Day 5

Scripture to Read: Romans 9:14–18

Today, we see how God led Paul to ask the ridiculous question if God is unrighteous because of His decisions. God has the right to do whatever He chooses and pleases Him (Exodus 33:19). We must remember that mercy means we DON’T get what we deserve. So, God has the right to show as much mercy or as little mercy as He chooses in each person's life. We should never think of God in human terms as if God could ever be unfair. Jesus spoke of God’s choice to do as He pleases in the parable in Matthew 20:1–16. In this parable, each person was paid what he was guaranteed, and the landowner had every right to pay what he wanted. It’s the same with God’s mercy. We should never think we, or anyone else, deserve God’s mercy. God is not obligated to give His mercy, for if He is compelled, then His mercy is no longer a gift but an obligation. When it comes to Pharaoh, God allowed him to be Pharaoh to carry out His purpose. God had told Abraham in Genesis 15:12–16 that the Israelites would be enslaved for four hundred years. God told Abraham of this about 275 years before the beginning of the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt. Remember, God is Omniscient (all-knowing), and He knew He would use Pharaoh for His purpose. God did not harden a kind-hearted Pharaoh. God let Pharaoh's hardened heart pursue its fleshly desires (Exodus 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, 9:7, & 9:34).

Challenge & Application

What did God teach you today about His mercy and His sovereign choices? How can you use what you’ve learned to help people understand God’s incredible mercy for them?

Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!

Devotionals from this week

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Day 1

As of yesterday, another new year has begun, and we have the privilege of returning to the book of Romans. In Romans 9, Romans 10, and Romans 11, we are going to see how God reveals to us how Israel has missed Jesus as their Messiah. We’ll also see how God saves His people. As we finished Romans 8:39, we saw this incredible Truth, that absolu...

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Day 2

As God allowed Paul to share his heart, we read more about what the Israelites had been given and who they were in Romans 9:4–5, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, 5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ accor...

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Day 3

At first glance of Romans 9:6, it’s as if people may have been thinking, “If the Israelites are God’s chosen people, then maybe God’s promise to Israel failed.” But God’s Word never fails (Isaiah 55:11, Psalms 33:11, Proverbs 19:21, Isaiah 40:8, Luke 16:17). God used Paul to show the believers in Rome and us today that being a descendant of A...

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Day 4

God continues to use Paul to show us how His promise was fulfilled through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God chooses to use whom He desires to use. Throughout the Old Testament, we read how God used people like you and me to accomplish His perfect purpose. In Romans 9:10–13, God uses Paul to point to the fact that God’s choices are never based o...

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Day 5

Today, we see how God led Paul to ask the ridiculous question if God is unrighteous because of His decisions. God has the right to do whatever He chooses and pleases Him (Exodus 33:19). We must remember that mercy means we DON’T get what we deserve. So, God has the right to show as much mercy or as little mercy as He chooses in each person's ...

Read

Day 6

In Romans 9:19–24, we read more questions about God and His right to choose as He pleases. In Romans 9:19, God had Paul lay out the question as if someone asked, “Why would God find any fault in anyone, for who can resist His perfect will?” Then, God had Paul answer in Romans 9:20–21, showing how disrespectful such a question is even to ask t...

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Day 7

God used Paul to quote Hosea 2:23 and Hosea 1:10 to show His incredible mercy. The Gentiles at one time were “not God’s people.” It was not that God did not love them, but He had chosen the nation of Israel to be “salt and light” to the lost world around them. Did Gentiles get saved in the Old Testament? Absolutely, God shows us in James 2:25...

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