Hosanna Restoration Church

To be honest with you, the ninth chapter of Romans sort of takes me on a roller coaster ride. I have a hard time seeing God as wanting any not to come to Him. Yet we read that He can do what He wants, and if he wants to harden someone so they would never believe, then He could. But I don’t think His heart wants anything destroyed except for unrighteousness. I think He wants everyone to believe, that is why He is so patient. That is why He calls people to preach and teach and witness.

I can see why some people try and take this scripture and determine that it does not matter what they do, if God wants them then He will get them, and if not, then He won’t. What I do not see, is why someone would not like to change things if they knew how. After all, this scripture is also very clear as to what it takes to come to God. We must come by faith.

Why would someone want to harden themselves against the truth? Why wouldn’t someone want to realize that they had been in the group who would not believe and suddenly see the truth and say, “wait a minute, I want to join the believers?” After all, in the natural, we say if you want a child to do something, just tell them they can’t.

When ever I read this, I tend to focus on the parts that give us hope, no matter what state we are in. Such as verses 15 & 16, where God will have mercy on who He wants to have mercy. I raise my hand say, “me Lord, have mercy on me.” And when the chapter ends by saying that whoever believes will not be put to shame. I pray that all would be in the whoever group and that all would believe.

Then I go back and read Chapter eight, that tells me about being in Christ Jesus and free from condemnation. And how God will work all things out for good if we will love Him. I also see that those that He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. And I know that before we were formed in the womb, He knew all of us.

So then is God trying to confuse us. I don’t think so. I think He is telling us like it is. He may well allow some hearts to harden at times, but when He does, He also exposes them to more proof and truth, in order to give them opportunity to choose Him. Look at Pharoah, talk about someone having every opportunity to change.

What do we do then? We believe in Jesus and do what God says. We pray that hard hearts would be softened. We ask God to open the eyes of people’s understanding. We watch closely so that we do not let our hearts get hard, and we hold fast to our hope and trust and faith, in Christ…and we will never be ashamed…or disappointed.