Romans 9:16

Romans 9:16. So then. With this favorite expression, Paul introduces an inference from the passage cited: ‘In consequence of all this, it is proven that.' The word to Moses is accepted as a divine axiom, and the inference is to be regarded as of universal validity, since neither the preceding context nor the scope of the argument suggests any limitation. ‘It is in parts of Scripture like this that we must be especially careful not to fall short of what is written not to allow of any compromise of the plain and awful words of God's Spirit, for the sake of a caution which He Himself does not teach us'(Alford).

It is not of him that willeth, etc. The participation in any and all of the effects of God's mercy and compassion, does not depend on human will, nor on human effort, but on the will of God, who thus spoke to Moses. The reference of ‘him that willeth' to Abraham's wish respecting Ishmael, and of ‘him that runneth' to Esau's running home from hunting, is worth mentioning as a specimen of farfetched interpretation.