March   21       Saturday                Romans 9.1-18

9 Now let me speak the truth as plainly as I know it in the Anointed One. I am not lying when I say that my conscience and the Holy Spirit are witnesses ² to my state of constant grief. ³ It may sound extreme; but I wish that I were lost, cursed, and totally separated from the Anointed—if that would change the eternal destination of my brothers and sisters, my flesh and countrymen. ⁴ They are, after all, Israelites who have been adopted into God’s family; the glory, the covenants, the gift of the law, the temple service, and God’s promises are their rightful heritage. ⁵ The patriarchs are theirs, too; and from their bloodline comes the Anointed One, the Liberating King, who reigns supreme over all things, God blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ Clearly it is not that God’s word has failed. The truth is that not everyone descended from Israel is truly Israel. ⁷ Just because people can claim Abraham as their father does not make them his true children. But in the Scriptures, it says, “Through Isaac your covenant children will be named.” ⁸ The proper interpretation is this: Abraham’s children by natural descent are not necessarily God’s covenant people; what matters is that His children receive and live the promise. ⁹ For this is the word God promised: “In due time, I will come, and Sarah will give birth to a son.”¹⁰ But the story didn’t stop there. Remember when Rebecca conceived her twin boys by our father Isaac? ^11-12 The twins were in Rebecca’s womb when God said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” This was not based on merit or actions; the twins had not done anything to please or displease God. This was God’s call on each son and His desired purposes. ¹³ Just as the Scriptures say, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”

¹⁴ So how do we talk about that? Are God’s dealings unjust? Absolutely not! ¹⁵ Because He said to Moses, “I will show mercy to whomever I choose to show mercy, and I will demonstrate compassion on whomever I choose to have compassion.” ¹⁶ The point is that God’s mercy has nothing to do with our will or the things we pursue. It is completely up to God. ¹⁷ The Scriptures even speak to the Pharaoh himself: “I have given you a position of power so that I might show My greater power through you and so that My name might be declared throughout every land upon the earth.” ¹⁸ So when and where God decides to show mercy is completely up to Him. Likewise, when He chooses to harden one’s heart, how can we argue?