What is the context?
Paul anticipates the question raised by God’s choice: does this make God unjust? He answers emphatically that it does not. He turns to God’s words to Moses about mercy and compassion, then says that mercy does not depend on human desire or effort.
The second example is Pharaoh. God’s dealings with him display divine power and make God’s name known beyond Egypt. Paul concludes with God’s freedom to show mercy and to harden.
The Exodus account includes both God hardening Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh hardening his own heart (Exodus 9:12, 27–35). Pharaoh’s resistance and God’s action both belong to the account. The different readings below concern how those actions relate.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Reformed readers such as Calvin, commenting on verses 16–18, understand this as God determining whom He brings to saving faith. Calvin reads hardening as an act of divine judgment, beyond merely allowing resistance.
Wesley’s notes on verses 14–18 also deny that mercy is earned. He understands God as establishing the way mercy is received through faith, and hardening as leaving persistent unbelievers in their chosen resistance. The difference concerns God’s initiative and human response.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Paul’s two Exodus quotations concern God making Himself known. In Exodus 33:12–23, Moses seeks God’s presence and asks to see His glory; God answers by proclaiming His goodness, name and freedom to show mercy.
In Exodus 9:13–17, God says His power will be displayed and His name proclaimed throughout the earth. Paul places his discussion of mercy within that larger purpose of revealing who God is, beyond the immediate contest with Pharaoh.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.