some conclude that the church is “believing Israel,” while others assume Gentiles are grafted into Israel’s promises. But Paul teaches clearly elsewhere that the body of Christ is a new thing, a new creature, neither Jew nor Gentile, as Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11 clearly tell us.
Old things have passed away; all things are new, says 2 Corinthians 5:17.
The potter‑and‑clay imagery describes Israel’s old covenant relationship, not the new creature.
The entire teaching of Romans chapters 9-11 is Paul teaching how Israel and all its promises and covenants are vital to our understanding of the mystery Body of Christ that we, as believers, are part of today, even though the teaching is not making the Israel that Paul’s teaching about the mystery itself!
Ephesians 2 explains the mystery program.
In time past Gentiles were without Christ, strangers to Israel’s covenants, and without hope. But now, through Christ’s blood, Jew and Gentile are made one new man—not Israel, not Gentiles, but a new body reconciled to God. This new man was hidden in God from before the foundation of the world, not prepared through Israel’s prophetic potter and clay.

Romans 9:24 defines the vessels of mercy, who they are.
God shows mercy to believing Israel and now also extends that mercy to Gentiles. We too, the Body of Christ, receive mercy—but not as Israel’s clay. We receive mercy through the mystery, the new creature, the one body formed by the Spirit.

The phrase “even us whom he hath called” confuses as well.
Who are the “us”? Paul is, believing Israel is, and Gentiles who receive mercy are the “us”.
The “called” are those called to mercy—called to repentance, called to believe Christ, called to receive salvation. Jesus called Israel to repentance and kingdom faith. Paul calls Jew and Gentile to trust Christ’s cross.
Some receive the call and become vessels of mercy; others reject it and become vessels of wrath. The calling is not Calvinistic predestination—it’s God’s invitation to receive mercy.
And that’s why people trip over this.
It’s the same issue when God changes what he’s doing with Jews and Gentiles. It’s a hard thing to grasp, and it’s been confused in the church for centuries, causing people to think, “Well, maybe the church is now that believing Israel that receives mercy. I mean, after all, we are fulfilling those prophecies, aren’t we?” That’s been the popular opinion.

Paul’s already shown that the potter‑and‑clay imagery in Romans 9 refers to Israel, not the mystery body of Christ. The clay that the potter’s been forming goes back to Exodus and Jeremiah. God shaped Israel, judged Israel, restored Israel, and promised mercy to Israel.
The mystery body of Christ, however, was kept secret since the world began. (Ephesians 3:9). It was not being “afore prepared” in prophecy.
It didn’t exist and couldn’t have existed until after Christ’s death and Paul’s revelation. Therefore, the vessels “afore prepared unto glory” can’t be the new creature. They’re Israel’s believing remnant—the vessels of mercy within Israel’s prophetic program.
Today, we also receive mercy—but through the gospel of grace and the new creature, not through Israel’s covenants.
The source of mercy is the same Jesus; but the program’s different.

The word “called” often confuses readers.
Scripture uses “calling” in different contexts. Jesus called Israel to repentance and kingdom faith. Paul calls Jew and Gentile to trust Christ’s cross. Second Thessalonians 2 says believers are “called by our gospel,” showing there are different gospels—Christ’s kingdom gospel and Paul’s gospel of grace. Galatians 1 warns about “another gospel,” proving the distinction. Jesus preached the kingdom at hand; Paul never preached that message. Jesus sent Paul in Acts 26:17 specifically to the Gentiles. So when Paul speaks of “the called,” we must ask: called by which message, and called to what purpose?

Romans 8 says believers are “called according to his purpose,” but Romans 9 raises another question: what about God’s prophetic purpose for Israel? Paul’s not discussing the body of Christ here. He’s addressing the larger issue of whether God’s Word to Israel has failed.
Romans 11 will show that Israel’s fall brings salvation to Gentiles, but Israel’s future fullness will be even greater. God’s plan includes both prophecy and mystery, and in the fullness of times He’ll gather all things in Christ—heavenly (the body of Christ) and earthly (Israel).

So, Paul’s dealing with something bigger than the church: God’s faithfulness to His Word.
Israel’s unbelief doesn’t cancel God’s promises. There are vessels of mercy within Israel, and now mercy is extended to Gentiles as well. This has always been true.
All saved people receive mercy, but not all belong to the fellowship of the mystery.
Romans 9:24 simply states that mercy is not limited to Jews. It’s not about the body of Christ replacing Israel, and it’s not stating some sort of predestination by God that man has no choice over. It’s about God giving mercy to believing Israel and also to Gentiles, exactly as He’s always done.

Paul’s point in Romans 9 continues: God is not the God of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, as Romans 3:29 points out. If Jews can be justified by faith apart from the deeds of the flesh, then Gentiles can be justified the same way.
Romans 11:32 summarises it: God concluded both Jew and Gentile in unbelief so He might have mercy upon all. This is not mystery truth—it’s always been true in Scripture.

Galatians 3:7–8 shows that God foresaw justifying Gentiles by faith when He promised Abraham, “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Abraham was not a Jew, nor was Isaac, yet both received mercy as non‑Israelites.
Scripture repeatedly shows Gentiles receiving mercy: the Ethiopian eunuch who helped Jeremiah, the repentant Ninevites in Jonah’s day, the adulterous woman Jesus forgave, Ruth, and Rahab. God has always given mercy to Gentiles when He chooses, and He’s always judged Jews when they reject Him.
Pharaoh’s hardened heart proves God can harden Gentiles; Israel’s unbelief proves He can harden Jews. Romans 11 will show He counts all in unbelief so He may show mercy to all.

Jesus Himself gave mercy to Gentiles before Paul.
In Luke 7, a Roman centurion’s servant is healed because the centurion loved Israel and humbled himself. Jesus marvels: “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
In Matthew 8, Jesus repeats this and says many will come from east and west to sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom, while unbelieving Israelites will be cast out. Gentiles benefit from Israel’s kingdom blessings, yet this is not the mystery body of Christ—it’s prophetic truth.
In Matthew 15, the Canaanite woman receives mercy after acknowledging her place as a Gentile.
Jesus blesses her faith even though He was ministering to Israel. In John 12, just before His betrayal, Gentiles seek Him. Israel remains blind, but Gentiles begin to see the promised light. This fits the prophetic pattern: Israel was meant to be a vessel of mercy to the world, yet many in Israel rejected Christ while Gentiles responded in faith.

So, when Paul says in Romans 9:24, “even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles,” he’s not introducing the mystery or redefining the church. He’s showing that God’s right to give mercy extends beyond Israel, just as prophecy always taught. The vessels “afore prepared” are Israel’s believing remnant, and the “even us” includes all who receive mercy—Paul, believing Israel, and Gentiles—each according to God’s purpose.
Romans 9 simply affirms that mercy is God’s choice, not man’s flesh—and that God’s Word remains effective even when Israel falls in unbelief.

John 12 shows the final turning point in Jesus’ earthly ministry. Certain Greeks come seeking Him in John 12:20–21). When Jesus hears this, He declares, “The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified.”
Gentiles are beginning to see Him, who He really is, while Israel remains blind. This signals that He must die and rise again—the only way God’s plan can move forward. Before the cross, Jesus had already shown mercy to Gentiles, proving that God can bless Jew and Gentile according to His will.
This fits the prophecy.
Genesis 12 promised Abraham that “all nations” would be blessed through him. Romans 15 quotes multiple prophecies showing Gentiles glorifying God for His mercy; for example, Romans 15:9–12. Paul says in Romans 16:26 that Gentile blessing is “made manifest…by the scriptures of the prophets.”
Gentile mercy is not the mystery body of Christ; it’s prophecy. Israel was meant to be a vessel of mercy to the world, and Gentiles were always included in that plan.
In prophecy, believing Israel receives the kingdom; unbelieving Israel receives wrath. Gentiles who believe are blessed through that believing Israel. Gentiles don’t ever become Israel; they receive mercy through Israel’s rise.
This is exactly what Jesus demonstrated: Gentiles, like the centurion in Luke 7 and Matthew 8, and the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15, received mercy because of their faith, even while Israel remained largely unbelieving.
Jesus said He’d not found such faith “in Israel,” showing again that mercy is God’s choice, not tied to flesh.
So Romans 9:23 – 24 is not about the body of Christ replacing Israel. It’s about God’s freedom to give mercy to Jew and Gentile, exactly as prophecy taught.
The vessels “afore prepared” are Israel’s believing remnant, and the “even us” includes all who receive mercy—Paul, believing Israel, and Gentiles—each according to God’s purpose.
God’s Word has not failed.
He’s giving mercy just as He promised.
Until next time, may God give you understanding of His mercy and grace given through believing, through faith.