Introduction
Last week my sermon was primarily dealing with those of you who are more introspective, and tend to always question yourselves. And we all fall into that category from time to time. Even if we don’t have a sensitive conscience we all fall into fear and doubt at different times in our lives. Well this week I want to primarily address not those who always question themselves, but those who tend to question God.
C.S. Lewis once observed that the great difference between the ancient world and the modern world is that the ancient man stood before God awaiting judgment, while modern man imagines himself sitting in judgment upon God. Lewis called this putting “God in the dock.” The dock is the place where the accused stands in a courtroom.
In previous generations men understood that they were the ones on trial. God was the Judge. God was the Lawgiver. God was the King. The question was always, “How shall I answer to Him?” But modern man has reversed the arrangement. He places God in the dock. God becomes the accused. Man becomes the judge. And so God is expected to explain Himself, justify His actions, and defend His decisions before the bar of human reason.
This is the posture of the world today… But if we’re honest we often have this posture ourselves. We see it every time we find ourselves thinking or saying, in reference to God, “That’s not fair.” But if our view of God is right we would know that whatever He ordains is right… For He alone is the one who is right and good. And therefore everything He does and everything He wills is right and good. God is always just in all His ways.
This is what I want us to see in God’s Word today. But with that I want us to see that we do not want what is fair… When it comes to us and God we do not want justice, we want mercy. For what is fair and just is for God to leave us to die in our sin, and condemn us to hell. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, has chosen us before the foundation of the world, made us alive together with Christ, and has saved us, is saving us, and will save us by grace. Therefore we should be, we must be… indeed, how can we not be amazed by God’s grace…
So with that in mind, look with me at Romans 9:14-18.
Context
Remember our context here. After showing us his heart for his kinsman according to the flesh, back in Romans 9:6 Paul began defending the faithfulness of God. After laying out so many beautiful gospel promises in Romans 8, ending with the great promise that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus… Paul anticipates some pushback tied to Israel… Israel’s widespread rejection of Christ raised an obvious question: Has God’s Word failed? Has God’s covenant promise fallen to the ground? If Israel has been separated from the love of God in Christ how can we trust that we won’t be?
Paul answers by telling us that the Word of God has not and cannot fail. God is always perfectly faithful to His true people, to the true Israel of God. Not all who are descended from ethnic Israel belong to the true Israel of God. God’s covenant purpose has always moved forward by grace through His sovereign choice. He chose Isaac and not Ishmael. He chose Jacob and not Esau. And He did so before either brother had done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose of election might stand—not because of works but because of Him who calls.
God’s promises have never depended upon human merit, human effort, human bloodlines, or human faithfulness. They have always depended upon God Himself. And that immediately raises another question: If God’s saving purpose rests upon His sovereign choice, is God unjust? Is God unfair? And that’s where our passage starts today.
Romans 9:14-18
Verse 14 says, “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!” What shall we say to unconditional election—to God choosing Isaac and not Ishmael, to God loving Jacob and not Esau before they had done anything good or bad, not based on anything in them but on God’s purpose of election? What shall we say to this idea of unconditional election? Is there injustice on God’s part? Is it unjust for God to elect, to choose unconditionally?
Last week we saw that unconditional election is God’s sovereign and gracious choice, made in Christ before the foundation of the world, whereby He determined to have a people for Himself. This choice rests entirely on God’s mercy and purpose rather than foreseen faith, works, or merit. Those whom God has chosen are chosen in union with Christ, the Elect One, and God’s eternal purpose cannot fail. And now Paul is asking whether or not this is just or unjust? And he immediately provides an answer: “By no means!”
Paul defends this answer and shows why unconditional election does not make God unjust in verse 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.’” Before we go any further, notice the two words Paul uses here—mercy and compassion… God’s mercy is His free determination to help the guilty. His compassion is His tender-hearted pity toward the miserable. Mercy addresses our guilt; compassion addresses our misery. Mercy forgives. Compassion pities. Mercy rescues. Compassion sympathizes. Paul quotes both terms to show that every aspect of our salvation—from God’s pity toward us to God’s rescue of us—flows entirely from God’s sovereign freedom and gracious character.
God is not reacting to something attractive in us. He is acting according to who He is… Again, He says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” He says, “I will…” It is up to His will. But if you’re like me, at first you probably hear that as a restatement of the problem, not as a solution to the problem… This doesn’t sound like it explains why it’s good and right for God to elect unconditionally and have mercy upon whomever He chooses. It sounds like a statement that is saying that’s just what God does. But you have to really consider what he’s saying here in context.
Paul is quoting Exodus 33:19, and in the original context Moses is interceding for Israel after all the great evil they entered into with the golden calf… After growing impatient with Moses who was still up on the mountain meeting with the one true God, they decided to make and worship a false god—a golden calf—and give it the glory for delivering them from Egypt. Along with that they engaged in pagan rituals, and all forms of sexual immorality and the like, all in the name of worshipping this false god.
God was going to unleash His wrath upon them, but Moses pleaded with God for mercy for his people. In fact, this is the scene that Paul seems to have in mind in the beginning of Romans 9 where he says that he would be accursed for his kinsman according to the flesh if it meant they would be saved. After the golden calf Moses said to the people, “‘You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.’ So Moses returned to the LORD and said, ‘Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will, forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written’” (Exodus 32:30-32). But basically God responds to Moses by telling him that who He has mercy and compassion on is up to Him, not Moses… And He will only blot out those who give themselves over to sin.
God does tell Moses that He is going to discipline His people for their sin. And Moses has already had many of them put to death, and disciplined them all. But Moses is still concerned that God may forsake them all. So in chapter 33 it seems as though Moses is still timidly pleading with God to have mercy on His people. Yet God responds by simply telling Moses to lead the people to Canaan.
As they went on this journey God would meet with Moses and speak to Moses as to a friend, but the presence of the Lord did not dwell among the people because they were so sinful. God would tell Moses that he had found favor in His sight, and Moses would more or less say, “And what about your people? Them too right?” To which God would say things like, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”
But Moses continued to intercede for the people, trying to see if God was going to have mercy upon them all and lead them all into the Promised Land. And in a search for reassurance Moses asks to know God all the more, to know His ways all the more by seeing His glory. And that’s the scene we read from earlier in our Old Testament reading.
God said, “‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live’” (Exodus 33:19-20).
Moses asks to see God’s glory, and God draws attention to His name. And this is interesting because earlier in Exodus 3:14-15, after Moses asked God what he should tell the people of Israel God’s name is, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’’ God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.’”
And this seems to be the very thing God is reminding Moses of—who He is. In Exodus 34:5-7, in response to Moses’ request to see God’s glory, “The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’”
Now I give you all that context to help you understand what Paul is saying here. Paul is saying that it is not unjust for God to elect unconditionally because God is God. To be sure, God said this is how He operates, and therefore that is defense enough. Whatever God ordains is right. But that’s only part of Paul’s argument here. He’s also saying that it is because of who God is that this is right as well.
God is the great I AM, the ever existing One, the One from whom all goodness and glory flow. As James 1:17 says, God is the Father from whom every good and perfect thing comes from. He is perfectly good and He does not change. Therefore, what is good and right is God. All is weighed against Him.
Earlier in Romans 3:23 Paul said, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” And there we see that God and His glory is the ultimate standard. God is righteousness. God is justice. Therefore He cannot be unjust. He is the standard of what is right. Even His Law is a reflection of His nature and character. It flows from who He is. As Jesus said in Mark 10:18, “No one is good but God alone.” Indeed, He is the standard of what good is. Justice and goodness is what is in line with God and for His glory. Evil and injustice is what is against God and rebellious to His purposes. As C. S. Lewis put it, “God cannot be measured by a standard. That standard is Himself.”
So Paul’s point in Romans 9:15 is that it is not unjust for God to elect unconditionally because God is the just One and whatever He does is right. By what standard can we call God unjust? He is the standard and always acts in accordance with who He is. And this is stressed and made all the more beautiful in Romans 9:16. Paul says, “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
You see, election is not merely unconditional, though it is as far as we are concerned… But it is conditioned as far as God is concerned. What I mean is, the condition for our election, indeed the condition for salvation is all found in God Himself (He is the standard even for our election.). It does not depend upon any foreseen faith, works, or merit in us… it does not depend upon our will or resolve, or our exertion or effort… It all depends upon God who has mercy. Or as we saw in verse 15, it depends upon God’s compassion and mercy—the God who freely helps the guilty and pities the miserable.
As we read earlier in our New Testament reading in Ephesians 2, “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5). In other words, our salvation is rooted in God, His riches of mercy, and the great love with which He loved us even when there was nothing about us to love because we were dead in our sin.
Imagine a great and righteous king. His kingdom is prosperous, his treasury is full, his name is honored throughout the land. One day his guards bring before him a young orphan who has spent years stealing from the king’s storehouses. Not only that, but the boy has mocked the king’s laws, defaced the king’s property, and joined himself to rebels who hate the king’s rule.
The evidence is overwhelming. The boy is guilty. He has no defense to offer. No one in the courtroom expects mercy. Then, to everyone’s astonishment, the king stands from his throne and says, “I will not condemn him. Instead, I will adopt him.”
The courtroom gasps. The king pays the boy’s debts out of his own treasury. He clothes him in royal garments. He gives him a new name. He teaches him the customs of the palace. He seats him at the royal table. Eventually, he names him as an heir to the kingdom itself.
Now suppose someone asks, “Why did the king do this?” Was it because the boy was handsome? No. Was it because the boy was obedient? No. Was it because the boy would someday become useful? No. Everything that made the boy desirable came after the king set his love upon him. The answer can only be found in the king himself.
The king loved him because the king was merciful. The king adopted him because the king was gracious. In fact, if the king had not chosen to love him, there would have been nothing in the boy worthy of love at all.
As Martin Luther beautifully said, “The love of God does not find but creates that which is pleasing to it.” That is the gospel. God did not look down the corridors of time and see us as righteous, faithful, or beautiful. He saw us as rebels. He saw us as sinners. He saw us as enemies. Yet before the foundation of the world He set His love upon His people. He chose us, not because of who we were, but because of who He is. And who He is grabs a hold of us and transforms who we are.
Our election, our salvation, the mercy and grace that we receive all depend on God, not us. And this is what Paul illustrates in our last two verses. In Romans 9:17-18 he says, “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.’ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.”
Paul quotes Exodus 9:16 to demonstrate a few things. First notice the connection to what he has just been pointing us to—the name of God. God does what He does with Israel and Egypt, with Moses and Pharaoh for the fame of His name. And if you know your Bible, you know that is directly tied to the Great Commission and the nations bowing the knee to Christ. That’s what happens in Joshua 2 when Rahab helps the Israelites because she heard about what their God did to Pharaoh and Egypt, and upon hearing of His might and grace her heart melted, and she too trusted in the Lord. And this is precisely what the Lord was after—the earth being filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9, Habakkuk 2:14). That the justice and goodness of His name might be recognized, embraced, feared, and worshipped throughout the world.
So Paul is not merely cherry-picking some verses to proof text here, he’s showing that God does what He does for his name’s sake… because of who He is and for His glory. As Psalm 115:3 says, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” And what pleases Him is always what is good, right, and just.
But notice what Paul says God did to Pharaoh. He raised him up, in order to show His power in him, that His name might be proclaimed in all the earth, by hardening him. It was through Pharaoh’s hard heart and the judgment God brought down upon him that God displayed His power.
To be sure, Pharaoh, like all outside of God’s grace, started with a hard heart. But as God spoke… Actually, let me stop for a second here and point out that Paul said the Scripture said to Pharaoh, but it was God speaking through Moses… And that’s noteworthy because this is telling us that the Bible, Scripture is God’s Word… Whether it is Moses, Jesus, Peter, Paul, or whoever, when we read Scripture it is God speaking to us… Now, back to what I was saying… As God spoke and worked in and through Moses and the plagues sometimes it seemed as though Pharaoh was starting to listen… But ultimately he never truly listened… He never truly responded rightly.
God repeatedly confronted Pharaoh with His Word and mighty acts, yet instead of granting him mercy God gave him over to his own rebellion, confirming him in the hardness he already loved. God did not choose to have mercy upon him, and in that sense He hardened Pharaoh’s heart just as Pharaoh had been hardening his own heart. And this happens multiple times in the Exodus story. But because that was Pharaoh’s default state, all God had to do to harden Pharaoh’s heart was remove His grace and leave Pharaoh to himself.
And friends, the same is true for all of us. In and of ourselves we are all hard-hearted sinners who do not and will not love and trust God. As we sang earlier, we are sinners through and through. Our only hope of righteousness is not in us, but in God alone. And that is Paul’s point here. God has mercy on whomever He wills, and He hardens whomever He wills, and He is just to do so because every single one of us are hard-hearted sinners who only deserve death and hell.
In fact, because we deserve death and hell, it is not only just for God to harden whomever He wills, outside of Christ it would be unjust for God to have mercy upon whomever He wills. Ishmael and Isaac both deserve judgment. Jacob and Esau both deserve judgment. Pharaoh and Israel both deserve judgment. You and I both deserve judgment.
The wonder of this passage is not that God hardens sinners. The wonder is that God saves sinners. The great scandal of Romans 9 is not reprobation. The great scandal of Romans 9 is mercy. The question should never be, “Why doesn’t God save everyone?” The question should be, “Why does God save anyone at all?” The question shouldn’t be, “Is it unjust for God to elect unconditionally?” The question should be, “How can a just God save unjust sinners like us?”
And the answer is found in God Himself, especially God the Son. Just as Pharaoh stood under God’s judgment so God’s power would be displayed, so Jesus Christ stood under God’s judgment so God’s just mercy would be displayed. Pharaoh’s hardened heart led him to destruction. Christ’s obedient heart led Him all the way to Calvary. Pharaoh was an instrument through which God displayed His wrath. Jesus is the God-man, the substitute who satisfied God’s wrath, through whom God displays and lavishes His grace.
You see, the Exodus points beyond itself to a greater Exodus. Israel was delivered from Pharaoh’s slavery through the blood of lambs. We are delivered from sin, death, and the devil through the blood of the Lamb—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Our election, our salvation, the mercy and grace that we receive all depend on God, not us. But in order for God to justly have mercy upon us, justice must be satisfied. So if you remember my illustration with the king and orphan earlier, the king paid the orphan’s debts so that he could be a part of the royal family. And so it is with us. But in our case this means that Jesus, who is the King, took on flesh for us, lived for us, took God’s wrath for us, died for us, rose again for us, and ascended to God’s right hand for us, where He rules, reigns, and ever intercedes for us.
The King took justice upon Himself so that He could lavish mercy upon us. And this all began before the foundation of the world in the heart of God Himself. A heart dedicated to the praise of His glorious grace in Christ Jesus. A heart that delights to elect unconditionally sinners like us, and to save us by grace, through faith, in Christ alone. A heart that delights to melt hard hearts by His amazing grace.
Conclusion
So what should we take away from all of this? Well first, we must remember what Paul is actually doing here. He is not merely teaching us about God’s sovereignty in the abstract. He is explaining Israel’s unbelief. He is explaining why so many of his kinsmen according to the flesh have rejected their Messiah.
And notice where Paul has taken us. He has taken us back to the Exodus. He has taken us back to Moses. He has taken us back to Pharaoh. And that is not accidental.
In the original Exodus, Israel was delivered and Pharaoh was hardened. But in Paul’s day, as in ours, something tragic has happened. Many within ethnic Israel have become like Pharaoh. The very people who possessed the covenants, the promises, the sacrifices, and the Scriptures have hardened their hearts against the Lord’s Anointed. They have become stubborn, resistant, and unbelieving. They have become the new Pharaoh.
And beloved, that is a warning to every covenant member. It is possible to be near God’s blessings and yet resist God’s grace. It is possible to hear God’s Word week after week and yet harden your heart. It is possible to receive covenant privileges and yet refuse the covenant Lord. This is why the application of this sermon is not, “Sit around trying to figure out whether you are elect.” The application is, “Look to Christ.”
Trust Christ. Follow Christ. Love Christ. Hold fast to Christ. That is Paul’s burden throughout Romans.
Children, even while you should get great hope from the promises sealed upon you in baptism, do not presume upon your baptism while refusing to trust and obey Jesus. The same Christ who welcomes little children commands little children to follow Him.
Young men and young women, do not harden your hearts through lust, worldliness, laziness, or rebellion. The path of Pharaoh always begins with small acts of unbelief.
Husbands and fathers, lead your families to Christ. Do not harden your hearts through passivity, pride, anger, or self-reliance. The home should be the first place where God’s mercy is seen and celebrated.
Wives and mothers, trust the Lord’s goodness. Let your homes be places where the grace of Christ is displayed through joyful faithfulness, hospitality, patience, and prayer.
Older saints, continue holding fast without wavering. Your steadfast faith is a testimony to the generations coming behind you that God’s promises never fail.
Workers, students, business owners, teachers, retirees, and laborers—remember that every area of life belongs to King Jesus. The God who has shown mercy to you calls you to reflect that mercy wherever He has placed you. All of Christ for all of life.
And above all, I plead with all of you, let this doctrine humble and amaze you. If you are in Christ today, you are not better than Pharaoh. You are not wiser than Pharaoh. You are not more deserving than Pharaoh. The difference between you and Pharaoh, the difference between you and the world around you is mercy.
God had mercy on you. And that mercy has a name. His name is Jesus Christ. The greater Moses has come. The true Israel has come. The true Passover Lamb has come. And therefore, the true Exodus has come.
At the cross, Jesus bore the judgment that hard-hearted sinners deserve. He endured the wrath of God so that rebels might become sons. He shed His blood so that slaves might go free. He rose again so that dead sinners might live.
And we are to live for the praise of His glorious grace. Not grace that found something lovely in us. Not grace that rewarded our effort. Not grace that responded to our worthiness. But grace rooted in the very heart of God. Grace that chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Grace that pursued us when we were running away. Grace that melted our hard hearts. Grace that keeps us. And grace that will bring us safely home. May we never cease to be amazed by His grace. Amen.