R O
M A N S
CHAP. XI.
The
apostle, having reconciled that great truth of the rejection of the Jews with
the promise made unto the fathers, is, in this chapter, further labouring to
mollify the harshness of it, and to reconcile it to the divine goodness in
general. It might be said, "Hath God then cast away his people?" The
apostles therefore sets himself, in this chapter, to make a reply to this
objection, and that two ways:-- I. He shows at large what the mercy is that is
mixed with this wrath, ver. 1-32. II. He infers thence the infinite wisdom and
sovereignty of God, with the adoration of which he concludes this chapter and
subject, ver. 33-36.
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The
State of the Jews; The State of the Gentiles; The Gentiles Warned;
The Future Conversion of the Jews.
A. D. 58.
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1 I say then, Hath
God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed
of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God hath not cast
away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of
Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3
Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am
left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed
the knee to the image of Baal. 5 Even so then at this
present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no
more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise
work is no more work. 7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were
blinded 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the
spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should
not hear;) unto this day. 9 And David saith, Let their table be
made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto
them: 10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and
bow down their back alway. 11 I say then, Have they stumbled that
they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is
come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. 12
Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing
of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles,
I magnify mine office: 14 If by any means I may provoke to
emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world,
what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the
dead? 16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is
also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the
branches. 17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou,
being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest
of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against
the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root
thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I
might be graffed in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken
off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear: 21
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also
spare not thee. 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of
God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue
in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23
And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for
God is able to graff them in again. 24 For if thou wert cut out of
the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature
into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches,
be graffed into their own olive tree? 25 For I would not,
brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise
in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the
fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be
saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall
turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my
covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28 As
concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching
the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. 29
For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 30
For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy
through their unbelief: 31 Even so have these also now not
believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 32
For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon
all.
The apostle proposes here a plausible objection, which might be urged against
the divine conduct in casting off the Jewish nation (v. 1): "Hath
God cast away his people? Is the rejection total and final? Are they all
abandoned to wrath and ruin, and that eternal? Is the extent of the sentence
so large as to be without reserve, or the continuance of it so long as to be
without repeal? Will he have no more a peculiar people to himself?" In
opposition to this, he shows that there was a great deal of goodness and mercy
expressed along with this seeming severity, particularly he insists upon three
things:-- 1. That, though some of the Jews were cast off, yet they were not
all so. 2. That, though the body of the Jews were cast off, yet the Gentiles
were taken in. And, 3. That, though the Jews were cast off at present, yet in
God's due time they should be taken into his church again.
I. The Jews, it is true, were many of them cast off, but not all. The
supposition of this he introduces with a God forbid. He will by no
means endure such a suggestions. God had made a distinction between some of
them and others.
1. There was a chosen remnant of believing Jews, that obtained righteousness
and life by faith in Jesus Christ, v. 1-7. These are said to be such as
he foreknew (v. 2), that is, had thoughts of love to, before the
world was; for whom he thus foreknew he did predestinate. her lies the ground
of the difference. They are called the election (v. 7), that is,
the elect, God's chosen ones, whom he calls the election, because that which
first distinguished them from the dignified them above others was God's
electing love. Believers are the election, all those and those only
whom God hath chosen. Now,
(1.) He shows that he himself was one of them: For I also am an Israelite;
as if he had said, "Should I say that all the Jews are rejected, I should
cut off my own claims, and see myself abandoned." Paul was a chosen
vessel (Acts ix. 15), and yet he was of the seed of Abraham, and
particularly of the tribe of Benjamin, the least and youngest of all the
tribes of Israel.
(2.) He suggests that as in Elias's time, so now, this chosen remnant was
really more and greater than one would think it was, which intimates likewise
that it is no new nor unusual thing for God's grace and favour to Israel to be
limited and confined to a remnant of that people; for so it was in Elijah's
time. The scripture saith it of Elias, en Hlia--in
the story of Elias, the great reformer of the Old Testament. Observe, [1.]
His mistake concerning Israel; as if their apostasy in the days of Ahab was so
general that he himself was the only faithful servant God had in the world. He
refers to 1 Kings xix. 14, where (it is here said) he maketh intercession
to God against Israel. A strange kind of intercession: entugcanei
tw Qew kata tou Israhl--He deals with God against
Israel; so it may be read; so entugcanw
is translated, Acts xxv. 24. The Jews enetucon moi--have
dealt with me. In prayer we deal with God, commune with him, discourse
with him: it is said of Elijah (Jam. v. 17) that he prayed in praying.
We are then likely to pray in praying, to make a business of that duty, when
we pray as those that are dealing with God in the duty. Now Elijah in this
prayer spoke as if there were one left faithful in Israel but himself. See to
what a low ebb the profession of religion may sometimes be brought, and how
much the face of it may be eclipsed, that the most wise and observing men may
give it up for gone. So it was in Elijah's time. That which makes the show of
a nation is the powers and the multitude. The powers of Israel were then
persecuting powers: They have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine
altars, and they seek my life. The multitude of Israel were then
idolatrous: I am left alone. Thus those few that were faithful to God
were not only lost in the crowd of idolaters, but crushed and driven into
corners by the rage of persecutors. When the wicked rise, a man is hidden,
Prov. xxviii. 12.-- Digged down thine altars; not only neglected them,
and let them go out of repair, but digged them down. When altars were set up
for Baal, it is no wonder if God's altars were pulled down; they could not
endure that standing testimony against their idolatry. This was his
intercession against Israel; as if he had said, "Lord, is not this
a people ripe for ruin, worthy to be cast off? What else canst thou do for thy
great name?" It is a very sad thing for any person or people to have the
prayers of God's people against them, especially of God's prophets, for God
espouses, and sooner or later will visibly own, the cause of his praying
people. [2.] The rectifying of this mistake by the answer of God (v.
4): I have reserved. Note, First, Things are often much better
with the church of God than wise and good men think they are. They are ready
to conclude hardly, and to give up all for gone, when it is not so. Secondly,
In times of general apostasy, there is usually a remnant that keep their
integrity--some, though but a few; all do not go one way. Thirdly, That
when there is a remnant who keep their integrity in times of general apostasy
it is God that reserves to himself that remnant. If he had left them to
themselves, they had gone down the stream with the rest. It is his free and
almighty grace that makes the difference between them and others.--Seven
thousand: a competent number to bear their testimony against the idolatry
of Israel, and yet, compared with the many thousands of Israel, a very small
number, one of a city, and two of a tribe, like the grape-gleanings of the
vintage. Christ's flock is but a little flock; and yet, when they come all
together at last, they will be a great and innumerable multitude, Rev. vii. 9.
Now the description of this remnant is that they had not bowed the knee to
the image of Baal, which was then the reigning sin of Israel. In court,
city, and country, Baal had the ascendant; and the generality of people, more
or less, paid their respect to Baal. The best evidence of integrity is a
freedom from the present prevailing corruptions of the times and places that
we live in, to swim against the stream when it is strong. Those God will own
for his faithful witnesses that are bold in bearing their testimony to the present
truth, 2 Pet. i. 12. This is thank-worthy, not to bow to Baal when every body
bows. Sober singularity is commonly the badge of true sincerity. [3.] The
application of this instance to the case in hand: Even so at this present
time, v. 5-7. God's methods of dispensation towards his church are
as they used to be. As it has been, so it is. In Elijah's time there was a
remnant, and so there is now. If then there was a remnant left under the Old
Testament, when the displays of grace were less clear and the pourings out of
the Spirit less plentiful, much more now under the gospel, when the grace of
God, which bringeth salvation, appears more illustrious.--A remnant, a
few of many, a remnant of believing Jews when the rest were obstinate in their
unbelief. This is called a remnant according to the election of grace;
they are such as were chosen from eternity in the counsels of divine love to
be vessels of grace and glory. Whom he did predestinate those he called. If
the difference between them and others be made purely by the grace of God, as
certainly it is (I have reserved them, saith he, to myself),
then it must needs be according to the election; for we are sure that whatever
God does he does it according to the counsel of his own will. Now concerning
this remnant we may observe, First, Whence it takes its rise, from the
free grace of God (v. 6), that grace which excludes works. The eternal
election, in which the difference between some and others is first founded, is
purely of grace, free grace; not for the sake of works done or foreseen; if
so, it would not be grace. Gratia non est ullo modo gratia, si non sit omni
modo gratuita--It is not grace, properly so called, if it be not perfectly
free. Election is purely according to the good pleasure of his will, Eph.
i. 5. Paul's heart was so full of the freeness of God's grace that in the
midst of his discourse he turns aside, as it were, to make this remark, If
of grace, then not of works. And some observe that faith itself, which in
the matter of justification if opposed to works, is here included in them; for
faith has a peculiar fitness to receive the free grace of God for our
justification, but not to receive that grace for our election. Secondly,
What it obtains: that which Israel, that is, the body of that people, in van
sought for (v. 7): Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh
for, that is, justification, and acceptance with God (see ch. ix.
31), but the election have obtained it. In them the promise of God has
its accomplishment, and God's ancient kindness for that people is remembered.
He calls the remnant of believers, not the elect, but the election, to
show that the sole foundation of all their hopes and happiness is laid in
election. They were the persons whom God had in his eye in the counsels of his
love; they are the election; they are God's choice. Such was the favour of God
to the chosen remnant. But,
2. The rest were blinded, v. 7. Some are chosen and called, and
the call is made effectual. But others are left to perish in their unbelief;
nay, they are made worse by that which should have made them better. The
gospel, which to those that believed was the savour of life unto life, to the
unbelieving was the savour of death unto death. The same sun softens wax and
hardens clay. Good old Simeon foresaw that the child Jesus was set for the
fall, as well as for the rising again, of many in Israel, Luke ii. 34.-- Were
blinded; epwrwqhsan--they
were hardened; so some. They were seared, and made brawny and insensible.
They could neither see the light, nor feel the touch, of gospel grace.
Blindness and hardness are expressive of the same senselessness and stupidity
of spirit. They shut their eyes, and would not see; this was their sin: and
then God, in a way of righteous judgment, blinded their eyes, that they could
not see; this was their punishment. This seemed harsh doctrine: to qualify it,
therefore, he vouches two witnesses out of the Old Testament, who speak of
such a thing.
(1.) Isaiah, who spoke of such a judgment in his day, ch. xxix. 10; vi.
9. The spirit of slumber, that is, an indisposedness to mind either
their duty or interest. They are under the power of a prevailing
unconcernedness, like people that are slumbering and sleeping; not affected
with any thing that is said or done. They were resolved to continue as they
were, and would not stir. The following words explain what is meant by the
spirit of slumber: Eyes, that they should not see, and ears, that they
should not hear. They had the faculties, but in the things that belonged
to their peace they had not the use of those faculties; they were quite
infatuated, they saw Christ, but they did not believe in him; they heard his
word, but they did not receive it; and so both their hearing and their seeing
were in vain. It was all one as if they had neither seen nor heard. Of all
judgments spiritual judgments are the sorest, and most to be dreaded, though
they make the least noise.--Unto this day. Ever since Esaias
prophesied, this hardening work has been in the doing; some among them have
been blind and senseless. Or, rather, ever since the first preaching of the
gospel: though they have had the most convincing evidences that could be of
the truth of it, the most powerful preaching, the fairest offers, the clearest
calls from Christ himself, and from his apostles, yet to this day they are
blinded. It is still true concerning multitudes of them, even to this day in
which we live; they are hardened and blinded, the obstinacy and unbelief go by
succession from generation to generation, according to their own fearful
imprecation, which entailed the curse: His blood be upon us and upon our
children.
(2.) David (v. 9, 10), quoted from Ps. lxix. 22, 23, where David having
in the Spirit foretold the sufferings of Christ from his own people the Jews,
particularly that of their giving him vinegar to drink (v. 21,
which was literally fulfilled, Matt. xxvii. 48), an expression of the greatest
contempt and malice that could be, in the next words, under the form of an
imprecation, he foretels the dreadful judgments of God upon them for it: Let
their table become a snare, which the apostle here applies to the present
blindness of the Jews, and the offence they took at the gospel, which
increased their hardness. This teaches us how to understand other prayers of
David against his enemies; they are to be looked upon as prophetic of the
judgments of God upon the public and obstinate enemies of Christ and his
kingdom. His prayer that it might be so was a prophecy that it should be so,
and not the private expression of his own angry resentments. It was likewise
intended to justify God, and to clear his righteousness in such judgments. He
speaks here, [1.] Of the ruin of their comforts: Let their table be made a
snare, that is, as the psalmist explains it, Let that which should be for
their welfare be a trap to them. The curse of God will turn meat into poison.
It is a threatening like that in Mal. ii. 2, I will curse your blessings.
Their table a snare, that is, an occasion of sin and an occasion of misery.
Their very food, that should nourish them, shall choke them. [2.] Of the ruin
of their powers and faculties (v. 10), their eyes darkened, their backs
bowed down, that they can neither find the right way, nor, if they could, are
they able to walk in it. The Jews, after their national rejection of Christ
and his gospel, became infatuated in their politics, so that their very
counsels turned against them, and hastened their ruin by the Romans. They
looked like a people designed for slavery and contempt, their backs bowed
down, to be ridden and trampled upon by all the nations about them. Or, it may
be understood spiritually; their backs are bowed down in carnality and
worldly-mindedness. Curvæ in terris animæ--They mind earthly things.
This is an exact description of the state and temper of the present remainder
of that people, than whom, if the accounts we have of them be true, there is
not a more worldly, wilful, blind, selfish, ill-natured, people in the world.
They are manifestly to this day under the power of this curse. Divine curses
will work long. It is a sign we have our eyes darkened if we are bowed down in
worldly-mindedness.
II. Another thing which qualified this doctrine of the rejection of the Jews
was that though they were cast off and unchurched, yet the Gentiles were taken
in (v. 11-14), which he applies by way of caution to the Gentiles, v.
17-22.
1. The rejection of the Jews made room for the reception of the Gentiles. The
Jews' leavings were a feast for the poor Gentiles (v. 11): "Have
they stumbled that they should fall? Had God no other end in forsaking and
rejecting them than their destruction?" He startles at this, rejecting
the thought with abhorrence, as usually he does when any thing is suggested
which seems to reflect upon the wisdom, or righteousness, or goodness of God: God
forbid! no, through their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles.
Not but that salvation might have come to the Gentiles if they had stood; but
by the divine appointment it was so ordered that the gospel should be preached
to the Gentiles upon the Jews' refusal of it. Thus in the parable (Matt. xxii.
8, 9), Those that were first bidden were not worthy--Go ye therefore
into the highways, Luke xiv. 21. And so it was in the history (Acts xiii.
46): It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to
you; but, seeing you put it from you, lo, we turn to the Gentiles; so Acts
xviii. 6. God will have a church in the world, will have the wedding furnished
with guests; and, if one will not come, another will, or why was the offer
made? The Jews had the refusal, and so the tender came to the Gentiles. See
how Infinite Wisdom brings light out of darkness, good out of evil, meat out
of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong. To the same purport he says (v.
12), The fall of them was the riches of the world, that is, it hastened
the gospel so much the sooner into the Gentile world. The gospel is the
greatest riches of the place where it is; it is better than thousands of gold
and silver. Or, The riches of the Gentiles was the multitude of converts among
them. True believers are God's jewels. To the same purport (v. 15): The
casting away of them is the reconciling of the world. God's displeasure
towards them made way for his favour towards the Gentiles. God was in Christ reconciling
the world, 2 Cor. v. 19. And therefore he took occasion from the unbelief
of the Jews openly to disavow and disown them, though they had been his
peculiar favourites, to show that in dispensing his favours he would now no
longer act in such a way of peculiarity and restriction, but that in every
nation he that feared God and wrought righteousness should be accepted of him,
Acts x. 34, 35.
2. The use that the apostle makes of this doctrine concerning the substitution
of the Gentiles in the room of the Jews.
(1.) As a kinsman to the Jews, here is a word of excitement and exhortation to
them, to stir them up to receive and embrace the gospel-offer. This God
intended in his favour to the Gentiles, to provoke the Jews to jealousy (v.
11), and Paul endeavours to enforce it accordingly (v. 14): If by
any means I might provoke to emulation those who are my flesh. "Shall
the despised Gentiles run away with all the comforts and privileges of the
gospel, and shall not we repent of our refusal, and now at last put in for a
share? Shall not we believe and obey, and be pardoned and saved, as well as
the Gentiles?" See an instance of such an emulation in Esau, Gen. xxviii.
6-9. There is a commendable emulation in the affairs of our souls: why should
not we be as holy and happy as any of our neighbours? In this emulation there
needs no suspicion, undermining or countermining; for the church has room
enough, and the new covenant grace and comfort enough, for us all. The
blessings are not lessened by the multitudes of the sharers.--And might
save some of them. See what was Paul's business, to save souls; and yet
the utmost he promises himself is but to save some. Though he was such a
powerful preacher, spoke and wrote with such evidence and demonstration of the
Spirit, yet of the many he dealt with he could but save some. Ministers must
think their pains well bestowed if they can but be instrumental to save some.
(2.) As an apostle to the Gentiles, here is a word of caution for them: "I
speak to you Gentiles. You believing Romans, you hear what riches of
salvation are come to you by the fall of the Jews, but take heed lest you do
any thing to forfeit it." Paul takes this, as other occasions, to apply
his discourse to the Gentiles, because he was the apostle of the Gentiles,
appointed for the service of their faith, to plant and water churches in the
Gentile nations. This was the purport of his extraordinary mission, Acts xxii.
21, I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles; compare Acts ix. 15.
It was likewise the intention of his ordination, Gal. ii. 9. Compare Acts
xiii. 2. It ought to be our great and special care to do good to those that
are under our charge: we must particularly mind that which is our own work. It
was an instance of God's great love to the poor Gentiles that he appointed
Paul, who in gifts and graces excelled all the apostles, to be the apostle of
the Gentiles. The Gentile world was a wider province; and the work to be done
in it required a very able, skilful, zealous, courageous workman: such a one
was Paul. God calls those to special work whom he either sees or makes fit for
it.--I magnify my office. There were those that vilified it, and him
because of it. It was because he was the apostle of the Gentiles that the Jews
were so outrageous against him (Acts xxii. 21, 22), and yet he thought never
the worse of it, though it set him up as the butt of all the Jewish rage and
malice. It is a sign of true love to Jesus Christ to reckon that service and
work for him truly honourable which the world looks upon with scorn, as mean
and contemptible. The office of the ministry is an office to be magnified.
Ministers are ambassadors for Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God,
and for their work's sake are to be esteemed highly in love.--My office;
thn diakonian mou--my
ministry, my service, not my lordship and dominion. It was not the dignity
and power, but the duty and work, of an apostle, that Paul was so much in love
with. Now two things he exhorts the Gentiles to, with reference to the
rejected Jews:--
[1.] To have a respect for the Jews, notwithstanding, and to desire their
conversion. This is intimated in the prospect he gives them of the advantage
that would accrue to the church by their conversion, v. 12, 15. It
would be as life from the dead; and therefore they must not insult and triumph
over those poor Jews, but rather pity them, and desire their welfare, and long
for the receiving of them in again.
[2.] To take heed to themselves, lest they should stumble and fall, as they
Jews had done, v. 17-22. Here observe,
First, The privilege which the Gentiles had by being taken into the
church. They were grafted in (v. 17), as a branch of a wild olive into
a good olive, which is contrary to the way and custom of the husbandman, who
grafts the good olive into the bad; but those that God grafts into the church
he finds wild and barren, and good for nothing. Men graft to mend the tree;
but God grafts to mend the branch. 1. The church of God is an olive-tree,
flourishing and fruitful as an olive (Ps. lii. 8; Hos. xiv. 6), the fruit
useful for the honour both of God and man, Judg. ix. 9. 2. Those that are out
of the church are as wild olive-trees, not only useless, but what they do
produce is sour and unsavoury: Wild by nature, v. 24. This was
the state of the poor Gentiles, that wanted church privileges, and in respect
of real sanctification; and it is the natural state of every one of us, to be
wild by nature. 3. Conversion is the grafting in of wild branches into the
good olive. We must be cut off from the old stock, and be brought into union
with a new root. 4. Those that are grafted into the good olive-tree partake of
the root and fatness of the olive. It is applicable to a saving union with
Christ; all that are by a lively faith grafted into Christ partake of him as
the branches of the root--receive from his fulness. But it is here spoken of a
visible church-membership, from which the Jews were as branches broken off;
and so the Gentiles were grafted in, en autoiV--among
those that continued, or in the room of those that were broken off. The
Gentiles, being grafted into the church, partake of the same privileges that
the Jews did, the root and fatness. The olive-tree is the visible
church (called so Jer. xi. 16); the root of this tree was Abraham, not the
root of communication, so Christ only is the root, but the root of
administration, he being the first with whom the covenant was so solemnly
made. Now the believing Gentiles partake of this root: he also is a son of
Abraham (Luke xix. 9), the blessing of Abraham comes upon the Gentiles
(Gal. iii. 14), the same fatness of the olive-tree, the same for substance,
special protection, lively oracles, means of salvation, a standing ministry,
instituted ordinances; and, among the rest, the visible church-membership of
their infant seed, which was part of the fatness of the olive-tree that the
Jews had, and cannot be imagined to be denied to the Gentiles.
Secondly, A caution not to abuse these privileges. 1. "Be not
proud (v. 18): Boast not against the branches. Do not therefore
trample upon the Jews as a reprobate people, nor insult over those that are
broken off, much less over those that do continue." Grace is given, not
to make us proud, but to make us thankful. The law of faith excludes all
boasting either of ourselves or against others. "Do not say (v.
19): They were broken off that I might be grafted in; that is, do not
think that thou didst merit more at the hand of God than they, or didst stand
higher in his favour." "But remember, thou bearest not the root,
but the root thee. Though thou art grafted in, thou art still but a branch
borne by the root; nay, and an engrafted branch, brought into the good olive contrary
to nature (v. 24), not free-born, but by an act of grace
enfranchised and naturalized. Abraham, the root of the Jewish church, is not
beholden to thee; but thou art greatly obliged to him, as the trustee of the
covenant and the father of many nations. Therefore, if thou boast, know
(this word must be supplied to clear the sense) thou bearest not the root
but the root thee." 2. "Be not secure (v. 20): Be not
high-minded, but fear. Be not too confident of your own strength and
standing." A holy fear is an excellent preservative against
high-mindedness: happy is the man that thus feareth always. We need not fear
but God will be true to his word; all the danger is lest we be false to ours. Let
us therefore fear, Heb. iv. 1. The church of Rome now boasts of a patent
of perpetual preservation; but the apostle here, in his epistle to that church
when she was in her infancy and integrity, enters an express caveat against
that boast, and all claims of that kind.--Fear what? "Why fear
lest thou commit a forfeiture as they have done, lest thou lose the privileges
thou now enjoyest, as they have lost theirs." The evils that befal others
should be warnings to us. Go (saith God to Jerusalem Jer. vii. 12), and
see what I did to Shiloh; so now, let all the churches of God go and
see what he did to Jerusalem, and what is become of the day of their
visitation, that we may hear and fear, and take heed of Jerusalem's sin. The
patent which churches have of their privileges is not for a certain term, nor
entailed upon them and their heirs; but it runs as long as they carry
themselves well, and no longer. Consider, (1.) "How they were broken off.
It was not undeservedly, by an act of absolute sovereignty and prerogative,
but because of unbelief." It seems, then, it is possible for
churches that have long stood by faith to fall into such a state of infidelity
as may be their ruin. Their unbelief did not only provoke God to cut them off,
but they did by this cut themselves off; it was not only the meritorious, but
the formal cause of their separation. "Now, thou art liable to the same
infirmity and corruption that they fell by." Further observe, They were natural
branches (v. 21), not only interested in Abraham's covenant, but
descending from Abraham's loins, and so born upon the premises, and thence had
a kind of tenant-right: yet, when they sunk into unbelief, God did not spare
them. Prescription, long usage, the faithfulness of their ancestors, would not
secure them. It was in vain to plead, though they insisted much upon it, that
they were Abraham's seed, Matt. iii. 9; John viii. 33. It is true they were
the husbandmen to whom the vineyard was first let out; but, when they
forfeited it, it was justly taken from them, Matt. xxi. 41, 43. This is called
here severity, v. 22. God laid righteousness to the line and
judgment to the plummet, and dealt with them according to their sins. Severity
is a word that sounds harshly; and I do not remember that it is any where else
in scripture ascribed to God; and it is here applied to the unchurching of the
Jews. God is most severe towards those that have been in profession nearest to
him, if they rebel against him, Amos iii. 2. Patience and privileges abused
turn to the greatest wrath. Of all judgments, spiritual judgments are the
sorest; for of these he is here speaking, v. 8. (2.) "How thou
standest, thou that art engrafted in." He speaks to the Gentile churches
in general, though perhaps tacitly reflecting on some particular person, who
might have expressed some such pride and triumph in the Jews' rejection.
"Consider then," [1.] "By what means thou standest: By
faith, which is a depending grace, and fetches in strength from heaven.
Thou dost not stand in any strength of thy own, of which thou mightest be
confident: thou art no more than the free grace of God makes thee, and his
grace is his own, which he gives or withholds at pleasure. That which ruined
them was unbelief, and by faith thou standest; therefore thou hast no faster
hold than they had, thou standest on no firmer foundation than they did."
[2.] "On what terms (v. 22): Towards thee goodness, if thou
continue in his goodness, that is, continue in a dependence upon and
compliance with the free grace of God, the want of which it was that ruined
the Jews--if thou be careful to keep up thine interest in the divine favour,
by being continually careful to please God and fearful of offending him."
The sum of our duty, the condition of our happiness, is to keep ourselves in
the love of God. Fear the Lord and his goodness. Hos. iii. 5.
III. Another thing that qualified this doctrine of the Jews' rejection is
that, though for the present they are cast off, yet the rejection is not
final; but, when the fulness of time is come, they will be taken in again.
They are not cast off for ever, but mercy is remembered in the midst of wrath.
Let us observe,
1. How this conversion of the Jews is here described. (1.) It is said to be
their fulness (v. 12), that is, the addition of them to the church, the
filling up again of that place which became vacant by their rejection. This
would be the enriching of the world (that is, the church in the world) with a
great deal of light and strength and beauty. (2.) It is called the receiving
of them. The conversion of a soul is the receiving of that soul, so the
conversion of a nation. They shall be received into favour, into the church,
into the love of Christ, whose arms are stretched out for the receiving of all
those that will come to him. And this will be as life from the dead--so
strange and surprising, and yet withal so welcome and acceptable. The
conversion of the Jews will bring great joy to the church. See Luke xv. 32, He
was dead, and is alive; and therefore it was meet we should make merry
and be glad. (3.) It is called the grafting of them in again (v.
23), into the church, from which they had been broken off. That which is
grafted in receives sap and virtue from the root; so does a soul that is truly
grafted into the church receive life, and strength, and grace from Christ the
quickening root. They shall be grafted into their own olive-tree (v.
24); that is, into the church of which they had formerly been the most eminent
and conspicuous members, to retrieve those privileges of visible
church-membership which they had so long enjoyed, but have now sinned away and
forfeited by their unbelief. (4.) It is called the saving of all Israel,
v. 26. True conversion may well be called salvation; it is salvation
begun. See Acts ii. 47. The adding of them to the church is the saving of
them: touV swzwmenouV, in
the present tense, are saved. When conversion-work goes on,
salvation-work goes on.
2. What it is grounded upon, and what reason we have to look for it.
(1.) Because of the holiness of the first-fruits and the root, v. 16.
Some by the first-fruits understand those of the Jews that were already
converted to the faith of Christ and received into the church, who were as the
first-fruits dedicated to God, as earnests of a more plentiful and sanctified
harvest. A good beginning promises a good ending. Why may we not suppose that
others may be savingly wrought upon as well as those who are already brought
in? Others by the first-fruits understand the same with the root, namely, the
patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from whom the Jews descended, and with
whom, as the prime trustees, the covenant was deposited: and so they were the
root of the Jews, not only as a people, but as a church. Now, if they were
holy, which is not meant so much of inherent as of federal holiness--if they
were in the church and in the covenant--then we have reason to conclude that
God hath a kindness for the lump--the body of that people; and for the branches--the
particular members of it. The Jews are in a sense a holy nation (Exod. xix.
6), being descended from holy parents. Now it cannot be imagined that such a
holy nation should be totally and finally cast off. This proves that the seed
of believers, as such, are within the pale of the visible church, and within
the verge of the covenant, till they do, by their unbelief, throw themselves
out; for, if the root be holy, so are the branches. Though real
qualifications are not propagated, yet relative privileges are. Though a wise
man does not beget a wise man, yet a free man begets a free man. Though grace
does not run in the blood, yet external privileges do (till they are
forfeited), even to a thousand generations. Look how they will answer it
another day that cut off the entail, by turning the seed of the faithful out
of the church, and so not allowing the blessing of Abraham to come upon the
Gentiles. The Jewish branches are reckoned holy, because the root was so. This
is expressed more plainly (v. 28): They are beloved for the fathers'
sakes. In this love to the fathers the first foundation of their
church-state was laid (Deut. iv. 37): Because he loved they fathers,
therefore he chose their seed after them. And the same love would revive
their privileges, for still the ancient loving-kindness is remembered; they
are beloved for the fathers' sakes. It is God's usual method of grace.
Kindness to the children for the father's sake is therefore called the kindness
of God, 2 Sam. ix. 3, 7. Though, as concerning the gospel (namely, in the
present dispensation of it), they are enemies to it for your sakes,
that is, for the sake of the Gentiles, against whom they have such an
antipathy; yet, when God's time shall come, this will wear off, and God's love
to their fathers will be remembered. See a promise that points at this, Lev.
xxvi. 42. The iniquity of the fathers is visited but to the third and fourth
generation; but there is mercy kept for thousands. Many fare the better for
the sake of their godly ancestors. It is upon this account that the church is
called their own olive-tree. Long it had been their own peculiar, which
is some encouragement to us to hope that there may be room for them in it
again, for old acquaintance-sake. That which hath been may be again. Though
particular persons and generations wear off in unbelief, yet there having been
a national church-membership, though for the present suspended, we may expect
that it will be revived.
(2.) Because of the power of God (v. 23): God is able to graft them
in again. The conversion of souls is a work of almighty power; and when
they seem most hardened, and blinded, and obstinate, our comfort is that God
is able to work a change, able to graft those in that have been long cast out
and withered. When the house is kept by the strong man armed, with all his
force, yet God is stronger than he, and is able to dispossess him. The
condition of their restoration is faith: If they abide not still in
unbelief. So that nothing is to be done but to remove that unbelief that
is the great obstacle; and God is able to take that away, though nothing less
than an almighty power will do it, the same power that raised up Christ from
the dead, Eph. i. 19, 29. Otherwise, can these dry bones live?
(3.) Because of the grace of God manifested to the Gentiles. Those that have
themselves experienced the grace of God, preventing, distinguishing grace, may
thence take encouragement to hope well concerning others. This is his argument
(v. 24): "If thou wast grafted into a good olive, that was wild by
nature, much more shall these that were the natural branches, and may
therefore be presumed somewhat nearer to the divine acceptance." This is
a suggestion very proper to check the insolence of those Gentile Christians
that looked with disdain and triumph upon the condition of the rejected Jews,
and trampled upon them; as if he had said, "Their condition, bad as it
is, is not so bad as yours was before your conversion; and therefore why may
it not be made as good as yours is?" This is his argument (v. 30,
31): As you in times past have not, &c. It is good for those that
have found mercy with God to be often thinking what they were in time past,
and how they obtained that mercy. This would help to soften our censures of
those that still continue in unbelief, and quicken our prayers for them. He
argues further from the occasion of the Gentiles' call, that is, the unbelief
of the Jews; thence it took rise: "You have obtained mercy through
their unbelief; much more shall they obtain mercy through your mercy. If
the putting out of their candle was the lighting of yours, by that power of
God which brings good out of evil, much more shall the continued light of your
candle, when God's time shall come, be a means of lighting theirs again."
"That through your mercy they might obtain mercy, that is, that
they may be beholden to you, as you have been to them." He takes it for
granted that the believing Gentiles would do their utmost endeavour to work
upon the Jews--that, when God had persuaded Japhet, Japhet would be labouring
to persuade Shem. True grace hates monopolies. Those that have found mercy
themselves should endeavour that through their mercy others also may obtain
mercy.
(4.) Because of the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament, which point
at this. He quotes a very remarkable one, v. 26, from Isa. lix. 20, 21.
Where we may observe, [1.] The coming of Christ promised: There shall come
out of Zion the deliverer. Jesus Christ is the great deliverer, which
supposes mankind in a state of misery and danger. In Isaiah it is, the
Redeemer shall come to Zion. There he is called the Redeemer; here the
deliverer; he delivers in a way of redemption, by a price. There he is said to
come to Zion, because when the prophet prophesied he was yet to come into the
world, and Zion was his first head-quarters. Thither he came, there he took up
his residence: but, when the apostle wrote this, he had come, he had been in
Zion; and he is speaking of the fruits of his appearing, which shall come out
of Zion; thence, as from the spring, issued forth those streams of living
water which in the everlasting gospel watered the nations. Out of Zion went
forth the law, Isa. ii. 3. Compare Luke xxiv. 47. [2.] The end and purpose
of this coming: He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Christ's
errand into the world was to turn away ungodliness, to turn away the guilt by
the purchase of pardoning mercy, and to turn away the power by the pouring out
of renewing grace, to save his people from their sins (Matt. i. 21), to
separate between us and our sins, that iniquity might not be our ruin, and
that it might not be our ruler. Especially to turn it away from Jacob, which
is that for the sake of which he quotes the text, as a proof of the great
kindness God intended for the seed of Jacob. What greater kindness could he do
them than to turn away ungodliness from them, to take away that which comes
between them and all happiness, take away sin, and then make way for all good?
This is the blessing that Christ was sent to bestow upon the world, and to
tender it to the Jews in the first place (Acts iii. 26), to turn people from
their iniquities. In Isaiah it is, The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and
unto those that turn from transgression in Jacob, which shown who in Zion
were to have a share in and to reap benefit by the deliverance promised, those
and those only that leave their sins and turn to God; to them Christ comes as
a Redeemer, but as an avenger to those that persist in impenitence. See Deut.
xxx. 2, 3. Those that turn from sin will be owned as the true citizens of Zion
(Eph. ii. 19), the right Jacob, Ps. xxiv. 4, 6. Putting both these readings
together, we learn that none have an interest in Christ but those that turn
from their sins, nor can any turn from their sins but by the strength of the
grace of Christ.--For this is my covenant with them--this, that the
deliverer shall come to them--this, that my Spirit shall not depart from them,
as it follows, Isa. lix. 21. God's gracious intentions concerning Israel were
made the matter of a covenant, which the God that cannot lie could not but be
true and faithful to. They were the children of the covenant, Acts iii.
25. The apostle adds, When I shall take away their sins, which some
think refers to Isa. xxvii. 9, or only to the foregoing words, to turn away
ungodliness. Pardon of sin is laid as the foundation of all the blessings
of the new covenant (Heb. viii. 12): For I will be merciful. Now from
all this he infers that certainly God had great mercy in store for that
people, something answerable to the extent of these rich promises: and he
proves his inference (v. 29) by this truth: For the gifts and
callings of God are without repentance. Repentance is sometimes taken for
a change of mind, and so God never repents, for he is in one mind and who can
turn him? Sometimes for a change of way, and that is here understood,
intimating the constancy and unchangeableness of that love of God which is
founded in election. Those gifts and callings are immutable; whom he so loves,
he loves to the end. We find God repenting that he had given man a being (Gen.
vi. 6, It repented the Lord that he had made man), and repenting that
he had given a man honour and power (1 Sam. xv. 11, It repenteth me that I
have set up Saul to be king); but we never find God repenting that he had
given a man grace, or effectually called him; those gifts and callings are
without repentance.
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The
Divine Sovereignty.
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A. D. 58.
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33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways
past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or
who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given to him,
and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and
through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for
ever. Amen.
The apostle having insisted so largely, through the greatest part of this
chapter, upon reconciling the rejection of the Jews with the divine goodness,
he concludes here with the acknowledgment and admiration of the divine wisdom
and sovereignty in all this. Here the apostle does with great affection and
awe adore,
I. The secrecy of the divine counsels: O the depth! in these
proceedings towards the Jews and Gentiles; or, in general, the whole mystery
of the gospel, which we cannot fully comprehend.--The riches of the wisdom
and knowledge of God, the abundant instances of his wisdom and knowledge
in contriving and carrying on the work of our redemption by Christ, a depth
which the angels pry into, 1 Pet. i. 12. Much more may it puzzle any human
understanding to give an account of the methods, and reasons, and designs, and
compass of it. Paul was as well acquainted with the mysteries of the kingdom
of God as ever any mere man was; and yet he confesses himself at a loss in the
contemplation, and, despairing to find the bottom, he humbly sits down at the
brink, and adores the depth. Those that know most in this state of
imperfection cannot but be most sensible of their own weakness and
short-sightedness, and that after all their researches, and all their
attainments in those researches, while they are here they cannot order their
speech by reason of darkness. Praise is silent to thee, Ps. lxv. 1.-- The
depth of the riches. Men's riches of all kinds are shallow, you may soon
see the bottom; but God's riches are deep (Ps. xxxvi. 6): Thy judgments are
a great deep. There is not only depth in the divine counsels, but riches
too, which denotes an abundance of that which is precious and valuable, so
complete are the dimensions of the divine counsels; they have not only depth
and height, but breadth and length (Eph. iii. 18), and that passing
knowledge, v. 19.-- Riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
His seeing all things by one clear, and certain, and infallible view--all
things that are, or ever were, or ever shall be,--that all is naked and open
before him: there is his knowledge. His ruling and ordering all things,
directing and disposing them to his own glory, and bringing about his own
purposes and counsels in all; this is his wisdom. And the vast extent
of both these is such a depth as is past our fathoming, and we may soon lose
ourselves in the contemplation of them. Such knowledge is too wonderful for
me, Ps. cxxxix. 6. Compare v. 17, 18.-- How unsearchable are his
judgments! that is, his counsels and purposes: and his ways, that
is, the execution of these counsels and purposes. We know not what he designs.
When the wheels are set in motion, and Providence has begun to work, yet we
know not what he has in view; it is past finding out. This does not
only overturn all our positive conclusions about the divine counsels, but it
also checks all our curious enquiries. Secret things belong not to us, Deut.
xxix. 29. God's way is in the sea, Ps. lxxvii. 19. Compare Job xxiii. 8, 9;
Ps. xcvii. 2. What he does we know not now, John xiii. 7. We cannot give a
reason of God's proceedings, nor by searching find out God. See Job v. 9; ix.
10. The judgments of his mouth, and the way of our duty, blessed be God, are
plain and easy, it is a high-way; but the judgments of his hands, and the ways
of his providence, are dark and mysterious, which therefore we must not pry
into, but silently adore and acquiesce in. The apostle speaks this especially
with reference to that strange turn, the casting off of the Jews and the
entertainment of the Gentiles, with a purpose to take in the Jews again in due
time; these were strange proceedings, the choosing of some, the refusing of
others, and neither according to the probabilities of human conjecture. Even
so, Father, because it seemed good in thing eyes. These are methods
unaccountable, concerning which we must say, O the depth!--Past
finding out, anexicniastoi--cannot
be traced. God leaves no prints nor footsteps behind him, does not make a
path to shine after him; but his paths of providence are new every morning. He
does not go the same way so often as to make a track of it. How little a
portion is heard of him! Job xxvi. 14. It follows (v. 34), For
who hath known the mind of the Lord? Is there any creature made of his
cabinet-council, or laid, as Christ was, in the bosom of the Father? Is there
any to whom he has imparted his counsels, or that is able, upon the view of
his providences, to know the way that he takes? There is so vast a distance
and disproportion between God and man, between the Creator and the creature,
as for ever excludes the thought of such an intimacy and familiarity. The
apostle makes the same challenge (1 Cor. ii. 16): For who hath known the
mind of the Lord? And yet there he adds, But we have the mind of
Christ, which intimates that through Christ true believers, who have his
Spirit, know so much of the mind of God as is necessary to their happiness. He
that knew the mind of the Lord has declared him, John i. 18. And so, though we
know not the mind of the Lord, yet, if we have the mind of Christ, we have
enough. The secret of the Lord is with those that fear him, Ps. xxv.
14. Shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do? See John xv. 15.-- Or
who has been his counsellor? He needs no counsellor, for he is infinitely
wise; nor is any creature capable of being his counsellor; this would be like
lighting a candle to the sun. This seems to refer to that scripture (Isa. xl.
13, 14), Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or, being his
counsellor, hath taught him? With whom took he counsel? &c. It is the
substance of God's challenge to Job concerning the work of creation (Job
xxxviii.), and is applicable to all the methods of his providence. It is
nonsense for any man to prescribe to God, or to teach him how to govern the
world.
II. The sovereignty of the divine counsels. In all these things God acts as a
free agent, does what he will, because he will, and gives not account of any
of his matters (Job xxiii. 13; xxxiii. 13), and yet there is no
unrighteousness with him. To clear which,
1. He challenges any to prove God a debtor to him (v. 35): Who hath
first given to him? Who is there of all the creatures that can prove God
is beholden to him? Whatever we do for him, or devote to him, it must be with
that acknowledgment, which is for ever a bar to such demands (1 Chron. xxix.
14): Of thine own we have given thee. All the duties we can perform are
not requitals, but rather restitutions. If any can prove that God is his
debtor, the apostle here stands bound for the payment, and proclaims, in God's
name, that payment is ready: It shall be recompensed to him again. It
is certain God will let nobody lose by him; but never any one yet durst make a
demand of this kind, or attempt to prove it. This is here suggested, (1.) To
silence the clamours of the Jews. When God took away their visible
church-privileges from them, he did but take his own: and may he not do what
he will with his own--give or withhold his grace where and when he pleases?
(2.) To silence the insultings of the Gentiles. When God sent the gospel among
them, and gave so many of them grace and wisdom to accept of it, it was not
because he owed them so much favour, or that they could challenge it as a
debt, but of his own good pleasure.
2. He resolves all into the sovereignty of God (v. 36): For of him,
and through him, and to him, are all things, that is, God is all in all.
All things in heaven and earth (especially those things which relate to our
salvation, the things which belong to our peace) are of him by way of
creation, through him by way of providential influence, that they may be to
him in their final tendency and result. Of God as the spring and fountain of
all, through Christ, God-man, as the conveyance, to God as the ultimate end.
These three include, in general, all God's causal relations to his creatures:
of him as the first efficient cause, through him as the supreme directing
cause, to him as the ultimate final cause; for the Lord hath made all for
himself, Rev. iv. 11. If all be of him and through him, there is all the
reason in the world that all should be to him and for him. It is a necessary
circulation; if the rivers received their waters from the sea, they return
them to the sea again, Eccl. i. 7. To do all to the glory of God is to make a
virtue of necessity; for all shall in the end be to him, whether we will or
no. And so he concludes with a short doxology: To whom be glory for ever,
Amen. God's universal agency as the first cause, the sovereign ruler, and
the last end, ought to be the matter of our adoration. Thus all his works do
praise him objectively; but his saints do bless him actively; they hand that
praise to him which all the creatures do minister matter for, Ps. cxlv. 10.
Paul had been discoursing at large of the counsels of God concerning man,
sifting the point with a great deal of accuracy; but, after all, he concludes
with the acknowledgment of the divine sovereignty, as that into which all
these things must be ultimately resolved, and in which alone the mind can
safely and sweetly rest. This is, if not the scholastic way, yet the Christian
way, of disputation. Whatever are the premises, let god's glory be the
conclusion; especially when we come to talk of the divine counsels and actings,
it is best for us to turn our arguments into awful and serious adorations. The
glorified saints, that see furthest into these mysteries, never dispute, but
praise to eternity.
Contents
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