Religion & Spirituality
In this passage we see that the basis for God's acceptance of people is His mercy- not anything we do, good or bad. Salvation is dependent upon God's sovereign choice to show mercy. In the same manner, God also chooses to harden some individuals and lock them into their rebellion, for His redemptive purposes. This brings up the question of whether God has unalterably fixed the eternal destiny of every individual. This question is addressed by taking the context of chapters 9-11 into account, and arriving at a tentative theological conclusion which may not fit within the dominant theological systems.