Romans 9:11

being not yet born, &c. Nothing could go beyond this verse in stating that the reasonsof 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 order, not so well supported, gives "the purpose according to God's election." The meaning is the same in either case. On "the purpose," see last note on Romans 8:28. "According to election": i.e. as determined, or characterized, by the sovereign Choice of the Divine Mind. In the case of Esau and Jacob, the "purpose according to election" does not, at least explicitly, mean a purpose of eternal salvation. But St Paul is evidently here treating the Divine Choice in the widest and most absolute respects; and the sovereign gift to Jacob of sacred privileges, determining his whole course and that of his posterity, is thus taken as illustrating the fact of an equally sovereign gift, to "whomsoever God will," of the capacity to repent, believe, and love. Throughout the argument we must remember whothe "elect" are in the grand special case in hand, viz. the "remnant" who actually (not only potentially) are true believers, under both the Old and New Dispensations. See especially Romans 11:2-8.

Election

On the general subject of the Divine Election we may remark,

(1) That "the arguments of the Apostle are founded on two assumptions. The first is, that the Scriptures are the word of God; and the second, that whatever God actually does cannot be unrighteous. Consequently, any objection which can be shewn to militate against either an express declaration of Scripture, or an obvious fact in providence, is fairly answered." (Dr Hodge, in loc.) It is almost needless to add that such a submission to the Divine Righteousness, while in one sense a surrender of reason, is in another its truest exercise. It is the surrender instinctively yielded by the soul which, conscious of its own sin, lies open to the full impression of the overwhelming purity and majesty of its Creator. It is absolutetrust, under completemystery, in Him who in one respect is truly known, but in another cannot (by the created being) be "found out unto perfection." See Romans 11:33-36.

(2) It must be remembered that Divine Election affects a world not of righteous beings, nor even of neutral beings, but of "sinners," "enemies" (ch. Romans 5:8-9.) [41] We come to face its mystery only when we have first faced, and owned, the unfathomable mystery of sin. We see it, not making the good evil, nor the evil arbitrarily worse, but judicially leaving the sinner to himself;(as we are bound to believe every sinner might righteously have been left; for otherwise Salvation would be our Right, not our Mercy;) save in cases determined by the Divine Mind by reasons within Itselfin which, of mere mercy, a positive and prevailing influence intervenes, producing spiritual life, the life of repentance, faith and love.

[41] The abstruse questions which have been raised in controversy on this point may be fairly said to "intrude into" what lies wholly outside the Scripture Revelation.

(3) This view of the case, which is indeed full of distressing mystery, yet owes what is most distressing in it to the riddle which lies beneath all others connected with it that of the Existence of Sin at all. But meantime it also assures us that while the will (influenced by sin) is the cause of ruin, it is also the will (influenced by grace) which, acting strictly as the will, lays hold on salvation. In neither case is the will forced, unless indeed we call everyinfluence on the will compulsion, so far as it is successful. The lost "will notcome;" the saved come as "whosoever will." (John 5:40; Revelation 22:17.)

(4) The doctrine of Election is, in Scripture, never made the foreground of doctrine; and it is always so presented as also to assure us, however little we can reconcile the vast range of spiritual truths, that we are in the hands of Righteousness as well as Power, and that our will, affections, and aspirations, are perfectly real. Lastly, the doctrine, if studied in Scripture, is viewed always from the only safe view-point the foot of the Cross. See further, Appendix F.

might stand i.e., continue to act on its necessary principle "not of works, but of Him that calleth."

of works Based on, or resulting from, "works;" in the largest sense of "works;" actions whose aggregate is character.

calleth See on Romans 1:6.