Does God prepare people beforehand for heaven? If so, when and how? And does He likewise prepare people for hell? If He does, again, when and how does He do this? Or do unbelievers somehow prepare themselves for this unfortunate end?
Questions like these are controversial, even among theologians who hold to the inerrancy and infallibility of God’s Word. While the doctrine of election is one thing (God’s loving choice in eternity past to show mercy to some for salvation), the doctrine of reprobation is another (God’s passing over others in eternity past, resulting in a destined damnation; cf. Prov 16:4; 1 Pet 2:8). For some, the doctrine of reprobation makes God the author of sin, which we know is clearly not the case (cf. James 1:13). He is perfectly righteous.
Romans 9:22–23 speaks directly to these questions. Romans 9:22 identifies “vessels of wrath” (unbelievers headed for God’s eternal wrath) and describes them as “prepared for destruction.” Romans 9:23 similarly identifies “vessels of mercy” (believers who receive God’s mercy in salvation) and describes them as those “which He has prepared beforehand for glory.” Who prepares each of these vessels, and when and how does this preparation take place?
In Romans 9:22, the verb “prepared” (katartizō) is passive, leaving the subject unstated. So, from the verb itself, we are not immediately told who prepared these vessels for destruction. If unbelievers themselves are the ones who have prepared themselves for destruction, then they prepare themselves in their lifetimes by living lives of sin and unbelief. Their end is eternal destruction.
However, this verb is also a perfect passive, indicating “a completed notion” that, in context (cf. Romans 9:20–21), is likely an action that God Himself has carried out.1 Having prepared vessels for destruction (i.e., a preparation in eternity past), He patiently endures them until He shows them His eschatological wrath and makes His power in judgment known. To clarify carefully—God chose some for mercy, passed over others, and thus, without being the author of sin (cf. James 1:13), thereby prepared these others for their destruction, something they deserve for their willful sin and unbelief.
In contrast to those who forever experience God’s wrath, Romans 9:23, the very next verse, states that God also “has prepared beforehand” (proetoimazō) vessels of mercy for glory. In the context of Romans, to be “prepared beforehand” is parallel in concept to God’s foreknowledge and predestination (Romans 8:29) and His purpose in election (Romans 9:11). Putting these words together, we could say that God placed His love on some in eternity past (foreknowledge) and planned with certainty for their salvation (predestination). This loving choice (election) and preparation beforehand took place “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). What a wonderful God we have who prepared us for mercy so long ago!
—
- Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 417–18. Wallace, one of the foremost biblical Greek scholars of the world, dedicates a full page to examine and explain this verb with these conclusions. [↩]