Having confirmed God’s sovereign right to do with His creation as He pleases, Paul continued his line of reasoning with an “if-then” statement (9:22–23)—where the “if” is assumed to be true. And it supports his second point: We lost our right to complain about poor treatment when we chose to rebel; therefore, anything we receive other than immediate death is mercy. People in need of mercy don’t have “rights.” In the case of Pharaoh, the sovereign of Egypt was given time to enjoy privileges the vast