Romans 9:14-18 - Justice and Mercy

Romans 9:14-18

¹⁴ What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. ¹⁷ 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.” ¹⁸ So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

Message: Justice and Mercy

Time:  This book was probably written between 56 and 57 B.C. Paul was in Greece, probably Corinth when he wrote. It was sent to Gentile believers, but also believers with a strong Jewish element.

What the Lord is Saying:

Again, we are staying with the theme of Destiny or the doctrine that God not only has foreknowledge of future events in the lives of His called ones, knowing their salvation before hand but that He Himself has predetermined their salvation beforehand. It is God determining an outcome before the event has occurred. It is one thing to write about a historical event, documenting that it happened, but scripture doesn't simply document that something happened, but rather it states that God made it happen. 

I think we read the Bible and often don't realize what is going on. When something happens, do we just think that God has allowed that to happen (meaning He could have intervened) or do we think that he makes certain things happen and others he doesn't involve himself with. Do we think that God starts us off and then only intervenes if we ask Him to intervene? 

But, the biggest event in any person's life is whether that person will be saved. Does God simply know in advance that a Christ follower will choose Him or does He do the choosing on behalf of the individual? 

Often on the streets we help people understand grace and mercy. When a homeless man comes up to you and asks you for a meal, if you give it him, he has neither earned it nor can he pay it back. By giving it to him you have been gracious. If you are traveling on the road and you are speeding in your car and the police officer stops you, but chooses to not give you a ticket, though you deserve it, he has been merciful toward you. Compassion is being aware of someone's suffering and desiring to relieve the suffering. 

Paul in Chapter 9 of Romans talks about the purposed life of Esau and Jacob and mentions that while in the womb each had a predetermined outcome in life.  This purpose was not based upon what they had done, but based upon a calling. God chose the Israelites, simply because. It is human nature to think that we are chosen based upon someone seeing something in us and then choosing us based upon what they saw. God's choosing may be defined as random. My thinking is God has a purpose and that purpose is only known by Him. 

In Chapter 9 Paul states, God has "mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." This is saying that we yield to God and his mercy is based upon His desire. People from all walks of life have been shown God's mercy, from the poor to the rich. And people from all walks of life have been hardened. No matter what I think we all end up with the "why" question, wondering why so few believe or why so few have faith even thought Jesus said the road is narrow, but why did it have to be that way. The struggle I think is not that God isn't in control, but questioning his outcome for things. There are so many today that live, on the surface, good lives and it is hard to look at them and realize that their eternal outcome does not appear to be with God. That they would end up being annihilated or eternally punished or separated from God is a difficult outcome to realize they have. I can think of family members, friends, strangers, and can also see how wired they are to not even think about God or to think about God in a very narrow way, putting God in a box. So it is hard to think that those people are that way because of God's hardening. 

Everyone deserves to be punished for their sin. As verse 14 says, "There is no injustice with God." God's justice is always served, for the Christian it is served in the atonement of Jesus for their sin. For the non-Christian it is still served for they have earned their condemnation. There is never injustice. 

So I yield to this verse. It is not simply a Pauline verse, but the message is clear throughout scripture. I do want to say I don't understand it, but I yield to it because I have no reason to not believe it is true. But, it remains difficult. Not that God has mercy and hardens, but that so few have received mercy. 

Would God's power be demonstrated if the majority of people were saved? Our world is merit based. We like this. We like hard work to merit good pay. We like hard work to merit good grades. When a baby is born with a defect, we don't understand it. When a baby is born to a family in which the parents have engaged in drugs and other things that are not God's commandments, then we feel better, not because the baby has received it and deserves it, but because it just makes more sense to us. 

Promise: God has "mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires."