One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?”
Parallel translations
- WEB You will say then to me, “Why does he still find fault? For who withstands his will?”
- KJV Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
- NKJV You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”
- NASB You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”
- NLT Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul voices the objection that if God's will is irresistible, he cannot fairly find fault with anyone. This challenge sets up his defense of God's right as Creator.
Overview
Anticipating a protest, Paul puts the hard question on the objector's lips: if no one can resist God's will, how can God still blame people for sin? Rather than soften his teaching on sovereignty, Paul addresses the question directly in the following verses by appealing to the Creator's authority over his creatures. The objection itself shows that Paul has taught a real and robust divine sovereignty.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Dan 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
- 2 Chr 20:6and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You.
- 1 Cor 15:35But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”
- 1 Cor 15:12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
- Isa 10:6–7I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
- Ps 76:10Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
- Job 9:19If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?
- Isa 46:10–11I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Gen 50:20As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.
- Mark 14:21The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
- Job 9:12–15If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
- Job 23:13–14But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
- Jas 1:13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.
- Acts 2:23He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.
- Rom 11:19You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”
- Acts 4:27–28In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.
- Rom 3:5–8But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 9:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.