So, the fact that God hardens Pharaoh's heart, so that he can use that as an excuse to glorify himself, and Paul using that as an example, that doesn't actually mean anything to you?
I'm sorry man, I'm having a lot of difficulty seeing the freewill in that.
Like I said, a little context would help you out. But, you sound like the typical brain washed Calvinist, so I'm not sure it's worth the effort.
What do you think Romans 9 is about? I'll give you a hint. The chapter doesn't start at verse 9.
9 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised![a] Amen.
6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.
So, Paul start off with what his subject is, the plan of redemption that God worked out through Israel. And the point he is making? Right off the bat, you should be able to see where he's going with this. God kept his promise to Israel, in spite of man's rebellion. Why didn't it depend on man but on God's mercy? Because men kept failing to follow God! BTW, Paul doesn't say men don't resist God's will. He says, One of you will say that to me. The Objector is coming from your perspective. He's saying, "No one resist God's will, free will doesn't' exist. And Paul says he is talking back to God. Now, you tell me how it is possible to talk back to God if free will isn't real? If God is controlling every thought that goes in your head and every word out your mouth, then where is there room for talking back? If that were the case, you would literally be thinking God's thoughts.
There's a lot more I could add. Look up the potter reference, it shows God changes his mind. How does that fit in your "no free will" doctrine?
Jer 18. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.
How much clearer do you need it that God's plans are dependent on man's response? But, yes, God keeps his promises and brings about redemption, even though his people didn't deserve it. The clay is Israel.
And since you stopped before Paul tells us what point he was leading to:
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:
“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[m]
Paul isn't summing it up by saying there is no freedom to choose. Just the opposite. How we choose to respond to God determines whether we are part of those chosen for salvation.
