Romans 9:29

And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah.

If the question is one merely of right on the part of God, then the answer can be only that which St. Paul gave, vv. 19-21. But a different question entirely is that, whether God makes use of this absolute sovereignty and power with regard to the eternal fate of man, his salvation or condemnation. But if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has borne in much long-suffering the vessels of wrath destined to condemnation! Will the reasonable objections still be maintained? Although God, in carrying out the judgment of hardening and condemnation upon the sinners, thus wanted to exhibit His wrath and make known His power, yet He bore the vessels of this wrath previously with the greatest patience. Men had incurred God's wrath, they deserved the full measure of His indignation and anger. But the Lord was full of mercy and long-suffering; His patience had the purpose of leading the sinners to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9. Even though the sinners were altogether fitted for destruction, still God had patience with them; the measure of their transgression is full to overflowing, and yet God does not pour out upon them the vials of His wrath. He leaves no stone unturned in the effort to bring them to their senses. This is the other side of the essence of God, in which His love and mercy comes into consideration. This is the manner in which the patience of God is manifested, as many examples from history will demonstrate. And these facts take away all strength from the opponent's argument.

But God had also a second object in view in enduring the vessels of wrath: in order to make known the wealth of His glory upon the vessels of mercy which He has prepared before unto glory, us, whom He also has called, not only of Jews, but also of Gentiles. The very fact that God showed such an abundance of patience in the case of the vessels of wrath incidentally had the object to give a proof and manifestation of His glory upon the vessels of mercy, the believers, in whom His glorious purpose is realized. By calling the believers from the midst of both the Jews and the Gentiles, by converting them to Christ, He has glorified Himself, Ephesians 1:6; His work has redounded to His own praise and honor. For by the call of God the vessels of mercy have received His mercy, He has made them the recipients and bearers of His grace in Jesus Christ. And the same people have been prepared beforehand for the glory of heaven, Matthew 25:34: both their call and their entrance into glory is a result of God's counsel of grace. Thus God glorified Himself upon the vessels of mercy through the manifestation of His grace, and at the same time He gathered for Himself, from Jews and Gentiles, a people that here sees and enjoys the abundance of His goodness and mercy and will finally behold His glory in all eternity.

These facts St. Paul now substantiates by a reference to the Old Testament Scriptures, giving first of all a free quotation from Hosea, chap. 2:3, to show that God's people were to be gathered from the Gentiles also: I will call that which is not My people My people, and her who is not beloved, beloved; and it will be in the place where it was said to them, My people you are not, there will they be called the sons of the living God. See 1 Peter 2:10. Although the prophet refers to the readmission of Israel as the people of God, Paul's quotation of the passage in favor of the acceptance of the Gentiles is fully justified, for the words incidentally indicate the manner in which God at all times accepts strangers into communion with Him. Out of the land of the heathen, from out of the midst of the Gentiles, from all nations on earth, the Lord wanted to gather and is gathering to Himself His Church. He is extending His mercy, calling, converting the heathen also, making them His own, to live under Him in His kingdom, to serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

But St. Paul brings quotations also to substantiate His statement that God is calling the members of His Church from the midst of the Jews. He refers to Isaiah 10:22, where Isaiah calls out over Israel: If the number of the children of Israel were like the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved; for the word, the oracle of God, is brought to an end and fully decided upon in righteousness; for the judgment will be quickly carried out. It is a final and decisive work which the Lord executes in the land by saving the remnant of Israel in the midst of the general destruction which comes upon the obstinate sinners. When the great mass of Israel is struck by the tidal wave of God's judgment of destruction, the Lord will save a remnant, will bring a few of them to the knowledge of their Savior, the true Messiah. The second quotation from Isaiah. chap. 1:9, is in verbal agreement with the Greek translation: If the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us a seed, as Sodom we should have become and been made like unto Gomorrah. Over the great majority of the Jewish people the judgment of God was poured out from the time of Isaiah to the final destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70. According to man's judgment, the end would have been the annihilation of the Jewish race, as in the fate which overtook Sodom and Gomorrah. But the Lord preserved for Himself a seed, an escaped part, a remnant, saved for future growth, the little band of true Israelites that accepted Jesus as their Redeemer. And thus, just as Paul contends, the Lord has chosen His own from both Gentiles and Jews, gathering them unto Himself into His Church. Therefore, also, every objection to the work of God must be withdrawn, all offense must be acknowledged to be wrong and foolish. The facts here presented are bound to remove all false conceptions of God. If we but keep the love and mercy of God before our eyes, as we have experienced them so abundantly, then the only sentiment to be found in our hearts will be a feeling of joy and gratitude over the miracles of God's grace, as shown to us daily.