What question (or objection) is Paul interacting with in this Romans 9:14-18?  How does he respond to it?

Read Exodus 33:12-19.  Why do you think that Paul quotes Exodus 33:19 in Romans 9:15?  Does the context in Exodus give us any additional insight?

What do you think Paul means in Romans 9:16?  What are the implications of this verse for us in our Christians lives?

Consider the life and story of Pharaoh.  (Exodus 1-15)  According to Romans 9:17 (and Exodus 9:16), why did God raise Pharaoh up into the position that he did?

What question (or objection) is Paul interacting with in this Romans 9:19-23?  How does he respond to it?

What does Romans 9:19-23 teach us about the sovereignty of God?  What does it teach us about the responsibility of man?  How are we to reconcile these two (seemingly irreconcilable) doctrines?

According to 9:20, how should we respond, and what posture should we take, when we come across passages in God’s Word that are difficult to understand?  And difficult to reconcile with one another?

What potential reason does Paul give for why God may sovereignly choose to save some and not others?  (9:22-23)  What implications does this have for us, as God’s people?  What implications does it have for the eternity that we will spend with God in heaven?