- Mar 9, 2020
- 8,187
- 3,230
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Celibate
Romans 9:14-18 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
There are those on occasion who try to use a passage such as this to claim that Our Father is random and capricious. Here is why that does not track. First, the Pharaohs claimed to be god in the flesh, and with the backing of the priesthood, ruled capriciously under that guise. Secondly, the Lord sent Moses to speak to one particular Pharaoh, and his response was:
Exodus 5:
1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord God of Israel:
Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.
2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?
I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men...
That grace is received by believing His report...
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
...and activated by faith.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Therefore, I conclude that the hearts of men are hardened by their own unbelief, not the capricious act of an angry God.
Mark 16:14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table;
and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart,
because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
There are those on occasion who try to use a passage such as this to claim that Our Father is random and capricious. Here is why that does not track. First, the Pharaohs claimed to be god in the flesh, and with the backing of the priesthood, ruled capriciously under that guise. Secondly, the Lord sent Moses to speak to one particular Pharaoh, and his response was:
Exodus 5:
1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord God of Israel:
Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.
2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?
I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men...
That grace is received by believing His report...
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
...and activated by faith.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Therefore, I conclude that the hearts of men are hardened by their own unbelief, not the capricious act of an angry God.
Mark 16:14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table;
and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart,
because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.