Why God Hardens Hearts: Romans 9:17-24

here's the issue God hardens people the scripture is really clear on this issue God actually does harden people he hardens their hearts that's what Scripture teaches us over and over again my question is like what is meant by this what is meant by the fact that God hardens people and does that make us just mere pawns and so I've spent a lot of time researching and studying this topic looking at various passages that talk on the topic of God hardening it and I'm going to bring it all together tonight and try to share it as much as much of it as I can with you guys so let me start with this this is a big topic it's an important topic and I could be wrong on some detail so I want you to notice the difference between what the scripture teaches and my understanding of it you should always do that you should always be letting scripture be the authority and me just be a person who's commenting on it I'm a commenter a commentator just a normal potato so I could be wrong but this is my best understanding of the topic and I'm trying to approach it with with a Grace and wisdom I'm gonna be teaching you guys a lot of stuff and at the end I'm gonna summarize 9 truths about hardening about God hardening that we learn from scriptures so I'm gonna go through all these verses pull out all these truths and then I'll summarize them at the end so by the end you should be like ah click but it'll take a while for us to get there so please be patient and here we go so starting with a quick review of Romans 9 so far so we can understand the passage that's about to talk about God hardening the quick review of Romans 9 the there's a problem that he brings up in the beginning of Romans 9 and it's this that God has promises and a plan for Israel but they haven't all been saved they haven't all received Messiah not even the majority have received the Messiah Jesus now this is this might not seem like a big deal to you but many Jewish people today they'll reject Jesus like that simply based on the fact that the majority of Jews have not received him as Messiah to them that's all the evidence they need yeah what the Jews didn't all receive him as Messiah so obviously he's not the Messiah closed-book don't even need to consider his credentials don't need to consider the texts of the Old Testament none of that stuff that's that that's all I need to know so romans 9 is a great passage for explaining this issue so it starts off in verses 1 through 3 where Paul is just a summary he just basically says he wishes they would be saved his heart is breaking for them that they would be saved he desires for it greatly and I believe God also has that desire then he in verses 4 and 5 talks about all these things God has for the Jewish people his blessings upon the Jewish people the these these issues of that adoption the glory the covenants the law the service of God and the promises all belong to Israel so I wanted to be safe goblets in the new be saved and God has all these promises so you see the tension he's building a case now as he continues through the chapter for why not all of Israel received the gospel or even a majority and so first in verses 6 through 9 and by the way this case goes all the way through chapter 11 so it's gonna be continuing to build as we go but in verses 6 through 9 he talks about how Isaac and Ishmael show us a contrast to demonstrate the Old Testament teaches that the selection of God the choosing of God the promise of God does not fall to simply every physical descendant of Abraham so it's not by blood alone it's by promise then in verses 10 through 13 he talks about the issues of Jacob and Esau and the point there is that it's not by works not by work so verses 6 through 9 it is not by blood verses 10 through 13 it's not by works we see that in verse 11 not of works but of him who calls that the promise comes upon them in verses 14 through 16 he demonstrates what it is from what does God's promise fall upon us through and it's of mercy it comes through mercy God has chosen mercy to be the vessel through which mankind will be saved not earning it none of that sort of thing not by birth now this specifically the examples that were given Isaac Ishmael Jacob he saw these these examples are not about salvation they're just about God's promises but the application is about salvation and in case I haven't lost you already I taught all this last week so you can come online and you can get there but I at least I'm showing you that there is a Jew ish context in Romans that we need to be aware of to understand it properly I do think that Romans 9 is largely misunderstood by a lot of people not to say I'm the only one who's figured it out I'm certainly not but I think a lot have misunderstood it because if not recognizing this Jewishness so the point is this to the audience who cares about the Jewish people like God does this is an explanation of why things are happening the way they are using Old Testament truths so that the Jew is strategically drawn into accepting this Jesus Messiah and him not being accepted by Israel because the Old Testament said this is what was going to happen and he'll keep doing this throughout the next couple chapters so God can offer salvation to anybody he wants just like he did with the promises he chooses who it goes to and who does he choose to offer the promises to Jews and Gentiles and that's what he's building his case towards not a narrowing of the promise but an expanding of it it goes out the the promise of salvation in particular goes out to all people by God's mercy Jews and Gentiles that's your spoiler alert and it's not of works and it's not by your blood it's by God's mercy that you'll be saved and then in verse 32 it'll explain why the Jews in particular many of them did not receive this Gospel message it's because they did not seek it by faith so we'll talk about faith being instrumental okay so that being said um I do think people make a major misstep and maybe you're already there you're like tuning me out like oh my goodness Mike can't you just keep it simple keep it simple stupid dammit you heard that ki SS Mike and I'm like well sometimes it's not simple it's how do I keep things simple that aren't all I give it in the simplest way I'm able to but if it's not simple it's not simple and that's this passage if you were if you were Jewish it might make more sense so one major miss that people have in Romans or in other passages of Scripture is they want the Bible to say everything all at once they want every individual verse to have every doctrine that they need to know about but to say it's simply and in just a few words so I don't have to worry and think about it much that's a mistake and it's obviously not possible really Romans is building a step-by-step case and answering specific complaints along the way so I encourage patience everything will come more and more into focus as you go from chapter 9 to chapter 10 to chapter 11 and then you go oh and it all it all clicks so if you're struggling with 9 continue reading through 10 and 11 it'll make more sense now what I want to do is read the passage we're focusing on tonight with that background that context in mind starting in verse 17 it says for the scripture says to Pharaoh for this very purpose I've raised you up that I may show Powe my power in you and that my name may be declared in all the earth therefore he has mercy on whom He wills in whom He wills he hardens there's that concept of God hardening people you will say to me then why does he still find fault for who has resisted his will but indeed o man who were you to reply against God will the thing formed say to him who formed it why have you made me like this does not the Potter have power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor what if God wanting to show his wrath and make his power known endured with much long-suffering the vessels of Wrath prepared for destruction and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of Mercy which he had prepared beforehand for glory even us whom he called not of the Jews only but also of the Gentiles if you didn't know that Jewish Gentile context that last verse wouldn't have really clicked but it should be like obviously obviously because we understand the contextual applications that the Jewish and Gentile dynamics and the promise of the visitor and you're getting it right so so good you get it now let's delve into what I want to focus on tonight which is the hardening of God that is very clearly discussed in this passage we'll deal with some very specific questions so reading it again verses 17 and 18 this is where it first comes up for the scripture says to Pharaoh 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 therefore he has mercy on whom He wills and whom He wills he hardens God hardens now the point that Paul's driving towards where he's going with this whole God hardens thing he has a specific reason to bring it up he's gonna say that God has hardened Israel and he's using the example of Pharaoh because of course the Jews are gonna be like yeah obviously God hardened Pharaoh like that's man that's Exodus 101 and he goes yep a God can harden who went that's right he can't and he's hardened Israel some of Israel oh whoa wait wait no I mean okay maybe that's biblically Old Testament like that's legit Hebrew Bible stuff but I don't like that very much but this is the tension this is a struggle that the Jewish person would then be going through looking and saying why didn't more of my people receive Messiah so here's some of our questions to understand what God's hardening really is about does this mean that man has no free will like am I just a pawn like an actual pawn and just like I just get moved God moves me over here everything I think everything I want to do is that I'll just simply not my will now if you've been following in Romans you see I fully believe in free will I think the Bible clearly teaches it but that's a question that comes up does God harden people who don't deserve it I mean he gives mercy to people who don't deserve it does he harden people who don't deserve to be hardened is it just like mercy in that sense does God's hardening relate to salvation I mean he hardened Pharaoh to not let the people go but does he hardened people in regards to salvation does he harden them to keep them from coming to Christ I mean this is this is a hard question and it's difficult to find answers for it in all honesty so hopefully we can answer that tonight what other biblical examples are there hardening because there are several and I'd like to look at some of them to help round out our understanding of this concept and of course then what was Paul's ultimate point in Romans why he brought up this issue so let's start with this example Pharaoh why is Pharaoh brought up as an example - it's to prove Paul's point the guard god can harden whoever he wants he can harden the king of Egypt for all he wants he just hardened whoever he wants now this this I think and we'll get into Exodus now in fact I encourage you turn to Exodus starting in Exodus 4 I will flip through several in order several passages in Exodus and I think you'll want to follow along because it'll be it'll be like connecting the dots on the issue of hardening I think Pharaoh is an example of God hardening judicially what we call judicial hardening or hardening you because you deserve it that's the idea of this kind of hardening it's not simply an unbiased randomly just decided hardened you just because but you deserve it and you get it so starting in Exodus chapter four verse 21 and the Lord said to Moses when you go back to Egypt see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go now that word has ik in the in the Hebrew what it means is to actually to strengthen hardened might not be the best translation but it means to strengthen or to firm up something and so God is firming Pharaoh's heart he's firming Pharaoh's heart he's solidifying something in its current position that's when you harden something you're just solidifying in its current already focused position Pharaoh's heart is already defiant against God already rebellious against God and God's going to stiffen that make him more stubborn in that so it's not to to cause him to become evil but it locks him down in that place that's my understanding of hardening I could get into a whole lot of different language stuff but I think let's just keep it simple as much as we can anyway and let's just say that it's just a little fighting occur position so God says I'm going to harden him but let's keep reading let's keep reading in Exodus 5 I won't read this passage but in Exodus 5 what we have is we have Moses goes to Pharaoh and he says let my people go Pharaoh says who's the Yahweh that I should listen there serve hammer who cares and he just says no there's nothing in there about Pharaoh's heart being hard nothing about God hardening it none of that and nothing's there he just simply says no implication in the text he was already positioned that way to start with exodus 7 verse 3 Exodus 7 verse 3 while you're on your way there and let me point out the fact that her Pharaoh resisted immediately and naturally is very likely why God raised him up as Pharaoh and not somebody else he wanted someone who would resist him that's the implication God is doing some something like chess in this he's he's putting him in position so he can do things through him show his power and show his name through Pharaoh so we don't have a passive God who's not interacting with people on exodus 7 verse 3 God says again and I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt that's another Hebrew word it means a different word it means to make hard a shop it means to make hard I'm probably pronouncing it wrong because because I'm American but but here we have another Hebrew word but but notice this so far God has said twice that he will harden Pharaoh's heart has God hardened his heart yet no and this is where some of the commentators get it wrong they act like these statements are God actually doing it when God's saying he'll do it and him doing it are two different things I will do it future tense let's read on exodus 7 verse 13 Pharaoh responds to God telling him and plagues and things like this and it says and Pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the Lord had said now this is not God doing the action this is just simply Pharaoh's heart just grew hard Pharaoh's not doing it God's not doing it it's just a natural result of what's going on his heart grows hard now if you want to say well obviously God did that well there's a whole other group of people who will say obviously Pharaoh did that I'm gonna stick with the text and say no one's given credit for this it seems as though this part of his heart growing heart is a natural result of the actions that are going on maybe it's not intentional but it's just a result of him hearing truths of God rejecting them and then his heart grows heart Exodus 7 verse 14 and the Lord said to Moses Pharaoh's heart is hard he refuses to let the people go so now his heart is hard and this is a different word in the Hebrew and it means like heavy his heart is heavy CAV aid there you go maybe I'm right maybe I'm wrong you don't know neither do i okay copy okay Exodus 722 let's keep reading says in the magician's of Egypt did so with their enchantments they copied the the the Aaron with his staff and things like that they're copying the plagues they're copying everything they can copy and Pharaohs heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the Lord said now again God hasn't done anything to Pharaoh's heart directly that's not what the text says it's just his heart grew heart now turn to Exodus 8 verse 15 because this is where Pharaoh actually hardens himself not God ferrell x is 815 but when pharaoh saw that there was relief he hardened his heart and did not heed them as the lord had said so the construction the sentence is different it's not just his heart grew heart with no person no agent doing it named or or even implied in the in the language now Pharaoh is hardening his own heart scripture does talk about this how you can harden your own heart and here's an example of it Exodus 8 verse 19 let's go for verses down it says then the magician said to Pharaoh this is the finger of God but Pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them just as the Lord had said now it's just a passive growing hard no no active person giving credit for doing it Exodus 8:32 but Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also neither would he let that people go so who's hardening the heart now Pharaoh Exodus 9 verse 7 then Pharaoh sent and indeed not even one of the livestock of Israel was dead but the heart of Pharaoh became hard and he did not let the people go so again no one specifically named so so far along the progress we have her Pharaoh's heart becoming hard for no identifiable reason except for that he's rebelling against God then we have Pharaoh making his own heart hard and then finally in Exodus chapter 9 we have God hardening Pharaoh's heart I think the order of these events is important and this is how God inspired it to be written so we should take note exodus 912 but the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not heed them just as the Lord had spoken to him this is that same word to strengthen her to firm up and I do think this is an example of Judas hardening do you think Pharaoh deserve to have his heart hardened by God at this point let's see he oppressed oppressed the slaves in Egypt he resisted God he hardened his own heart multiple times and then finally God then hardens Pharaoh's heart I think he deserved it and I think we I think we could all agree off that then Exodus 934 Pharaoh is gonna harden his own heart again and when Pharaoh saw that the rain the hail and the Thunder had ceased he sinned yet more and he hardened his heart he and his servants now they're the ones doing the hardening and then this is probably the last one I'll quote there's more because it keeps going like this through the book of Exodus but let's go to Exodus 10 verse 1 now the Lord said to Moses go into Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants that I may show these signs of mine before him now God says I have passed hence hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants what's interesting is this is just a few verses after 934 where it said that Pharaoh and his people they hardened their own hearts and then and this is the first time it's his servants are brought up with it right Pharaoh and his servants they hardened their hearts and then a few verses later gaga's I hardened the heart of Pharaoh and his servants it seems to me that there's some synergism going on here there's something going on where Pharaoh's doing a hardening and God is doing a hardening I think that seems pretty obvious from the text and a lot of people seem to want to avoid it they want to make it all Pharaoh's fault or they want to make it all God's sovereign hardening and it seems to me the text is showing that both is happening God seems to be taking credit for Pharaoh in verse not a chapter 9 verse 34 hardening himself and his servants hardening themselves over here in chapter 10 verse 1 so it seems to be both how could this happen well let me give you one totally pathetic theory one really wimpy idea okay here's the thought I remember growing up there's times where you know you become like a an attitude detector a mood detector if you will for your parents you know when to ask for things and when not to ask for things and you're thinking to yourself if I ask if I can go to knots this weekend if I ask right now they're gonna get mad instead of happy right they're gonna say not only no but I'll probably have like chores or something it's a bad moment to ask but if I ask later on maybe when they're in a better mood perhaps then the answer will be yes sometimes without doing actual heart surgery on someone you could actually go to them you could influence them simply by bringing words at certain times and then knowing that they'll probably respond in certain ways I am NOT saying that's the whole answer because God hardened Pharaoh's heart that seems like an activity that God did to Pharaoh's heart but I think that there's an element of truth that's there that'll come in more as we as we keep reading at other looking at other passages so we're gonna look at some other examples tonight as well gob God's sovereignty is seen then in that he picked Pharaoh and raised him up to be this you you're gonna be the Pharaoh of Egypt I know you you'll resist me and I'm gonna harden your heart but I think it's safe to say you deserve it that seems to be the teaching does that make you uncomfortable welcome to the club it doesn't actually bother me at all to be honest but a lot of people are comfortable by this but I want to stick to just what the text says so let's read on in verse 19 of Romans 9 after bringing up Pharaoh he brings up an issue we talked more about this last week so I'm not gonna labor on it this week but we want to cover it in order says in verse 19 you will say to me then why does he still find fault for who has resisted his will but indeed o man who are you to reply against God well the thing formed say to him who formed it why have you made me like this this is great right who do you think you are this is the who do you think you are passage Mike are you saying God can just do whatever he wants and he's above impeachment he's above appeal he's above my judgment is that what you're saying yes finally you get it of course he's above your Appeals and impeachments you there's no hashtag not my god there's no you don't get to do that you don't get to do this with God God is right I'm wrong if I disagree with him it's because I'm wrong if I think he's unjust it's because I'm wrong it's because look at me how much do I know like I don't understand like why apples have skin let alone why God hardens Pharaoh's heart there's an element of humility that we need to have here and I just want to say skeptics they attack the Bible and they attack God and sometimes they attack God as though he's not just and here's what they're doing they're saying hypothetically let's say the God of the Bible exists and that he's really there and he really did all the stuff in the Bible I think that God's morally wrong and I'm like your hypothetical is insane like it's philosophically bankrupt to think that you like I mean you're like the ant shaking their fist up into the sky just doesn't make any sense so get some perspective is what I'm going to say get some perspective on who God is I am NOT here to defend God hardening Pharaoh or attack it it's not my place I want to explain it to the best of my ability understand it biblically the idea of hardening but I'm not here to defend it I'm not standing you're like oh I have to explain this the right way so people will like it if you don't like it then you need to change your opinion about things I don't know I don't know a better way to put it God is God so this this however this passage who will resist his will how can you find fault and then the answer how can you complain against the creator basically come on you have no place for that this doesn't mean that God's hardening is arbitrary and that's a mistake people make this is not saying God hardens people for no reason it's just saying you have no place to argue with God about it but you can seek to understand it you can seek to learn from it of course so no where is it taught that God's hardening is arbitrary his mercy comes not according to works the passage clearly taught that God gives us mercy not according to works it didn't say the same thing for who God hardens did it read the passage it didn't say God hardens people not according to works it didn't say that they just said that about a mercy that's interesting so in fact perhaps more people deserve to be hardened and do get hardened I would be thinking yes that's probably quite true so the Bible here is not teaching I think it's not teaching unconditional election we talked about that over the past two weeks and here it is not teaching this unconditional reprobate it's talking about how God hardened some people it's just teaching Mercy's not of works and it's not a genealogy and then God hardens whoever he wants to that's what we've learned so far from Romans nine and that you have no valid complaint against God there's no version of the story where you get to say God made a mistake or he's at fault his acts are not subject to our review but we should be learning from him so more of that is in the last study last week which was titled a non Calvinist interpretation of Romans nine that's up on YouTube if anyone wants to look at it so God could do whatever he wants but here's the question for the rest of the study but what does he do I agree he can do whatever he wants and he's and I'm he's unimpeachable but what does he do it's not arbitrary hardening as we'll actually find in the text verse 21 we'll keep reading here Romans 921 does the does not the Potter have power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor simple answer yes yes does not God have the ability and the right to do whatever he wants with the things he makes if I draw a picture decide I don't like it I can crumple it up and throw it away I have that right it's my picture you do it that's wrong that was my picture so simply yes but now let's get more detail in verse 22 on how God does this how does he handle the clay that's us verse 22 what if God wanting to show his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long-suffering the vessels of Wrath prepared for destruction and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of Mercy which had he had prepared beforehand for Laurie even us whom he called not of the Jews only but also of the Gentiles now I know some pastors who teachers who would would look at the first two words of verse 22 what if and they go it's entirely possible that verse 22 and 23 aren't even how God does things it just says what if it's an if now I see that as their escape hatch I don't think that's the teaching of the passage I think it's saying what if and it's a hypothetical that's actually true I think it's actually a truth and so I don't see an escape hatch there some people do just not my opinion I think it in facts is a climax of a point he's been driving toward God has the right to do what he wants Israel including hardening some of Israel and bringing the gospel to the Gentiles as well as the Jews that's the point so this is also this passage is about salvation earlier I'd said things weren't Jacob and Esau that wasn't about salvation that was about promises to Israel and all that this is about salvation I'm read the text right the vessels of Wrath prepared for destruction this is the salvation issue isn't it so let's look at it there's two different groups but unless we get confused the two different groups are not those whom God has mercy on and those whom God hardens yes God can have mercy on whom he wants and he can harden who he wants but these are not the two groups in this passage that's not supported by the text these are two different groups yes one of them he has mercy on that's in verse 22 the vessel excuse me verse 23 that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of Mercy so he has mercy on those but does verse 22 describes someone God hardens actively wanting to show his wrath and make his power known endured with much long-suffering the vessels of Wrath prepared for destruction now know and if you think that that means God hardened them you read the passage wrong the words themselves don't mean that now I want to explain the difference between an active verb and a passive verb an active verb is right I'm doing it I ran a mile that's an active verb and that this is the kind of thing we have in verse 23 God's actively in the work working in the lives of the saved that you might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of Mercy which he prepared God's doing the action he prepared beforehand for glory but who's doing the action in verse 22 it just says the vessels of Wrath prepared for destruction it's a passive action God is not doing this they're prepared by what by just the circumstances by all manner of different things but it's not said that God is doing it God specifically it's a it's not equal he works in the lives of the saved but the unsaved he allows that to happen that's what's being taught here so there's two different groups right the unsaved and what does God do he endures them with much long-suffering so God is he's enduring them with long-suffering that's his treatment of the unsaved I'm enduring you I'm suffering along with you that's not hardening not that guy couldn't harden some of them but that's not what the passage teaches and then there's the saved in verse 23 and God's action is he's preparing them he's the one preparing them beforehand for glory now if you see those those verbs I think it changes your understanding of the whole passage and you also recognize that it's not a description of hardening versus mercy its mercy vs. not mercy that's the that's the difference so he treats them this way for two different reasons the unsaved he's gonna show his wrath and power which is good this is good that God shows his wrath his wrath is glorious mine is gorgeous right mine's bad my breath is not good but God's wrath is glorious because it's righteous it's perfect and it and it restores righteousness and brings justice and all this so him showing his wrath it really is like a flash forward to the end of the book of Revelation where God judges and I do believe hell is a just and proper and right thing it is which is why Jesus had who died who saved us from justice one of these days I want to do a topical study on hell and the justness of Hell but that's not today so we'll come back to that some other time and then for the saved he wants to make known the riches of his glory on these vessels of Mercy the riches of his glory so it's pretty pretty strong differentiation between the safety and the unsaved now this seems to me in my mind to come against the doctrine of predestination the idea that God picks on for salvation and picks up for damnation because in the passage he's just enduring and the other ones he's preparing so he's actively in their lives he's not active in their life and that's why they end up being lost but then there's the point he drives to verse 24 even us whom he called not of the Jews only but also of the Gentiles and we'll get more on that as he continues his point to remind you Israel is at least partially hardened while the gospel is being opened up to the Gentiles and we'll get more into that later but now that I've given you that you probably have more questions than answers and so what I want to do for the rest of tonight is look at some other biblical passages related to hardening to round out our understanding of how God does this because as you read it you realize Romans 9 gives us very little information about hardening it brings up the topic very blatantly but it doesn't tell us a lot about it but the other passages of Scripture - so we're gonna look at those first off relating to judicial hardening we have Romans 1 which is in the same context as Romans 9 it's in the same book right relating to similar issues but if I started in verse 18 of Romans chapter 1 I'll read it to you it says the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men and it describes these men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness this is an action they're taking right because what may be known of God is manifest in them for God has shown it to them for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so they are without excuse so that's general revelation they know there's a God because although they knew God they did not glorify Him as God nor we're thankful but and look at this progression now as they've rejected the truth of God they became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened professing to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things and here's judicial hardening along these lines it says verse 24 therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness notice the therefore because of their rejection of God God gave them up to uncleanness judicial hardening in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves who exchanged the truth of God for a lie this was their choice they exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever amen for this reason for this reason because they chose idols over God God gave them up to vile passions so then they sin is is taking over their becoming slaves of sin that's also judicial pardoning it then goes on to describe its particularly homosexual behaviors and other things like that verse 28 another judicial hardening passage and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a debased mind they did not like to retain God I don't want to retain you God so I mean okay guys I will give you over then this is judicial hardening this is the same as what I see with Pharaoh isn't it he judicially hardened Pharaoh in a very similar fashion this is very consistent so that's an example of hardening both parties are in play just like with Pharaoh man choosing rebellious things God giving them over to those things as a judgment another verse that really strongly supports this is 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 10 through 12 we're gonna read about here in times the Antichrist when he comes and God describes it this way and once you once the topic hardening comes up you see how much it's actually in the scriptures it's in there a lot it says and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved so there's deception and what why because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved so they reject the gospel verse 11 and for this reason God will send them a strong delusion there's a reason for the hardening mercy comes grace comes freely you don't deserve it hardening oh you earn it that's the message for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness they rejected the truth they're given over to the lie now I'm going to bring it to Jesus because Jesus actually talked about hardening as well and once I share this with you you will realize how much Jesus actually does this this is really interesting right turn to mark chapter 4 what was Jesus's common public way of teaching things he would teach them in parables parables and you know the passage you probably a lot of you already thinking of it you're like Jesus taught in parables well in mark 4 verses 11 and 12 he tells them why he teaches in parables publicly and privately he explains things in more detail mark 4 11 it says and he said to them to you the disciples it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God but to those who are outside all things come in parables so that so that seeing they may not see or they may see and not perceive and hearing they may hear and not understand lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven them I see no way to interpret this other than to say Jesus you taught in parables so that the masses who were hearing you would not understand and would not accept the gospel that's what it says now there's more to the story but I want to understand the text this is the teaching of Scripture lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven them Pharaoh was not necessarily hardened against salvation he was hardened against letting the people of Israel go all that these people there is a blindness that's coming upon them to keep them from perceiving the gospel lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven them now before I move on I want to mention something because because those are you're worried that this it gets better don't worry but um there's more to the story but this I think presents a real challenge if you're a Calvinist to the doctrine of total depravity total depravity or the inability to say yes to the gospel it you're born with it you you live your life with it you cannot say yes to the gospel of Jesus so then the question is if you can't say yes then why would Jesus be doing things to keep them from saying yes if you can't say yes and then the other doctrine about regeneration is that you can't say no once God regenerates you so that you don't really make a choice when it comes to the gospel not not in the sense that most of us would think of choice I think that this presents a challenge to the doctrine of total depravity that I don't know how to overcome this week I've tried asking a lot of Calvinists people like who are guys I respect who are informed Calvinists and none of them were able to give me a good answer except one said well none of them answered they just stated weren't sure which is not I'm not trying to blame them but I think it's an unanswerable question possibly I'm still open to hear an answer but I haven't heard it because I try to find the best answers for my to come against me before I present stuff you know but once said well you know the God never hardens people in regards to the gospel he simply never stops them because they're already hard against it he hardens them in other ways and I go well that would be consistent Calvinist view however Jesus seems to debunk that doesn't he in mark so I want to say five things about this I forgot my thumb five things about this one this is an overlooked reality Jesus he taught in parables all the time in fact he did this it seems sometimes to confuse people certain people he wanted them to be confused about these issues at least temporarily he wanted them to be confused then you get to like John six and you're like Jesus you're like antagonizing certain people I mean he is he's like antagonizing it's like he's riling them up and it's like you could have explained that better but chose not to in order to invoke the response you got so this is the if I ask now I know how they respond and God's ultimately has the authority to do this now that's the first thing so this is an overlooked reality a lot of Scripture kind of comes more clear and New Testament especially the Gospels when you realize this is going on it's a hardening of Israel second let me say this just like Pharaoh just like Pharaoh the people that are hearing these parables are not without prior issues it's not an arbitrary thing because Jesus says in John 5 right before John 6 where he antagonizes in John 5 verses 46 and 47 listen to what he says to the same crowds if you believed Moses you would believe me for he wrote about me but if you do not believe his writings how will you believe my words so there's not just this kind of like blank slate and Jesus comes and just messes with people rather there's a hardened heart already there's a unbelief already existent in them and he's simply allowing them to maintain that that's consistent with what he did with Pharoah as well that's the second thing the third thing is this this hardening that that came through Jesus's parables is temporary it was temporary it was not hardening unto damnation yes it was hardening to keep them from turning to the gospel at that moment but how many of these same Jewish men and women were there at Pentecost when over 3,000 people got saved another preachment when over 5,000 people get saved well how many of these same people are getting saved this is not a permanent lifelong hardening and that's not how hardening works in Scripture it's not as though God hardens and it's game over otherwise why did he have to harden Pharaoh so many times you don't have to keep hardening something if it's not necessary this is one hardening it's game over that's not seeming to be the teaching of Scripture so it's temporary number four I did it right this time but there's there's two different purposes that he seems to have for this this is this temporary hardening for Israel one is it gets Jesus crucified which is according to the plan of God for the salvation of mankind a worthy cause it is the rejection of Israel that gets Jesus crucified then after he's crucified many of those same people receive Christ so it's about a timing issue God is God is sovereign he's working in the lives of humankind to accomplish his will to the second end is that it brings the gospel to the Gentiles so more people get saved as a result the rejection of the gospel through through the minority which is Israel brings it to the majority which are the Gentiles so God is that God God is at work and five number five Jesus is doing this kind of blindness without heart surgery he does it with teaching he does it with bringing certain teachings in certain words into the into the minds of the people that they accept or reject based on their previous condition so this is like a previous condition triggered by confrontation with certain messages that then results in a hardening that was temporary first mini and some it was permanent because they continue to reject the gospel so that's like that if I ask now he'll get mad kind of think I think so this is why you see the disciples dealing with this when I go Jesus these are some hard sayings Negus well you want to leave me and he goes where else are we gonna go Lord you will own have the words of eternal life and so their their hearts were not that way so there's five truths about that that way Jesus does things I don't know about you but I get excited about this stuff I think this stuff is neat I mean just like just letting the sword of the Spirit like just just cypher and bring these things bring clarity in these things I want to look at one more passage of Scripture I'm just gonna summarize it for you because of time but it's Jeremiah 18 and 19 it'd take too long to teach through two chapters of Jeremiah have you read Jeremiah it's kind of it's a big book long chapters Jeremiah eighteen to nineteen and it speaks of the Potter in the clay and it's the other passage in scripture which gets into much more detail about the Potter and the clay and God here being the Potter and Israel being the clay so but the analogy here the analogy in Jeremiah does not fit the the Calvinist understanding which which that's understanding I think is I think is incorrect on Romans nine let me give you some reasons first thing happens in Jeremiah eighteen and nineteen right the first thing is there's the clay and it's marred in the Potters hand or it didn't work for the purpose of the Potter which which actually makes sense there's certain clays that use for certain things and the softer clays and stiffer clays and things like that and the clay doesn't work so the Potter he makes a different vessel out of it the potters trying to make one vessel out of it the Clay's not working so it smart and he makes a different vessel out of it that that's the implication I understand second right he makes a new shape and that shape will work and the point I think in Jeremiah is God saying Israel if you're not going to do what I want I'm still gonna find a use for you even in your rebellion that seems to be the message of Jeremiah 18 and 19 then the third thing we learned the application to Israel this story about the Potter he then tells Jeremiah tell him this story and then tell them the point is repent because I will make you into a lesser vessel a vessel that's gonna be not happy you know you could be like this the vase for the flowers on Valentine's Day or you could be the spittoon there's different kinds of vessels out there but I'm gonna find a use for you and so such is true for all of us so God if they would repent would fashion them into something better so whose will does he leave this leave this on upon there's that's the passage in Jeremiah and then forth they don't repent they mock Jeremiah they reject this message and so God brings disaster upon them and then he tells us why in jeremiah 19 verse 15 thus says the lord of hosts the God of Israel behold I will bring on this city and on all her towns all the doom that I've pronounced against it because they have stiffened their necks a euphemism that means basically the same thing as a hardened heart they stiffen I will not turn my neck is stiff I won't change my direction Lord I'll continue in my rebellion a loose neck is I'm gonna go the way you want me to go turn in I will turn so they stiffen their next that they might not hear my words so the passage injure my 1819 a parallel concept of the Potter and the clay it supports divine acts and sovereignty and the free will of man so does Romans 9 so does the story about Pharaoh so do the parables about Jesus it all consistently supports yes a divine hardening but a justified judicial hardening that's not necessarily permanent and so okay so here we go here we go this is the end of the study I'm gonna give you 9 conclusions I have about biblical hardening about how God hardens us 9 conclusions there's probably more we could give but he right here they are number one that hardening does not change your mind it prevents you from changing your mind hardening doesn't make you do things you would you don't want to do rather you're stuck in the thing that you want to do you're stuck as you are that that's in the very verbs of hardening and the concept of stiff necks and things like this you continue in the direction you were already going that's the nature of hardening so it's not like gods like you're like I really want to get saved and guys like know that and you're like I don't want to get say like this is not the salvation you're looking for like like that's not that's not what we're getting at so that's in the verbs themselves we talked about that in all the passages we went through number two that God may harden through specific act rather than heart surgery he could he could actually do something to the heart or the you know what the heart represents here or he could ardent hardened through acts like Jesus being antagonistic and causing you to be confronted with how humble you'll really be in his presence and and sometimes people go through hard situations or they're hurt by the church or something like that and it draws out a hard bitter heart and God uses those means or those situations to bring out of heart in the negative though he can and has a right to mess with hearts if he wants to and he doesn't even have to do it judicially but that's how God does it because he's just number three that hardening isn't necessarily about salvation it may include salvation it might be that someone's hardened to the gospel but it can also include a general attitude of rebellion to God it can it can include just the the fact that Pharaoh's like I'm gonna continue to say no to releasing the Israelites out of Egypt that wasn't salvation that was if that was just saying no to a command of God so it could it could relate to various things it's a it's a it's more complicated than sometimes we want to simplify it number four that hard hardening I love this is not necessarily complete or permanent complete hardening would be I'm hardened in every way against God I will always say no and I'm stuck that way forever that would be permanent it's not necessarily either of those things otherwise why is Pharaoh hardened multiple times otherwise it was just a complete like a switch god flips and then you're permanently resistant to everything he says and does then that wouldn't be there it wouldn't be multiple times and Pharaoh in case you didn't notice he ended up letting them go so he did end up letting them go in the end um also we have the thousands of Pentecost who end up being saved and and we have in Romans 11 23 where it says about these hardened Israelites which is I'm not speaking of every Jew even today we're talking about you an unbelief will be grafted in for God is able to graft them in again it's not necessarily permanent praise God that's good news I like that that's really sweet so it's not simply an issue of predestination we're talking about how God's working in our lives dynamically throughout our lives softer softer harder software harder these things are happening and hardening is used a lot this is number five harding's actually used a lot when you look at the parables of Jesus you look at the story of Pharaoh you look at the future prophecy about the end times and the Antichrist it's like this issue of hardening blindness upon Israel that this is this is I used a lot number six those who are hardened deserved it they deserve it it's not it's it's not equivalent of mercy you know salvations by grace hardening oh you earn that the judgment is earned and so that's the case here they resist the revelation of God like Romans chapter 1 says they disbelieve special revelation you didn't believe Moses so you don't believe me that's John chapter 5 the second Thessalonians passage they all speak of a previous position of the heart rejecting God and then a result of hardening they even hardened themselves many times in the passages like Jeremiah number seven though mercy is said to not be of works hardening is never said to be unrelated to a person's works and that's a mistake I think people make in the passage specifically Mercy's not at works he really Labor's at that point Paul doesn't Romans hardening is never said to be not of works in fact the I think it's implied the opposite is true number eight number eight this is for my Calvinist friends I just want you to consider this at least understand the non Calvinist position or at least my position on this and hopefully it's not a bitter issue at all but just something I think the scripture teaches and it's worth holding scripture up over our traditions to consider it's not a choice between mercy and hardening in Scripture God hardened specific people for specific purposes and for specific reasons but it's not as though hardened means chosen for damnation that's not the text it's not a choice between mercy and hardening Paul just establishes that God can harden that's his point in Romans nine and he has hardened a large part of Israel during a season for a purpose but they could still be grafted back in and we'll get back there into chapters 10 and 11 you'll see how glorious God's plan is for a future of Israel how much he loves them and and how much the offer of salvation for them is is still there and and eagerly there for them and then number nine is the last point for today and then we'll do a Q&A if you guys have questions you I hate to say this you can become hardened you can harden yourself you can rebel against God and receive a judicial hardening in your own heart in your own life and this can happen to believers I believe as well since hardening is not always a Salvation issue it can happen to any of us I think as we conclude we should really be thinking is my heart soft right now to the Lord are all my defenses down before God are all my excuses nowhere to be found before the presence of Almighty God am I the clay who's like I want to you know push away all things Lord that would keep me from yielding to your molding and your shaping because it's it's fine and dandy to talk about God hardening hypothetical people or random people or ancient individuals but I got to deal with this guy I could harden my own heart man I remember talking with the guy who is in our program here at the church the domestic violence program and he he had been drinking himself into his grave and he had was it liver disease cirrhosis of the liver and he got he got a pardon from the government because he was dying they said you don't need to finish your classes you can just go home and die he was gonna die he wasn't the candidate for transplant or anything like that and so he met with me he actually scheduled a meeting he's like Mike can I just meet with you I just want to say goodbye I want to talk to you before I go home to die and and I met with him and his skin was all discolored his eyes were yellow and he was not doing very good and I preached the gospel to him one last time and I said look you literally have nothing to lose just turn your heart to Christ repent and truly put your faith in Him and he tells me that he believes it's true but he can't do it because after all the years of rejecting God and rejecting God and rejecting God he just felt like he was in a place where he just couldn't do it I still think there's hope for someone who says stuff like that I think it's garbage and they should they should turn but you know what I think he was doing he was hardening his own heart and that's not the only person I've seen close to a deathbed who takes a Bible that's been handed to them and sets it down as far away as possible and puts magazines on top of it because they're hardening their hearts do not harden your heart not to your spouse not to your family not to your brother your sister your daughter your friend and certainly not to God if you would say God my heart is becoming hard will you soften me please fully believe God will answer that prayer fully believe he will he has in my own life when I felt my heart getting stupid please I want to want to want to serve you Lord and yeah it starts there with that humility all right let's pray and then we'll take questions father God we are so grateful for your love your heart towards us which is so soft but Lord we don't for a second kid ourselves and act like you are just a cosmic vending machine dispensing little heart-shaped candies all day long like that you are a God of justice you are a God who will bring right an appropriate wrath upon the rebellion of mankind if we harden our hearts to you Lord we know that even if you have hardened to heart there's still opportunity for a person to be to be saved even beyond that and we're grateful for that so we just pray for us first for ourselves we want to have soft hearts God help us deaf soft hearts soft hearts turns you soft hearts towards others we want thick-skinned larvae when our hearts to be soft father God we pray for our family and friends and we just lift them up even images and my names that are coming to our mind right now Lord a family who we would say man that person's heart is hard we lift them up to you Lord you know their name we pray reach them God like you did Paul the Apostle reach tumblr please preach that God we pray for their salvation in Jesus name Amen you so I think that in Romans nine God strategically avoids the word create and uses words like I raised you up not I created you for this I raised you up you're the one I raised up because I was gonna accomplish a task of your rebellion in your rebellion against me and then in Romans nine to the Potter and the clay it just says that he endured with much long-suffering the vessels of Wrath prepared for destruction not created for destruction you see their rebellion against God and what is God doing well while they rebel he's enduring he's suffering along with them and they're prepared for destruction and what's he gonna use them for well if you won't be submitted to the Potter in his in for a glorious purpose then he will use you for a not glorious purpose for his wrath and to make his power known so I think he avoids the word created on purpose in order so that we don't get confused and think he's simply creating people for damnation because it's that's and that would seem to contradict some other passages that talk about how he wants people to be saved and he's reaching out to them and they're all all day long I have reached out my hand to a disobedient and gainsaying people you know that it was otherwise he'd be like of course you're disobedient getting saying I want you to be and I made you for that rather it's it's not it's not without human will being involved there yeah yeah and I and I don't discount him actually I mean he hardened Pharaoh's heart like he took an action of stiffening Pharaoh in the things Pharaoh was already doing its judicial it's justified it's all that but he's actually active in that as well so he's not just watching like he like he kind of like set things in motion in a way to get it done but he's also actively doing things it's both of those facts it seems to in all the examples we have right seems as though it begins with all because I would be careful to say God caused the right to do whatever he wants to do like if he wants to make a world of puppets he has the right to do that but I don't think but I think that the examples do show the way God does it is yeah like Judas I know who you were when I got you you you were stealing and all this stuff and all these things so God's gonna use even the wicked to bring his ends to be I guess you know I and I didn't well let me say a couple of things first up when it comes to blast me the whole blasphemy against the Holy Spirit I don't fully understand the concept I'm just gonna be very honest I really want to continue to study that more look at it more I've heard a lot of stuff about it I've spent time on it but just my own weakness of my own mind or whatever I don't fully understand it so I'm I'm almost afraid to just explain it away but definitely there is this like you will never be forgiven that's the idea behind it for sure so is that connected to a hard heart it would make sense but I don't know how to connect it there in the passage in a sense so I'm just not really sure what to do with it to be honest but I do think I should have mentioned though hardness of heart can be temporary it can also be perm like you can be hardened and never change and and maybe there's there probably is a place yeah we're you're know I think it's biblically justifiable to say there's a place where you're hardened to that point of no return and yeah so I I should have mentioned that actually during the study but I didn't didn't think - yes can you pray for someone's heart to be softened absolutely and after all this and talking about Israel's hard heart that's exactly what Paul does and we'll get there in Romans 10 it's exactly what he does brethren my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved and so this is where when you take when you take Roman design out of the rest of Romans you start to think that there's this like God just pick some for salvation set for demin but when you plod through it carefully thoughtfully bring it into the rest of the context of Romans you realize something and that was the whole idea of hardening isn't necessarily permanent and it's not necessarily even unto damnation it might just be it might be self hardening it might be situational hardening it might be God hardening for a purpose but we should never lose hope or stop praying and we have so many examples of people whose hearts were hard and who got saved in Scripture and in this room I mean God is a God of grace and mercy and compassion he's quick to forgive and slow to wrath so yeah absolutely so scripture indicates I mean think about a read that read the Bible and think about this is God really interacting with our prayers and doing things based on our prayers in the lives of others absolutely he is absolutely yes and don't I love I think it's Luke 12 it Jesus tells him a parable and my favorite part of the parable is the introduction he says then Jesus told them a parable that they should always pray and not lose heart and I'm like that's all I need right there is just that reminder to always pray not lose heart [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Mike Winger

Views: 116,581

Rating: 4.877099 out of 5

Keywords: God hardened pharaoh, does God harden people, why did God harden pharaoh’s heart, doctrine of hardening, Calvinism, the potter’s freedom, double election refuted, total depravity refute, Romans 9, Mike Winger, BibleThinker, Bible Thinker, does God predestine people to hell, the potter and the clay, divine hardening, does man have free will?, arminian, non-calvinist view, Romans 9:17-24, Romans, total depravity, total depravity refuted

Id: mMuiT_R0zFQ

Length: 60min 29sec (3629 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 04 2017