Romans 9:18

Romans 9:18. So then (as in Romans 9:16; the E. V. varies unnecessarily), summing up the whole matter, after considering both sides.

On whom he will he hath mercy. We thus restore the correspondence in form between the two clauses. Here the emphasis rests on ‘will;' not, as in Romans 9:15, on ‘whom.'

Whom he will he hardeneth. Here, as throughout, the freedom of God is the main thought; the holiness, love, and wisdom of His will are implied. Hence we say, this freedom is not arbitrary, but more because of what God is, than from our ability to explain how it is so. As respects the word ‘hardeneth,' it assumes, as does the whole discussion, the presence of sin in the individual, without referring to its origin. It here suggests such a fortification in sin, that the sinner is unsusceptible of all workings of grace and better influences, the removal into a state where conversion is either absolutely impossible, or rendered difficult in the highest degree. This may be termed an act of God, in so far as He has ordained the laws of the development of evil, ‘that, propagating still, it brings forth evil'(Schiller). The objection which follows (Romans 9:19) shows that the Apostle regards this hardening of Pharaoh as penal, and hence as to some extent effected by God. The personal tone of the answer (Romans 9:20) indicates further that the principle is of universal application.