There are some attributes of God that most Christians love
to sing about. For instance, there are many songs that celebrate the power of God (A Mighty
Fortress is Our God…), the Love of God (praise Him praise Him all ye little
children, God is Love, God is Love!, Jesus love me…), the faithfulness of God (Great
is thy faithfulness, It is well,…) the hope that God provides (Even if you
don’t, my hope is You alone!) and many others (His goodness, grace, sacrifice,
and glory, etc.). These songs and the divine characteristics they mention receive
a lot of airtime on Christian radio and attention during Sunday morning worship
sets. However, at least one facet of God’s nature is not as well represented in
the music that Christians enjoy or the discussions that Christians have—His sovereignty,
particularly as it pertains to God’s prerogative in choosing people for
salvation. Perhaps because of the controversies surrounding various
interpretations of God’s sovereignty or a lack of knowledge concerning what it
means are to blame for a believer’s reticence on this divine attribute. That
said, God’s sovereignty is no less glorious or praiseworthy than His grace and
it is my prayer that today’s message on Romans 9:14-18 might help us all learn
to appreciate God’s divine prerogative (especially if we are put off by this idea). To this end we are going
to listen carefully to 5 Statements Paul makes concerning God’s prerogative in
choosing His people from Romans 9:14-18.
a) A Question is
Raised-9:14
In the previous passage Paul revealed the foundations upon
which God’s program of relating to the world are fixed—people’s failure and His
promised Word. In so doing, Paul used the choosing of Jacob over Esau as an
example of how God’s will moved forward in the history of the Jews to bring
about the Messiah—Jesus Christ. Some must have asked, as many do today, is this
fair? Can God just choose Jacob over Esau and, by proxy, establish His people
as He sees fit? In an effort to anticipate this question and provide an answer,
Paul asks it himself in verse 14a-“What shall we say then? There is no
injustice with God, is there?...”.
Many people throughout the church age and even more recently
have unfortunately believed that God is somehow not justified in choosing some
to be His people. The fact that not all are chosen or that not all are “God’s
People” is offensive to many and viewed by others as “unfair.” However, don’t
forget who is really to blame for the predicament people find themselves in. It
was and remains the people’s failure to accept the will of God that has
rendered everyone in jeopardy. God would be justified in condemning EVERYONE
and choosing NO ONE.
This is why Paul answers this question with an emphatic “May
it never be!” That God has saved some and not others is not an example of
injustice as much as it is an expression of His great mercy. That God even has
a people in lieu of people’s failure is an example of His supererogatory
nature.
b) A Choice is
Presented-9:15
That said, God’s choice in having a people at all is His to
make—“I will have mercy on who I have mercy,…” (9:15a). This statement is a
quote from Exodus 33:19. There, God is responding to yet another failure of the
people to embrace the will of God. While Moses met with God on Mt. Sinai and
received the Law, the impatient people down below, in an attempt to satisfy
their tendency toward worship and in an example of reverting back to Egyptian
practices, constructed an idol—a golden calf. Infuriated with this wicked
demonstration, Moses breaks the precious tablets and intercedes to God on
behalf of his people. Desperate for some assurance that God is still with them,
Moses asks God to show him His glory. In response to Moses’ request, God calls
him to himself and says “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you,
and will proclaim to you the name of the Lord before you; and I will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will
show compassion.”
As with Moses in Exodus 33, Paul is concerned that many in
his audience, like the Jews at the base of Mt Sinai, are missing what God has
made available. In Exodus, the people of God failed to wait on the Lord and
embrace His Law. In Paul’s day, the Jews failed to accept Jesus and endorse the
salvation that He provides. As a result of both failures (one in the Old
Covenant and one in the New Covenant), all deserved judgment and yet grace was
provided in an effort to spare some—God inscribed a new set of commandments and
the Gospel message continues to go forth.
c) The Reason is
Given-9:16
Unlike the illustration above in which my student’s
completion of the assignment or good performance in the bowling alley earned
them something that I had previously determined to give, God’s mercy is
bestowed in spite of man’s works or will.
The reason for God’s gracious choice is not determined by
man’s will or works—“So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man
who runs” (9:16a). The Hebrews did not earn a second set of tablets and the
first century Jews didn’t deserve the gospel they were hearing. Earlier, Paul
made the case that this was the same for Jacob and Esau—“for the twins were not
yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according
to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls”
(9:11). These passages reveal that it is not mankind’s desire nor is it any set
of works that mankind achieves that directs God’s program of salvation forward.
The fact that anyone is saved is determined by “God who has
mercy” (9:16c). This is not surprising given the respective track records of
mankind and the Lord. Adam and Eve’s desired wrongly to be like God and then
performed an act of egregious sin; God’s mercy stepped in and provided
coverings and a promise that one day sin would be dealt with soundly. Man’s
lusts birthed pervasive wickedness leading to an epic flood; God’s mercy saved
humanity through Noah and his family. People wanted to reach God in their own
way and built a tower in Babel; God destroyed the tower but plucked a man
called Abraham from obscurity to start a special nation of blessing. Abraham
grew impatient and went around God’s will to have a son through Hagar; God
graciously kept his promise to Sarah and gave the couple Isaac. Moses and his
people proved frustrated and doubtful at times in the wilderness; God led their
progeny to the Promised Land. David’s wandering eye led to a scandal of
adultery and murder; God kept his promise of a forever kingdom through His line
and even blessed David’s son. In all of these examples and many others, mankind
has proven that whenever things are left to them, both their desires (will) and
their actions (works) let them down. It is God who is consistently merciful,
not giving what is deserved but providing grace according to His perfect will.
According to Paul, the same is true following Jesus’
ministry and the latest example of a failed will and incorrect action happens
to be the Jewish people the apostle addresses here. Though they had every
reason to accept and embrace Jesus, their wills led them away from Him and
their works were in keeping with obsolete systems. In spite of this, God would,
Paul says, save some of them out of His grace. The very opportunity for
salvation is highlighted by Paul’s message of Jesus Christ given through the
letter to the Romans and his many other correspondences. That said, if only
some are saved, that means others aren’t. If God actively applies grace toward
those that receive His mercy for His glorious purposes, then it is also the
case that God can use those that do not receive His mercy to the same end.
d) An Example is
Referenced-9:17
One compelling example of this is given in verse 17—Pharaoh.
Paul has already alluded to and we have already identified how God used some in
Old Testament in spite of themselves in a positive way. Now he reveals that God
can use others in a completely different way. “For the Scripture says to
Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up,…” (9:17a). This Old Testament
pagan ruler believed he was God on earth and demanded worship from those around
him. From his youth, this lost soul was steeped in a worldview that was far
from the Lord (much as all of us are before salvation). That said, God was at
work in Pharaoh’s career and rise to power. God saw the connections and situation
in which Pharaoh resided and determined to use him in an unexpected way.
God worked in and through Pharaoh’s rise to prominence to demonstrate
the Lord’s divine power by brining Pharaoh to his knees—“to demonstrate My
power in you” (9:17b). In the battle of wills that ensues between God and Pharaoh,
a series of plagues eventually breaks Pharaoh’s resolve and demonstrates to this polytheist ruler that there
is only one true God over all. In fact,
in many ways the individual plagues (frogs, darkness, death of livestock, river
into blood, etc.) each show God’s power over one of the many false gods in
which the Egyptians believed.
God’s victory over Pharaoh and the subsequent salvation of
the Hebrew people not only proved Yahweh’s superiority over paganism, it also
betrayed the Lord’s character as the One who delivers the children of Israel
from bondage. Something of God’s power and merciful character was made known
throughout the world because of how the Lord used Pharaoh. This is what the
Scripture means when it says “and that My name might be proclaimed throughout
the whole earth” (9:17c). Again, even this—the proclamation of the name of God
throughout the world—is an example of God’s mercy and grace for the world.
The reference to Pharaoh here is not only intended to
provide an example of someone who has not received God’s mercy, it is also
meant to show why God does anything, let alone save some and not others. In the
case of Pharaoh’s saga, God did everything in an effort to 1) demonstrate His
own power, and 2) see to it that His name (His character/who He is) would be
proclaimed throughout the earth.
e) The Conclusion is
Made-9:18
What this short passage teaches is summarized in verse 18—“So
then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” Many do not have a problem with the first part
of this verse and the idea that God is free to show mercy on whom He shows
mercy. That God is gracious and loving to save sits comfortably in our
twenty-first century context. However, many do take issue with the second part
of this verse—“and he hardens whom He desires” (9:18). That God’s sovereignty
extends this far is offensive to those who prioritize personal autonomy over
divine will. That said, no matter how foreign this may be in our modern era,
God is, much as he was shown to do in Pharaoh’s life, free to harden hearts
against Him.
A few qualifications must be made in order for us to
appreciate the nuances surrounding what has just been said by Paul (that God hardens
people’s hearts). First, although the text says that God hardened Pharaoh’s
heart, it also stresses that Pharaoh hardened himself (Ex. 7:13-14, 22; 8:15,
19, 32; 9:7, 34-35) (Mounce, Romans, 200).
Exodus 7:13-14-“Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and
he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s
heart is stubborn; He refuses to let the people go.”
In fact, “neither here nor anywhere else is God said to
harden anyone who had not first hardened himself” (Morris, Romans, 361). One commentator has even suggested that “the
hardening of the heart by God is a protological way of expressing divine
reaction to persistent human obstinacy against him” (Fitzmyer, Romans, 568). Such is the case in a
similar competition between God and man found in Revelation.
Revelation 16:8-11-“The fourth angel poured out his
bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. Men were
scorched with fierce hear; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the
power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. Then
the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom
became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they
blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they
did not repent of their deeds.”
In other words, the Scriptures suggest that God hardens
hearts that are more than just indifferent toward Him/ignorant of Him. He
hardens hearts that are bent against Him and actively seeking to usurp His
glorious throne (much as it was in the life of Pharaoh). God is just as free to
harden hearts like this as He is to show mercy to those who do not deserve it.
Second, anytime God does anything (let alone harden someone’s
heart), He does so for at least two explicit reasons and at least one implicit
reason. First, as this text states, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart to demonstrate
His own power and see to it that His nature was proclaimed to the world. Surely
we cannot find fault in that inasmuch as God is most powerful and His name is
the only one worthy of being exalted. In essence, God does His choosing (His
mercy-giving and His hardening) for His glory. Additionally, implicit within
God’s choice of showing mercy and hardening is His bent toward providing
salvation for what Paul calls elsewhere “the many.” Though, to be sure, salvation
for Pharaoh did not result from God hardening his already hardened heart, the
salvation of many Hebrew slave did result, in part, from how God moved in the
life of this pagan leader. In fact, God is about disseminating the message of
His mighty power and wonderful nature (glorifying Himself) by these less
conventional means so that as many as possible might benefit from His grace and
mercy.
Therefore, should we be put off by God’s choice to harden
some and show mercy to others? No! We ought to trust that anything God does is
for His glory and in an effort to promote His program of salvation to the
world.
So What?
Paul’s presentation here has carefully explained the freedom
that God extend mercy as He wills. If all have failed and are deserving of
condemnation, that God would save anyone, let alone move in a way that
proclaims salvation to as many as possible, is a demonstration of God’s love
and mercy. That God chooses to harden others who have already hardened themselves
against the Lord is God’s prerogative and a demonstration of His justice. Both
activities determined by God’s sovereignty result in God being glorified and in
this believers can rejoice. Truly, God’s sovereignty is something that all
should embrace/celebrate for, it is active regardless of our feelings toward
it.
The application for some in light of this passage is to ask whether
they have received God’s mercy or whether they are hardening ourselves against
Jesus, God, or even the idea thereof. Friends, one of the takeaways of this
passage is simple: embrace the grace that you do not deserve before you receive
the justice that you do deserve.
For those who have already embraced God’s mercy in salvation
but have or are struggling to embrace the idea that God’s prerogative is directing
His program according to His perfect will, consider this: the Christian life is
supposed to be preoccupied with God receiving all the glory as is due His name.
Therefore, if, as Paul has taught, His choosing results in His glory, we ought
to be thankful and accepting of this facet of His matchless wonder.
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