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NASB | Romans 9:18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 9:18 So then, He has mercy on whom He wills (chooses), and He hardens [the heart of] whom He wills. |
Bible Question (short): Does God "pass-over" or does He "harden" |
Question (full): For your consideration: I wanted to ask a question about the understanding of God’s giving of mercy and God’s hardening with a view to this verse: "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." (Romans 9:18, NASB95) I have heard people say this - referring to what is said in verse 13 (that God loved Jacob but hated Esau, not based on their work, but based on God’s choice) that they rest in the fact that their belief system is correct because of the question that always pops up. If God did actually choose to love Jacob and to hate Esau unconditionally - that is not based on anything they did or would do but wholly on God’s good pleasure then we say, “Hey, God can’t do that because that’s not fair!”, which is the exact same question the Apostle Paul gives in saying: "What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!" (Romans 9:14, NASB95). If God chooses one just because he wants to we feel it would not be just because, for example in this situation, no matter what Esau did God would not love him because God had already chosen to love Jacob and hate Esau and so basically Esau had no hope - and so we say - HEY THAT’S NOT FAIR! Does that make sense? I am not going to go into the depravity of man here - though I do believe man is fallen and has no ability to come to Christ on his own - as Christ said - believing is not our work but God’s, "Jesus answered and said to them, “ This is the work of God , that you believe in Him whom He has sent .” " (John 6:29, NASB95) And farther: "“ No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day . " (John 6:44, NASB95) Paul then expands on his argument in verse 18: "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." (Romans 9:18, NASB95) This is why God is not unjust - I won’t talk about why God is not unjust long - only to say if there are two criminals sentenced to death and a governor pardons one, the governor is not unjust but is merciful - both deserved to die one received justice and the other received non-justice, that is , mercy. So God can show mercy to one and justice to another - but the word here that Paul uses is not justice - it is hardens. Many would say this hardening referred to is a “passing over” by God (which I think is a very good use of words since they are borrowing words from the Exodus story of which Paul refers to in talking about Pharoah). But if that is the case - that God passes over some (passive) and shows mercy to others (active) then there is no question to raise against this position - all we need to think about is whether or not God is fair and we already know He is beyond any doubt. But there is a question raised by Paul - because he knew his readers would have a question for him - because they understood the word was not “pass over” but “hardens”. The question is this: "You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” " (Romans 9:19, NASB95) To restate - If God hardens, making sure those who He has not shown mercy to go to hell (meaning that God commands them to follow but then actively causes them not to follow) and then on the flip side makes sure that those He has chosen to have mercy on go to heaven by actively working in their lives to make them follow His Word then this question comes - WHY DOES ANYONE GO TO HELL? HOW CAN GOD JUDGE ME, OR ANYONE FOR THAT FACT BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONE THAT MADE ME DO WHAT I DID. I SINNED BECAUSE HE MADE ME DO IT - OR I BELIEVED BECAUSE HE MADE ME DO IT. Does that make sense? That question does not even enter the mind if in fact God “passes over” people - is that not true? Tell me what you think - Does God pass over (passive) or does God harden (active)? |