Romans 9:16
Romans 9:15-16
For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
Calvinist, R.C. Sproul, comments: “The apostle declares: It is not of him who wills. The non-Reformed views must say that it is of him who wills. This is in violent contradiction to the teaching of Scripture. This one verse is absolutely fatal to Arminianism.” (Chosen By God, p.151, emphasis mine)
Calvinists are not reading this verse within its proper Jewish context. Just like with John 6, the context regards unbelieving Jews. Paul is writing this as a response to the Jewish skeptic who does not believe in Jesus. Paul made it known from the start that he absolutely wishes that the Jews could all be unconditionally saved (Romans 9:1-3), but then argues from reality in the following verses. Paul starts by explaining things from God’s perspective, and then sums it up in verses 30-32: “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works.” The Gentiles went the faith-route, whereas the Jews went the works-route. So if you want to know what Paul meant by the man who “wills” and the man who “runs,” that’s it. Paul is describing the works-route of the Jews.
However, most Calvinists argue that faith is a work (despite Romans 4:5) that gives a man grounds to boast before God (despite Romans 3:27), which ultimately makes Arminianism a works-based theology. Nevertheless, faith is not a meritorious deed of self-righteousness, but rather a non-meritorious act which results in Imputed Righteousness, where God credits Christ’s righteousness to the one who has set his hope upon Him. That’s why God’s mercy is not about willing and running, but about surrendering and turning it over to Christ. Also notice that the Bible never says something along the lines of: “Salvation is by grace, not of faith, lest any man should boast.”
Adrian Rogers explains: “Listen, none of it depends upon you. It is all God. Do you understand that? That’s grace. … It’s either grace or works, not grace and works. If you were hanging over a precipice, two thousand feet below are jagged rocks, and there’s a chain of 100 links, 99 of them made of forged steel, 1 of them made of crepe paper, how safe are you? As safe as that 1 link. Now if any part of your salvation depends upon you, you’re not going to make it. You’re not going to make it. It is by grace. What did this man preach to him? He preached to him that he’s a sinner, that Christ died for him. If he will put his faith where God has put his sins, that he will be saved.” (Every Christian An Evangelist: Acts 8:26-39, emphasis mine)
In further demonstration that a grace-alone salvation is a faith-alone salvation, take note of the fact that Paul often contrasts faith vs. works, but never faith vs. grace:
Romans 4:13: “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.”
Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
In other words, it does not depend upon the man who wills and runs through the Law, but upon God who has mercy through the righteousness of faith.
Romans 4:16: “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace.”
Galatians 2:15-16: “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”
Adrian Rogers explains: “We see it discovered by Abraham. We see it described by David. And then we see it disclosed by Paul. He is saying that it is not by ritual. It is not by resolve. It is by reception. You just receive God’s amazing grace.” (It’s Time for some Good News: Romans 4:1, emphasis mine)
God’s grace is received by faith: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)
Calvinism essentially teaches that for by the Father’s Elective Grace you have been regenerated unto faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of Sovereign Election, such that it’s not up to the man to trust in Christ, that is, to repent and believe in Him, but up to God to unilaterally, involuntarily, unconsciously and preemptively, birth the man into Christ by sovereign Regenerative Grace, that he should irresistibly believe, because he is elect.
Arminianism essentially teaches that for by Christ’s Atoning Grace you have been saved through faith.
The best way to understand Romans 9:16 is through Paul’s perspective. As a murderer of Christians, he saw himself as a little Pharaoh, that is, a hard-hearted, merciless murderer. Nevertheless, God showed him exceeding mercy and grace by dying for one, even such as him. Paul states: “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” (1st Timothy 1:15) Paul adds: “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” (1st Corinthians 15:9-10) God’s Prevenient Grace toward Paul did not prove in vain. Jesus confronted him face-to-face on the road to Damascus. God doesn’t do that for everybody. Although we hear Christ spiritually speak to our heart through the preaching of His Word, in this case, Jesus spoke to Paul physically, and so Paul can tell you what His voice literally sounds like. Therefore, consider what Jesus said: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required.” (Luke 12:48) And therefore, this is what the apostle Paul now states about himself: “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” (1st Timothy 1:16) God displayed exceeding mercy to Paul so that through him, God might display mercy to all. Romans 11:30-32 states: “For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.” Show mercy to who? According to Romans 5:15, Christ’s free gift of grace abounds to all. If you say that He is rich in mercy and grace only to some, then he has shut up only some in disobedience, and how would that make any sense? The same applies to Romans 5:12-15.
John Calvin comments: “The simple view which we are to take is that our being counted among the elect is independent either of our will or our efforts (Paul has put ‘running’ for ‘striving’ or ‘endeavor’). It is rather to be attributed wholly to the divine goodness, which freely takes those who neither will to achieve, nor strive for, nor even think of such a thing. … To say that we will or run to achieve it, therefore, is a mere cavil, because Paul denies that the man who wills or runs is capable of achieving election. He meant simply that neither willing nor running can achieve anything.” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Romans and Thessalonians, p.205, emphasis mine)
- Our willing and running neither achieves righteousness, nor obtains favor with God.
- God’s mercy depends upon Him alone. Hence salvation is based upon trusting in Him alone.
- Our being “counted among the elect” is based upon our position in Christ through faith.
Question: What does not depend on man? What is meant by willing and running?
Paraphrase: So then [righteousness] does not depend on [man’s works], but on God who has mercy. “By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16)
Willing and running implies will-power and man-power, that is, mental stamina and physical stamina, and on both counts, if it were left to even regenerate man, meaning those who are Born Again, the result would be failure, as Paul attests: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:18-25, KJV) Therefore, God’s grace is not dependent upon our will-power or man-power.
Question: How does faith coincide with God’s mercy?
Answer: “Now it may be asked how men receive the salvation offered to them by the hand of God? I reply, by faith. Hence he concludes that here is nothing of our own. If, on the part of God, it is grace alone, and if we bring nothing but faith, which strips us of all praise, it follows that salvation is not of us. … When, on man’s side, he places the only way of receiving salvation in faith alone, he rejects all other means on which men are accustomed to rely. Faith, then, brings a man empty to God, that he may be filled with the blessings of Christ.” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, p.144, emphasis mine)
