September 4, 2023
Passage Read: Romans 8-9
Meditation Verse: 9:18
Thought
"God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden." This is why Jesus and Paul wouldn't spend a lot of time trying to convince people who didn't believe in Jesus in short order. Jesus taught His disciples to move on from any person or place that rejected their message. We can hope that they might believe at a later date, but if God doesn't plan to have mercy on them, then they cannot be saved, even if we wear them down and they confess Christ at some point. Jesus and Paul's example were much more cut and dried. If a person or people heard the gospel and didn't believe, move on, not only without hesitation, but with a warning that they were rejecting their only hope of salvation.
Application
There is no fighting against God. There is no changing what He has decreed. Those who were chosen from before the beginning of the world will be saved; no one else will. If a people or person is willing to keep hearing and learning about Jesus, great. But if they refuse to listen, I don't need to spend any more time trying to persuade them. Let them be, with a warning that there is no other hope of salvation.