What does it mean that God hardens whomever he wills?

Explanation:

It is important to understand what Paul means in light of the immediate context. Paul is explaining in this section that election is based solely on God’s will, without consideration of human influence.³ In Romans 9:11–12 he writes that it was before the twins had done anything good or evil that God loved Jacob and hated Esau.⁴ Also, in Romans 9:16 Paul explains that election is not based on human will or exertion but on God who has mercy. Now he draws an important conclusion from these themes, which is that God has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills. In other words, God hardens whomever he wills aside from anything human influence.

Counterargument:

It is important to notice that the overarching theme that ties this section together is God’s mercy. For Paul’s point in this section is to explain that the Gentiles are included in God’s covenant promises, and this is not unfair, because God can have mercy on whomever he wills. It is to explain the broad scope of election that Paul writes in Romans 9:11–12 that even before the twins had done anything good or evil God loved Jacob and hated Esau. We know this because Paul immediately follows this up by explaining that God will have mercy and compassion on whomever he wills. In other words, if God wants to include the Gentiles in his covenant plan, that is up to God. Of course, the corollary to the fact that God has mercy on whomever he wills is that he also hardens whomever he wills, but the point is not that God chooses some beforehand for damnation. Rather, the point is that God is sovereign over salvation history, and he uses people however he desires to bring about his plan to extend salvation to all people.

Response to counterargument:

While there is no denying that God’s mercy is an important aspect of Paul’s thought in this section, he is also highlighting God’s sovereignty. That is, he is highlighting the fact that God can do as he pleases with whomever he pleases. We can detect this because after emphasizing mercy, as this counterargument points out, and stating that God hardens whomever he wills, Paul asks, Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will? In other words, Paul introduces a rhetorical question that assumes that God’s hardening whomever he wills demonstrates the ultimate sovereignty of God’s will. So Paul has in mind both God’s mercy and his ultimate sovereignty to harden whomever he wills, regardless of that person’s influence.

Explanation:

To understand what it means that God hardens whomever he wills, all we need to do is consider the natural meaning of the phrase. For the notion that God hardens whomever he wills implies that for any person that exists, God can harden that person, regardless of that person’s influence.⁵ So the natural meaning of Romans 9:18 implies that God hardens whomever he wills in the sense that, for any person that exists, God can harden that person based solely on God’s own will.

Counterargument:

This interpretation runs against other passages in Scripture that suggest that God desires all to be saved. In 1 Timothy 2:4 Paul writes that God desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. If God desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, then his hardening whomever he wills is at odds with his own purposes.⁶ For if God desires all to be saved, he would not harden whomever he wills, but only those who are already sinful and deserving punishment. Thus, it is not likely that when Paul writes that God hardens whomever he wills, he has in mind any person only based on God’s own will. Rather, he likely has in mind that God hardens whomever he wills to work out his plan of salvation, which implies that he would only harden those who are already sinful.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument overlooks a crucial point. It fails to account for the fact that Paul has already made clear that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Since that is so, God can harden whomever he wills without infringing on his own desire that everyone be saved. The fact is, all humans deserve punishment because all have sinned against God. What is remarkable is that God would have mercy on anyone at all.⁷

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be.

Explanation:

To be hardened is to be insensitive to God and his plans for humanity. So what does it mean that God might will to make someone insensitive to his plans for humanity? We need to let Scripture interpret Scripture. We know from James 1:13 that God never tempts anyone to sin.¹¹ Therefore, God cannot make someone insensitive to him unless that person was already insensitive to God. Thus, God hardens whomever he wills in the sense that, when there is someone sinning against God, God might harden that person in order to bring about his plans. In other words, God’s plans cannot be thwarted by sinners, because God can even use sinners to work out his plans.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that Paul specifically writes that God hardens whomever he wills. That implies that God can harden the heart of any person any time, regardless of whether or not that person has already sinned.¹² This implies that God does not need to wait for a person to sin before hardening them but can simply harden them whenever he desires. Furthermore, James 1:13 is speaking particularly about temptation, whereas in Romans 9:18, Paul is nonspecific as to how God hardens. The two passages are less connected than the argument makes them out to be.

Response to counterargument:

That God can harden whomever he wills can be understood in the sense that God can harden whoever has already sinned. For Paul is making a general point about God’s sovereign power to do what he desires to bring about salvation. And it is unlikely that God would purposely raise up people to not save, in order to bring about salvation of others.¹³ In other words, God is not going to work at cross purposes with himself, raising up some for damnation who would not otherwise be damned in order to save others. Rather, God hardens whomever he wills to bring about his salvation plans, which implies that only those who are already sinning would be hardened in order to further God’s plans. So when Paul says God hardens whomever he wills, since he means God will do whatever he has to in order to bring about salvation, he means God will harden whoever is already sinning.

Explanation:

When Paul writes that God hardens whomever he wills, he is reflecting on the fact that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, leading to the Exodus. We know this because Paul writes in Romans 9:17 that God raised up Pharaoh for this very purpose, before writing in Romans 9:18 that God hardens whomever he wills. Now, when we turn to the Exodus account that Paul has in mind, we notice that the author of Exodus tells us that Pharaoh hardened his own heart before telling us that God hardened his heart.¹⁴ Thus, God did not arbitrarily harden Pharaoh’s heart, but he saw that Pharaoh’s heart was already hardening so God used the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart to his own advantage. That is, he hardened it even more in order to bring about the exodus of Israel. So, God has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Counterargument:

The problem here is that the exodus narrative (Exodus 4:1–14:31) does not actually indicate that Pharaoh’s heart was hard before God hardened it. Before the first instance where Pharaoh is said to harden his own heart (Exodus 7:13), God twice promises that he would harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21; Exodus 7:3). Further, there are five references, in the passive, to Pharaoh’s heart being hardened (Exodus 7:13, Exodus 7:14, Exodus 7:22; Exodus 8:15, Exodus 8:19). The implied subject in such instances is likely God.¹⁵ So, the fact that Pharaoh hardened his own heart early in the story does not prove that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart only after it was already hard. It may well be that God’s hardening his heart might have been the cause of Pharaoh’s hardness to begin with.¹⁶