Q165_102226 Rom. 11:11 Have They Stumbled That They Should Fall? Certainly Not!Q165_102226 Rom. 11:11 Have They Stumbled That They Should Fall? Certainly Not!
How it Happens with Colin Cook
Colin Cook reflects on Romans 9–11 to challenge common ideas about election, hardening and salvation. The message ties these themes to addiction and spiritual bondage, offering a perspective that sees feeling trapped as a doorway to mercy and grace.
14:31•22 Oct 2026
Grace, Hardening and Hope: Colin Cook on Election and Addiction
Episode Overview
- Election is presented as God’s mercy, not a selective plan to save a few and lose most.
- Hardening of the heart is described as part of a saving process that can break a person open to grace.
- Israel’s rejection of the Messiah is said to send salvation to the Gentiles, which then returns to Israel in a "boomerang" effect.
- Addiction is framed as spiritual imprisonment that reveals human helplessness and the need to call on Jesus for mercy.
- Feeling trapped is portrayed as a starting point for seeking forgiveness, freedom from guilt, and reconciliation with the Father.
“If you are trapped in something, you are at the very right place where God wants you to be, so that he can lead you to call upon him for mercy.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This episode of *How it Happens with Colin Cook* turns to the Gospel to answer that, taking a close look at addiction through the lens of Romans chapters 9–11.
Colin talks about how the biblical idea of "election" has been badly misunderstood, stressing that, "Election is about mercy." He pushes back against the idea that God chooses a few to be saved and most to be lost, instead describing election as God’s merciful action towards people who are ready to receive it. That message is especially aimed at those who feel trapped in addiction to alcohol, drugs, food, sex, or even obsessive worry.
A big part of the conversation centres on "hardening" and why it isn’t the same as being written off. Colin points to Pharaoh and to those who watched Jesus heal the man with the withered hand, explaining that some people are hardened precisely because they resist kindness: "When people resist mercy, they are hardened." Yet he argues this hardness is part of a process that can break a person open and push them towards grace.
For anyone feeling stuck, Colin offers a stark but compassionate picture: God allows people to feel imprisoned by their sins so they realise they can’t free themselves.
As he puts it, "Our tendency to turn away from God and suppress him becomes a bondage, an imprisonment, and we are trapped." Instead of seeing this as condemnation, he urges people to come to Jesus as they are and even thank God for the awareness of being trapped, because it reveals where real freedom lies. You’ll hear repeated reassurance that being trapped doesn’t mean being abandoned.
"If you are trapped in something, you are at the very right place where God wants you to be, so that he can lead you to call upon him for mercy." For anyone wrestling with shame, guilt, or fear in recovery, this episode offers a fresh way to see hardship as a doorway to mercy and a call to seek grace rather than give up.
How might your view of addiction change if you saw hard times as a route towards healing instead of a dead end?
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