Romans 9:18

18 so, then, to whom He willeth, He doth kindness, and to whom He willeth, He doth harden.

Romans 9:18 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 9:18

Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will
These are the express words of the former testimony: it follows,

and whom he will he hardeneth;
which is the just and natural consequence of what is contained in the latter; for if God could, or he did, without any injustice, raise up Pharaoh, and harden his heart against him and his people, that he might rise up against him and destroy him by his power for his own glory, then he may harden any other person, and even whom he will: now this hardening of men's hearts may be understood in perfect agreement with the justice and holiness of God: men first harden their own hearts by sinning, as Pharaoh did; what God does, is by leaving them to the hardness of their hearts, denying them that grace which only can soften them, and which he is not obliged to give, and therefore does them no injustice in withholding it from them; by sending them both mercies and judgments, which through the corruption of their hearts, are the means of the greater hardening of them; so judgments in the case of Pharaoh, and mercies in the case of others; see ( Isaiah 6:10 ) ( Romans 11:8-10 ) ; by delivering them up into the hands of Satan, and to their own lusts, which they themselves approve of; and by giving them up to a judicial blindness and hardness of heart, as a just punishment for their impieties.

Romans 9:18 In-Context

16 so, then -- not of him who is willing, nor of him who is running, but of God who is doing kindness:

17 for the Writing saith to Pharaoh -- `For this very thing I did raise thee up, that I might shew in thee My power, and that My name might be declared in all the land;'

18 so, then, to whom He willeth, He doth kindness, and to whom He willeth, He doth harden.

19 Thou wilt say, then, to me, `Why yet doth He find fault? for His counsel who hath resisted?'

20 nay, but, O man, who art thou that art answering again to God? shall the thing formed say to Him who did form [it], Why me didst thou make thus?