For God to do something according to his desire does not mean it is without conditions, it just means that the conditions, if any, are set by God.  For example, he could desire to grant mercy to whoever completes a checklist, or whoever has brown hair, or randomly… Each of these methods could be classified as God’s desire.  Scripture expresses that God desires to grant mercy to those who have faith in Jesus. So, to say God grants mercy to whom he desires does not contradict the point Paul has already made that God has promised to grant mercy to the children of promise, that is, those who have faith.

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