P aul then raised another question a Jew or for that matter anyone might ask. If God allows us to be unrighteous so that His righteousness could be manifested, then is it fair for God to judge us for our wickedness? In its most profound extension, this is the philosophical question about how God’s sovereignty is compatible to man’s responsibility. But we will soon see that Paul wastes no time in engaging with sophisticated debates and detours, at least as far as this stage of his thesis is concerned. He puts it plainly in the next verse that God would indeed judge us for our unrighteousness. This question suggests certain inclinations in man. We like to find excuses for our sins, and when we find a convenient opportunity of shirking our responsibilities, we jump at it. The truth is, most people are not interested in finding out how God’s sovereign will goes hand in hand with man’s free will, but are rather more eager to shift the blame to others, even to God, for the transgressions they have committed. Perhaps another underlying assumption in this question is that God’s attributes, more specifically His righteousness, could not be manifested without the evil of mankind. To believe so is to reduce God to one who depends on man’s faults, so that His goodness can be shown by contrast. This is obviously false. God is the all-sufficient and great I AM. To think our Creator Who created the heavens and the earth is dependent on us in order to glorify Himself, is being most presumptuous.
LESSON
But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man).
I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. – Psalm 50:11-12
THOUGHT
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