Chapter 9:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Johnson
| Luther
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Acts 1 Corinthians
Romans 9
In this chapter St. Paul, after strongly declaring his love and
esteem for them, sets himself to answer the grand objection of his
countrymen; namely, that the rejection of the Jews and reception
of the gentiles was contrary to the word of God. That he had not
here the least thought of personal election or reprobation is
manifest,
Verse 1. Because it lay quite wide of his design, which was this, to show
that God's rejecting the Jews and receiving the gentiles was
consistent with his word
Verse 2. Because such a doctrine would not only have had no tendency
to convince, but would have evidently tended to harden, the Jews;
Verse 3. Because when he sums up his argument in the close of the
chapter, he has not one word, or the least intimation, about it.
1. In Christ - This seems to imply an appeal to him. In the Holy
Ghost - Through his grace.
2. I have great sorrow - A high degree of spiritual sorrow and of
spiritual Joy may consist together, chap. viii, 39. By declaring his
sorrow for the unbelieving Jews, who excluded themselves from
all the blessings he had enumerated, he shows that what he was
now about to speak, he did not speak from any prejudice to them.
3. I could wish - Human words cannot fully describe the motions
of souls that are full of God. As if he had said, I could wish to
suffer in their stead; yea, to be an anathema from Christ in their
place. In how high a sense he wished this, who can tell, unless
himself had been asked and had resolved the question? Certainly
he did not then consider himself at all, but only others and the
glory of God. The thing could not be; yet the wish was pious and
solid; though with a tacit condition, if it were right and possible.
Verse 4. Whose is the adoption, &c. - He enumerates six prerogatives, of
which the first pair respect God the Father, the second Christ, the
third the Holy Ghost. The adoption and the glory - That is, Israel
is the first-born child of God, and the God of glory is their God,
Deut. iv, 7; Psalm cvi, 20. These are relative to each other. At
once God is the Father of Israel, and Israel are the people of God.
He speaks not here of the ark, or any corporeal thing. God himself
is "the glory of his people Israel." And the covenants, and the
giving of the law - The covenant was given long before the law. It
is termed covenants, in the plural, because it was so often and so
variously repeated, and because there were two dispositions of it,
Gal. iv, 24, frequently called two covenants; the one promising,
the other exhibiting the promise. And the worship, and the
promises - The true way of worshipping God; and all the promises
made to the fathers.
Verse 5. To the preceding, St. Paul now adds two more prerogatives.
Theirs are the fathers - The patriarchs and holy men of old, yea,
the Messiah himself. Who is over all, God blessed for ever - The
original words imply the self-existent, independent Being, who
was, is, and is to come. Over all - The supreme; as being God, and
consequently blessed for ever. No words can more dearly express
his divine, supreme majesty, and his gracious sovereignty both
over Jews and, gentiles.
Verse 6. Not as if - The Jews imagined that the word of God must fail if
all their nation were not saved. This St. Paul now refutes, and
proves that the word itself had foretold their falling away. The
word of God - The promises of God to Israel. Had fallen to the
ground - This could not be. Even now, says the apostle, some
enjoy the promises; and hereafter "all Israel shall be saved." This
is the sum of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters. For - Here he
enters upon the proof of it. All are not Israel, who are of Israel -
The Jews vehemently maintained the contrary; namely, that all
who were born Israelites, and they only, were the people of God.
The former part of this assertion is refuted here, the latter, ver. 24,
&c. The sum is, God accepts all believers, and them only; and this
is no way contrary to his word. Nay, he hath declared in his word,
both by types and by express testimonies, that believers are
accepted as the "children of the promise," while unbelievers are
rejected, though they are "children after the flesh." All are not
Israel - Not in the favour of God. Who are lineally descended of
Israel.
Verse 7. Neither because they are lineally the seed of Abraham, will it
follow that they are all children of God - This did not hold even in
Abraham's own family; and much less in his remote descendants.
But God then said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called - That is,
Isaac, not Ishmael, shall be called thy seed; that seed to which the
promise is made.
Verse 8. That is, Not the children, &c. - As if he had said, This is a clear
type of things to come; showing us, that in all succeeding
generations, not the children of the flesh, the lineal descendants of
Abraham, but the children of the promise, they to whom the
promise is made, that is, believers, are the children of God. Gen.
xxi, 12
Verse 9. For this is the word of the promise - By the power of which
Isaac was conceived, and not by the power of nature. Not,
Whosoever is born of thee shall be blessed, but, At this time -
Which I now appoint. I will come, and Sarah shall have a son -
And he shall inherit the blessing. Gen. xviii, 10.
Verse 10. And that God's blessing does not belong to all the descendants
of Abraham, appears not only by this instance, but by that of Esau
and Jacob, who was chosen to inherit the blessing, before either of
them had done good or evil. The apostle mentions this to show,
that neither were their ancestors accepted through any merit of
their own. That the purpose of God according to election might
stand - Whose purpose was, to elect or choose the promised seed.
Not of works - Not for any preceding merit in him he chose. But
of him that called - Of his own good pleasure who called to that
privilege whom he saw good.
Verse 12. The elder - Esau. Shall serve the younger - Not in person, for
he never did; but in his posterity. Accordingly the Edomites were
often brought into subjection by the Israelites. Gen. xxv, 23.
Verse 13. As it is written - With which word in Genesis, spoken so long
before, that of Malachi agrees. I have loved Jacob - With a
peculiar love; that is, the Israelites, the posterity of Jacob. And I
have, comparatively, hated Esau - That is, the Edomites, the
posterity of Esau. But observe,
1. This does not relate to the person of Jacob or Esau
2. Nor does it relate to the eternal state either of them or their
posterity. Thus far the apostle has been proving his proposition,
namely, that the exclusion of a great part of the seed of Abraham,
yea, and of Isaac, from the special promises of God, was so far
from being impossible, that, according to the scriptures
themselves, it had actually happened. He now introduces and
refutes an objection. Mal. i, 2, 3.
Verse 14. Is there injustice with God - Is it unjust in God to give Jacob
the blessing rather than Esau? or to accept believers, and them
only. God forbid - In no wise. This is well consistent with justice;
for he has a right to fix the terms on which he will show mercy,
according to his declaration to Moses, petitioning for all the
people, after they had committed idolatry with the golden calf. I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy - According to the
terms I myself have fixed. And I will have compassion on whom I
will have compassion - Namely, on those only who submit to my
terms, who accept of it in the way that I have appointed.
Verse 15. Exod. xxxiii, 19.
Verse 16. It - The blessing. Therefore is not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth - It is not the effect either of the will or the works
of man, but of the grace and power of God. The will of man is
here opposed to the grace of God, and man's running, to the divine
operation. And this general declaration respects not only Isaac and
Jacob, and the Israelites in the time of Moses, but likewise all the
spiritual children of Abraham, even to the end of the world.
Verse 17. Moreover - God has an indisputable right to reject those who
will not accept the blessings on his own terms. And this he
exercised in the case of Pharaoh; to whom, after many instances
of stubbornness and rebellion, he said, as it is recorded in
scripture, For this very thing have I raised thee up - That is,
Unless thou repent, this will surely be the consequence of my
raising thee up, making thee a great and glorious king, that my
power will be shown upon thee, (as indeed it was, by
overwhelming him and his army in the sea,) and my name
declared through all the earth - As it is at this day. Perhaps this
may have a still farther meaning. It seems that God was resolved
to show his power over the river, the insects, other animals, (with
the natural causes of their health, diseases, life, and death,) over
the meteors, the air, the sun, (all of which were worshipped by the
Egyptians, from whom other nations learned their idolatry,) and at
once over all their gods, by that terrible stroke of slaying all their
priests, and their choicest victims, the firstborn of man and beast;
and all this with a design, not only to deliver his people Israel, (for
which a single act of omnipotence would have sufficed,) but to
convince the Egyptians, that the objects of their worship were but
the creatures of Jehovah, and entirely in his power, and to draw
them and the neighbouring nations, who should hear of all these
wonders, from their idolatry, to worship the one God. For the
execution of this design, (in order to the display of the divine
power over the various objects of their worship, in variety of
wonderful acts, which were at the same time just punishments for
their cruel oppression of the Israelites,) God was pleased to raise
to the throne of an absolute monarchy, a man, not whom he had
made wicked on purpose, but whom he found so, the proudest, the
most daring and obstinate of all the Egyptian princes; and who,
being incorrigible, well deserved to be set up in that situation,
where the divine judgments fell the heaviest. Exod. ix, 16.
Verse 18. So then - That is, accordingly he does show mercy on his own
terms, namely, on them that believe. And whom he willeth -
Namely, them that believe not. He hardeneth - Leaves to the
hardness of their hearts.
Verse 19. Why doth he still find fault - The particle still is strongly
expressive of the objector's sour, morose murmuring. For who
hath resisted his will - The word his likewise expresses his
surliness and aversion to God, whom he does not even deign to
name.
Verse 20. Nay, but who art thou, O man - Little, impotent, ignorant man.
That repliest against God - That accusest God of injustice, for
himself fixing the terms on which he will show mercy? Shall the
thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me
thus - Why hast thou made me capable of honour and immortality,
only by believing?
Verse 21. Hath not the potter power over the clay - And much more hath
not God power over his creatures, to appoint one vessel, namely,
the believer, to honour, and another, the unbeliever, to dishonour?
If we survey the right which God has over us, in a more general
way, with regard to his intelligent creatures, God may be
considered in two different views, as Creator, Proprietor, and
Lord of all; or, as their moral Governor, and Judge. God, as
sovereign Lord and Proprietor of all, dispenses his gifts or favours
to his creatures with perfect wisdom, but by no rules or methods
of proceeding that we are acquainted with. The time when we
shall exist, the country where we shall live, our parents, our
constitution of body and turn of mind; these, and numberless other
circumstances, are doubtless ordered with perfect wisdom, but by
rules that lie quite out of our sight. But God's methods of dealing
with us, as our Governor and Judge, are dearly revealed and
perfectly known; namely, that he will finally reward every man
according to his works: "He that believeth shalt be saved, and he
that believeth not shall be damned." Therefore, though "He hath
mercy on whom he willeth, and whom he willeth he hardeneth,"
that is, suffers to be hardened in consequence of their obstinate
wickedness; yet his is not the will of an arbitrary, capricious, or
tyrannical being. He wills nothing but what is infinitely wise and
good; and therefore his will is a most proper rule of judgment. He
will show mercy, as he hath assured us, to none but true believers,
nor harden any but such as obstinately refuse his mercy. Jer. xviii,
6, 7
Verse 22. What if God, being willing - Referring to ver. 18, 19. That is,
although it was now his will, because of their obstinate unbelief,
To show his wrath - Which necessarily presupposes sin. And to
make his power known - This is repeated from the seventeenth
verse. Yet endured - As he did Pharaoh. With much longsuffering
- Which should have led them to repentance. The vessels of wrath
- Those who had moved his wrath by still rejecting his mercy.
Fitted for destruction - By their own wilful and final impenitence.
Is there any injustice in this?
Verse 23. That he might make known - What if by showing such
longsuffering even to "the vessels of wrath," he did the more
abundantly show the greatness of his glorious goodness, wisdom,
and power, on the vessels of mercy; on those whom he had
himself, by his grace, prepared for glory. Is this any injustice?
Verse 24. Even us - Here the apostle comes to the other proposition, of
grace free for all, whether Jew or gentile. Of the Jews - This he
treats of, ver. 25. Of the gentiles - Treated of in the same verse.
Verse 25. Beloved - As a spouse. Who once was not beloved -
Consequently, not unconditionally elected. This relates directly to
the final restoration of the Jews. Hosea ii, 23
Verse 26. There shall they be called the sons of God - So that they need
not leave their own country and come to Judea. Hosea i, 10
Verse 27. But Isaiah testifies, that (as many gentiles will be accepted,
so) many Jews will be rejected; that out of all the thousands of
Israel, a remnant only shall be saved. This was spoken originally
of the few that were saved from the ravage of Sennacherib's army.
Isaiah x, 22, 23
Verse 28. For he is finishing or cutting short his account - In rigorous
justice, will leave but a small remnant. There will be so general a
destruction, that but a small number will escape.
Verse 29. As Isaiah had said before - Namely, Isaiah i, 9, concerning
those who were besieged in Jerusalem by Rezin and Pekah.
Unless the Lord had left us a seed - Which denotes,
1. The present paucity:
2. The future abundance. We had been as Sodom - So that it is no
unexampled thing for the main body of the Jewish nation to revolt
from God, and perish in their sin.
Verse 30. What shall we say then - What is to be concluded from all that
has been said but this, That the gentiles, who followed not after
righteousness - Who a while ago had no knowledge of, no care or
thought about, it. Have attained to righteousness - Or justification.
Even the righteousness which is by faith. This is the first
conclusion we may draw from the preceding observations. The
second is, that Israel - The Jews Although following after the law
of righteousness - That law which, duly used, would have led
them to faith, and thereby to righteousness. Have not attained to
the law of righteousness - To that righteousness or justification
which is one great end of the law
Verse 32. And wherefore have they not? Is it because God eternally
decreed they should not? There is nothing like this to be met with
but agreeable to his argument the apostle gives us this good
reason for it, Because they sought it not by faith - Whereby alone
it could be attained. But as it were - In effect, if not professsedly,
by works. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone - Christ
crucified.
Verse 33. As it is written - Foretold by their own prophet. Behold, I lay
in Sion - I exhibit in my church, what, though it is in truth the
only sure foundation of happiness, yet will be in fact a
stumblingstone and rock of offense - An occasion of ruin to many,
through their obstinate unbelief. Isaiah viii, 14; Isaiah xxviii, 16.
Chapter 9:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Johnson
| Luther
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Acts 1 Corinthians
This version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible is a derivative of an electronic version, Copyright 1997, by Sulu D. Kelley. All rights reserved. Used by permission. It may not be modified or used commercially without permission of Wesleyan Heritage Publishing and Sulu Kelley. A special thanks to Mr. Kelley and Wesleyan Heritage Publishing for permission to create and post this version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible.
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