Romans 9:16-13:14 So one's destiny does not depend on his own willing or strenuous actions but on God's having mercy on him.

Williams⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹⁶ So one's destiny does not depend on his own willing or strenuous actions but on God's having mercy on him. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "I have raised you to your position for this very purpose of displaying my power in dealing with you, of announcing my name all over the earth." ¹⁸ So He has mercy on any man that He chooses to, and He hardens any man that He chooses to harden. ¹⁹ So you will ask me, "Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?" ²⁰ On the contrary, friend, who are you anyway that you would answer back to God? Can the clay that is molded ask the man who molds it, "Why did you make me like this?" ²¹ Has not the potter the right with his clay to make of the same lump one vessel for ornamental purposes, another for degrading service? ²² And what if God, though wishing to display His anger and make known His power, yet, has most patiently borne with the objects of His anger, already ripe for destruction, ²³ so as to make known the riches of His glory for the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in ages past to share His glory -- ²⁴ even us whom He has called, not only from among the Jews but from among the heathen too? ²⁵ Just as He says in Hosea: "I will call a people that was not mine, my people, and her who was not beloved, my beloved, ²⁶ And in the place where it was said, 'You are no people of mine,' they shall be called sons of the living God." ²⁷ And Isaiah cries out about Israel, "Although the sons of Israel are as numberless as the sands of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will completely and quickly execute His sentence on the earth." ²⁹ As Isaiah again has foretold, "Unless the Lord of hosts had left us some descendants, we would have fared as Sodom did and would have been like Gomorrah." ³⁰ What are we then to conclude? That heathen peoples who were not in search for right standing with God have obtained it, and that a right standing conditioned on faith; ³¹ while Israel, though ever in pursuit of a law that would bring right standing, did not attain to it. ³² Why? Because they did not try through faith but through what they could do. They have stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble, ³³ as the Scripture says: "See, I put on Zion a stone for causing people to stumble, a rock to trip them on, but no one who puts his faith in it will ever be put to shame." ¹⁰ ¹ Brothers, my heart's good will goes out for them, and my prayer to God is that they may be saved. ² For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but they are not intelligently so. ³ For they were ignorant of God's way of right standing and were trying to set up one of their own, and so would not surrender to God's way of right standing. ⁴ For Christ has put an end to law as a way to right standing for everyone who puts his trust in Him. ⁵ For Moses says of the law-way to right standing with God that whoever can perform the law will live by it. ⁶ But here is what the faith-way to right standing says, "Do not say to yourself, 'Who will go up to heaven?'" that is, to bring Christ down; ⁷ or "'Who will go down into the depths?'" that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. ⁸ But what does it say? "God's message is close to you, on your very lips and in your heart"; that is, the message about faith which we preach. ⁹ For if with your lips you acknowledge the fact that Jesus is Lord, and in your hearts you believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For in their hearts people exercise the faith that leads to right standing, and with their lips they make the acknowledgment which means salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, "No one who puts his faith in Him will ever be put to shame." ¹² But there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is over them all, because He is infinitely kind to all who call upon Him. ¹³ For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. ¹⁴ But how can people call upon One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in One about whom they have not heard? And how can people hear without someone to preach to them? ¹⁵ And how can men preach unless they are sent to do so? As the Scripture says, "How beautiful are the feet of men who bring the glad news of His good things!" ¹⁶ However, they have not all given heed to the good news, for Isaiah says, "Lord, who has put faith in what we told?" ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing what is told, and hearing through the message about Christ. ¹⁸ But may I ask, They had no chance to hear, did they? Yes, indeed: "All over the earth their voices have gone, to the ends of the world their words." ¹⁹ But again I ask, Israel did not understand, did they? For in the first place Moses says: "I will make you jealous of a nation that is no nation; I will provoke you to anger at a senseless nation." ²⁰ Then Isaiah was bold enough to say: "I have been found by a people who were not searching for me; I have made known myself to people who were not asking to know me." ²¹ But of Israel he said: "All day long I have held out my hands to a people that is disobedient and obstinate." ¹¹ ¹ I say then, God has not disowned His people, has He? Of course not! Why, I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ² No, God has not disowned His people, on whom He set His heart beforehand. Do you know what the Scripture says in Elijah's case, how he pleaded with God against Israel? ³ "Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone have been left, and they are trying to kill me." ⁴ But how did God reply to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have never bent their knees to Baal." ⁵ So it is at the present time; a remnant remains, in accordance with God's unmerited favor. ⁶ But if it is by His unmerited favor, it is not at all conditioned on what they have done. If that were so, His favor would not be favor at all. ⁷ What are we then to conclude? Israel has failed to obtain what it is still in search for, but His chosen ones have obtained it. The rest have become insensible to it, ⁸ as the Scripture Says, "God has given them over to an attitude of insensibility, so that their eyes cannot see and their ears cannot hear, down to this very day." ⁹ And David said: "Let their food become a snare and a trap to them, their pitfall and retribution; ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, so they cannot see, and forever bend their backs beneath the load." ¹¹ I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall in utter ruin, did they? Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to heathen peoples, to make the Israelites jealous. ¹² But if their stumbling has resulted in the enrichment of the world, and their overthrow becomes the enrichment of heathen peoples, how much richer the result will be when the full quota of Jews comes in! ¹³ Yes, I now am speaking to you who are a part of the heathen peoples. As I am an apostle to the heathen peoples, I am making the most of my ministry to them, to see ¹⁴ if I can make my fellow-countrymen jealous, and so save some of them. ¹⁵ For if the rejection of them has resulted in the reconciling of the world, what will the result be of the final reception of them but life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the first handful of dough is consecrated, so is the whole mass; if the tree's root is consecrated, so are the branches. ¹⁷ If some of the branches have been broken off, and yet you, although you were wild olive suckers, have been grafted in among the native branches, and been made to share the rich sap of the native olive's root, ¹⁸ you must not be boasting against the natural branches. And if you do, just consider, you do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹ Then you will say, "Branches have been broken off for us to be grafted in." ²⁰ Very well, but it was for lack of faith that they were broken off, and it is through your faith that you now stand where you are. Stop your haughty thinking, rather continue to be reverent, ²¹ for if God did not spare the natural branches, certainly He will not spare you. ²² So take a look at the goodness and the severity of God; severity to those who have fallen, but goodness to you, on condition that you continue to live by His goodness; otherwise, you too will be pruned away. ²³ And they too, if they do not continue to live by their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is amply able to graft them in. ²⁴ For if you were cut off from an olive wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted on to a fine olive stock, how much easier will it be for the natural branches to be grafted on to their own olive stock? ²⁵ For to keep you from being self-conceited, brothers, I do not want to have a misunderstanding of this uncovered secret, that only temporary insensibility has come upon Israel until the full quota of the heathen peoples comes in, ²⁶ and so in that way all Israel will be saved, just as the Scripture says: "From Zion the Deliverer will come; He will remove ungodliness from Jacob; ²⁷ And this my covenant I make with them, when I shall take away their sins." ²⁸ As measured by the good news the Jews are God's enemies for your sakes, but as measured by God's choice they are His beloved because of their forefathers, ²⁹ for the gracious gifts and call of God are never taken back. ³⁰ For just as you once disobeyed God, but now have had mercy shown you because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too are now disobedient because of the mercy shown you, that they too may now have mercy shown them. ³² For God has locked up all mankind in the prison of disobedience so as to have mercy on them all. ³³ How fathomless the depths of God's resources, wisdom, and knowledge! How unsearchable His decisions, and how mysterious His methods! ³⁴ For who has ever understood the thoughts of the Lord, or has ever been His adviser? ³⁵ Or who has ever advanced God anything to have Him pay him back? ³⁶ For from Him everything comes, through Him everything lives, and for Him everything exists. Glory to Him forever! Amen. ¹² ¹ I beg you, therefore, brothers, through these mercies God has shown you, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies as a living sacrifice, devoted and well-pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. ² Stop living in accordance with the customs of this world, but by the new ideals that mold your minds continue to transform yourselves, so as to find and follow God's will; that is, what is good, well-pleasing to Him, and perfect. ³ Now through the unmerited favor God has shown me I would say to every one of you not to estimate himself above his real value, but to make a sober rating of himself, in accordance with the degree of faith which God has apportioned to him. ⁴ For just as we have many parts united in our physical bodies, and the parts do not all have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are united in one body through union with Christ, and we are individually parts of one another. ⁶ As we have gifts that differ in accordance with the favor God has shown us, if it is that of preaching, let it be done in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or of practical service, in the field of service; or of a teacher, in the field of teaching; ⁸ or of one who encourages others, in the field of encouragement; or one who gives his money, with liberality; or one who leads others, with earnestness; or one who does deeds of charity, with cheerfulness. ⁹ Your love must be true. You must always turn in horror from what is wrong, but keep on holding to what is right. ¹⁰ In brotherly love be affectionate to one another, in personal honors put one another to the fore, ¹¹ never slack in earnestness, always on fire with the Spirit, always serving the Lord, ¹² ever happy in hope, always patient in suffering, ever persistent in prayer, ¹³ always supplying the needs of God's people, ever practicing hospitality. ¹⁴ Keep on blessing your persecutors; keep on blessing and stop cursing them. ¹⁵ Practice rejoicing with people who rejoice, and weeping with people who weep. ¹⁶ Keep on thinking in harmony with one another. Stop being high-minded but keep on associating with lowly people. Stop being conceited. ¹⁷ Stop returning evil for evil to anyone. Always see to it that your affairs are right in the sight of everybody. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with everybody. ¹⁹ Stop taking revenge on one another, beloved, but leave a place for God's anger, for the Scripture says, "Vengeance belongs to me; I will pay them back, says the Lord." ²⁰ Do the opposite. If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for if you act in this way, you will heap burning coals upon his head! ²¹ Stop being conquered by evil, but keep on conquering evil with good. ¹³ ¹ Everybody must obey the civil authorities that are over him, for no authority exists except by God's permission; the existing authorities have been established by Him, ² so that anyone who resists the authorities sets himself against what God has established, and those who set themselves against Him will get the penalty due them. ³ For civil authorities are not a terror to the man who does right, but they are to the man who does wrong. Do you want to have no dread of the civil authorities? Then practice doing right and you will be commended for it. ⁴ For the civil authorities are God's servants to do you good. But if you practice doing wrong, you should dread them, for they do not wield the sword for nothing. Indeed, they are God's servants to inflict punishment upon people who do wrong. ⁵ Therefore, you must obey them, not only for the sake of escaping punishment, but also for conscience' sake; ⁶ for this is the reason why you pay your taxes, for the civil authorities are God's official servants faithfully devoting themselves to this very end. ⁷ Pay all of them what is due them -- tribute to the officer to receive it, taxes to the officer to receive them, respect to the man entitled to it, and honor to the man entitled to it. ⁸ Stop owing anybody anything, except the obligation to love one another, for whoever practices loving others has perfectly satisfied the law. ⁹ For the commandments, "You must not commit adultery; you must not murder; you must not steal; you must not have an evil desire," and any other commandment if there is any, are summed up in this command, "You must love your neighbor as you do yourself." ¹⁰ Love never does a wrong to one's neighbor; so love is the perfect satisfaction of the law. ¹¹ Do this in particular because you know the present crisis, that it is high time for you to wake up out of your sleep, for our salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. ¹² The night has almost passed; the day is at hand. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness, and put on the weapons of light. ¹³ Let us live becomingly for people who are in the light of day, not in carousing and drunkenness, nor in sexual immorality and licentiousness, nor in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴ Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and put a stop to gratifying the evil desires that lurk in your lower nature.