The Absolute Freedom of God

Romans 9:14-18
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, October 03, 2010
Copyright © 2010, P. G. Mathew

Romans 9:14-18 speaks about the absolute freedom, or sovereignty, of God. It begins with a question of the wicked: Is God unjust? (v. 14). God’s first response in the form of a scriptural quotation is found in verse 15. In verse 16 we have the conclusion we draw from God’s first response. Verse 17 is God’s second response, and verse 18 is the conclusion we can draw from God’s second response.

The Sovereignty of God

The sovereignty of God means that God the Creator does what he pleases, and creation can do nothing about it. The demons, the devil, the wicked people of the world, as well as all Caesars and pharaohs and kings cannot thwart God’s will. God has absolute freedom to do what he pleases with us. Therefore, if we are tempted to question God’s actions, we must realize we cannot argue with God. We must put our hands to our mouths as we see him in all his greatness in his self-disclosure in the Scriptures.

The great American theologian of the eighteenth century, Jonathan Edwards, defines God’s freedom as follows: “The sovereignty of God is his absolute, independent right of disposing of all creatures according to his own pleasure.”¹ God saves some sinners and punishes the vast majority of sinners according to the pleasure of his own will.

God is not guided or constrained by anything outside of himself. He sovereignly chose Jacob to salvation and Esau to punishment before they were born, before they did anything good or bad, even though they were children of the same father and mother and even though they were twins. They were also both children of Adam, conceived in sin and born as sinners to practice sin. Yet God says, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” God’s love for Jacob was an active love and his hatred for Esau was an active hatred. God does with sinners what he pleases.

Only the God of the Bible is a thrice-holy, independent, self-determining being. This God shows mercy to some sinners and justly condemns the rest. If we have been shown mercy, let us adore God’s absolute freedom to do what he pleases with all his rational creatures, angels and demons.

The Bible teaches that God is righteous in all he does and absolutely free. The Lord says, “I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand” (Deut. 32:39). Elsewhere he states, “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isa. 46:10). The psalmist says, “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him” (Ps. 115:3). He also declares, “The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths” (Ps. 135:6).

1. The Proud Question God’s Actions

In Romans 9:14 Paul anticipated a question from his hearers, who were probably unbelieving Jewish people: “Isn’t God unjust in showing mercy to some and condemning the rest? Was God unjust in loving Jacob and hating Esau?”

Paul answers with the most powerful negation in the Greek language: “Mê genoito!(Unthinkable!)” The idea of God being unjust is unthinkable because God is dealing with sinners, sons of Adam. Paul already proved the universality of sin in Romans 1:18-3:20. “There is no one righteous. . . . All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:10, 23). We may pretend to be righteous, but God says there is none righteous. The wrath of God is revealed against all sinners, who all suppress the truth by their wicked thoughts and deeds. It is God’s freedom to show mercy to some sinners and punish the rest. All are sinners, and the wages of sin is death. Yet God exercises his prerogative to give the gift of eternal life to some who are eternally chosen to salvation. So God was gracious to some Jews, but he passed by the vast majority of the nation Israel.

This is true of God’s dealings with people throughout redemptive history. During Noah’s time, eight people were saved and the rest killed in the great flood. Even today, he chooses some who call themselves Christians to eternal salvation, but lets the majority suffer his just wrath.

In this passage, Paul is dealing only with God’s freedom, not that of sinful creatures. If we are tempted to argue against this freedom, consider these words of Edwards: “Seeing you thus disregard so great a God, is it a heinous thing for God to slight you, a little, wretched, despicable creature; a worm, a mere nothing, and less than nothing; a vile insect, that has risen up in contempt against the Majesty of heaven and earth?”²

We may say that Edwards was ignorant of our modern secular ideas of self-esteem, self-adulation, self-centeredness, and self-glorification! But whenever we talk back to our parents, pastors, or teachers, that “little, wretched, despicable creature; a worm, a mere nothing, and less than nothing; a vile insect,” is springing up from within us to treat the majesty of God with contempt.

Is God, therefore, unrighteous in showing mercy to the elect few and not showing mercy to the majority of sinners, whether Jew or Gentile? The answer is no! Paul tells all such interrogators to shut their mouths. God himself has shown us in the Scriptures that this is exactly what he did in the past. Paul then quotes two passages from Exodus to prove his point.

Paul used the Scriptures because the Jews believed in the absolute authority of the Scriptures. Though many so-called Christians today do not believe in the absolute infallibility, inerrancy, and authority of the Bible, the apostles did, and true Christians have also done so throughout history.³ Even Satan believes in the authority of the Bible. When Jesus cited the Scriptures to Satan, he was defeated. Satan flees when he hears, “It is written.”

When the Bible speaks, God speaks, the Holy Spirit speaks, and Christ speaks. Therefore, all arguments should cease. We can say, “Pastor, show me from the Bible, and I will believe. Father and Mother, show me from the Bible, and I will obey.” We know the will of God from the Scriptures. Paul declares, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Peter says, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). Paul also says, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). Elsewhere he states, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (1 Cor. 10:11). About Jesus we read, “The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”‘” (Matt. 4:3-4). In other words, “It stands written with all the authority of God.” That is the end of all arguments.

A true Christian will love the word of God, study it diligently, believe it, and strive to please God by obeying his voice in the Scriptures. And when the question comes, “Is God unrighteous?” he will say with Paul, “Not at all!”

It is God’s nature to be righteous. Abraham knew this when he affirmed, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25). God always does what is right. Righteousness is the character of God. It is his name. To say God is unjust is self-contradictory. God is not a man that he should lie, nor can he ever be unjust.

Without God and his self-revelation in the Scriptures, we would not know what is right. Sinful man is always finding fault with God. As early as Genesis 3:12 we read, “The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.'” And the last Old Testament book, Malachi, is full of complaints against God. For example, in Malachi 1:2 we read, “‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD. But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?'” (see also Mal. 1:6; 2:14; 3:7, 13). These vile, despicable creatures were demanding that God prove that he loved them.

Paul writes, “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). It is God’s nature to be righteous and faithful. The psalmist says, “Righteous are you, O LORD, and your laws are right. . . . Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true (Ps.119:137, 142). Again, in the psalms we read, “Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God.” (Ps. 71:19). God declares through Jeremiah, “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight” (Jer. 9:23-24).

God would be unjust if he chose sinless Jacob to eternal salvation and sinless Esau to eternal damnation. But God in his mercy chose fallen-son-of-Adam Jacob to salvation and let fallen-son-of-Adam Esau to suffer the wages of sin, which is eternal death. God is free to condemn all the sons of Adam. He is not obligated to save even one. But God deals with some in mercy while he deals with most in justice. There is no unrighteousness in God.

In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, God teaches the principle that he is free to show mercy to whomever he wants. The master paid all the workers what was agreed upon beforehand, even though some worked fewer hours for the same pay. As those who had worked the longest were murmuring, the master declared, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?” (Matt. 20:15). In other words, God does what he pleases: we must keep our mouths shut.

2. God’s First Response

God’s first response to the question of the arrogant was a quote from Exodus 33:19:”I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” This response showed that there is no unrighteousness with God in showing mercy to some because God had already done this in the history of Israel. The context is that at Sinai, the people of Israel committed a great sin. They became idolatrous, made a golden calf and worshiped it. Holy God was angry with his people. Moses said he would rather be accursed if sinful Israel could be spared the punishment for their sin. But this is impossible. How can sinful Moses atone anyone’s sin?

Then Moses made three requests to God. First, he said, “Please teach me your ways” (Exod. 33:13). Second, he found out that God was not going to go with him and the people. So he asked, “Please go with us to the land of promise. What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exod. 33:14). To this request of Moses, God agreed. The people of God are distinguished by the presence, not of angels, but of God himself. God will never leave nor forsake his people. He is our good shepherd, and even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will discover God’s consoling presence with us. So Jesus said, “I’ll be with you always, even unto the end of the ages” (Matt. 28:20).

The third request is in Exodus 33:18: “Show me thy glory.” God answers this request also in verse 19: “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, ‘The Lord,’ in your presence.” He had already revealed his name as Yahweh (LORD) in Exodus 3:14: “I AM WHO I AM,” meaning, “I am self-existing, self-determining, self-sufficient, sovereign being.” Now in Exodus 33:19, he gives further understanding to Moses, saying, in essence, “My name ‘LORD’ means that I am characterized by absolute freedom. I will show mercy to whomever I show mercy and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion. This means I am not going to show mercy to all Israel, whom I brought out of Egypt. The majority will die in the wilderness. But in my freedom, I will show mercy and compassion to some whom I choose.”

Friends, not many wise, influential, or of noble birth are shown mercy by God (1 Cor. 1:26). God in his freedom chooses the foolish, the weak, the lowly, and the nothings of this world, to eternal salvation, to the praise of his glorious grace. To bestow mercy is his divine prerogative alone. God’s mercy is discriminating because it rests solely on God’s will and pleasure. It is his sovereign right to dispense mercy as he chooses. The rich he sends empty away, but he feeds the poor (Luke 1:53).

God is free from any constraint originating in creation. This is the essence of what it means to be God. God is without cause or constraint outside of himself. Dr. John Piper says, “God’s righteousness is essentially his unswerving allegiance to his own name and his own glory.”⁴ This is disappointing to the arrogant: God’s only concern is his own glory. Piper says again, “God’s glory includes absolute freedom in election. The essence of God’s righteousness is his commitment to uphold and display the infinite value of his glory and his name.”⁵ God does not worry about vile insects who spring up and treat him with contempt. He is not a poodle who follows us wherever we go. Rather, we are to follow him.

God the Holy One glorifies himself by saving the elect by mercy and judging others in his justice. In all he does, whether saving or judging, he is glorified. When we sin, therefore, we belittle God, and God will not be belittled. When a child does not obey his father, he is dishonoring and belittling the father and thus belittling God. God must deal with every sin of every sinner that his glory may be upheld.⁶ God is righteous when he values what is most valuable, which is his own glory.

As we come to know the greatness of God, we will be cut down to size. I pray that God will humble us. He brings us down so that he may bring us up. Those who disobey God and his delegated authorities mock God and assault his honor. But God wages war against them and wins, whether they are pharaohs, Caesars, Israel, Christians, or Gentiles. Thank God for his mercy, which he freely shows to his elect! His mercy sends us to heaven, though we merit only hell. His mercy is shown to us based on his justice because Christ died for our sins.

We read about God’s mercy throughout the Bible: “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness'” (Exod. 34:6); “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in [mercy] to all who call to you. . . . But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, [plenteous in mercy] and faithfulness” (Ps. 86:5, 15); “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, [plenteous in mercy]” (Ps. 103:8); “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ” (Eph. 2:4-5). Praise God for his plenteous mercy toward us!

Mercy there was great and grace was free,

Pardon there was multiplied for me.

There my burdened heart found liberty,

On Calvary.

The Lord told Moses, “I will have compassion to whomever I have compassion, and I will have mercy to whomever I have mercy.” What is the difference between compassion and mercy? Compassion is God feeling our pain-not the way politicians say they feel people’s pain-but truly feeling it. It is expressed by a Greek wordsplagchnizomai, meaning one’s very heart going out to someone. A leper told Jesus, “I know you are able to make me clean, but I don’t know whether you are willing.” Jesus had compassion on him; his heart went out to him. Then he showed mercy, which is actually helping the person. Jesus touched the leprous man and healed him (Mark 1:40-41).

The father of the prodigal saw his son coming and was moved with compassion (Luke 15:20). Then he showed mercy by receiving him, not as a slave but as a son. Compassion is feeling and mercy is acting. To show mercy is to act mercifully to the miserable. So God is not unrighteous when he shows mercy to some and not to others. He is acting justly in his sovereign freedom. This is what the Scripture teaches in Exodus 33:19.

God acts freely to save only some. The heresy of universalism taught by theologian Karl Barth and others contradicts the Scriptures and the character and the glory of God. Universalism teaches that God saves all, whether humans or demons.⁷ The Bible condemns universalism. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, “The real mystery is not that everybody is not saved, but that anybody is saved.”⁸ Those guilty of the heresy of universalism do not think God’s thoughts after him. They will not subject themselves to the Scripture. The Sovereign Lord declares, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8). We must subject ourselves to the self-revelation of God.

Exodus 33:19 also explains why the majority of the Jews rejected their Messiah and only a few believed in him. It explains why only a few today believe in Christ. Jesus himself spoke of this: “‘[God] has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn-and I would heal them” (John 12:40).

When we see someone being continually rebellious and disobedient, we must conclude that God is hardening this person’s heart for destruction, that God may glorify himself by that destruction. If we ourselves have been hardening and questioning and living in a state of obduracy, obstinacy, and stubbornness, may God help us by his grace to humble ourselves, that he may show mercy to us, because he is plenteous in mercy.

3. Paul’s First Conclusion

The first conclusion comes to us in verse 16: “It does not therefore depend on man’s will or man’s effort, but on God, who shows mercy.” “It” means salvation, or mercy. Our salvation does not depend on our willing and running or any other effort, but entirely upon God’s mercy.

The salvation of a sinner depends not on anything that sinner wills or does because as sinners we cannot merit any mercy. In Romans 5 Paul says sinners are without strength, ungodly, and enemies of God. Elsewhere we are told they are dead in trespasses and sins, objects of God’s wrath, and sons of disobedience. By nature all people are pervasively sinful in their thinking, willing, and affections. What we need is a spiritual resurrection and a new heart given by the Holy Spirit. All humble human willing and actions are not the cause of our salvation, but the result of God’s showing mercy to us.

God demands that we must be born again, but we cannot do this on our own. He demands new life, and what he demands, he grants. He demands repentance and grants it. He demands faith and grants it. He demands fruit of the Spirit and grants it. He demands good works, and he enables us to do them.

Yet our willing and running are not unnecessary and irrelevant. They have relevance as the necessary response to God’s mercy shown to us. Paul writes, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. . . . Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air” (1 Cor. 9:24, 26). He runs and fights with a purpose, but it is because God enabled him to do so. (PGM) Paul also says, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to do his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13).

The salvation of sinners depends entirely on God, who in his sovereign freedom shows mercy to some of them. Therefore, we boast, but only in God. We praise God and obey him with delight because he has shown mercy to us.

4. God’s Second Response from Scripture

The second response of God is the second quotation of Scripture: “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth'” (v. 17). This quotation is also in response to the arrogant question of the proud man of verse 14: “Is God unjust?” Now Paul quotes Exodus 9:16, which not only says that God shows mercy to some, but also that he hardens some sinners and deals with them in his just wrath. It explains why Esau was hated and why the majority of the Jews of Paul’s day rejected Christ their Messiah.

Here again Scripture puts an end to all arguments. Scripture always settles all disputations and our wrong questionings of the Almighty. God welcomes our questions, if we are interested in understanding, just like parents welcome the questions of their children.

When we read Exodus 9:16, we notice that the Scripture did not speak to Pharaoh, but God spoke to Pharaoh through Moses. When the Bible says “Scripture says,” it means “God says.” When we read the Scripture, do we understand that God is speaking to us? Our minds should be working hard to understand what God is saying so we can do it. Obedience is required when God speaks. For example, the Scripture says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as God forgave you in Christ” (Eph. 4:32). Who is speaking? God. If we are confronted with this Scripture and yet refuse to forgive our brothers just as God forgave us, we prove ourselves to be wicked. When the Scripture speaks, God is speaking. When parents or pastors speak in accordance with the Scripture, God is speaking, and we must pay attention to the word, believe it, and obey it. Paul says, “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe” (1 Thess. 2:13).

Verse 17 says God raised up Pharaoh for a specific purpose. Professor Charles Hodge of Princeton says it can be interpreted thusly: “For this purpose have I raised thee up and placed thee where thou art, instead of cutting thee off at once.”⁹ God brought this Pharaoh on the scene of history and preserved him alive for a long time for a divine purpose. All creation exists for God’s own glory. Inanimate and rational creation exists for one purpose only-for the glory of God. Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus were also raised up to do God’s purpose. Not only are the steps of a righteous man ordered of the Lord, but the Lord also orders the steps of a wicked man. All angels and humans exist for God’s glory. Hell and heaven exist for God’s glory.

To Display God’s Power

Verse 17 gives us a twofold purpose. First, “that in you my power may be displayed for all to see.” God’s power in judgment was manifested in the ten plagues. God through his outstretched arm punished the Egyptians and Pharaoh and especially the gods of Egypt. It was also shown in the destruction of the armies of Egypt in the Red Sea. His power was especially displayed in Pharaoh, in his defeat and destruction for God’s glory. So we read, “The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. . . .Your right hand, O LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble” (Exod. 15:3-4, 6-7). God is glorified when he destroys the wicked.

The same power of God displayed in Pharaoh was also God’s saving power. God saved Israel by his mercy through that power: “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: ‘I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him'” (Exod. 15:1-2). The power (dunamis) that destroyed Pharaoh also saved God’s people, and God is glorified in both.

To Declare God’s Name

God said that he raised up this Pharaoh to fulfill an additional purpose, that “my name be declared throughout the whole earth.” Not only should we know, but the whole world should know that God and God alone is great and glorious.

God will not tolerate anyone being ignorant of the Creator and Governor of the universe. Jesus commissioned his apostles to go into all the earth and make disciples of all nations by preaching the gospel that Christ was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead; that Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification; and that God demonstrated his greatest power in Jesus Christ when he raised him from the dead. We must go and tell the whole world to repent and believe and be saved, and glorify God.

God demands that all creation, whether good or wicked, whether angels, demons, or humans, know him in all his attributes and glorify him. He declares, “And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it” (Exod. 7:5). He wants the wicked to know who he is. He told Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD” (Exod. 10:1-2).

God performed signs so that both the wicked and his people would know who he is. And when the spies entered Canaan, Rahab told them, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed” (Josh. 2:9-10).

We see these phrases repeated throughout the book of Ezekiel: “that you may know that I am the LORD,” and “that they may know that I am the LORD.” For example, “Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the LORD. . . . And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them. . . . And they will know that I am the LORD, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak-places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols” (Ezek. 6:7, 10, 13). I will kill them, God was saying, and thus they will know that I am the Lord. Let us have respect for this God, who both kills and saves so that his name may be glorified.

God will not tolerate his creation belittling him. Indeed, all inanimate creation glorifies him; the heavens declare his glory (Ps. 19:1). God demands rational creation do the same, both when he saves and when he judges.

As believers, we are to display God’s glory by worshiping and serving God. This purpose is disclosed especially in Isaiah. The Lord says his people are “the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise” (Isa. 43:21). In our speech, in our work, in our marriage, in our family, in the church, and in all our comings and goings, the one thing God demands is that we declare his purpose. “Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel” (Isa. 44:23). God displays his glory in Israel so that we will display his glory. In Isaiah 61:3 we read that he will “bestow on [his people] a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of [God’s] splendor.”

There is a purpose for our lives. Peter declares, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9). That is the purpose, and when we do that, we will be happy. When we do not, we will be most miserable. Paul says, “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:20). Elsewhere he says, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:20-21).

The glory of God is the chief purpose of God and the chief end of man. A sinner always calls attention to himself. He is an exhibitionist and a narcissist. Modern man uses every bit of technology to show himself off. He has no interest in the display of God’s glory. But true Christians display God’s glory.

5. Paul’s Second Conclusion

What conclusion do we arrive at from the two scriptures Paul cited? First, a sinner is eternally saved because God chose to show mercy to him. God’s mercy sends us who merited hell to heaven instead. He does so not because of any willing or effort on our part, but solely because of the sovereign will of God, the absolute freedom of God.

There is a twofold exercise of this determinative will of God: “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden”(v. 18). That is why some people do not want to believe in Christ. This hardening is God’s judicial abandonment of sinners. We must always remember that God is not making sinless people sinful. He hardened the sinner Pharaoh to become more hard toward God, and every means of grace shown to him only hardened him further. Every time Moses came to Pharaoh, he came with means of grace, and Pharaoh rejected it. The Scripture speaks of God hardening Pharaoh more times than it speaks of Pharaoh hardening himself. Nine times it says that God hardened him; five times it says he was hardened.

Pharaoh illustrates divine reprobation, which is the counterpart of divine election. Pharaoh illustrates all vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. Pharaoh illustrates why Esau and the majority of Jews and Gentiles are hardened in the discriminating will of God.

We must acknowledge this truth: only a few are chosen to eternal salvation. Most people are vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. Jesus admonished, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt. 7:13-14).

This is a mystery. Few will enter the kingdom of God, which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Others remain outside, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Outside is where the rich man of Luke 16 experienced fire, agony, torment. Outside is hell. All who are outside of Christ at the moment of their death will go to hell.

John says, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. . . . But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. . . . Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Rev. 20:15; 21:8; 22:15). Paul states, “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done” (Rom. 1:28).

Both heaven and hell bring God glory, for both show the exercise of his determinative will. The psalmist declares, “Surely your wrath against men brings you praise [and glory]” (Ps. 76:10). So the members of the early church prayed, “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:27-28). The psalmist speaks about the Egyptians, “whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants” (Ps. 105:25). God turned the Egyptians’ hearts to hate his people so that he could destroy them. Of unbelievers Paul writes, “For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thess. 2:11-12). Oh, these may be educated, very sophisticated people. But God sends “a powerful delusion so they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” Proverbs 16:4 says, “The LORD works out everything for his own ends-even the wicked for a day of disaster.”

If a person refuses to obey God, it may be that God is hardening his or her heart. It may indicate that person is an object of God’s wrath prepared for destruction, not an object of mercy prepared for glory. I am not speaking about occasional disobedience, but a pattern of rebellion, obduracy, and obstinacy. If we see such a pattern, eventually we should conclude that God is going to destroy that person.

How many people come for counsel, but they refuse to listen and yield to will of God! In the same way, God hardened the evil heart of Pharaoh to increase his obduracy to do greater evil. But the lost are not made to disbelieve God. They are sinners who by nature refuse to believe the gospel. Only those sinners who are shown mercy are enabled to believe, but God withholds special grace to the non-elect. He gives special grace only to the elect. The sinner without special grace goes from one degree of hardness to another until he reaches the ultimate degree.

God elects and reprobates, saves and condemns, without prejudice to his character of being just. So the election of sinners to salvation and reprobation of sinners to damnation are both within God’s sovereign righteous freedom, both according to the glory of his name.

Reasons for Hope

Let me give you some reasons for consolation and hope. What can we learn from this idea of unconditional election? It means that our salvation has nothing to do with us and everything to do with God’s mercy and love. God shows us mercy because he shows us mercy; he loves us because he loves us. Because of this, we can say the following:

1. No sinner is beyond God’s ability to save and be shown mercy.
2. God can save even the chief of sinners. God showed mercy to Paul, who called himself the worst sinner: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst” (1 Tim. 1:12-15). If you think you are the worst of sinners, then you can have great hope, for God sent his Son to save sinners. Every sinner is chief of sinners because we sinned against the infinite God, and therefore our sin is infinite.
3. Though we are ignorant of the mystery of our eternal election, we can appeal to God’s mercy, as the Scripture directs us to do. The publican stood afar and would not look up to heaven. He beat his breast and cried out, “Have mercy upon me, a sinner.” The thief who mocked Jesus Christ became sober and cried out at the last moment, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” The leper came to Jesus and says, “I know you are able to heal me, but I don’t know whether you are willing. I don’t know whether I am an elect.” But Jesus said, “I am willing,” and moved with compassion, he touched and healed him.
4. We can plead for mercy, not justice, from God, who is plenteous in mercy. Mercy sends us to heaven; justice sends us to hell.
5. If we repent and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to live for his glory, then we can know that the root of our salvation goes deep into God’s eternal election of us. Therefore nothing can topple us, and we shall never perish.
6. We can glory in mercy shown to us because nothing but God’s mercy can save.
7. We must proclaim this mercy to other sinners, beginning in our own house.

Finally, let me direct you to Psalm 95 as quoted in Hebrews 3 and 4. “Today if you hear his voice, harden not your heart.” This is the moment of God’s mercy. May God help us to hear his voice, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved.

¹ Jonathan Edwards, “God’s Sovereignty in the Salvation of Men” (Rom. 9:18), http://www.apuritansmind.com/jonathanedwards/JonathanEdwards-Sermons-GodsSoveriegntySalvationMen.htm

² Jonathan Edwards, “The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners” (Rom. 3:19), http://www.apuritansmind.com/jonathanedwards/JonathanEdwards-Sermons-JusticeOfGod.htm

³ See The Authority and Inspiration of the Scriptures by B. B. Warfield.

⁴ John Piper, The Justification of God (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993).

⁵ Op. cit.

⁶ See also John Piper’s sermons on Romans 9 at http://www.desiringgod.org

⁷ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans: God’s Sovereign Purpose, Exposition of Chapter 9:1-33 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991), 158ff.

⁸ Lloyd-Jones, 163.

⁹ Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 314.