"And now: What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion’ (Exod 33:19)." —( Rom 9:14-15) “That is, I will be gracious to thee, and to the people for whom thou hast prayed; but not without a holy distinction; for those who presumptuously offend shall die.” (Sutcliffe)— “‘So then it is not of him that wills’—has the inward desire, ‘nor of him that runs’—makes active effort (cf.1 Co 9:24, 26; Php 2:16; 3:14). Both these are indispensable to salvation, yet salvation is owing to neither, 'but' is purely ‘of God that shows mercy.’ (Rom 9:16) …Php 2:12. 13, ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God which, out of His own good pleasure, worketh in you both to will and to do.’”(Jamieson-Fausset-Brown)
“Upon the uniformly wicked populations of earth, God has decided to show mercy to those who have accepted through obedient faith the mercy which is freely offered to all; but the salvation of those thus receiving God's grace does no injustice to the wicked who never obey the truth and are therefore lost. Paul explained why in the next verse.” (Coffman Commentary)
“’For the Scripture says to Pharaoh.’ This "is a Talmudic way of speaking, used when any point is proved from Scripture.”(Gill)— In fact, God said, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” [Exod 9:16] Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” (Rom 9:17-18) At some point in his willful disobedience, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. “There is no suggestion here that the Egyptian monarch was doomed from the time of his birth. What happened was this. In adult life he proved to be wicked, cruel, and extremely stubborn. In spite of the most solemn warnings he kept hardening his heart. God could have destroyed him instantly, but he didn’t. Instead, God preserved him alive in order that He might display His power in him, and that through him God’s name might be known worldwide.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)
In the release of Israel from Egypt: “It seems that God was resolved to show His power over the river, the insects, other animals, (with the natural causes of their health, diseases, life, and death,) over meteors, the air, the sun, (all of which were worshipped by the Egyptians, from whom other nations learned their idolatry,) and, at once, over all their gods, by that terrible stroke, of slaying all their priests and their choicest victims, the firstborn of man and beast: and all this with a design, not only to deliver his people Israel, (for which a single act of omnipotence would have sufficed,) but to convince the Egyptians, that the objects of their worship were but the creatures of Jehovah, and entirely in his power… So then, upon the whole, we may conclude; He hath mercy on whom He will have mercy— namely, on those that comply with His terms, on them that repent and believe in Christ. And whom He will— namely, them that remain in impenitence and unbelief, and who reject His counsel against themselves; He hardens… “ (Benson)
“The real case was the Jewish nation, who after hardening their hearts against the doctrine and miracles of Christ, had dreadfully destroyed the Christians, and still persisted in impenitency and unbelief. Therefore their ruin is laid on their own heads. Acts 28:25. In the destruction of Pharaoh and his host he warned all princes from repeating the like crimes, and he dispersed the Jews by such tremendous judgments, as to caution future ages against resisting the goodness of God, which would lead them to repentance. Is there then any unrighteousness with God in punishing the Jews, and in conferring evangelical grace on the Gentiles?” (Sutcliffe)
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