Is God Unfair? — Andrew Forrest

Romans 9:14-18

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 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 depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Chapters 9–11 make up one unified, technically complex section, filled with Old Testament allusions and quotations. As we work through this section, we will see that Paul is examining and answering four related questions:

1. Why did so many of the Jews refuse to accept Jesus as Messiah?
2. In light of Jewish rejection of Jesus and Gentile acceptance of Jesus, has God replaced the Jews with the Gentiles as His chosen people?
3. Is there any hope that the Jews who previously rejected Jesus as Messiah might one day turn back and believe?
4. In light of all of the above, what is God up to?

HAVE THE GENTILES REPLACED THE JEWS AS THE CHOSEN PEOPLE?

At the time Paul is writing his letter, most of the people who are becoming Christians are Gentiles, not Jews, and in the Roman church some of the Gentile Christians were implying that the Jews were no longer the chosen people. In our previous days' readings, Paul has lamented the failure of so many of his Jewish brethren to come to faith in Jesus, but he has said that this failure does not mean that God has failed. Using the Old Testament, Paul has shown that it has always been the case that God has chosen to use merely one part of Abraham’s family.

Is it unfair for God to single out certain people to play specific roles in salvation history?

Paul’s answer: By no means! [v 9:14b]

Paul then uses the example of Moses and Pharaoh to make his point.

The very first thing the Israelites did after the Lord made a covenant with them at Mt. Sinai was to make a golden calf and worship it! One would think that this would mean the end of their relationship with the Lord, but surprisingly, the Lord continued to be faithful to Israel. In fact, when Moses presses the Lord on this point, the Lord replies,

15 I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion [Romans 9:15, referencing Exodus 33:19].

As Paul points out, God even uses Pharaoh—of all people—as part of His plan of salvation. The point of the Pharaoh example is that hard hearts can be used by God to bring other people to saving faith—just as God previously used Pharaoh’s refusal to relent to bring salvation to the Hebrews, so now God is using the hard hearts of the Jews to bring salvation to the Gentiles. (But we are getting ahead of ourselves—Paul hasn’t gotten there yet.)

18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills [Romans 9:18].

If you take this verse out of context, it at first seems that God is deliberately hardening the hearts of the Jews so that they will NOT believe. But, as we shall see, this is not the point Paul is making. (The problem is that we have to read his entire argument in chapters 9–11 to get his overall point.)

1. Paul will go on to explain in chapter 11 that even Jews who initially rejected Jesus are capable of later changing their minds and coming to faith in Him. Paul is not here talking about God making someone permanently incapable of repenting and responding to the Gospel.

2. For another thing, the example of Pharaoh is complicated. In Exodus, the Lord continually reaches out to Pharaoh and gives him chance after chance to repent. Finally, and tragically, Pharaoh stubbornly refuses to repent but God even uses Pharaoh’s refusal for His salvation purposes.

The point Paul is making here is that God shows mercy in surprising ways!

We’ll have to read on to see how this applies to the question, Have the Gentiles replaced the Jews as the chosen people?

In the meantime, don’t give up hope today—God’s mercy often comes in surprising ways and places. Keep praying. Whatever the result of the election, do not assume you know how God is at work.