The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 269

m11dl! thoo eo, or etill keop thee ~o: 11nd In our own filth dJ:Jp our c'!ear judgmP,DtB, this, not that thou mayest nccompliHh thine make ne own will, but subeerve mine, end the.t my Adore oar errors, laugh at ua while W4 power to work out my own purposes of strnt mercy or of judgment may be the more To our confusion." notably dieplciyed," For how is God's pur- We may compare also the J.atin saying, pose in so raising Phare.oh up defined ? Quern Deus 'l'ult, perdere pri~ rlementat, "That I might show in thee my power, ond which hy no means implies tLat the divinely tho.t my Name might be declared through- dementated persons have not deserved out all the earth ; " i.e., as is evident from destruction. Buch, then, seems the view to the history, by the delivere.nce of Israel in be taken of what is said about Phal'Mh spite of Pho.re.oh's OJ?POsition ~hrough the himself. But the important thing to he judrrments sent on him end bis people to kept in view for a proper nndeI'l!tanding that end. Thero is plainly nothing in the of the drift of the passage id that, thongh original history to imply Phe.re.oh's indi- Phare.oh was himself an individual, bis vidual reprobation with regard to his own case is adduced in no connection ,,itb the eternal snlve.tion, but only his discomfiture question of individual predestination, but in' his opposition to the Divine plll'pose of in illustration of the principle on which mercy to Isre.el. B~t still, with a view_ to nations, or races of men, are elected to or such execution of his purposes, God him- rejected from the f·njoyment of Divine favour. self is· said to have hardened Phe.raoh's This is the real snhject of the whole chapter; bee.rt· o.nd it is to this the.t the npostle and hence to build on this part of it a doc- draws' special attention in conclusion, as trine of individual election or reprobation denotina- that which it is his design to show. is to brina into it what is not there. The His thu~ certainly declared that this_h~rden- drift of the passage before us is this : ing was from God. But even so, 1t 1s no- Moses and the Israelites of old illustrate where said that God had me.de Phnmoh's the position of the faithful remnant of the bee.rt hard from the first, so that he bad Jews together with all Christian believers been all along incapable of acting otherwise now. Phare.oh illnstrnte3 the position of than he did. The inference rather is that, the obdurate majority of the Jewish nation after •wilful resistance to appeals, final now. A.she, in setting himself against the obduracy was sent on him as e. judgment. Divine purpose, and relying ou his own And it is further to be observed that in some strength, was unable to thwart God.'3 design verses in Exodus (viii. 15, 19, 82; ix. 84) of mercy to his cl,iosen, and Wlli! himself Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own ho.rdened and rejected, so the Jews as o. heart with the addition, in Exod. ix. 84, of nation now. And as then, so now, both "he 'sinned yet more;" while in others the election and the rejection a re to he (Exod. vii. 14, 22: ix. 7, 85) it is only so.id referred entirely to the will of God. he.ring generally that "his heart wns ho.rdened." mercy on whom he will and h:irdening The two forms of expression seem to denote whom he will, his justice in doing both two aspects of final ob~umcy in_ me.n- being neYerthelesa ~mpeachahle. nccordiug to one as bemi;- ~e~f-mdnced, Ver. 19.-Thou wilt say then unto me, according to the o.~her ns JUd1ma), Th~s Why doth he yet find fault ! l!'or who also in 1 Kings xxn. the LoRD himself 1s resisteth his will! Haring shown that ea.id to have sent the lying spirit into the injustice cannot be ~pnted to God in heart of Ahab's prophets, in order that he hardening e.s well as he.vrng mercy on whom might rush to his ruin, though it was he will, the apostle now_ meets tlie supposed obviously due to his own sins that ho was difficulty of understandmg why men ~honld thus finally doomed. A striking inste.nco be lield guiUy before God for but berng all of the two aspects of human obdure.oy is he 'IVills them to be, It is immediately found in Isa, vi. 9, eto., nod the referonce suacrested by Plie.moh's case, which led to to the passage by our Lord in Mntt. xiii. t1.i:"couclllllion, 8v Bb. « ,r,c;>,,:r1pvv«; but the 15. In Isaiah it is, "Mnke the heart of apostle foresees thot an obje;tion ~ight be this people fat," eto,; but in our Lord's raised on thie gro11Dd to his finding fault referenoe, "For this people's heart is waxed with the Jews for rejecting Christ, 1md gross and their ears are dull of hearing, them he especilllly hns in view in what •und their eyes ha'IIB they olosed;" 11s if the follows. H may be observed here that closing hnd been their own doing (of. M1uk there is undoubtedly a difficulty to tlio Iv 12 • Luke viii, 10). The following lines human mind in reconciling theoretically ex'pre;s a like oonception of judiciuJ blind- Divine omnipotence with human free-will llOSS- nnd responsibility. (On the genen,l question, " For whon wo in our vioiousnesa grow lmrd !!lee notes on oh. viii.) St. Paul herL\ 1\ft,,r (0 misery on't I). tho wise gods se1\l our his manner, does not nttL'tr.pt tn sol Vtl tho oyea, gouerol problem, confining himsl'lf for thoJ  268 THE EPrnTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. [oR, xx. 1-88.'