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Romans Commentary Chapters 9-16  /  Romans 9:17-18 the Hardening of Pharaoh  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 5
Irenaeus is cited: God “foreknows all things” and has “given men of Pharaoh’s character over to unbelief,” leaving them in “the darkness they have chosen”; how does this portrayal of God’s “turning his face away” challenge common evangelical ways of talking about assurance, “God pursuing everyone the same,” or irresistible grace?
Another way to ask: Irenaeus says God knows everything and lets some people stay in the darkness they chose. How does that challenge ideas like “God pursues everyone the same,” assurance, or irresistible grace?

Direct Answer The transcript portrays God as responding differently to different people based on what He foreknows of their unbelief and chosen darkness, which challenges the idea that God pursues everyone in the same way or that grace is irresistible for all.

Support from Transcript:

  • Irenaeus: God “foreknows all things,” including “the number of those who will not believe.”
  • Because of this foreknowledge, God has “given men of Pharaoh’s character over to unbelief” and “turned his face away from them.”
  • The result is not arbitrary: God “leaves them in the darkness they have chosen for themselves.”
  • Irenaeus asks why this is “baffling,” since “those men would never have believed anyway.”
  • The later application to Jews keeps responsibility personal: God “had hardened” them because “they had hardened their own hearts,” yet “thousands… came to faith,” implying God’s dealings are not mechanically identical.
Discussion Follow-ups How might this affect how we speak about assurance—grounded in ongoing faith and response—without the transcript explicitly spelling out a full doctrine of assurance?

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