F. ELECTION (Cch. 8, 9 11) It is almost needless to say that the Election spoken of in ch. 8 &c. is variously explained. A large and important school of Theology (the Arminian) interprets it as a _personal_election, but _contingent_upon foreseen faith and perseverance. Another school [58] interpret... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 9:1-6. The problem of Jewish unbelief: Paul's distress in view of it 1. _I say the truth in Christ_, &c. The discussion of the case of Israel occupies tins chapter and the next two. On the general subject thus introduced, we offer a few remarks. (See also _Introduction_, I. § 26.) (1) The d... [ Continue Reading ]
_that I have_, &c. More lit. THAT I HAVE GREAT GRIEF, AND MY HEART HAS INCESSANT PAIN. Very wonderful, and profoundly true, is this expression of intense grief just after the "joy unspeakable" of ch. 8. The heart is capable of a vast complexity of emotions, and none the less so when it is "spiritual... [ Continue Reading ]
_I could wish_ Lit., I WAS WISHING; the imperfect. A similar imperfect occurs Galatians 4:20; where lit., "I was desiring." Without discussing the grammatical theory of the construction we may _paraphrase_, I WAS ON THE WAY TO WISH, or, I WAS IN COURSE OF WISHING. Two things are implied; the _tenden... [ Continue Reading ]
_Israelites_ "The absolute name, that which expressed the whole dignity and glory of a member of the theocratic nation, of the people in peculiar covenant with God, was _Israelite_." (Abp Trench, _New Testament Synonyms_.) It was thus distinguished from both _Hebrew_and _Jew (Judœus,)_of which (1) r... [ Continue Reading ]
_the fathers_ Cp. Romans 11:28. The reference is probably specially to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But David is also "the _patriarch_David;" Acts 2:29. These sacred Persons are now mentioned, after the previous sacred Things, so as to usher in the mention of the Christ Himself. _of whom_ OUT OF WHOM... [ Continue Reading ]
Limitations of the problem from facts of Divine election 6. _Not as though_, &c. Here begins a paragraph, and with it the main subject of the rest of this chapter. St Paul has expressed his intense grief over the failure of the mass of his brethren to "inherit the promises." He now, in the true man... [ Continue Reading ]
_neither because_, &c. An illustration from manifest fact, to shew that an apparently inclusive promise may be limited. We may paraphrase: "Abraham's descendants, again, are not all his _-children" in the sense contemplated_, just because they are his descendants; on the contrary, there is a distinc... [ Continue Reading ]
_That is_, &c. We may paraphrase this verse, after the Gr.; "That is," (in view of both the Romans 9:6-7,) "the children of God" (it being implied in the Promise that Abraham's children should be also His,) "are not the mere bodily offspring of Abraham, no more and no fewer; rather, the children def... [ Continue Reading ]
_of promise_ Lit. OF THE PROMISE; the promise just referred to in the illustrative case. The "children of God" among Abraham's bodily descendants were to be limited within the descendants by _Sarah;_i.e. within Isaac's line. _At this time_ i.e. of the next year. (Genesis 18:10.) The quotation is ne... [ Continue Reading ]
_And not only this_ Here a still stronger example of sovereign choice occurs. Isaac and Ishmael had only one parent in common; Jacob and Esau had both. In the former case, the choice of Isaac was declared only after Ishmael's birth and childhood; in the latter, the choice of Jacob was declared while... [ Continue Reading ]
_being not yet born_, &c. Nothing could go beyond this verse in stating that the _reasons_of the Divine Choice lie wholly within the Divine Mind, and not in the works and characters of the chosen. _the purpose of God according to election_ So according to the best order of the Gr. words. Another ord... [ Continue Reading ]
_The elder_, &c. Verbatim as LXX. of Genesis 25:23 Of both Hebrew and Greek the literal rendering is THE GREATER SHALL HE BONDSMAN TO THE LESS. _shall serve_ In the personal history of Esau and Jacob this was not _literally_fulfilled; but it was so in spirit, in the subjection of Esau's interests a... [ Continue Reading ]
_As it is written_ In Malachi 1:2-3. Nearly verbatim from LXX. The prophet is there appealing, in God's name, to the people to remember His distinguishing and unmerited choice of Jacob over Esau to inherit the land. Not the quotation merely, but the context, is to the purpose here. _have I loved_ L... [ Continue Reading ]
Electing Sovereignty: Vindication, Restatement and application (A) Is God unrighteous? 14. _What shall we say then?_ Same words as Romans 3:5; Romans 4:1; Romans 6:1; Romans 7:7; Romans 8:31; Romans 9:30. St Paul often introduces thus an objection which is to be solved. The objection here is twofol... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ The connexion is; "The thought of injustice in these _acts_of the Eternal Judge is all the more to be rejected because they follow a principle expressed in His own _words;_for _He says_to Moses, &c." That the principle, so expressed, is absolutely right, is taken for granted. To the Apostle, G... [ Continue Reading ]
_of him that willeth_ Not that human willing and running are _illusions;_but they are not the _cause_of mercy. They follow it; they may even be the channel of its present action; but they are not the cause. Its origin is not "_of_" them. Cp. Philippians 2:13. _runneth_ The idea is of one actively mo... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ See on Romans 9:15. In this verse St Paul _recurs_to the question "Is there unrighteousness, &c.?" and replies to it, by citing not now a general Divine utterance (as in Romans 9:15) but a special utterance, to an individual. _the Scripture saith_ For a similar personification of the inspired... [ Continue Reading ]
_whom he will_ The emphasis is of course on these words, in each clause: to us, the _only_account of the differences of His action is His Will. The following verses prove beyond fair question that St Paul means fully to enforce this truth, intensely _trying_as it is to the human heart. He lays it do... [ Continue Reading ]
(B) Is Man responsible? 19. _Thou wilt say then_ St Paul is still, as so often before, writing as if an opponent were at his side. How vividly this suggests that he had _himself_experienced the conflicts of thought which indeed every earnest mind more or less encounters! But conflicts do not always... [ Continue Reading ]
(C) The Reply: Creative Sovereignty 20. _Nay but_ Same word as Romans 10:18, and Luke 11:28; (E. V., "Yea, rather.") Q. d., "_Rather than_the position of a questioner, take that of a creature." _man_ The word is, of course, emphatic. _the thing formed_ Lit. THE THING MOULDED; the Potter and the Cl... [ Continue Reading ]
_the potter the clay_ This is the simile likewise in Isaiah just quoted, and in Isaiah 64:8. (Cp. Jeremiah 18:1-10.) It gets its force from the perfect pliability of the material. Certainly the illustration does not _relieve_the stern utterances it illustrates; nor is it meant to do so. It must be r... [ Continue Reading ]
_What if God_, &c. The Gr. construction in Romans 9:22-23 is broken and peculiar. Rendered nearly lit., the verses run: BUT IF GOD, CHOOSING TO DEMONSTRATE HIS WRATH, AND MAKE KNOWN WHAT HE CAN DO, BORE WITH MUCH LONGSUFFERING VESSELS OF WRATH, FITTED UNTO RUIN; AND THAT HE MIGHT MAKE KNOWN THE WEAL... [ Continue Reading ]
_and that he might_ Some such clause as "so acted," or better, "so had patience," must be mentally supplied. The idea of the patience of God seems to attach here to both parts of the statement: so far from acting in haste, He _bore_both with the persistent rebellion of the lost, and with the once eq... [ Continue Reading ]
_even us_ Lit., and better, WHOM ALSO HE CALLED, US, &c. The "also" or "even" goes with the verb, and seems to indicate that the "afore-preparation" is rather that of the electing purpose of God than that of personal sanctification (which is, however, the sure sequel of the other). Q. d., "He fore-o... [ Continue Reading ]
(D) Quotations in Application 25. _Osee_ In the Gr., OSEË or HOSEË; the equivalent of the Heb. _Hoshea_. Here, lit., IN THE OSEË; i.e., probably, "in the writings of Hosea." _I will call_, &c. Hosea 2:23 (25 in the Heb.). The quotation does not agree with the LXX. The Heb. is, lit., "And I will hav... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it shall come to pass_, &c. A new quotation, linked in one line with the last. Nearly verbatim with LXX. of Hosea 1:10 (Romans 2:1 in the Heb.). For a first and second reference see last note but one. "_In the place where:_" this, in the first reference, may mean the Sanctuary from which the re... [ Continue Reading ]
_Esaias also_ Better, BUT ESAIAS. There is a contrast: Hosea speaks of the bringing in of Gentile believers; Isaiah of the rejection of all Jews except Jewish believers. _crieth_ Perhaps the word refers to the power and intensity of Isaiah's prophetic manner. So Meyer. _concerning_ The Greek prepo... [ Continue Reading ]
_for he will finish_, &c. These words agree closely with the letter of the LXX., but not with that of the Heb. They convey the point of the Heb., however, quite enough for the purpose of the quotation; and St Paul thus adopts them. In some important documents the quotation ends with "cut it short;... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_ Q. d., "And again, the small number of Jewish believers fulfils another prediction." _said before_ Lit., and better, HATH SAID BEFORE; i.e. "as _we have it_in his book." "_Before_" refers not to the quotation of an _earlier chapter_, but to the words as a _prediction_. The quotation is from I... [ Continue Reading ]
_What shall we say then?_ Same word as Romans 9:14; where see note. _followed not after_ To them no Revelation had pointed out "righteousness" as a _goal_of efforts. _righteousness_ i.e., practically, Justification, which is the admission to Salvation. _have attained_ Lit. and better, DID ATTAIN;... [ Continue Reading ]
_which followed_ Lit. FOLLOWING; and so better. _the law of righteousness_ Not simply "_righteousness_," as in Romans 9:30; because Israel had, what the Gentiles had not, the detailed revealed _precepts_. These precepts they "followed after," i.e. strove to keep as a covenant of salvation. For this... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore?_ See ch. 4 for the fullest commentary on this verse. _as it were_ Lit. and better, AS; i.e. "_under the belief_that it could be so reached." _works of the law_ "_Of the law_" should be omitted, on evidence of documents. _that stumblingstone_ Lit. and better, THE STUMBLINGSTONE; i.e. t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold_, &c. The quotation is a combination of Isaiah 8:14; Isaiah 28:16, and is closely after the Heb., but widely differs from the LXX. of Romans 8:14. Both passages (q. v.) refer to the great Promise, which was proposed to Israel of old as a better ground of trust than earthly policy or religiou... [ Continue Reading ]