So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Parallel translations
- WEB So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy.
- BSB So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
- NKJV So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
- NASB So then, it does not depend on the person who wants it nor the one who runs, but on God who has mercy.
- NLT So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Salvation depends not on human willing or striving but on God who shows mercy. The decisive factor in our standing before God is his grace, not our effort.
Overview
Paul draws the conclusion from v. 15: the outcome of election rests not on the one who wills or runs but on God who has mercy. Human desire and exertion cannot generate God's saving favor; it flows from his merciful initiative. This humbles all human pride and directs the believer's confidence entirely to God's grace, the same grace supremely displayed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Eph 2:8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
- Phil 2:13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
- Matt 11:25–26At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
- Eph 2:4–5But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
- 1 Pet 2:9–10But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
- Titus 3:3–5For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
- Rom 9:11(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
- 1 Cor 1:26–31For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
- Luke 10:21In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
- Jas 1:18Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
- Isa 65:1I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
- 2 Th 2:13–14But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
- John 1:12–13But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
- John 3:8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
- Ps 110:3Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
- Gen 27:1–4And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.
- Gen 27:9–14Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 9:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.
How traditions read this
Is God's choice unconditional, or grounded in foreseen faith?
God's grace is prevenient and necessary, yet human freedom genuinely cooperates; God predestines to glory while rejecting both Pelagianism and double predestination.
Key points · Grace precedes and enables the will; free cooperation; the matter is held as mystery.
Augustine; Thomas Aquinas · Catechism §§600, 1037; Council of Trent, Session 6
Salvation is by grace alone and election is to salvation — but Lutherans refuse to teach election to damnation. The cause of salvation is grace; the cause of loss is human resistance.
Key points · Monergism in salvation; no double predestination; election preached for comfort, not speculation.
Formula of Concord, Art. XI
God elects according to foreknowledge — choosing those he foresees will believe. Romans 9 concerns God's freedom in history and the inclusion of the Gentiles.
Key points · Grace is resistible; "whoever believes" (Rom 10:13); election is corporate and "in Christ."
Jacobus Arminius; John Wesley · The Five Articles of the Remonstrance (1610)
Election is unconditional — "it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy." God sovereignly chooses whom to save, for his glory.
Key points · God's mercy is free and particular; the potter has rights over the clay (9:21); salvation is all of grace.
Augustine; John Calvin · Westminster Confession ch. 3; Canons of Dort
Each view is stated as that tradition would put it, with representative sources. Limitless Word presents them side by side and endorses none — see the methodology.