We seem to see the look and hear the voice of the Apostle, once the mighty Rabbi, the persecuting patriot, as he begins now to dictate again. His eyes brighten, and his brow clears, and a happier emphasis comes into his utterance, as he sets himself to speak of his people's good, and to remind his Gentile brethren how, in God's plan of redemption, all their blessing, all they know of salvation, all they possess of life eternal, has come to them through Israel. Israel is the Stem, drawing truth and life from the unfathomable soil of the covenant of promise. They are the grafted Branches, rich in every blessing--because they are the mystical seed _of Abraham_, in Christ.
[Sidenote: Ver. 1.] =I say therefore, Did God ever thrust[184] away His people? Away with the thought! For I am an Israelite, of Abraham's seed, Benjamin's tribe;= full member of the theocratic race (Ἰσραηλίτης), and of its first royal and always loyal tribe; in my own person, therefore, I am an instance of Israel still in covenant. [Sidenote: Ver. 2.] =God never[184] thrust away His people, whom He foreknew= with the foreknowledge of eternal choice and purpose.[185] That foreknowledge was "not according to their works," or according to their power; and so it holds its sovereign way across and above their long unworthiness. =Or do you not know, in Elijah,= in his story, in the pages marked with his name, =what the Scripture says? How he intercedes before God,= on God's own behalf, =against Israel, saying= (1 Kings xix. 10), [Sidenote: Ver. 3.] ="Lord, Thy prophets they killed, and Thy altars they dug up; and I was left solitary, and they seek my life"?= [Sidenote: Ver. 4.] =But what says the oracular answer (ὁ χρηματισμὸς) to him? "I have left for Myself seven thousand men, men who (οἵτινες) bowed never knee to Baal"= (1 Kings xix. 18). [Sidenote: Ver. 5.] =So therefore at the present season also there proves to be (γέγονεν) a remnant,= "_a leaving_" (λεῖμμα), left by the Lord for Himself, =on the principle of (κατὰ) election of grace;= their persons and their number following a choice and gift whose reasons lie in God alone. And then follows one of those characteristic "foot-notes" of which we saw an instance above (x. 17): [Sidenote: Ver. 6.] =But if by grace, no longer of works;= "_no longer_," in the sense of a logical succession and exclusion; =since the grace proves (γίνεται),= on the other principle, =no longer grace. But if of works, it is no longer grace; since the work is no longer work.[186]= That is to say, when once the grace-principle is admitted, as it is here assumed to be, "_the work_" of the man who is its subject is "_no longer work_" in the sense which makes an antithesis to grace; it is no longer so much toil done in order to so much pay to be given. In other words, the two supposed principles of the divine Choice are in their nature mutually exclusive. Admit the one as the condition of the "election," and the other ceases; you cannot combine them into an amalgam. If the election is of grace, _no_ meritorious antecedent to it is possible in the subject of it. If it is according to meritorious antecedent, _no_ sovereign freedom is possible in the divine action, such freedom as to bring the saved man, the saved remnant, to an adoring confession of unspeakable and mysterious mercy.
This is the point, here in this passing "foot-note," as in the longer kindred statements above (ch. ix.), of the emphasized allusion to "_choice_" and "_grace_." He writes thus that he may bring the believer, Gentile or Jew, to his knees, in humiliation, wonder, gratitude, and trust. "Why did I, the self-ruined wanderer, the self-hardened rebel, come to the Shepherd who sought me, surrender my sword to the King who reclaimed me? Did I reason myself into harmony with Him? Did I lift myself, hopelessly maimed, into His arms? No; it was the gift of God, _first_, last, and in the midst. And if so, it was the choice of God." That point of light is surrounded by a cloud-world of mystery, though within those surrounding clouds there lurks, as to God, only rightness and love. But the point of light is there, immovable, for all the clouds; where fallen man chooses God, it is thanks to God who has chosen fallen man. Where a race is not "_thrust away_," it is because "_God foreknew_." Where some thousands of members of that race, while others fall away, are found faithful to God, it is because He has "_left them for Himself on the principle of choice of grace_." Where, amidst a widespread rejection of God's Son Incarnate, a Saul of Tarsus, an Aquila, a Barnabas, behold in Him their Redeemer, their King, their Life, their All, it is on that same principle. Let the man thus beholding and believing give _the whole_ thanks for his salvation in the quarter where it is all due. Let him not confuse one truth by another. Let not this truth disturb for a moment his certainty of personal moral freedom, and of its responsibility. Let it not for a moment turn him into a fatalist. But let him abase himself, and give thanks, and humbly trust Him who has thus laid hold of him for blessing. As he does so, in simplicity, not speculating but worshipping, he will need no subtle logic to assure him that he is to pray, and to work, without reserve, for the salvation of all men. It will be more than enough for him that His SOVEREIGN bids him do it, and tells him that it is according to His heart.