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gratuitous kindness of all-perfect Love. We ar therefore, obliged to praise, in higher strains exultation, the immense clemency of sovereig mercy towards the elect, when we have a prope regard to the misery and wretchedness of those re probates who are overwhelmed by the wrath of inf nite purity. Glory means, in this passage, divin mercy, for the chief praise and honour of the splen dour of the Most High consist in acts of kindness Thus (Eph. i. 6, 13) Paul, after stating we wer adopted by God to the praise of the glory of he grace, shortly after adds, that we were sealed by th Spirit of our inheritance to the praise of his glory without mentioning grace. Paul, therefore, was de sirous to signify that the elect were instruments, organs, by which the sovereign Disposer of all event exercises his mercy, for the purpose of glorifying hi name in their actions and conduct. Paul, in thi second member of the sentence, more expressly as serts, that God prepares the elect for glory, when h had before simply stated, that the reprobates wer vessels prepared for destruction. Both of thes preparations depend, without doubt, on the secre counsel of God; for, had it not been the case, th apostle would have made the reprobates cast throw themselves into destruction. He now means their lot was assigned them before their birth.

24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jew only, but also of the Gentiles? 25 As he saith als in Osee, I will call them my people, which were no my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; ther shall they be called the children of the living God 27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the

number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness; because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 29 And as Isaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.

Even us, whom he hath called-Two consequences follow from the dispute in which Paul has been engaged concerning the liberty of the divine election ; first, that the grace of God is not so limited to the Jewish people as to be unable to extend itself to other nations, and to be diffused over the whole world. In the second place, it is not so confined to the Jews as not to reach all the sons of Abraham according to the flesh, without any exception. For, if God's election is founded on his good pleasure alone, it exists wherever his will determines to choose. This position concerning election makes way for the observations that are connected both with the calling of the gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, the former of which was considered as absurd on account of its novelty, and the latter appeared altogether unworthy of the divine character. He treats of the calling of the gentiles first, because it was not calculated to cause so much offence as the rejection of the Israelites. says, vessels of the mercy of God, which he hath chosen for the glory of his name, are selected equally from gentiles and Jews. The relative whom, though Paul does not strictly adhere to grammatical accuracy, implies that we are the vessels of the glory of God, who are taken partly from the Jews, and partly from the gentiles. Paul here, from the calling of Jehovah, proves that God makes no difference of

Paul

nation in his election. For, if our descent from the gentiles did not prevent God from calling us, it is evident the heathens were not debarred from the kingdom of God and the covenant of eternal salvation.

As he saith also in Osee-Paul now says, that the calling of the gentiles ought not to be regarded as a new thing, since the prophet Hosea had foretold it (Hos. ii. 23) long before; see 1 Pet. ii. 10. Paul's reasoning is very plain; the only difficulty consists in the application of the prophecy, for there can be no doubt that Hosea was speaking concerning the Jews in this passage. For Jehovah, being offended with them on account of their crimes, threatens that they shall be no longer his people. He afterwards comforts them, and says to those who were not his people, "Thou art my people; and to those who were not beloved, Thou art my beloved." Paul endeavours to apply this prophecy, which belonged expressly to the Jews, to the gentiles. Paul, according to the best explanation of this difficulty hitherto given, reasons in the following manner: "The Jewish nation had experienced the same impediments against their becoming partakers of salvation which had befallen the heathens; as God, therefore, formerly had kindly received into his favour the Jews whom he had rejected and banished from their land, so he now shows the same kindness to the gentiles." Although this interpretation can be vindicated, yet it appears to be forced; and I propose the following, which I consider better suited to the passage," that the consolation afforded the Jews by the prophet, applies with equal propriety to the gentiles." For it is neither new, unusual, nor unreasonable for the prophets, after they have proclaimed the inflicting of God's vengeance on the Jews, because of their crimes, to direct their attention to the kingdom of Christ, which was to be

propagated over the whole earth. For, when the Jews had so provoked the anger of God by their sins, as to deserve to be rejected by him, no hope of salvation remained except in their conversion to Christ, by whom the covenant of grace is renewed; and as it was first founded, so it is now restored in him, after it has been lost. Since, also, Christ is the undoubted and only refuge, when affairs are in a desperate state, no solid, lasting comfort can be bestowed on wretched sinners, who feel the anger of God to be suspended over their heads, but in the offer of Christ Jesus. It is, as we have stated, usual for the prophets, after humbling a people, who have been sore amazed and thoroughly affrighted by the threatenings of divine indignation, to recall them to Christ, the only sanctuary and place of refuge for desperate offenders. Wherever the kingdom of Christ is erected, that heavenly city Jerusalem is at the same time built, to which citizens flock from all parts of the world. This was particularly the case in this prophecy; for since the Jews were banished from the family of God, they were brought down to a level with the rest of mankind, and only equal to the gentiles. It hence follows that the prophecy of Hosea is well suited to the present instance; for God declares, after he has brought the Jews to the same standard with the gentiles, he will collect a church from among strangers, and say to them "who were not his people, Thou shalt be my people." Them my people, which were not my people-God had now divorced his people, and so deprived them of all their dignity as to leave them in no respect superior to the rest of the gentiles, who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. And although those, whom God has destined to himself as sons by his eternal counsel, continue always sons, yet the Scripture frequently does not reckon them among the children of their heavenly Father, unless

their election has been proved and supported by their calling. We are hence taught, that we should not form our judgment, much less pronounce our opinion, concerning the election of God, except so far as he manifests himself by his own undoubted signs. Thus, after Paul had pointed out to the Ephesians that their election and adoption had been predestinated by God before the foundation of the world, (Eph. ii. 1,) he not long after testifies their former alienation from the Most High, namely, during the period when Jehovah had not yet manifested his own love to them, although he would finally fold them in the arms of his eternal mercy. In this place, therefore, those are called not beloved, to whom the eternal justice of the Lord gives proofs of his indignation rather than love. Moreover, it is a certain truth, that the wrath of infinite Holiness rests upon the whole race of mankind, until the Lord has reconciled them to himself by adoption. The feminine gender is used here according to the context of the passage in Hosea; for he had said, a daughter was born to him, and God called her name not beloved, and testified by this type that he would no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, who would thus be compelled to acknowledge themselves hated of the Lord. As rejection was the cause of the divine hatred, so the adoption of those (Hos. i. 10) who had been strangers for a time was, according to the prophet, the commencement of the love of their heavenly Father.

Isaiah also crieth-Paul now goes to the second part of his subject, and he was desirous to avoid it, lest he should exasperate the minds of his countrymen. Paul intentionally introduces Isaiah crying, not speaking, for the purpose of exciting greater attention. The words of the prophet (Isa. x. 21) are manifestly designed to prevent the Jews from

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