“So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.” (Romans 9:18 NLT). 

Footsteps #359. If Paul means in Romans 9 that God has irresistibly predetermined the salvation of all men, regardless of their freely given, grace and faith-based response to the gospel, then we have caught the scriptures in a gross contradiction. What is to be made of this supposed conundrum? It would ‘seem’ to be ‘logical’ to conclude that the great controversy theme, with its war beginning in heaven and subsequent attack on everything God stands for, is effectively shorn of its interpretive power to explain the origin of sin & suffering. The terrible result of this conclusion would be that God is left as the sole cause of evil and the Bestower of an arbitrary salvation from the wages of sin. A correct understanding of Bible truth in Romans 9 overturns this false assumption and helps us make sense of the problem of evil. Romans 9 must be viewed in the context of Justification by faith alone to those who believe. God’s creation has free will! Our choices are ours but the outcome of those decisions has already been decided. He has “set before us life and death, blessing and cursing” (Deut 30:19) and we are the masters of our own destiny by the choices we make. 

When Paul said God loved Jacob but hated Esau (V13 -15) What was he talking about? ‘Hated’, as it is used here, is an idiomatic expression meaning ‘to regard less.’ What about human free will and the freedom to choose, without which very little of what we believe makes sense? Are we not free to choose or reject God? Or are verses 18-24 teaching that certain people are elected to be saved and others to be lost, regardless of their own personal choices? Divine foreknowledge in no way excludes human liberty. Nowhere does Paul suggest that certain people have been predestined to be saved. (See e.g. 1 Tim 2:3-4, 4:10, John 3:16, Titus 2:11, 2 Pet.3:9) 

Looking at the bigger picture of what Paul is saying we see him following a line of argument in which he attempts to show God’s right to pick those whom He will use as His “elected” ones. After all, God is the One who carries the ultimate responsibility of evangelizing the world. Therefore, why can He not choose as His agents whomever He wills? So long as God cuts off no one from the opportunity of salvation, such an action on God’s part is not contrary to the principles of free will. Even more important, it’s not contrary to the great truth that Christ died for all humans, and His desire was that everyone could have salvation. 

As long as we remember that Romans 9 is not dealing with the personal salvation of those it names, (Jacob and Esau) but that it is dealing with their call to do a certain work, the chapter presents no difficulties. Esau was regarded less because God had chosen Jacob for a greater purpose.