ROMANS 9: 14-18
IS GOD UNJUST?
[1 Peter 2:6-10]
Has God's plan gone awry because Christ was rejected by the very people who were prepared for Him, meaning the Jews? Our passage previously has revealed that as always some open their hearts to God's revelation while others hardened their hearts. Yet if God elects and selects as He did with Isaac and Jacob, isn't He unfair? In verses 14-18 we encounter another preliminary stage in the developing argument for God sovereignty, particularly as it deals with Israel. [Which culminates in chapter 11 and the guaranteed wholesale turning to the Lord of Israel.]
When some receive the light and others do not, the operating of God's grace can be seen. But if God does not reveal the principles on which He makes His choices [or decisions], that is no reason to call His justice into question. He is the Merciful and Compassionate One.
God's right to choose is seen not only in Abraham's children and grandchildren, it is seen elsewhere. In tonight's text we see it operating in God's dealings with the King of Egypt who stubbornly refused to heed God's Word and warnings. Here we learn that the audacity and rebellion of man can never thwart the purposes of God. God has a right to deal with the obstinate and defiant as He so chooses.
We should not think God unfair though. God's mercy is far wider and higher that anyone dare hope, but no one is entitled to it and no one can demand from God an accounting or the principles on which He bestows mercy and grace nor that He should bestow it differently than He does. God's mercy and grace may impose conditions but they cannot be made subject to man's conditions. Bless God though, for He delights to show mercy and has lavished it upon mankind.
I. God's Choices Are Not Arbitrary, 14.
II. God's Choices Are Merciful, 15-16.
III. God's Choices Overrule Evil, 17-18.
In verse 14 a question is introduced asking if God ever makes unjust choices? "What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!"
Was God unjust in choosing Isaac over Ishmael, and Jacob over Esau? [The Greek negative particle (m) with a question implies a negative response.] The emphatic responds is, "Never at all!" A lot of people have a real problem right here. [They see God as being unfair in acting outside or before mankind's purview; his freedom of choice and his responsibility for actions.] They want to know how could God choose to love Jacob, and hate Esau before they were even born?"
The answer is simple. It is because God is sovereign. The mystery to me is not that God hated Esau. The mystery to me is that God loved Jacob, and an even greater wonder is that He loves me, a conniver just like Jacob.
Did God choose correctly? Read your Bible and you'll see that Esau wasn't interested in spiritual things, but attracted to carnal things. Yes, God chose correctly—He always does. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary. Nashville, TN : Thomas Nelson, 2003, S. 952.]
II. God's Choices Are Merciful, 15-16.
Two arguments are made to prove there is no injustice in God. The first is derived from the Scriptures and the second is derived from the unchanging character of God who cannot be unrighteous. Verse 15 reminds us that God has claimed in His Word the prerogative of divine right. "For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'"
It is not unjust for God to exercise a sovereign's right to make decisions according to His justice. An example of God implementing His prerogative is found in His word to Moses (Ex. 33:19) which Paul here quotes. As the sovereign God, He has the right to show mercy to whomever He chooses. In fact, He is not under obligation to extend mercy to anyone. [Walvoord, John; Zuck, Roy. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983, S. 477]
When did God say this? After the people of Israel had sinned by dancing around the golden calf in a sin-feast at Sinai. There the people sinned grievously. If God had acted simply in justice, He could have blotted out His people. Moses prayed for them. Instead of judgment, God proclaimed to His servant Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy" (Ex. 33: 19). That mercy was seen in sparing a sinful nation.. Why did God pardon them? Because God is merciful.
Now if there ever was a man who could dictate terms to God it was Moses. But there never has been such a person. The blessing Moses demanded is granted not on the basis of merit but on the grounds of what God considers best. God grants graciously and mercifully but only as and what He chooses to grant.
Now God is not like a mad dictator saying He can do whatever He pleases. For He is revealing that His actions toward humanity will be true to His character of love, justice and mercy. The integrity of God's character governors His actions.
Yet God's freedom and mercy is advocated in these verses. God's superior power, His ability to execute what He desires, is everywhere acknowledged. Our fear, however, is that God will use His power arbitrarily and without regard to His subjects, or even against them. Everyone agrees that God is free; but is He just?
Since the bases of God's decisions or choices is His mercy, verse 16 reveals that man's will or effort is not the supreme consideration. "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy."
Therefore experiencing His mercy does not . . . depend on man's desire (lit. "the one willing") or effort (lit., "the one running"). No one deserves or can earn God's mercy. [Walvoord, & Zuck. p. 477] God's mercy does not depend on man's worthiness to receive it. Man does not need to earn or deserve God's mercy. Mercy, like grace, stands above limited human worth and effort. It is free, because God is not bound to show mercy to any. It is not the exercise of man's will or man's striving that compels God to withhold His judgment, but His mercy.
Human effort is a necessary response of gratitude and commitment to God for His grace in Jesus Christ, but it doesn't merit grace. With regard to election God remains totally free, not to employ arbitrary (or worse, malevolent) designs, but to express mercy. [ Edwards, James. New International Com. Romans. Hendrickson Publishers. Peabody Mass. 1992. 238.]
III. God's Choices Overrule Evil, 17-18.
It was C.S. Lewis who stated that "there are only two possibilities in the universe. Either a man says to God, ‘Thy will be done,' or God says to man, ‘All right then. Your will be done.' If you choose to do your will in this life instead of God's will, then one day you will face God's justice."
What is the relation between God's mercy and His judgment is the issue of verses 17-18. Mercy and justice are not opposed to each other but work together.
The thought moves from Moses to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt at the time of the Exodus. In verse 17 the Apostle Paul presented his third historical illustration of the Sovereign Lord's purpose. "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.'"
[Note that this quotation is introduced with the words, "For the Scripture says," in place of "thus saith the Lord," equating the words of God with the words of Scripture.] This Scripture quotation comes from Exodus 9:16. To the Egyptian Pharaoh of the Exodus God said through Moses, "I raised you up" or I brought you onto the scene of history. Scripture is speaking a vivid reminder that it is God who raised Pharaoh up.
"I raised you up" is not only a reference to Pharaoh's emergence in history, but to God's providence in sparing him. Pharaoh deserved death for his oppression and insolence, but his life would not be taken during the series of plagues, so that not only the full extent of his hardness of heart might be evident but also that the greatness of God in the deliverance of His people (Josh. 9:9) might be more clearly evident.
Over and over again, Pharaoh is moved by the momentous events that overtake him, only to revert, once the impact wears off, to his arrogant attitude of resistance to Yahweh's demands. Repeatedly, he hardens his heart (Ex. 5:2) until finally God hardens it for him (Ex. 7:3). The history of Pharaoh's heart-hardening should be noted carefully, as should the Lord's explanation of his actions. God "raised up" this man in order that His power might be made known. God can be glorified through those who oppose Him as well as through those who trust and serve Him. The wrath of man can contribute to the praise and glory of God (Ps. 76:10).
God placed Pharaoh in his position of visibility so that when his hard-heartedness came into conflict with God's purpose he would become an international illustration of the eventual outcome of opposing the purposes of God. If Pharaoh had been born in a cabin and lived in seclusion, his sin would have been neither lesser nor greater. But God placed this arrogant man in a position where his adamant refusal to consent to God's will would not only lead to his own downfall but also to a world wide demonstration of divine power. God's freedom to so act is a right of His sovereignty. [Briscoe, D. Stuart. The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol 29: Romans. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982, S. 188.]
The Book of Exodus is clear that Pharaoh pits himself, not against Moses, but against God, and that God uses Pharaoh's hardness as a means to demonstrate His glory! The effect of Pharaoh's hostility, in other words, accomplishes the opposite of its intent, for it results in the liberation of the Israelites. Pharaoh's hardening benefits those whom it was intended to harm (the Jews). Through Pharaoh's resistance God's power (Rom. 9:22) was demonstrated as He freed the Israelites from under Pharaoh's hand. God's name was proclaimed in all the earth as other nations heard about it and were awed (Ex. 15:14-16; Josh. 2:10-11; 9:9; 1 Sam. 4:8).
Verse 18 is the climatic conclusion of the argument. "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires."
The case of Pharaoh poses a knotty problem because the hardening of his heart is sometimes attributed to God (Ex. 4:21; 7:3; '9:12; 10:1,20; 11:10) and sometimes to Pharaoh himself (Ex. 7:14,22; 8:15,19,32; 9:7,35; 13:15). In the Exodus account, Scripture records twenty times when Pharaoh's heart was hardened—ten times of which God hardened his heart and ten times of which Pharaoh hardened it himself. Understand, that when God hardened Pharaoh's heart, He was only confirming Pharaoh's own decision. So don't feel bad about Pharaoh, for even though he saw miracles happening and heard God's Word very powerfully presented, he hardened his own heart again and again. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary. Nashville, TN : Thomas Nelson, 2003, S. 952]
He hardens whom He wants to harden (lit. "make stubborn"; Ex. 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:27; 14:4, 8; 14:17). emphasizing the freedom of God's action. Because of God's proposal, Pharaoh hardened his heart (Ex. 7:13-14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34-35). All this shows that God chooses and works sovereignly, but not arbitrarily. Yet Pharaoh was responsible for his actions.
Pharaoh making stubborn his heart is an evidence of unbelief and rebellion. God's method of dealing with those who reject the revelation of Himself in nature and history is to abandon them to move into still greater excesses of sin and its consequences as we learned Romans l. [Harrison, Everett. The Expositor's Bible Com. Romans. Vol 10. Zondervan. 106.]
IN CLOSING
God does not act unjustly in His sovereign choices. Yet He has claimed His right and freedom in His Word to act not only in justice, but also in mercy. Throughout history God has often temporally employed severe measures in order to serve His gracious ends, which is the salvation of man.
The wonder is not that some are saved and others are not, but that any body is saved at all. For we all deserve nothing from God but judgment. But thankfully God is a God of mercy, for we one and all must bow before Him.
Do not hardened your heart this evening against the revealed will of God. Cast yourself at His pierced feet and ask Him to soften your heart to His will and way. Listen to His blood stained gospel and surrender to the only One who can save you. Heed His Word and yield to His sovereign power and purpose.
Divine Sovereignty does not relieve men and women of the responsibility for their actions. If anyone is lost, the blame is theirs, but if anybody is saved, the credit is God's. God shows His mercy toward those who have trusted Jesus and demonstrates His patience toward those who have not. Our great hope is that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21).
