Q164_1022126 Rom. 9:23 Tell Of The Richness Of God Towards You!Q164_1022126 Rom. 9:23 Tell Of The Richness Of God Towards You!
How it Happens with Colin Cook
Colin Cook reflects on Romans 9–11, arguing that God’s mercy and even hardening of hearts are part of a wider movement towards grace for all. He links this message to people trapped in addiction or resistance, offering hope that mercy can reach even those who feel far from God.
14:42•21 Oct 2026
Grace for the Hardened Heart: Colin Cook on Romans 9–11 and Hope for Addicts
Episode Overview
- Election is presented as God choosing people to announce that others are chosen as well, not to exclude them.
- God’s mercy towards some can expose and intensify the hardness in others until that hardness becomes intolerable.
- Stories of Pharaoh and the man with the withered hand illustrate how acts of mercy can trigger resistance that eventually breaks down.
- Romans 11 is used to argue that God’s hardening and mercy work together towards the goal that "he has mercy on all."
- Colin offers hope to those struggling with addiction or feeling spiritually hardened, insisting that "Yes, you, even you, can have it now."
“"God has imprisoned all under sin… and so he has mercy on all."”
How do people find hope in the darkest times? This episode of *How it Happens with Colin Cook* centres on Paul’s words in Romans 9–11 and what they might mean for anyone who feels stuck, hardened, or caught in addictive patterns. Colin lays out a striking view of God’s election: not a divine “chosen few”, but a calling with a mission.
God chooses some, he says, "to proclaim to the rest that they are elected too." You’ll hear how stories like Pharaoh’s hard heart and the healing of the man with the withered hand are used to show a surprising idea: God’s mercy towards some can expose resistance in others, pushing that resistance to the breaking point. Rather than painting God as picking winners and losers, Colin argues that hardening can itself be part of salvation.
He points to Romans 11:32: "God has imprisoned all under sin… and so he has mercy on all." The stress, denial and emotional strain of a hard heart eventually become unbearable, opening a person up to mercy. For anyone wrestling with alcohol, drugs, food, sex or obsessive worry, this frame offers a different kind of hope: even resistance and relapse might be part of a journey towards finally giving in to grace.
Colin also connects Israel’s disobedience and the Gentiles’ mercy in Romans 11, describing it as a kind of spiritual boomerang where mercy given to one group circles back to touch another. Throughout, he keeps bringing the message home: "Yes, you, even you, can have it now" – a direct appeal to those who feel they’ve held out against God for years.
He closes by sharing news about changes to the programme’s format and expressing gratitude to those who have supported it over 29 years, reaffirming his core theme that "God’s love and grace are beyond anything this world can offer." If you’ve ever wondered whether grace could reach you at your most resistant, this episode might be worth your time.
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