"or who has first given to Him that it should be repaid to him?"
Truth to Learn
God does not owe you a thing, nor is He obligated to do what you want Him to do.
Behind the Words
The Greek word translated “has first given” is prodidōmi, which is a compound word made up of pro, meaning “before, in position or time” and didōmi, meaning “to give.” Thus we see that prodidōmi means “to give ahead of time.” It is expressed here in the aorist tense, indicating an action that was performed at a point in time in the past. So, we could translate the first part of this verse as, “or who first gave to Him.”
“Repaid” is from antapodidōmi, which is made up of anti, which means “opposite, against, or in turn,” apo, meaning “from or away from,” and didōmi, which means “to give.” When we put this all together we see that antapodidōmi means “to give or do something which is necessary to fulfill an obligation, doing so in return for something previously done.
Meaning Explained
This verse is essentially the same as Job 41:11 which says
Who has first given to Me, that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.
What Paul is pointing out is the fact that God is not indebted to any one of us. He does not owe us a thing! There is nothing that we have done or that we could do which would force God to take any action apart from His eternal plan. There is nothing that we have produced that God did not already own. There is nothing we can give Him that was not already His.
Think about that! There is nothing that we can do that will require God to take action of any kind. He is not indebted to anyone.
Now, apply this to what Paul has been teaching us in this and the previous chapters of this letter. God was not forced to turn to the Gentiles when the Jews rejected Him, He chose to do so. And God is not required to save anyone from their sins, He chooses to do so and He chooses whom He will save. It is His choice and it is of His own free will, it is not our choice. There is nothing we can do that will require God to save us. If we are saved, it is because He decided to do it before time began as Paul teaches in Ephesians:
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and without blame before Him in love. (Ephesians 1:4)
Neither is God required to bless anyone whom He does not choose to bless, nor is He required to answer in the affirmative any prayer He does not choose to answer that way. He is not a puppet that we can control by pulling the right strings or by reciting a magic mantra. God responds to our prayers according to His desires and His will. We are totally at His mercy and we are totally subservient to Him. The sooner we realize this and submit to His authority and will, the sooner we will know the peace that only He can provide through His spirit.
Application
What we have here is big God, little man theology. He is the sovereign ruler over all creation. Our attitude should be like that of Jesus Christ, “Not my will, but yours be done, O Lord!”
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved