a vessel unto honor,
sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good
work,' For he who is to purge himself must first have been unclean, and
hence a vessel of dishonor. But concerning the vessels of mercy he says
clearly that the Lord Himself has prepared them for glory, which he does
not say concerning the damned, who themselves, and not God, have
prepared themselves as vessels of damnation." (1089, 81f.) "Hence the
apostle distinguishes with special care the work of God, who alone makes
vessels of honor, and the work of the devil and of man, who by the
instigation of the devil, and not of God, has made himself a vessel of
dishonor. For thus it is written, Rom. 9, 22f.: 'God endured with much
long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, that He might
make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had
afore prepared unto glory.' Here, then, the apostle clearly says that
God endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath, but does not
say that He made them vessels of wrath; for if this had been His will,
He would not have required any great long-suffering for it. The fault,
however, that they are fitted for destruction belongs to the devil and
to men themselves, and not to God." (1089, 79f.)

It is man's own fault when he is not converted by the Word or afterwards
falls away again. We read: "But the reason why not all who hear it [the
Word of God] believe and are therefore condemned the more deeply, is not
because God had begrudged them their salvation; but it is their own
fault, as they have heard the Word in such a manner as not to learn, but
only to despise, blaspheme, and disgrace it, and have resisted the Holy
Ghost, who through the Word wished to work in them, as was the case at
the time of Christ with the Pharisees and their adherents." (1089, 78.)
"For few receive the Word and follow it; the greatest number despise the
Word, and will not come to the wedding, Matt. 22, 3ff. The cause of this
contempt for the Word is not God's foreknowledge [or predestination],
but the perverse will of man, which rejects or perverts the means and
instrument of the Holy Ghost, which God offers him through the call, and
resists the Holy Ghost, who wishes to be efficacious, and works through
the Word, as Christ says: 'How often would I have gathered you together,
and ye would not!' Matt. 23, 37. Thus many receive the Word with joy,
but afterwards fall away again, Luke 8,