The Untroubled Justice of God Text: Romans 9:14-18
Introduction: The Scandal of Sovereignty
We come now to a portion of Scripture that is, for many, a great offense. For our modern democratic sensibilities, which have been catechized to believe that fairness is the highest virtue, these verses land like a meteor. The doctrines of God's absolute sovereignty in salvation, of His unconditional election, are not just counter-intuitive; they are, to the natural man, scandalous. They seem to make God arbitrary, capricious, and worst of all, unfair.
And we must be clear from the outset. Paul is not embarrassed by this. He doesn't try to soften the blow, or explain it away with clever theological footwork. In fact, he anticipates our very objection and leans into it. He understands that if his doctrine of God's free and sovereign grace is being understood correctly, it will inevitably provoke the charge of injustice. If your gospel has never been accused of making God unfair, it is likely because you are not preaching the apostle's gospel.
Our age has constructed a god in its own image, a god who is a celestial democrat, a god who respects our autonomy above all else, a god whose hands are tied until we cast the deciding vote. This god is manageable, predictable, and safe. He would never dream of violating our sacred free will. The only problem is that this god is an idol; he does not exist and he cannot save. The God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is not safe. He is a consuming fire. And He is absolutely, terrifyingly, gloriously free.
This passage is not a difficult detour in Paul's argument in Romans; it is the granite bedrock upon which his entire doctrine of salvation is built. If you remove this, the glorious crescendo at the end of chapter 8, "who shall bring any charge against God's elect?", becomes unintelligible. The security of the believer is not found in the strength of his own will, but in the unchangeable purpose of the God who chose him before the foundation of the world. Let us therefore come to this text not as prosecutors putting God in the dock, but as creatures of dust, ready to have our pride shattered and our hearts comforted by the untroubled justice of our Maker.
The Text
What shall we say then? Is there any unrighteousness with God? May it never be!
For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”
So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who has mercy.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND IN ORDER THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.”
So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
(Romans 9:14-18 LSB)
The Righteousness of God Defended (v. 14)
Paul begins by voicing the objection he knows is boiling up in the minds of his readers.
"What shall we say then? Is there any unrighteousness with God? May it never be!" (Romans 9:14)
Having just established that God chose Jacob over Esau before they were born, based on nothing they had done, Paul knows the immediate human response is to cry foul. "That's not fair!" The very fact that Paul raises this question is the surest sign that we have understood his previous point correctly. He is teaching that God's election is unconditional. If he were teaching that God simply looked down the corridors of time and chose those whom He foresaw would choose Him, then no one would ever raise the charge of unrighteousness. That would be perfectly fair, by human standards. But that is not what Paul is teaching.
His response to the charge is not a reasoned philosophical argument, but an explosive, horrified denial: "May it never be!" This is the strongest possible negation in the Greek. It is an absolute repudiation of the very thought. Why? Because the question itself is a category error. It assumes that there is some abstract standard of justice floating above God, to which God must conform. But this is paganism. The Bible's teaching is that God Himself is the standard of righteousness. Whatever He does is right, simply because He does it. To ask if God is unrighteous is like asking if the yardstick is a yard long. God is not subject to the law; He is the law.
The Foundation of Free Mercy (v. 15)
Paul's defense of God's righteousness is not an appeal to our sense of fairness, but an appeal to God's own self-revelation.
"For He says to Moses, 'I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.'" (Romans 9:15 LSB)
He quotes God's words to Moses from Exodus 33. The context there is crucial. Israel had just committed idolatrous apostasy with the golden calf. They deserved to be wiped out to a man. God's decision to show mercy to any of them was an act of pure, unadulterated, sovereign grace. Mercy, by its very definition, is not owed. If you are owed something, it is called justice. If you demand something, it is a right. But mercy is a gift, and the giver is utterly free to bestow it or withhold it as He sees fit.
Notice the grammar. The repetition, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy," places the entire basis for the action within God Himself. The reason for His mercy is His will. He is not responding to some foreseen goodness, some latent potential, or some desperate plea. He is acting from His own good pleasure. This is the bedrock of divine freedom. God's love for His elect is not a reactive love, drawn out of Him by our loveliness. It is a creative love, which bestows loveliness on the unlovely.
The Impotence of Human Effort (v. 16)
From this divine declaration, Paul draws a sharp and devastating conclusion.
"So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who has mercy." (Genesis 9:16 LSB)
This verse is the death knell for every form of self-salvation. Paul systematically excludes all human contribution as the decisive cause of salvation. It is not "of him that willeth." This directly confronts the cherished idol of human autonomy, the notion that man's free will is the sovereign thing in the universe, the hinge upon which salvation turns. The Bible teaches that the fallen human will is in bondage to sin; it is free only to choose according to its nature, which is hostile to God. It cannot and will not choose God unless it is first liberated by a sovereign act of grace.
Nor is it "of him that runneth." This refers to human effort, religious striving, moral exertion. Whether it is the Pharisee meticulously keeping the law or the modern man trying to be a good person, all our running gets us no closer to heaven. Salvation is not a cooperative project between God and man. It is a divine rescue of those who are spiritually dead, unable to will or to run. The source is singular and absolute: "but on God who has mercy." He is the sole, efficient cause.
The Dark Canvas of Sovereignty (v. 17)
To demonstrate the full scope of God's sovereignty, Paul provides a second example, the necessary counterpart to mercy: hardening.
"For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND IN ORDER THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.'" (Romans 9:17 LSB)
God's sovereignty is not limited to the salvation of His people. It extends just as fully over the judgment of His enemies. Pharaoh was not an unfortunate historical accident. God says, "I raised you up." God sovereignly placed this particular man on the throne of Egypt at that particular time for a very specific purpose. Pharaoh's pride, his obstinacy, and his downfall were all divinely orchestrated instruments in the hands of the Almighty.
And what was that purpose? It was not primarily about Pharaoh. It was about God. "To demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth." The ten plagues and the drowning of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea were not just a rescue mission. They were a cosmic sermon, a global declaration of the absolute supremacy of Yahweh over all the false gods of Egypt and over the proudest kings of the earth. God used the dark canvas of Pharaoh's hard heart to display the brilliant light of His own power and glory. God's ultimate goal in all things, in both salvation and judgment, is the magnification of His own name.
The Unsettling Conclusion (v. 18)
Paul then summarizes the entire argument in one stark, inescapable sentence.
"So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." (Romans 9:18 LSB)
Here it is, laid bare. The ultimate standard for both mercy and hardening is the divine will: "whom He desires." Notice the parallel. God is just as active in His hardening as He is in His mercy. This is not a passive permission, where God simply leaves sinners to their own devices. The Bible speaks of God actively giving men over to their lusts (Rom. 1), sending a strong delusion (2 Thess. 2), and here, hardening whom He wills. This does not mean God creates evil in a man's heart. Rather, He sovereignly hands men over to the sin they have chosen, and He uses their rebellion for His own undeclarable purposes.
This is a hard truth, and it is meant to be. It is the truth that shatters our pride. It is the truth that forces us to our knees. We are not in control. We do not have a claim on God. We are all, by nature, children of wrath, and if God were to deal with any of us according to strict justice, we would all perish. That He chooses to have mercy on any is a staggering mystery of grace. That He chooses to harden others in their rebellion is a terrifying mystery of justice. In both, He is righteous, and in both, His glory is displayed.
The Comfort of the Potter's Hand
So where is the good news in all of this? Why is this doctrine not a cause for despair, but rather the deepest source of comfort for the believer? Because if my salvation depended, at the end of the day, on my "willing" or my "running," I would have no hope at all. My will is fickle. My affections wander. My running is weak and halting. If the security of my soul rested in my own hands, I would surely lose it.
But praise be to God, it does not. My salvation rests upon the sovereign choice of the God who has mercy. It is grounded in His eternal purpose, not my fluctuating performance. He who began a good work in me will bring it to completion. He did not choose me because I was good; He chose me in order to make me good. He did not love me because I was lovely; He loved me in order to make me lovely.
This doctrine should not lead us to a fatalistic apathy, but to a humble and grateful worship. It should not prevent us from proclaiming the gospel to all, for we do not know who the elect are, but we do know that God has commanded us to preach Christ to every creature. The call of the gospel is universal, and it is the means by which God awakens His chosen ones.
How do you know if you are among the elect? The question is simpler than you think. Do you see your sin? Do you despair of your own willing and running? Do you cast yourself entirely upon the mercy of God shown in Jesus Christ? If you believe, it is because He has first had mercy on you. Your faith is not the cause of His choice; it is the evidence of it. Therefore, do not try to peer into the secret counsels of God. Look to the cross of Christ, where this sovereign mercy was purchased and displayed. Rest in the finished work of the One who died for His sheep. For our security is not found in the shaky freedom of our own will, but in the glorious and absolute freedom of our God.