Is it really that complex to understand?
Since we are talking about doctrines that offend some folks, Romans 9:22-24 becomes particularly relevant for it presents a hypothetical question:
What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath–prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory – even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
This does not say that the posited state of affairs IS THE state of affairs but only proposes the possibility of it. This passage follows 9:20-21 but it may as well have followed Isaiah 45:9-10 …
"Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’? Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’
Romans 3 hits its stride saying,
Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Mosesi and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
So what of those who of their own wills do not accept this undeserved kindness? Shall they be forced to benefit from it though they have trampled it underfoot while it was in their power to do so?
Here I’m not speaking of hypothetical people who have never heard the Gospel or had any real knowledge of it, nor am I speaking of young children who are so untaught that they don’t know their right hand from their left, but of people like Americans are whose land has been awash in knowledge of the Gospel, where people try to bear witness of the Gospel … in forums like this.
Scripture is quite clear that we are NOT good enough on our own, as indeed that is the very subject matter of Romans 3:10-18. And it should be clear that us not being good enough on our own is the reason why it is “undeserved kindness”. That it is God’s riches at Christ’s expense is the core of the Gospel.
But is someone refuses to accept the gift they must stand on their own merits … and they cannot. That way ends badly.
So will the Lord be glorified by our praises in light of His giving us a gift we didn’t deserve or will He be glorified because some may end up being the objects of His wrath?
Which applies to us is the choice each of us makes.