Based on Romans 9 (New King James Version)
“I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’ That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: ‘At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.’ And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, ‘The older shall serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.’ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.’ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the 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. 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? 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 to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering 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? As He says also in Hosea: ‘I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.’ ‘And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.’ Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.’ And as Isaiah said before: ‘Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.’ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’”
There are people that think that God is despotic or capricious, and that’s why they have a tough time believing. When reading this passage, it could give that idea. But, like all things in the Word of God, you need to go deeper. Not all the answers are on the surface. Many times, you need to investigate and study, and of course, with the help of the Holy Spirit. It’s not that God wants to make things difficult (because He said that we need to make ourselves like children so we can understand the kingdom of God), but rather, to see how much we want it. When you really want something, you fight to have it (because everything is revealed through that). The first thing that needs to be understood is that a Biblical principle cannot be solely based on a single passage, but rather, it must be seen in the context of the Bible (from Genesis to Revelation); not even in the context of the same chapter. That’s why it’s necessary to study the Word of God, from cover to cover, and many times. And of course, that requires devotion and effort. So then, divine knowledge is not for the unbelieving nor for the proud (and here is where we start getting into the explanation).
When a person believes something, they look for it, they follow it; they try to go as deep as possible to know what they need to know, or to get to where they feel they need to get to. This explains the issue with unbelief. When a person does not believe something, there is no interest, no attraction. Therefore, there is no incentive. There must be faith. The Bible teaches this: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. Also, there is a problem when someone is proud, when they feel they know enough, or that they don’t need anything because they feel self-sufficient. It’s through both of these elements that what is in a person’s heart begins to be revealed. To be able to learn anything in life, even something very basic, humbleness is necessary. How necessary is humbleness with God! For it is written: “Though the Lord is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.” Psalm 138:6.
Each human being has the capacity to be humble and have faith, because both depend on the decision of a person, which is related to reasoning (which is contained with the soul of a being). The issue is: with what do they decide to be humble with and on what do they decide to put their faith on? For example, the atheist decides to believe on themselves and in what they see (their faith), and does not care how things came to be, or why they are (pride). Taking things for granted is the highest level of pride that can ever exist, because in that type of feeling, there is no gratefulness. The Word of God teaches this: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 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 that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:18-21. Pharaoh fell because he did not care to know God (although Pharaohs before him did respect and believe). Pharaoh believed he was a god. And of course, God used the hardness of his heart to turn him into an example. A similar thing unfortunately happened with the Jews. Many did not want to believe in Christ. But in that instance, God used their unbelief so that we can come in: the pagans and undesirables of the world. We owe Israel a great deal! That’s why we should feel as Paul felt for them. If you can see the creation, if you have enough reasoning to understand the most basic things in life, and the Word of God is reaching you in some way, God is giving you a very good opportunity. But, if you throw such an opportunity away of believing and following Christ, don’t you think He will hold you responsible for what you already know? God is love, but God is God, and He will be held eternally worthy. Lord bless! John