The Epistle of Saint Paul The Apostle to the Romans continues without comment:
Paul Grieves for the Jews:
I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sadness and continuous sorrow in my heart. For I could wish to be anathema myself from Christ for the sake of my brethren, who are my kinsman according to the flesh; who are Israelites, who have adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the legislation and the worship and the promises; who have the fathers, and from who is the Christ according to the flesh, who is, over all things, God blessed forever, amen.
God’s Election Depends on His Free Choice:
It is not that the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israelites who are sprung from Israel; nor because they are the descendants of Abraham, are they all his children; but “Through Isaac shall thy posterity bear thy name.” That is to say, they are not sons of God who are the children of the flesh, but it is the children of promise who are reckoned as posterity. For this is a word of promise: “About this time I will come and Sara shall have a son.” And not she only; but also Rebecca, who conceived by one man, Isaac our father; for before the children had yet been born, or had done aught of good or evil, in order that the selective process of God might stand, depending not on deeds, but on his who calls, it was said to her, “The elder shall serve the younger;” as it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
God is Not Unjust:
What then shall we say? Is there injustice in God? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will show pity to whom I will show pity.” So then there is question not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God showing mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharoah, “For this very purpose I have raised thee up that I may show in thee my power, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore he has mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardens.
His Power and Glory:
Thou sayest to me: Why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will? O man, art thou to reply to God? Does the object moulded say to him who moulded it: Why hast thou made me thus? Or is it not the potter master of is clay, to make from the same mass one vessel for honorable, another for ignoble use? But what if God, wishing to show his wrath and to make known his power, endured with much patience vessels of wrath, ready for destruction, that he might show the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he has prepared unto glory—even us whom he has called not only from among the Jews buy also from among the Gentiles?
Witness of the Old Testament:
As he says in Osee, “A people not mine I will call my people, and an unbeloved, beloved, and her who had not obtained mercy, one who has obtained mercy. And it shall be in the place where it was said to them: you are not my people; there they shall be called sons of the living God.” And Isaias cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of children of Israel are as the sands of the sea, the remnant shall be saved. For the Lord fulfills his word speedily in justice, because a speedy word will the Lord accomplish on earth.” And as Isaias foretold, “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us a posterity, we should have become as Sodom and should have been like Gomorrah.”
Jesus’ Refusal to Believe:
What then shall we say? That the Gentiles who were not pursuing justice have secured justice, but a justice that is from faith; but Israel, by pursuing a law of justice, has not attained to the law of justice. And why? Because they sought it not from faith, but as it were from works. For they stumbled at the stumbling-stone, as it is written, “Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone and rock of scandal: and whoever believes in him shall not be disappointed.”
Ignorance of the Justice of God:
This Justice comes Through Faith:
For Moses wrote that the man who does that justice which is of the Law, shall live by it. But the justice that is of faith says, “Do not say in thy heart: Who shall ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring down Christ); “or, Who shall descend into the abyss?” (that is to bring up Christ from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart” (that is, the word of faith, which we preach). For if thy confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in thy heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with a heart a man believes unto justice, and with the mouth profession of faith is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him shall not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for there is the same Lord of all, rich towards all who call upon him. “For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Refusal to Believe the Gospel:
How then are they to call upon him in whom they have not believed? But how are they to believe him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear, if no one preaches? And how are men to preach unless they be sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace; of those who bring glad tidings of good things!” But all did not obey the gospel. For Isaias says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” Faith then depends on hearing, and hearing on the word of Christ. But I say: Have they not heard? Yes, indeed, “Their voice has gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” But I say: Has not Israel known? First of all, Moses says, “I will provoke you to jealousy of those who are not a nation; I will stir you to anger against a senseless nation.” Then Isaias dares to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I appeared openly to those who made no inquiry of me.” But to Israel he says, “All the day long I stretched out my hand to a people unbelieving and contradicting.”
A remnant of the Jews Will Be Saved:
Witness of the Scriptures:
What then? What Israel was seeking after, that it has not obtained; but the chosen have obtained it, and the rest have been blinded, as it is written, “God has given them a spirit of stupor until this present day, eyes that they may not see, and ears that they may not hear.” And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap and a stumbling-block and a recompense unto them: let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and let them bow their backs always.”
Israel’s Fall, the Gentiles’ Salvation:
The Gentiles Must Be Humble:
Israel Can Yet Be Saved:
Israel’s Final Conversion:
Ultimate Triumph of God’s Mercy:
God’s Ways Unsearchable:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! For “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor? Or who has first given to him, that recompense should be made for him?” For from him and through him and unto him are all things. To him be the glory forever, amen.
Day 142: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; The Remnant Will Be Saved; All Israel Should Be Saved!
Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Epistle of Saint Paul The Apostle to the Romans, Chapters 9-11.
Bible Notes:
Saint Paul in this letter gives the fullest explanation of his doctrine. In the first eleven chapters he explains that justification is through faith in Christ and not through the works of the Jewish Law. The last five chapters are directions for the conduct of a Christian life.
Romans Chapter 9: Paul grieves for the Jews; God’s election depends on His free choice; God is not unjust; His power and glory; Witness of the Old Testament; Jesus’ refusal to believe.
Paul Grieves for the Jews:
I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sadness and continuous sorrow in my heart. For I could wish to be anathema myself from Christ for the sake of my brethren, who are my kinsman according to the flesh; who are Israelites, who have adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the legislation and the worship and the promises; who have the fathers, and from who is the Christ according to the flesh, who is, over all things, God blessed forever, amen.
Anathema—a person or thing detested or loathed; a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction; a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication.
God’s Election Depends on His Free Choice:
It is not that the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israelites who are sprung from Israel; nor because they are the descendants of Abraham, are they all his children; but “Through Isaac shall thy posterity bear thy name.” That is to say, they are not sons of God who are the children of the flesh, but it is the children of promise who are reckoned as posterity. For this is a word of promise: “About this time I will come and Sara shall have a son.” And not she only; but also Rebecca, who conceived by one man, Isaac our father; for before the children had yet been born, or had done aught of good or evil, in order that the selective process of God might stand, depending not on deeds, but on his who calls, it was said to her, “The elder shall serve the younger;” as it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
God is Not Unjust:
What then shall we say? Is there injustice in God? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will show pity to whom I will show pity.” So then there is question not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God showing mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharoah, “For this very purpose I have raised thee up that I may show in thee my power, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore he has mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardens.
His Power and Glory:
Thou sayest to me: Why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will? O man, art thou to reply to God? Does the object moulded say to him who moulded it: Why hast thou made me thus? Or is it not the potter master of is clay, to make from the same mass one vessel for honorable, another for ignoble use? But what if God, wishing to show his wrath and to make known his power, endured with much patience vessels of wrath, ready for destruction, that he might show the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he has prepared unto glory—even us whom he has called not only from among the Jews buy also from among the Gentiles?
Witness of the Old Testament:
As he says in Osee, “A people not mine I will call my people, and an unbeloved, beloved, and her who had not obtained mercy, one who has obtained mercy. And it shall be in the place where it was said to them: you are not my people; there they shall be called sons of the living God.” And Isaias cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of children of Israel are as the sands of the sea, the remnant shall be saved. For the Lord fulfills his word speedily in justice, because a speedy word will the Lord accomplish on earth.” And as Isaias foretold, “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us a posterity, we should have become as Sodom and should have been like Gomorrah.”
Jesus’ Refusal to Believe:
What then shall we say? That the Gentiles who were not pursuing justice have secured justice, but a justice that is from faith; but Israel, by pursuing a law of justice, has not attained to the law of justice. And why? Because they sought it not from faith, but as it were from works. For they stumbled at the stumbling-stone, as it is written, “Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone and rock of scandal: and whoever believes in him shall not be disappointed.”
Romans Chapter 10: Ignorance of the justice of God; This justice comes through faith; Refusal to believe the gospel.
Ignorance of the Justice of God:
Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is in their behalf unto their salvation. For I bear witness that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; for, ignorance of the justice of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the justice of God. For Christ is consummation of the Law unto justice for everyone who believes.
Consummation—the act of consummating; completion; the state of being consummated; perfection; fulfillment.
This Justice comes Through Faith:
For Moses wrote that the man who does that justice which is of the Law, shall live by it. But the justice that is of faith says, “Do not say in thy heart: Who shall ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring down Christ); “or, Who shall descend into the abyss?” (that is to bring up Christ from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart” (that is, the word of faith, which we preach). For if thy confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in thy heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with a heart a man believes unto justice, and with the mouth profession of faith is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him shall not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for there is the same Lord of all, rich towards all who call upon him. “For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Refusal to Believe the Gospel:
How then are they to call upon him in whom they have not believed? But how are they to believe him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear, if no one preaches? And how are men to preach unless they be sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace; of those who bring glad tidings of good things!” But all did not obey the gospel. For Isaias says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” Faith then depends on hearing, and hearing on the word of Christ. But I say: Have they not heard? Yes, indeed, “Their voice has gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” But I say: Has not Israel known? First of all, Moses says, “I will provoke you to jealousy of those who are not a nation; I will stir you to anger against a senseless nation.” Then Isaias dares to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I appeared openly to those who made no inquiry of me.” But to Israel he says, “All the day long I stretched out my hand to a people unbelieving and contradicting.”
Romans Chapter 11: A remnant of the Jews will be saved; Witness of the Scriptures; Israel’s fall, the Gentiles’ salvation; The Gentiles must be humble; Israel can yet be saved; Israel’s final conversion; Ultimate triumph of God’s mercy; God’s ways unsearchable.
A remnant of the Jews Will Be Saved:
I say then: Has God cast off his people? By no means! For I also am an Israelite of the posterity of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast off his people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scriptures says in the account of Elias, how he lodges complaint with God against Israel? “Lord, they have slain thy prophets, they have razed thy altars; and I only am left, and they are seeking my life.” But what does the divine answer say to him? “I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed their knees to Baal.” Even so, then, at the present time there is a remnant left, selected out of grace. And is out of grace, then not in virtue of works: otherwise grace is no longer grace.
Witness of the Scriptures:
What then? What Israel was seeking after, that it has not obtained; but the chosen have obtained it, and the rest have been blinded, as it is written, “God has given them a spirit of stupor until this present day, eyes that they may not see, and ears that they may not hear.” And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap and a stumbling-block and a recompense unto them: let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and let them bow their backs always.”
Israel’s Fall, the Gentiles’ Salvation:
I say then: have they so stumbled as to fall? By no means! But by their offense salvation has come to the Gentiles, that they may be jealous of them. Now if their offense is the riches of the world, and their decline the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their full number!
The Gentiles Must Be Humble:
For I say to you Gentiles: as long, indeed, as I am an apostle of the Gentiles, I will honor my ministry, in the hope that I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them. For if the rejection of them is the reconciliation of the world, what will the reception of them be but life from the dead? Now if the first handful of the dough is holy, so also is the lump of dough; and if the root is holy, so also are the branches. But if some of the branches have been broken off, and if thou, being a wild olive, art grafted in their place, and hast become a partaker of the stem and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if thou dost boast, still it is not thou that supportest the stem, but the stem thee. Thou wilt say, then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” True, but they were broken off because of unbelief, whereas thou by faith standest. Be not high-mined, but fear. For if God has not spared the natural branches, perhaps he may not spare thee either. See, then, the goodness and the severity of God: his severity towards those who have fallen, but the goodness of God towards thee if thou abides in his goodness; otherwise thou also wilt be cut off.
Israel Can Yet Be Saved:
And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them back. For if thou hast been cut off from the wild olive tree which is natural to thee, and contrary to nature, hast been grafted into the cultivated olive tree, how much more shall these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
Israel’s Final Conversion:
For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, that a partial blindness only has befallen Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles should enter, and thus all Israel should be saved, as it is written, “There will come out of Sion the deliverer and he will turn away impiety from Jacob (Israel) and this is my covenant with them, when I shall take away their sins,” In view of the gospel, they are enemies for your sake; but in view of the divine choice, they are most dear for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the call of God are without repentance.
Impiety—lack of piety; lack of reverence for God or sacred things; irreverence; lack of dutifulness or respect; an impious act, practice, etc.
Ultimate Triumph of God’s Mercy:
For as you also at one time did not believe God, but now have obtained mercy by reason of their unbelief, so they too have not now believed by reason of the mercy shown you, that they too may obtain mercy. For God has shut up all in unbelief, that he may have mercy upon all.
God’s Ways Unsearchable:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! For “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor? Or who has first given to him, that recompense should be made for him?” For from him and through him and unto him are all things. To him be the glory forever, amen.
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