”God’s Sovereign Hardening” (Romans 9:17-18)

"God's Sovereign Hardening" (Romans 9:17-18)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, July 8, 2018

14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
(Rom. 9:14-18 NIV)

1. Examples of God's Hardening in Scripture
   1. God's Hardening of Pharaoh (Exodus 4-14)
   2. God's Hardening of Sihon, King of Heshbon (Deuteronomy 2:30)
   3. God's Hardening of Israel in Isaiah's Time (Isaiah 6:8-13)
   4. God's Hardening of Israel in Jesus' Time (John 12:37-41)
   5. God's Hardening of Israel in Paul's Time (Romans 9-11)
2. Principles of God's Hardening from Scripture
   1. God Hardens Sovereignly
   2. When God hardens, it is completely compatible with the stubbornness and hard-heartedness of the individual.
   3. God hardens as a means of judgment, leading to greater judgment.
   4. When God hardens some, others receive mercy.
   5. Everyone whom God hardens deserves it.
   6. God hardens to advance his own glory and fame.