Romans Commentary

Ver. 14. — What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God?

God forbid.

The Apostle anticipated the objection of the carnal mind to his doctrine.

Does not loving Jacob and hating Esau before they had done any good or evil, imply that there is injustice in God? This objection clearly proves that the view taken of the preceding passage is correct. For it is this view which suggests the objection. Is it just in God to love one who has done no good, and to hate one who has done no evil? If the assertion respecting loving Jacob and hating Esau admitted of being explained away in the manner that so many do, there could be no place for such an objection.

And what is the Apostle’s reply? Nothing but a decided rejection of the supposition that God’s treatment of Jacob and Esau implied injustice. By asking the question if there be unrighteousness with God, he strongly denies that in God there is here any injustice; and this denial is sufficient.

According to the doctrine which he everywhere inculcates, consistently with that of the whole of Scripture, God is represented as infinitely just, as well as wise, holy, good, and faithful. In the exercise of His sovereignty, therefore, all that God wills to do must be in strict conformity with the perfection of His character. He cannot deny Himself; He cannot act inconsistently with any of His Divine attributes.

Ver. 15. — For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

What is the ground on which the Apostle here rests his denial that there is unrighteousness with God? He makes no defense or apology for God, attempts no metaphysical distinctions, but rests solely on the authority of Scripture. He produces the testimony of God to Moses, declaring the same truth that he himself affirms. This is quite enough for Christians. It is not wise in them, as is often the case, to adopt a mode of vindicating God’s procedure, so very different from what He Himself employs. How many go about to justify God, and thereby bring God to the bar of man!

From the defenses of Scripture doctrine, often resorted to, it might be supposed that God was on His trial before men, rather than that all shall stand before Him, and that the will of God is supreme justice. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. — That is, I will have mercy on whom I please — I will bestow My favors, or withhold them, as seemeth to Me good. God by this declaration proves that He is a debtor to none; that every blessing bestowed upon the elect flows from gratuitous love, and is freely granted to whom He pleases. The answer, then, of the Apostle amounts to this that what is recorded concerning God’s loving Jacob and hating Esau is in nothing different from His usual mode of procedure towards men, but is entirely consistent with the whole plan of His government. All men are lost and guilty in Adam; it is of mercy that any are saved; and God declares that He will have mercy or not upon men according to His own good pleasure. It is only of this attribute that such language as is contained in this passage can be employed. The exercise of every other attribute is at all times indispensable, and never can be suspended.

Ver. 16. — So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.

This is the conclusion from the whole. Salvation is not from the will of man, nor from his efforts in striving for it, but is entirely of God’s mercy vouchsafed to whom He pleases. What foundation, then, can be discovered in the word of God for those schemes of self-righteousness, which, in a greater or less degree, make salvation depend on man’s own exertions?

There may be here an allusion to Jacob’s desiring the blessing of the birthright, and his running to provide the venison by which he deceived his father; but his obtaining the blessing was solely the consequence of God’s good pleasure, for the means he employed for the purpose merited punishment rather than success. In like manner, the salvation of any man is not to be ascribed to his own good will and diligent endeavors to arrive at it, but solely to the purpose of God according to election, which is ‘not of works, but of Him that calleth.’ It is true, indeed, that believers both will and run, but this is the effect, not the cause, of the grace of God being vouchsafed to them. ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.’ To whom is this addressed? To ‘the saints in Christ Jesus,’ in whom God had begun a good work, which He will perform until the day of Jesus Christ — to them who had always obeyed, Philippians 1:1,6,29, 2:12. But besides this, what is the motive or encouragement to work out their salvation? ‘For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.’ Here all the willing and doing of men in the service of God is ascribed to His operation in causing them to will and to do. The whole of the new covenant is a promise of God that He Himself will act efficaciously for the salvation of those whom He will save. ‘I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.’ ‘I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me for ever.’ ‘I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.’ ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them,’ Jeremiah 31,32; Ezekiel 36: In this way the means by which God’s elect are brought to Him, their calling, their justification, their sanctification, their perseverance, and their glorification, are all of God, as was shown in the preceding chapter, and not of themselves. ‘There is great folly,’ say Calvin, ‘in the argument that we are possessed of a certain energy in our zeal, but of such a kind as can effect nothing of itself, unless aided by the mercy of Jehovah, since the Apostle shows that we possess nothing of our own, by excluding all our efforts. To infer that we have the power either of running or willing, is a mere cavil, which Paul denies, and plainly asserts that our will or ardor in the race has not the smallest influence in procuring our election. On the ether hand, those merit the severest reproof who continue to indulge in sloth, that they may afford room and opportunity for the grace of God to act; since, although their own industry can accomplish nothing, yet the heavenly zeal inspired by the Father of Lights is endued with active efficacy.’

If any shall oppose the declaration of the Apostle, that it is not of him that willeth or of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy, and assert that the salvation of man depends on conditions which he is obliged to fulfill, then it may be asked, what is the condition? Is it faith? Faith is the gift of God. Is it repentance? Christ is exalted a Prince and a Savior to give repentance. Is it love? God promises to circumcise the heart in order to love Him. Are they good works? His people are the workmanship of God created unto good works. Is it perseverance to the end? They are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. It is true that all these things are commanded and enforced by the most powerful motives, consequently they are duties which require the exercise of our faculties.

But they are assured by the decree of election, and are granted to the elect of God in the proper season; so that, in this view, they are the objects of promise, and the effects of supernatural and Divine influence. ‘Thy people,’ saith Jehovah to the Messiah, ‘shall be willing in the day of Thy power.’ Thus the believer, in running his race, and working out his salvation, is actuated by God, and animated by the consideration of His all-powerful operation in the beginning of his course; of the continuation of His support during its progress; and by the assurance that it shall be effectual in enabling him to overcome all obstacles, and to arrive in safety at its termination.

Ver. 17. — For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth.

This verse stands connected, not with the 15th and 16th, which immediately precede it, but with the 13th and 14th. In the 13th verse, God’s love to Jacob and His hatred to Esau are declared. In respect to both, it is demanded in the 14th verse, if there be injustice with God. In the 15th and 16th verses following, the answer is given regarding the preference and love of God to Jacob. In this 17th verse, the Apostle replies to the question as it refers to God’s hatred of Esau. And the answer here is precisely similar to that given respecting Jacob. God’s love to Jacob before he had done any good was according to His usual plan of procedure; and on the same ground, His hatred of Esau before he had done any evil is also vindicated. Paul here proves his doctrine from the example of one to whom, in Divine sovereignty, God acted according to justice without mercy. The Scripture saith that God raised up Pharaoh for the very purpose of manifesting His own glory in his punishment. For the Scripture saith. — By the manner in which the Apostle begins this verse, we are taught that whatever the Scriptures declare on any subject is to be considered as decisive on the point. ‘What saith the Scripture?’ This is the proof to which the Apostle appeals. It should further be observed, that Paul ascribes to the Scriptures what was said by God Himself, Exodus 9:16. This expressly teaches us that the words of Scripture are the words of God. In the same manner, in the Epistle to the Galatians, it is said, the Scripture, ‘foreseeing that God would justify the heathen;’ and, ‘the scripture hath concluded all under sin,’ Galatians 3:8,22. Here the word of God is so much identified with Himself, that the Scripture is represented as possessing and exercising the peculiar prerogatives of God.

What is done by God, and what belongs only to Him, is ascribed to the Scriptures, — proving that they contain the very words of God. ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, 2 Timothy 3:16. The word Scripture is here taken in its appropriated meaning — being confined to the book of God. All that is written in it is divinely inspired; and what does writing consist of but of words? If any of these are not inspired, then all Scripture is not inspired. Every word, then, in the book referred to, is the word of God, dictated by Him of whom the writers were the instruments He employed, who spoke or wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Why are so many unwilling to admit this view of the inspiration of Scripture so much insisted on in the Scriptures themselves?

Is it on account of the difficulty of conceiving how words should thus be communicated? But is it easier to understand how ideas could be communicated? Do they believe that the Lord ‘opened the mouth of the ass’ of Balaam, and communicated the words which she spake? Is it then more difficult to communicate words to men than to a dumb animal? To speak of difficulties where Omnipotence is concerned, is palpably absurd.

Besides, all allow that in the parts of Scripture to which (making vain distinctions respecting inspiration, without the least foundation from any expression the Scriptures contain) they ascribe the inspiration of ‘suggestion,’ the very words were communicated to the writers. Those who deny the plenary verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, — who introduce various modifications of the manner in which they have been written, — neither can nor ought to entertain the same profound veneration for them as those who believe that, without any exception, from beginning to end, they are dictated by God Himself. The Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, — that is, the Scripture showeth how Moses was commanded to say unto Pharaoh, Exodus 9:16, — Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. — Here is the destination of Pharaoh to his destruction. That I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth. — This is the end and design intended by it. It was not, then, by any concurrence of fortuitous circumstances that Pharaoh was seated on the throne of Egypt, and invested with the power he possessed when Moses was appointed to conduct Israel out of Egypt. He was raised up, or made to stand in that place, in order that, by his opposition, from the perversity of his heart, in him God might show His own power and exalt His own name. It is not merely alleged that God had not shown mercy to this king of Egypt, or that He had suffered him to go on in his wicked ways; but, in language which the unrenewed heart of man will never relish, it is declared, ‘Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth.’ For this very end, the birth, the life, and the situation of Pharaoh were all of Divine appointment. This is language so clear that it cannot be guiltlessly misinterpreted. The unbelieving heart of man will revolt, and his ingenuity may invent expedients to soften this explicit declaration; but it never can be successfully evaded. All the shifts of sophistry will never be able fairly, or even plausibly, to explain this language in a sense that will not testify the sovereignty of God.

The above truth respecting Pharaoh is what the Scriptures declare; and we ought never to pretend to go further into the deep things of God than they go before us, but submissively to bow to every Divine declaration. We know that all sin will be found with man; but here we are taught that even the sin of man will turn out for the glory of God, and for this very purpose the wicked are raised up. If we cannot fathom this depth in the Divine counsels, still let us be certain that what God says is true, and must be received by us. We are assured that the Judge of all the earth will in all things act righteously, although we may not be able to comprehend His ways. Nor are we required to comprehend them. We are required to believe His word, and to believe that it is consistent with the eternal righteousness of His character. ‘Let us treasure,’ says Calvin, ‘the following observation in our minds, — never to feel the least desire to attain any other knowledge concerning this doctrine save what is taught us in Scripture.

When the Lord shuts His sacred mouth, let us also stop our thoughts from advancing one step further in our inquiries.’ Consistently with the vain attempts that have been made to reconcile the truth above affirmed with philosophy falsely so called, the whole subject of this chapter might be rejected, equally with that of the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. It has accordingly been perverted by many who have explained it in such a way as to remove all the difficulties which it presents. Our Lord in one short sentence has declared the true reason of their finding it so hard to understand this chapter. ‘Why do ye not understand My speech? — even because ye cannot hear My word.’ It is also written for our warning. ‘Many, therefore, of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?’ There is no part of Scripture, the meaning of which is more obvious than that of this chapter. But if men will yield to the natural opposition of their minds to the truth it declares, and, wresting the plainest expressions, affirm that hatred signifies love, is it surprising that they are bewildered in following their own devices? f49 Ver. 18. — Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth.

Here the general conclusion is drawn from all the Apostle had said in the three preceding verses, in denying that God was unrighteous in loving Jacob and hating Esau. It exhibits the ground of God’s dealings both with the elect and the reprobate. It concludes that His own sovereign pleasure is the rule both with respect to those whom He receives, and those whom He rejects. He pardons one and hardens another, without reference to anything but His own sovereign will, in accordance with His infinite wisdom, holiness, and justice. ‘Even so, Father,’ said our blessed Lord, ‘for so it seemed good in Thy sight.’ God is not chargeable with any injustice in electing some and not others; for this is an act of mere mercy and compassion, and that can be no violation of justice. Therefore hath He mercy On whom He will have mercy. — Paul here repeats for the third time, that God has mercy on whom He will have mercy, without intimating the least regard to anything in man as deserving mercy. The smallest degree of right in the creature would furnish reason for displaying justice, not mercy. Mercy is that adorable perfection of God by which He pities and relieves the miserable. Under the good and righteous government of God, no one is miserable who does not deserve to be so. The objects of mercy are persons who are miserable, because they are guilty, and therefore justly deserving of punishment. The exercise of mercy is a particular display of the grace or free favor of God. In no case can it be due to a guilty creature; it necessarily implies the absence of all right. A man can never have a right to mercy; and to talk of deserving mercy is a contradiction in terms. God, it is said, ‘delighteth in mercy,’ Micah 7:18; and in the proclamation of His name to Moses, this attribute is particularly signalized. ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,’ Exodus 34:6. He is ‘rich’ and ‘plenteous’ in mercy, and ‘His tender mercies are over all His works.’

Mercy, however, is an attribute, the constant exercise of which is not essential to God, like that of justice, which can never, as has been remarked, for a moment be suspended. Mercy is dispensed according to His sovereign pleasure in regard to persons or times, as to Him seemeth good. Towards the fallen children of men it was gloriously displayed when God sent His Son into the world, which was purely a work of mercy, and not demanded by justice. But to the fallen angels mercy was not vouchsafed. And is this any impeachment of the mercy of God? If not, is it a just ground for complaint, that in order to manifest His hatred of sin, His mercy is not extended to a certain portion of the human race, who we know for certain shall perish? Thus God has mercy on whom He will have mercy. It is one of the fundamental errors of Socinians, and of many besides, to hold that the mercy of God must be necessarily and constantly exercised; while, reversing the order of Scripture, and all its representations of the character of God, they deny this necessity regarding His justice.

The same act, however, may be both an act of justice and an act of mercy in reference to different objects. The punishment of the enemies of God, the slaying of the firstborn in Egypt, the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host, the discomfiture of kings, and the transfer of their lands for an heritage to Israel, while they were acts of justice towards the enemies of His people, are all ascribed to the mercy of God to them, <19D601> Psalm ‘To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for His mercy endureth for ever: But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea: for His mercy endureth for ever: To Him which smote great kings: for His mercy endureth for ever: And slew famous kings: for His mercy endureth for ever: And gave their land for an heritage: for His mercy endureth for ever:

Even an heritage to Israel His servant: for His mercy endureth for ever.’

Mercy, then, which is a particular kind of Divine goodness, is sovereign; and to confer favors freely, consistently with Divine wisdom, does injury to no one. If God was only just, there would be no place for mercy; if He never acted as a sovereign benefactor, there could be no place for the plan of redemption. God may be considered under two different aspects, either as judging with equity, or as disposing at His will of His benefits; in other words, as a judge, or as a sovereign. Under either of these aspects, in whatever manner He acts, having nothing higher than Himself, He is the supreme God. Sovereignty, when this word is applied to God, signifies the arbitrary will of a benefactor, because that under the other aspects there is no place for the exercise of arbitrary will. In the exercise of His justice, God is sovereign in His judgments and His punishments, but not arbitrary, because He does not judge without demerit in the objects of His judgment.

When, therefore, He acts as Judge and Supreme Ruler, His acts are founded upon equity; but when He acts as Sovereign, His acts are founded upon His free favor, and dispensed with wisdom.

Whatever offense the human mind may take at the attribute of Divine justice, and its exercise in punishing the guilty, we should think that all men would eagerly embrace the view given in Scripture of the Divine mercy. Yet, in reality, the peculiar character of the mercy of God is as disagreeable to men as is His justice itself. The Divine mercy is not only sovereign, but, respecting its object, it is unlimited. Neither of these peculiarities is agreeable to the mind of man. Human wisdom views God as merciful, but that mercy it makes to extend equally to all, and unlimitedly to none. For persons not guilty of glaring sins, God’s mercy is not only expected by the world, but even claimed and demanded. To deny it to those who are sober and regular in their lives, would be looked on as both cruel and unjust. In the passage before us, however, we see that God’s mercy is sovereign, that it extends to one and not to another, while no man can give a reason for the preference of one and the rejection of the other.

The only reason God condescends to give is His own pleasure: ‘I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.’ The unlimited character of the Divine mercy is a thing that ought to be most agreeable to every man. Even should any be so blind as not to perceive that they need such mercy for themselves, yet, if they loved mankind, they should rejoice that the Divine mercy is such as to extend to the chief of sinners. Constant experience, however, as well as the history of our Lord’s life, shows us that this is not the case. Instead of rejoicing in the extent of the Divine mercy, the heart of the self-righteous man will swell with indignation when he hears that mercy is extended to the vile and the profligate. Nothing in the conduct of our Lord gave such offense to the scribes and Pharisees as this peculiarity in His conduct of receiving sinners In the most prominent manner He exhibited this feature of mercy, and publicans and sinners heard Him, and received His doctrine, and turned from their sins unto God; while the proud, self-righteous Pharisees burned with indignation at the conduct of Christ in this instance. He was constantly upbraided as receiving sinners and eating with them.

Of the mercy of God, Dr. Thomson observes, ‘It cannot be that His mercy should be exerted at the expense or to the disparagement, in any the least degree, of one excellence which beautifies His nature, or upholds His government, or speaks His praise. His mercy is sovereign and gratuitous; and therefore it can only be displayed when every other quality that belongs to Him is fully maintained, and there is no sacrifice of the honor that is due to each, and of the consistency which pervades the whole.

Whenever His mercy cannot be exercised without refusing the demands of His justice, or without bringing into question the immutability of His faithfulness, or without denying the irresistible energy of His power, or without impeaching the infallibility of His wisdom, or without throwing suspicion on the absolute purity of His nature — in these cases His mercy cannot be exercised at all, for the exercise of it would involve some shortcoming in His perfection, which is necessarily unqualified and unlimited. It is only of this attribute that it can be said, ‘He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.’ Of every other attribute it is requisite that we predicate positive and peremptory operation. He must be holy; He must be wise; He must be powerful; He must be just; He must be true; He must be each and all of these, whatever betide His universe; and if we, His apostate creatures, cannot be the objects of His mercy except by some surrender of the homage due to them, or some violation of the harmony that reigns among them, His mercy cannot save, and cannot reach us.’ And whom He will He hardeneth. — If God hath mercy on whom He will, He hardeneth whom He will. In hardening men, God does no injustice, nor does He act in any degree contrary to the perfection of His character. He does not communicate hardness or perversity to the hearts of men by any positive internal act, as when He communicates His grace. ‘Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man.’ Wicked men are not restrained by the holy influences of grace, but by the different restraints under which they are placed by Providence. They are hardened when these restraints are removed, and when they are left free to act according to the depraved inclinations of their own hearts, to which the Lord gives them up, Psalm 81:12; Acts 7:42; Romans 1:24,26,28. Or they are hardened by the communication of qualities which are neither good nor bad in themselves, but which may become either good or bad according to the use made of them, such as courage, perseverance, or other dispositions which may be employed for bad purposes. Men are also hardened when they are abandoned to the suggestions of Satan, of whom they are the willing slaves. Thus Judas was hardened by Satan, who had taken possession of him, and to whom he submitted himself, although most solemnly warned of his danger. When a man is entirely left to himself, the commands, the warnings, the judgments, the deliverances, and all the truths of Scripture become causes of hardness, of insensibility, of pride, and presumption.

Even the delay of merited punishment, and the deliverances from the plagues that fell on his country, were, in respect to Pharaoh, the occasion of hardening his heart. ‘Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil’ In these ways men’s hearts are hardened, through means that in themselves are calculated to produce the opposite effect.

But by whatever means the heart of men is hardened, they are regulated by God, who also determines that they shall succeed. We see this remarkably verified in the case of Ahab. ‘And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail. Go out and do even so. Now, therefore, behold the Lord hath put a Lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee,’ 2 Chronicles 18:21. ‘If the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet; and I will stretch out My hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel,’ Ezekiel 14:9. ‘Truly the Son of Man goeth, as it was determined; but woe unto that man by whom Me is betrayed,’ Luke 22:22. ‘Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,’ Acts 2:23. ‘Of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done,’ Acts 4:27. ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient; whereunto also they were appointed,’ 1 Peter 2:8. This shows an ordination of God to the thing referred to, which thing was sinful. ‘There are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation.’ The persons here spoken of are said to be ordained to condemnation, which, whatever it may be supposed to be, implies pre-appointment to it by God, Jude 4. ‘Therefore, they could not believe, because Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and I should heal them,’ John 12:39. ‘According as it is written, God hath given them a spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day,’ Romans 11:8. ‘And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness,’ 2 Thessalonians 2:11. It is nothing to the purpose to allege that this was in judgment for not receiving the love of the truth; whatever was the cause, God sent them strong delusion, so that they should believe a lie. In the same way it is said, Revelation 17:17, ‘God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree and give their kingdom to the beast.’ ‘Babylon,’ says Dr. Carson, in his History of Providence, ‘ was employed by Providence for the chastisement of His people, and commissioned to carry the Jews into captivity. Babylon was guilty in executing the will of the Lord, and was providentially destroyed by Him with an unexampled destruction. The Medes and Persians are sent by God to execute His vengeance on Babylon. He calls out their hosts and gives them victory, yet the Medes and Persians were excited by their own passions. Besides, says God, I will bring up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. How awful does Providence appear here! Even when savage idolaters violate every dictate of humanity, they are the executors of the judgments of the Almighty. While their conduct is most horridly guilty, in the Divine sovereignty it fulfills God’s will. Who can fathom this depth? In God’s dealings with Assyria and Babylon we ought to find a key to His providence in His dealings with the western nations of Europe. Does not Jehovah govern the world? Is there evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?’

In all the above acts relating to men, God proceeds in conformity to His justice. He is infinitely just in hating, hardening, and condemning sinners, in adjudging them to punishment for their wickedness, and in placing them in situations in which, in the free exercise of their evil dispositions, they will do what the Lord has appointed for His own glory. Thus God orders events in such a manner, that, as in the passages above quoted, the sin will, through the wickedness of men: certainly be committed, while He is not the author of evil, but, on the contrary, of good. He displays His holiness in the events and in their consequences. Men may employ all their art in wresting the above and similar passages, but they are recorded in the Scriptures, which are the word of God, and which cannot be broken. ‘The Lord hath made all things for Himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil,’ Proverbs 16:4. ‘Why dost thou strive against Him? for He giveth not account of His matters,’ — or answereth not, Job 33:13.

That God does not harden any man in such a way as to be the author of sin, is most certain. But there must be a sense in which He hardens sinners, or the thing would not be asserted. From His conduct with respect to Pharaoh, it is obvious that sinners are hardened by the providence of God bringing them into situations that manifest and excite their corruptions.

In the history of Pharaoh in the Book of Exodus, it is repeated ten times, that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh is also said to have hardened his own heart. This shows that there is a certain connection between God’s hardening the hearts of men and their voluntarily hardening their own hearts, so that when the one takes place the other does so likewise. It does not follow from this that God’s hardening the heart of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh’s hardening his own heart, are one and the same thing. This supposition, although adopted by many is contrary to the representations and the express words of Scripture. The just inference is, that there is one view in which Pharaoh hardened his heart, and another in which God is said to have hardened it. We should believe both; but to attempt to show the philosophy of their reconciliation, is to attempt to fathom infinity. In <19A525> Psalm 105:25, it is said with respect to the people of Egypt, that God ‘turned their heart to hate His people.’ Can anything be stronger or more clear than this passage? No doubt it was their own sin, but there is also a sense in which the thing was of God. Are we to deny this because we cannot explain the way in which God did this? On the same ground we might reject the doctrine of the Trinity, or any other of the incomprehensible doctrines of Christianity.

On this subject, Dr. Carson, in his book lately published, entitled, Examination of the Principles of Biblical Interpretation of Ernesti, Ammon, Stuart, and other Philologists, observes, ‘It is said that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh; it is said also that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

What, then, is the lawful way to reconcile these two statements? The statements must both be true. There must be a sense in which God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, for this is as expressly asserted as that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. That this is not a sense implying that God is the author of Pharaoh’s sin, there cannot be a moment’s question. I may be asked how God could in any sense harden a man’s heart without being the author of sin a But the most assured belief of the fact does not require that an answer should be given to the question. A thing may be true, yet utterly inexplicable. God’s declaration is perfectly sufficient for the belief of anything which He testifies. Our reception of it does not imply that we know the grounds or nature of its truth. We receive it, not because we can explain how it is true, but because we know that God cannot lie. The Scriptures testify the fact; the fact, then, must be received as truth. The Scriptures do not testify the manner in which the thing is true of God; the manner, then, is not a thing to be believed, and consequently not a thing to be explained by man.... Many tell us that such assertions mean merely that God permits the thing which He is said to do. But is permission sufficient to secure accomplishment? God sent Joseph to Egypt; that is, it is said, He permitted his brethren to sell him. Nay, but it was God’s will, purpose, and plan, that Joseph should go down to Egypt, and His providence secured the event. “Now, therefore,” says Joseph, “be not grieved nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither! for God did send me before you to preserve life.” His brethren did it wickedly; God did it in mercy and in wisdom. We know that he did it entirely in consistency with man’s accountability; but the manner of this consistency is not a matter of revelation, and therefore it is impossible to attempt explanation. “ Romans 9:18,” says Ammon, “appears to be an obscure passage relating to the absolute decrees of God. Light may be thrown upon this by 1 Samuel 6:6, where Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own heart.”

How does 1 Samuel 6:6 throw light upon Romans 9:18? We might have expected rather that Ammon would have found a contradiction, as the one passage ascribes to God what the other ascribes to man. The passages indeed are consistent; but their consistency must be made out, not by obliging one of them to silence the other, but by the principle that they assert the same thing in a different view. Ammon’s plan, I presume, is to make Romans 9:18 recant, in order to harmonize with 1 Samuel 6:6.

But the honor of Scripture, and of God’s character, require that they should be reconciled in a way that renders both true.’

Calvin, in his commentary on Exodus, represents those as perverting the Scriptures who insist that no more is meant than a bare permission when God is said to harden the hearts of men. He speaks of such as frigid speculatores, diluti moderatores, to whose delicate ears such Scripture expressions seem harsh and offensive. They therefore, he observes, ‘soften them down by turning an action into a permission, as if there were no difference between acting and suffering, i.e., suffering others to act.’ Such, he says, who will admit of permission only, suspend this counsel and determination of God, wholly on the will of man; but that he is not ashamed or afraid to speak as the Holy Spirit does, and does not hesitate to approve and embrace what the Scriptures so often declares, viz., that God blinds the minds of wicked men, and hardens their hearts. In his commentary on the passage before us, Romans 9:18, to the same purpose he observes, ‘The word hardening, when attributed to God in Scripture, not only means permission (as some trifling theologians determine), but the action of Divine wrath; for all external circumstances, which contribute to blind the reprobates, are instruments of the Divine indignation. Satan also himself, the internal efficacious agent, is so completely the servant of the Most High, as to act only by His command.

The frivolous attempt of the school men to avoid the difficulty by foreknowledge, is completely subverted; for Paul does not say that the ruin of the wicked is foreseen by the Lord, but ordained by His counsel, decree, and will. Solomon also teaches that the destruction of the wicked was not only foreknown, but they were made on purpose for the day of evil’ ( Proverbs 16:4). f51 Some profess Calvinism, but affect to hold it in a more unexceptionable manner than it is held in the system in general. They seem to think that in the defense of that system, Calvin was extravagant, and that he gave unnecessary offense by exaggerated statements, and by language not warranted by the Scriptures. Such persons, it is presumed, are strangers to the writings of Calvin. Calvin himself is remarkable for keeping on Scripture ground, and avoiding anything that may justly be termed extravagant. No writer has ever indulged less in metaphysical speculation on the deep things of God than this writer. To support his system, it was necessary only to exhibit Scripture testimony, and he seems quite contented to rest the matter on this foundation.

What is called moderate Calvinism is in reality refined Arminianism. It is impossible to modify the former without sliding into the latter. If the doctrine of God’s sovereignty and of unconditional election be denied, regeneration and redemption must undergo a corresponding modification, and all the doctrines of grace will be more or less affected. While it is admitted that many of the people of God, through imperfect views of Divine truth, falter on the subject of election, it is a truth essential to the plan of salvation, and a truth most explicitly revealed. No truth in the Scriptures is more easily defended. The reason why many find it difficult to defend this doctrine is, that they suppose it necessary to account for it by human wisdom, and to justify the conduct of God. We have nothing to do with the grounds of the Divine procedure, we have to do only with the Divine testimony, that testimony which Mr. Tholuck so fearfully perverts. There are many who in words fully admit the doctrine of predestination, and at the same time neutralize it by dwelling exclusively upon God’s being love, and laying the blame of the whole world not being saved on the sloth of Christians.] That ordination, with respect to evil, is merely permission, is an opinion which cannot be maintained. Permission is not ordination in any sense of the term, and ordination is quite a different idea from permission. We may permit what we do not ordain, and when we ordain anything, we do more than permit it. But it will be replied, Does not this make God the author of sin? It is answered, that the sense in which God ordains sin is above our comprehension. It must be a sense in which He is not the author of sin — a sense, too, in which responsibility entirely rests with man. But the way in which this is true, we cannot explain. It is enough to know that God hath declared it. We are to believe Him on His own testimony, and to honor Him by submitting to whatever He declares. God tells us that He doth such things, He tells us also that men do these things. We should believe both assertions, though we cannot reconcile them. Does not God say in His word — ’As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts?’ Does He not say that His ways are past finding out? If we could fathom all the ways of God, the Scriptures could not be His word. What God reveals, let us know: what He conceals, let us not attempt to discover. God is from eternity; but we are of yesterday and know nothing.

God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, as He declared from the beginning of the history He would do; but did not put evil into his mind. There was no need for this, for he was previously wicked like all mankind. God has no occasion to put evil into the heart of any, in order to their destruction, for in consequence of the curse of the broken law (from which God’s people alone are delivered), there is in no natural man anything good towards God, Romans 8:7. While He thus punished Pharaoh’s wickedness no more than his iniquity deserved, God, in doing so, displayed to His people Israel their security under His protection.