Section 2
contrary, does not depend upon what we are; it depends entirely upon God and His desire.
In Romans 9 Paul used the case of Jacob and Esau as an illustration of God's selection. Before they were born, God had told Rebecca, "The greater shall serve the less" (Rom. 9:12). God's choice was made before the children were born, before they had done anything good or bad. This was so that the "purpose of God according to selection might remain, not of works, but of Him who calls" (Rom. 9:11). Nevertheless, when he was in the womb, Jacob was struggling to be born first. It was of God's mercy that Jacob was not successful. If he had succeeded, he would not have received God's selection.
In a very real sense, we all are Jacobs strug gling to be first. From our very birth, we have had the concept that we must struggle in order to gain something for ourselves. Even though we may fail again and again, we keep on striving. We are just like Jacob, the supplanter, whom God pre destined to be second but who still struggled to be first. Praise God for the restraining hand of His mercy that has kept us from succeeding in our endeavors! He restrains us because He had already selected us long before we were born.