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. – Romans 9:14-18 ESV

Paul has just made the point that not all who are descendants of Abraham are considered children of the promise. Both Ishmael and Isaac were sons of Abraham, yet God chose Isaac over Ishmael. Of the two sons of Isaac, God chose Jacob over Esau. And, according to Paul, God’s choice of one son over the other had nothing to do with their behavior or perceived righteousness. In fact, while Jacob and Esau were still in the womb, God told Sarah, “The older will serve the younger” (Romans 9:12 ESV). And Paul comments that God made this announcement solely out of mercy, not merit.

But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works). – Romans 9:11-12a NLT

The twin sons in Sarah’s womb had not yet been born, so they had committed no sins and done no good deeds. Paul states that God simply chose one over the other. His plan, ordained before the world was even created, included His choosing of some over others. He chose Abraham over all the other men on the earth at the time, and not because of anything inherently righteous about Abraham. As an idol-worshiping pagan from the land of Ur, Abraham was undeserving of God’s mercy, yet God chose him. God also chose Isaac over Ishmael, even though Ishmael was Abraham’s firstborn son. He chose Jacob over Esau, despite Esau being the older twin. God chose Moses, even though he was a convicted murderer with a bounty on his head. God chose David over all the other sons of Jesse to replace Saul as king of Israel.

Paul even quotes the very words of God, spoken through the prophet Malachi.

“I have always loved you,” says the Lord.

But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”

And the Lord replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.” – Malachi 1:2-3 NLT

The natural, human response to all of this is to question God’s fairness or justice. Our human sensibilities struggle with the thought of God hating one and loving another. We wrestle with the idea of God choosing one and not another. And yet, as Paul illustrates, God’s seemingly arbitrary decision to elect or choose one and reject another is displayed throughout the Scriptures. Paul even quotes from Exodus 33:19, where God made the following statement to Moses:

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” – Romans 9:15 ESV

Later in this chapter, Paul explains that God is not obligated to explain or defend His actions.

Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. – Romans 9:20-23 NLT

According to the psalmist, “Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes” (Psalm 115:3 NLT). But Paul is not trying to present God as uncaring or capricious. He emphasizes that God’s choice has nothing to do with merit; it is all based on His mercy.

So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it. – Romans 9:16 NLT

Paul even reaches back into Israel’s history to show how God chose to use Pharaoh to accomplish His will and proclaim His own glory.

For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” –  Romans 9:17 NLT

God used the pride-filled, hard-hearted Pharaoh to display His own power and sovereign authority. In God’s plan to deliver the people of Israel from captivity in Egypt, He repeatedly hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and He did so to display His power and accomplish His divine will for His people.

We struggle with that thought because it seems out of character for God. But God did not force Pharaoh to do anything; He simply allowed the Egyptian leader to act according to his sinful nature. God could have changed Pharaoh’s heart, but He chose not to. He could have forced Pharaoh to set the Israelites free, but He chose to allow Pharaoh’s sinful disposition to set the stage for the divine display of His power and sovereign authority.

When reading the Old Testament, we question why God chose to kill some and not others. We wrestle with the idea of God using people like pawns in some kind of celestial chess game. But in doing so, we fail to ask the question, “Why would a holy God choose to show mercy on anyone?” Why would He choose Jacob over Esau when neither son had done anything to deserve His merch? In a sermon on the story of Jacob and Esau, C. H. Spurgeon made the following comment:

“I can tell you the reason why God loved Jacob; it is sovereign grace. There was nothing in Jacob that could make God love him; there was everything about him, that might have made God hate him, as much as he did Esau, and a great deal more. But it was because God was infinitely gracious, that he loved Jacob, and because he was sovereign in his dispensation of this grace, that he chose Jacob as the object of that love.” – C. H. Spurgeon, “Jacob and Esau,” New Park Street Pulpit Volume 5

Paul’s goal in this passage is to emphasize the mercy of God, which no one deserves. The Jews, as descendants of Abraham, did not automatically qualify for His forgiveness and mercy; they still had to believe. They were required to place their faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Thomas Constable comments, “It is not man’s desire or effort that causes God to be merciful but His own sovereign choice. God is under no obligation to show mercy or extend grace to anyone. If we insist on receiving just treatment from God, what we will get is condemnation” (Thomas L. Constable, Notes on Romans, 2009 Edition).

Paul told Timothy that God “wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth” (2 Timothy 2:4 NLT), but not all men will be saved. Many have rejected His offer of salvation and died in their sinful state. Many more will do so in the years to come. Some will be saved and some will not.

When God protected Noah and his family by placing them in the ark, He extended His unmerited favor. Many others drowned in the waters that covered the earth, due to their sinful, unrepentant condition. This reality is difficult for us to grasp and accept. But the Bible clearly states, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 ESV).

All humanity deserves to die. The fact that God extends mercy to any should amaze and astound us. Until we fully understand the gravity of our sin, we will never appreciate the grace and mercy of God. Paul goes on to say, “but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 ESV). The undeserved, unearned mercy of God should cause us to rejoice, not recoil. That the holy God of the universe should extend mercy to any of His stubborn, rebellious creations should amaze us. In Chapter 3, Paul quoted from a psalm of David.