This verse is similar to verse 14 in that it also introduces questions which Paul believes can be raised by his opponents: If this is so (that is, what Paul has just stated in verse 18), how can God find fault with a man? Who can resist God’s will? Paul deals with these questions in a way similar to that in which he dealt with the question raised in 3.5-6. He does not really answer the questions; he merely denies that a man has the right to raise them.

The Good News Translation makes the pronominal references explicit: God for Greek “he” and God’s for “his.”

Since questions are introduced in verse 19, it may be necessary to say “will ask me” rather than simply will say to me. The conditional clause if this is so may require some expansion: “if this is the way God does things” or “if this is how God acts.”

Resist God’s will may be translated in some languages as “fight back against what God wants,” “refuse what God wants,” or “object to what God wants.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .