Romans 9:25

Rom_9:25-33

As He saith also in Osee, I will call them My people, which were not My people.

The calling of the Gentiles

I. Their former condition.

1. Not My people.

2. Not beloved.

II. Their gracious call--an act of--

1. Sovereign will.

2. Unmerited.

3. Effected by the gospel.

III. Their lofty privilege--called to be the sons of the living God--

1. Through faith.

2. In Jesus Christ. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

A people who were no people

(text and Hos_2:23):--

1. We accept the supreme authority of Holy Scripture: every word of it is truth to us.

2. Yet we attach special weight to words which are the personal utterances of the Lord, as here.

3. Still more are we impressed when a Divine message is repeated, as here.

4. God saith still what He said long ago. Come, then, anxious souls, and hear the story of Gods grace to His chosen, in the hope that He may do the like for you. Observe concerning the Lords people--

I. Their original state.

1. They not only were not beloved, but they were expressly disowned. Their claim, if they made any, was negatived. This is the worst case that can be; worse than to be left alone. This conscience, providence, and Gods Word all appear to say to men who persist in sin.

2. They had no approval of God. They were not numbered with His people, and were not beloved in the sense of complacency.

3. They had not in the highest sense obtained mercy. For--

(1) They were under providential judgment.

(2) That judgment had not become a blessing to them.

(3) They had not even sought for mercy.

4. They were types of a people who as yet have--

(1) Felt no application of the blood of Jesus.

(2) Known no renewing work of the Spirit.

(3) Obtained no relief by prayer; perhaps have not prayed.

(4) Enjoyed no comfort of the promises.

(5) Known no communion with God.

(6) No hope of heaven or preparation for it.

It is a terrible description, including all the unsaved. It is concerning such that the promise is made--I will call them My people. Who these are shall be seen in due time by their repentance and faith, which shall be wrought in them by the Spirit of God. There are such people, and this fact is our encouragement in preaching the gospel, for we perceive that our labour will not be in vain.

II. Their new condition.

1. Mercy is promised.

2. A Divine revelation is pronounced. I will say, Thou art My people. This is--

(1) Done by the Spirit of God in the heart.

(2) Supported by gracious dealings in the life.

3. A hearty response shall be given. They shall say, Thou art my God. The Spirit will lead them to this free acceptance.

(1) As a whole, they will say this with one voice.

(2) Each individual will say it for himself in the singular. Thou.

4. A declaration of love shall be made. I will call her beloved, etc. Love shall be enjoyed.

5. This shall be perceived by others. They shall be called, etc. Their likeness to God shall make them to be called the children of God, even as the peacemakers in Mat_5:9. Thus every blessing shall be theirs, surely, personally, everlastingly.

Reflections:

1. We must give up none as hopeless; even though they be marked out by terrible evidence to be not the people of God.

2. None may give up themselves in despair.

3. Sovereign grace is the ultimate hope of the fallen. Let them trust in a God so freely gracious, so mighty to save, so determined to bring in those whom it seemed that even He Himself had disowned, whom everybody had abandoned as not the people of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

A great reversal

Whether the original reference of the prophet is to the ten tribes or to the Gentile world is immaterial, since St. Paul employs the quotation to illustrate his contention that it is the purpose of Him who is Eternal Wisdom and Unchanging Righteousness to transfer privilege and blessing from those who pretended to an ancestral claim to them, unto those who had usually been regarded as aliens and reprobates--even the sinners of the Gentiles. If this phase of Divine action has to some extent lost its interest, the principle it illustrates is ever important.

I. The highly favoured may abuse their advantages and lose them. Consider the case of the Hebrews.

1. Their special prerogatives in religious knowledge and means of spiritual improvement.

2. Their rebellion and apostasy in yielding to idolatry.

3. Their frequent chastisements, especially in the captivity, and their subsequent humiliations.

4. The repetition of their insensibility and disobedience in the rejection of the Christ.

5. The final catastrophe which overtook the nation in the destruction of Jerusalem and the final dispersion.

II. The less favoured may be, in Gods providence, exalted to privilege. Consider the case of the Gentiles.

1. The publication of the gospel to them by Paul upon its rejection by the Jews.

2. The acceptance by many of the glad tidings intended for the enlightenment and salvation of men.

3. The position taken by Gentile converts in the diffusion of Christianity.

4. The subsequent conversion of the Roman empire.

5. The course of Christian history which may all be traced to the operation of this wonderful principle.

Application:

1. They act foolishly who rely on their privileges.

2. They are wise who, grateful for their privileges, are concerned so to use them that they may become the vehicles of the highest blessing to themselves, and to those over whom their influence may extend.

3. They who are cast down because their circumstances seem unfavourable should not forget that those who were not Gods people became His people, His beloved, the children of God. (Prof. Thomson.)

The character and privileges of the saints

I. What they were.

1. Not My people. Whos then? Men do not occupy neutral territory, nor are they an independent republic. Gods people own and serve Him as their Sovereign and Master--dread alternative then, those who throw off this allegiance become the slaves and subjects of the prince of this world, doing homage to him in their sentiments, and serving Him in their lives. And such were some of you.

2. Not beloved.

(1) Because unlovely and unloving. Alienated and enemies in their minds by wicked works. How could God love in the sense here mentioned those who defied His authority, broke His commandments, and made bad that which He pronounced very good.

(2) Therefore--

(a) The wrath of God abideth on them--rests as long as the provoking cause remains.

(b) The coming wrath menaces them.

II. What they are.

1. My people.

(1) They belong to God. He has bought them; He has taken them to be His peculiar possession; they gladly acquiesce in the Divine proprietorship. How safe and happy this makes them! If God be for us, who can be against us?

(2) They are Gods people.

(a) A homogeneous people. They are not His as so many scattered units, but His as a body, a Church. United to Him they are bound to one another for mutual protection, edification, comfort and general usefulness.

(b) A royal people. A kingdom. The Church is not a mere school of thought, but a kingdom of priests unto God. Gods people are royal in their birth, bearing, privileges, duties, and hopes.

(c) A people with a destiny. While some peoples have fulfilled their destiny, and others have theirs trembling in the balance, and others yet again all uncertain of theirs that of the people of God is sure. They and only they are to inherit the earth. That destiny is being fulfilled every day, and will be perfectly fulfilled when Jesus shall reign whereer the sun, etc.

2. Beloved.

(1) Gods anger is passed away from them. What then? What happens when the clouds rollaway at noon-day? So when the clouds of our rebellion and sinfulness pass away from before His countenance we bask in His smile. So--

(2) They are the objects of His complacency. He sees in them that which fills Him with delight--His beloved Sons purchase and image. Hence--

(3) They are the subjects of His special care (Rom_8:39). And--

(4) They await the highest manifestations of His favour.

3. Children of God.

(1) They are born from above, and become partakers of the Divine nature.

(2) They are adopted into the Divine family.

(3) They are heirs of Divine possessions.

III. How they become what they are

1. By sovereign grace. There was no merit in them, but every demerit. Had not God chosen them they had never chosen God.

2. By compliance with the conditions laid down by sovereign grace. Repentance and faith. (J. W Burn.)

And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people.

Hope for the outcasts:

I. Their condition--Not My people.

1. Without God.

2. Without knowledge of the truth.

3. Without hope.

II. Their happy change.

1. Adopted.

2. Transformed.

3. Admitted to fellowship with God--the true source of life and happiness. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

The sovereignty of God

I. The miserable condition of this people at the first--Not My people. What an awful position is that of nations, families, or men where they are not Gods people. What privileges they lose! What anticipations they are without! How empty their existence! How fearful their prospects! It is evident that nations have been under this denomination. There was not a country, except the Jewish, in ancient times that knew anything about the living God. And at the present day there are those nations which revel in their ignorance of Divine truth. Besides which, even in Christian lands, only a small proportion truly serve the Lord God.

II. The blessed condition of this people at the last. There is a remark-able contrast. They are the same people. But their condition is changed. They are to become not only Gods people, but Gods children, not only His servants, but His heirs. The change is a remarkable one, for it--

1. Involves a change of nature, disposition, heart, character, and it manifests the power of Divine grace which can so transform stones into children.

2. Alters the condition and future of those who are its subjects. They look forward to a period of blessedness in a Fathers house. (J. J. S. Bird, M.A.)

Though the number of … Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.--

The example of Israel a warning to the world

I. Judgement begins at the house of God.

II. Cannot be arrested by numbers or force.

III. Is exceedingly terrible--only a remnant saved.

IV. will be complete.

V. Will de executed in righteousness.

VI. Will be sudden and summary. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

The rejection of the Jews

I. Predicted.

II. National.

III. Judicial--in righteousness.

IV. Terribly fulfilled--only a remnant saved.

V. Mixed with mercy.

VI. Alleviated by hope--a seed left. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

The remnant saved

Our text is a quotation from Isaiah, and is intended to show the great disparity, in point of number, between the believing and the unbelieving Israelites.

I. Though multitudes appear to be the people of God, yet those who are so in reality are comparatively few.

1. The children of Israel according to the flesh were numerous as the sand of the sea. The promise of Gen_22:17 was in great measure fulfilled in Mosess time (Num_23:9-10). When they went down into Egypt they were only seventy-five persons; but when they came out from thence, all told, they probably amounted to three or four millions. Yet they are not all Israel (1Co_10:1-11; Heb_4:1-2; Heb_4:11). The Jews also in our Lords time were very numerous; but the greater part of them perished in their unbelief, and were at length dispersed and ruined as a nation (Mat_23:34-39; 1Th_2:15-16).

2. Those also who profess religion have in all ages been very numerous, yet the number of the truly pious is very small.

(1) How many who are called Christians are entirely ignorant of the fundamental truths of Christianity (Isa_29:11-12).

(2) How many rest in outward privileges and performances.

(3) How many selfish worldlings there are who follow Christ for the loaves and fishes.

(4) What shall we say of those heartless and barren professors, who bring forth no fruit; or if any, it is to themselves, and not to God.

II. They are called a remnant, a remnant that shall be saved. With respect to the Jews in the apostles time, only a small part of them were brought to believe in Christ; and though some thousands were converted in one day, the far greater number continued in obstinate unbelief. Instances of conversion since that time have been very rare. We are assured, however, that at the appointed time the Redeemer will come, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And with respect to the Gentiles, there has ever been and will be, even in times of the grossest darkness and corruption, a remnant according to the election of grace.

1. There is and shall be a remainder, a part reserved out of the whole, as the word generally signifies (Isa_10:12 : Rev_12:17). This implies--

(1) Paucity or fewness. Christs Church is a little city, and few men in it. A little flock, under the care of the great and good Shepherd; small when compared with the rest of the world, and with what it will be hereafter (Rev_7:9). But in any one age, and especially in any one place, the Church of Christ is comparatively small; and if the chaff were separated from the wheat, it would be smaller still (Mat_20:16).

(2) Choice or separation. Gods remnant is a chosen remnant, according to the election of grace; and this alone it is that secures its existence (Rom_8:29).

2. This remnant shall be saved, net only from the wrath to come, but also from innumerable evils in the present life (Isa_26:20; Eze_9:4). But eternal salvation is chiefly intended, which includes--

(1). A deliverance from all evil and the fear of evil (Rev_21:4).

(2) The possession of all good; perfect knowledge, holiness, peace; the true enjoyment of ourselves, and the most intimate communion with God.

3. The salvation of this remnant is certain, both from the promises of God and the engagements of the Redeemer. Christ must reign. Conclusion: If we have hitherto been indifferent about this salvation, let us take warning. If we have immortal souls, surely their interest demands our chief attention. Are we only nominal Christians, let us remember that an empty name will be of no avail hereafter; but if we are Israelites indeed, how delightful are our prospects! (B. Beddome, M.A.)

For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness.--

Judgment

I. Is the work of God.

II. Must be severely executed upon sinners--when God arises His procedure is rapid, righteous, complete. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

Some points in the Divine procedure

Irrespective of the particular application of this prophecy by Paul there are certain fundamental and abiding principles that are worth attention.

I. Completeness. As for God, His way, His method of operation, is perfect. From the atom to the sun there is no flaw in His handiwork. It will be found to be the same when we review the course of history from the standpoint of eternity. Things are fragmentary now, but the very fragments are complete, and when fitted into each other as a compacted whole we shall say, Thou hast done all things well. He will finish the work --

1. Why? Because--

(1) His calculations are infallible who sees the end from the beginning.

(2) His resources are inexhaustible who has all power in heaven and earth.

(3) His determinations must take effect who doth according to His will in the armies of heaven, etc. Men fail because they neglect to take all the factors into account; because their resources are limited, or because they are irresolute. But there can be no failure when we take into account Gods omniscience, power, and sovereign will.

2. In spite of what?

(1) The cunning, malice, strength, and determination of His enemies. These are many, and to any other than God would be formidable.

(2) The ignorance, feebleness, apathy, and irresoluteness of His professed friends. These would lead any other than God to give up in despair.

3. What in?

(1) Creation, which when finished was pronounced very good.

(2) Providence. This is now in progress, but when finished no flaw will be detected in its procedure.

(3) Redemption. Redemption by price was finished on the Cross; redemption by power when heavens courts shall echo with It is done.

(4) Judgment. No one shall be missing from the great assize, and nothing will mar the completeness of the final awards.

II. Promptness. Cut it short. In creation, where God had only to deal with inert matter, this finds a perfect illustration. He said, and it was done. In dealing with men it is somewhat different, yet the same in the end. God is patient, is willing, and can afford to wail; but when the hour of destiny is struck His action is decisive and irrevocable. This is seen in--

1. The history of redemption. When the fulness of the time was come, when the preparatory work was finished, God sent His Son. Down from the shining seats … He fled. What a short work, too, the redeeming ministry was, and the expiating act.

2. The history of nations. The method of the Divine procedure with the antediluvians, the Canaanites, Babylon, Israel, and the Roman empire was first long-suffering, forbearance (chap. 2:4; 2Pe_3:1-18.); and then, when the cup of their iniquities was full, how suddenly was it emptied and destroyed.

3. The history of men--

(l) In ordinary life. How long matters often are in coming to a climax, but how sharp and short is the decisive hour which determines temporal destiny.

(2) In salvation. The preparatory process may be protracted, but the soul passes from death into life in a moment.

(3) As regards the future. We may slumber in the dust for ages, but in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we shall awake.

III. Righteousness. Without this the other two methods might fill us with terror. But it reassures us to know that in His providential government of the world, or in the salvation or judg-ment of men, God always acts--

1. From a right motive.

2. In a right way.

3. At the right time.

4. With right results. (J. W. Burn.)

Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma.--

The Lord of Sabaoth

I. The meaning of the term. Lord of hosts--of--

1. The whole universe, with its hosts of things animate and inanimate.

2. The hosts of the heavens.

3. The hosts of hell.

II. Why God is termed Lord of Sabaoth.

1. Because He is supreme Ruler of all.

2. To oppose the prevailing worship of the heavenly bodies.

3. To give us some idea of His almighty power and grandeur. (M. Thomson.)

The Divine considerateness

Sodom and Gomorrha were utterly wiped out. No human being remained to perpetuate the progeny of the inhabitants of the plain. It might have been so, and deservedly, with Israel; but it was not so, and graciously. A remnant was, and always has been left, notwithstanding the most frightful devastations--a seed to propagate the race. So in Gods procedure generally, where men and nations have not sinned past recovery. A seed of some sort is left, which, by sedulous cultivation, may result in future harvests. This principle may be illustrated in--

I. The history of humanity at large.

1. After the fall the human race might have been as Sodoma, but in wrath God remembered mercy. He left man not only life, but a promise which kept human hope from utter extinction; some relics, too, of the Divine image on which the Redeemer could take hold in fashioning the new man.

2. After the flood the family of Noah was left, not only to preserve the species, but to hand on the hope. The covenant with the Patriarch was but the first of a series which culminated in the fulfilment of the covenant of redemption. A second time the Lord of Sabaoth left a seed.

3. In the fulness of time, when the world was ripe for destruction, the gift of the seed saved it. The state of things depicted in chaps, 1 and 2 could not have gone on much longer but for the Divine interposition, which has at last changed the condition of the world. But for this it must have perished; as it is it lives, and has in it the germs of a total regeneration.

II. The history of nations.

1. Sometimes a few good men are left whose prayers, efforts, and influence save the nation from decay. Who can tell but that the preservation of the seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal postponed the catastrophe of the Hebrew nation. What a different history France would have had but for the expulsion of the Huguenots. It is impossible to tell what would have become of England but for the godly few who remained to perpetuate the Puritan revival through the reigns of Charles II. and James II. 2. Sometimes the seed presents itself in the form of a gracious opportunity.

(1) The Reformation was such a seed. Contrast the destinies of the nations which accepted it with those that rejected it.

(2) The missionary impulse of the close of the last century was another. Great Britain and America yielded to it, and the material and moral prosperity of both has never since looked back.

III. The history of the individual. Here history repeats itself on a small scale.

1. Home reminiscences have often been as a seed perpetuating the life and moral character of a man. In temptation the remembrance of prayers offered or words uttered have made many a man stop short on the brink of ruin and retrace his steps into a nobler and better life.

2. The Word read or preached in myriads of instances has been such a seed.

3. So has some great affliction.

4. And some special summons to duty. (J. W. Burn.)

Gods judgments are

I. Richly deserved. Our sins are--

1. Multiplied.

2. Aggravated.

3. Obstinately persisted in--like Sodom, etc.

II. Mercifully alleviated.

1. A remnant is spared.

2. As a seed of promise.

3. Through sovereign grace. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Rom_9:25.—Refers not only to the gathering again of the Israelites rejected in the carrying away by Shalmaneser, but also of the Gentiles rejected at the building of Babel; remnants elected from both.

Rom_9:27.—Only few out of the ten tribes returned to Judæa; few left by Sennacherib; few brought to Christ.

Rom_9:28.—Alford seems to include both promise and threatening in λόγος, and makes the object of the citation a confirmation of “the certainty of the salvation of the remnant of Israel, seeing that now, as then, He, with whom a thousand years are as a day, will swiftly accomplish His prophetic word in righteousness.”

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_9:25-29

The not-beloved become beloved.—The late Mr. Spurgeon, in his sermon on “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated,” says: “This text means just what it says; it does not mean nations, but it means the persons mentioned. Jacob—that is, the man whose name was Jacob—Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Take care how any of you meddle with God’s word. I have heard of folks altering passages they did not like. Our only power with the word of God is simply to let it stand as it is, and to endeavour by God’s grace to accommodate ourselves to that.” He will not even allow us to translate “Esau have I hated” by “the meaningless words ‘I love less.’ ” Fortunately we do not want. But if we are to follow the great preacher’s literalism, shall we find the doctrine of eternal predestination and election before time in the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses? He says in another place, “I may be as sure of my election as if I could climb to heaven and turn over the red roll and read my name in letters of gold. The Lord has given thee a test which never did fail yet, and never will.” How about those once not beloved? Are the names of the not beloved written in the red roll? He says that between calling and election there is an indissoluble union. Here God calls a people which were once not His people; therefore God elects those who were once not elected. As we understand the doctrine of election carried out to its extreme lengths, the elected always are and have been God’s people, and the effectual calling is only giving outward expression to the divine purpose. So again the non-elect are elected—the not-people of God become His children. Our conclusion is that repellent dogmatism on abstruse subjects is to be avoided. Positive assertions cannot bury difficulties. The reason of man cannot be stifled by swelling words. Humility is a becoming attitude in the presence of the sublimest topics that can engage human attention. We learn from the passage under discussion:—

I. Divine grace.—Whatever may be our views of predestination and election, we must hold fast to the doctrine of divine grace. If the gospel be a remedial scheme for the benefit of universal man, then we must not hamper that scheme by narrow views. Let us believe in the largeness and freeness of the divine mind; let God’s call move through the earth, giving forth its sweet measures as fully as God’s myriad songsters. God makes into His people those who were once not His people. He called the Gentiles; He called the British peoples. Let us adore God’s matchless grace. God calls, and all who hear and obey may become the children of the living God, the beloved of the eternal Love.

II. God’s righteousness.—Wonderful is the pleading of Jeremiah. “Righteous art Thou, O Lord, when I plead with Thee; yet let me talk with Thee of Thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously.” The prophet rises above seeming anomalies in the divine proceedings, and declares, “Righteous art Thou, O Lord.” Whatever may appear contradictory, yet let us rest assured that God’s finished work, that God’s completed plan, will vindicate the eternal righteousness. Righteous is the Lord, though He call that beloved which was not beloved, and though only a remnant of the elect nation be saved.

III. God’s provision.—A remnant is saved. A germinating force is provided. A remnant was saved from the deluged world; a remnant was saved from the destroyed cities. God has His remnants through all time, and these become the seed forces of great harvests. In darkest periods God has His sons of light. God’s germinating forces are good and true men. They are productive. They die; but the wheat dies, and over its tomb waves the golden harvest.

The remnant.—R.V., “It is the remnant that shall be saved.”

I. The doctrine of the remnant.—

1. Teaching of Old Testament prophecy. The text is quoted from Isa_10:22. Words there are, “A remnant of them shall return”—i.e., from the captivity, and thus be saved from ruin and extinction, which awaited the majority. Referring to that remnant (Rom_6:13), he speaks of it as a “holy seed.” In his eye small minority were a “holy seed,” but great majority unsound, and therefore doomed. “Drunkards and blind,” as he calls them—i.e., dissolute and foolish—constituting this majority, must perish; but its perishing = necessary step towards happier future. Foresees that remnant is not only to return and so be saved itself, but it is to be also a mighty power for the saving of others. A Prince of the house of David is to be born, who is to bring wondrous influences to bear upon the bad majority, and at length to reign over a state renewed, preserved, and enlarged, a great and glorious kingdom. No need to enter into question as to how soon prophet expected reign of Prince to begin. Enough to know such a Prince at length did come, and that His object was to found a kingdom not of this world. He came and accomplished His work. His followers at first a mere remnant—twelve apostles, one hundred and twenty disciples at Jerusalem—but its mission = through that Prince to save the world. Communities wherein no good remnant left; hopelessly doomed (Isa_1:9; cp. Rom_9:29).

2. Teaching of the text. At Pentecost strangers from Rome at Jerusalem. Perhaps, too, some of those libertini (freedmen) who heard St. Stephen may have been Romans. In any case St. Paul here addresses a Church which had been founded at Rome, chiefly Jewish, but also partly Gentile = small minority among vast population. They right; rulers of this world and vast majority of people all wrong. They = “holy seed,” which was to grow and wax strong; leaven, which was to extend itself till the whole was leavened. How this was done subsequent history of Christianity shows.

3. General statement. History, both sacred and secular, exhibits frequent periods where the corruption of human nature becomes painfully apparent in general depravity and vice. But God’s Spirit has never entirely forsaken the world. Except in cases where utter ruin has resulted, a reaction has in the course of time set in, and this has always begun not with the many but the few. Often when the majority have run headlong into sin and ruin, a minority have been saved—e.g., Flood, call of Abraham, Caleb and Joshua, etc. “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Majority very apt to be wrong on vital questions. May be sometimes right, but as a rule lack principle and persistence. Today good impulses prevail, but gone to-morrow. [Contrast Sunday cry of “Hosanna” with Friday cry of “Crucify Him”; vacillation of crowds in every age; popularity of Savonarola with Florentines all gone in an hour, and the once powerful and attractive preacher publicly executed; instability of popular feeling in Reformation times and since.]

II. What saves the remnant?—Answer of:

1. Isaiah and prophets: “To order one’s conversation aright,” to “cease to do evil,” to “learn to do well,” to “delight in the law of the Lord,” to “make one’s study in it all the day long.”

2. Our blessed Lord: to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” to “become as little children,” to “do the will of our Father in heaven.”

3. St. Paul: to “have faith in Christ, the embodiment of righteousness” (Rom_9:30-32), and thus to have the heart and mind set upon those objects, aims, and actions of which righteousness is composed (Php_4:8).

III. Consolation for the saved remnant.—

1. Holding fast to that whereby the remnant is saved, there arises in the soul a peace which nothing else can give (Psa_119:165). God’s laws of righteousness are eternal and unchangeable. We know what they are. The majority may seek to evade them; but the godly minority have the consolation of knowing that the eternal One is not only wise and good, but also powerful to “defend the right.” This thought has nerved on the saints and heroes who have often shone as lights in a corrupt age.

2. Their influence must sooner or later be felt. “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Their example and efforts have a tendency to purify. There is consolation in the thought of this.

IV. Warning from the doctrine of the remnant.—Not to be led astray by an evil majority (Exo_23:2). An evil majority, headed by self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, lured Jerusalem to its overthrow. Massillon, preaching before the court of France in the days of Louis XIV., spoke of the last judgment—the great testing-time when the saved remnant shall be finally severed from all others besides—in terms so awfully vivid that when the climax of his discourse was reached the whole of that brilliant assemblage rose to their feet as one man, conscience-stricken, cut to the heart. But there was no real reformation. The fashion of the time was too strong. The righteous minority in France was too small, too weak, to save the nation from the crack of doom which burst in the Revolution nearly a century later. Beware of the authority which in these days it is too much the fashion to attach to mere majorities (Mat_7:13-14).—G. E. P. Reade.

Rom_9:25-33. Paul elects the non-elect.—“As He saith also in Osee,” etc. This avowedly difficult passage deals with the doctrine of election, suggested by the question of the calling of the Gentiles. Paul here sets forth the groundwork of chaps, 9 to 11. He points out that the Israelites who were lost were ruined by pride, refusing to comply with the divine purposes. Some have built on this section of the epistle the doctrine of election, which Wesley thus expresses: “By virtue of an eternal, unchangeable, irresistible decree of God, one part of mankind is infallibly saved, and the rest infallibly damned, it being impossible that any of the former should be damned, or that any of the latter should be saved.” What is Paul’s attitude towards this? The whole chapter deals fully with the question.

1. Paul notes the unhappy fact that the Jews were rejected by God.

2. This he remarks in order to show that neither ancestry nor a man’s works will form any claim to justification.

3. He seeks to show that God has a free hand, is not bound down by any restriction at all. He has absolute right to do as He pleases, and name His own conditions for salvation. Hence He may reject the Jews who do not comply, and accept the Gentiles who do.

4. Paul, by his concluding statements, throws open salvation to all who are willing to accept Christ, even those whom the Jews thought were non-elect. The text suggests that Paul practically elects the non-elect.

I. Paul here teaches that salvation is for all who believe in Christ.—

1. Here he is in harmony with Peter, his contemporary. Peter (Act_3:25-26) declared the blessing of redemption to be first promised to the Jews. But the very word “first” implied that it was to be sent to the Gentiles also. Paul agrees in Gal_3:8.

2. He is in harmony with the psalmists, who teach that grace is not exclusive (Psa_72:17; Psa_102:15; Psa_102:22; Psa_117:1).

3. He is in harmony with the prophets, who recognise the breadth and length, the height and depth, of the divine redemption (Isa_45:22-23; also our text, Rom_9:25). Is not this pointing to the salvation of the human race? The minor prophets teach the same (Joe_2:28-31; Joe_3:12-21; Hab_2:13-14; Zep_2:11; Zep_3:8-9; Mal_1:11; Mal_3:1-3; Mal_4:1-3).

4. Paul is in harmony here with his other epistles, where he develops the doctrine of salvation for all who believe with great force (e.g., Eph_1:10; Col_1:20). Is not this an election of the non-elect?

II. The once-indifferent may embrace salvation.—Rom_9:30. The Jews were first called; the Gentiles appeared to be excluded. The Jews exhibited this thought by their utmost scorn for Gentiles. But now, if willing to come, if accepting the conditions of salvation, they may be saved. Once they were outside the pale, because they followed not after righteousness, had no knowledge of it, no care nor thought about it. When they heard the gospel, they embraced it. Then its blessings were theirs. The moment of acceptance was the moment when the barriers of exclusion were broken down. It is so now. We are “non-elect” so long as we reject the gospel, and no longer.

III. There are no vested interests in the matter of salvation.—We may be Jews, having Abraham for our father; but that will not open the kingdom of heaven to us. Israel, the chosen people, not saved from disaster: only a remnant saved. We may say we are among the “elect”: that, if we do not live aright, will not save us. The question of elect or non-elect does not free us from active living faith in Christ. We must believe in Christ and live like Him.

IV. Outward observance of God’s laws will not secure our election.—Israel followed after the law, observed it to the letter, but had none of the spirit of righteousness. Jews harboured hate, secretly served other gods, etc.; and God rejected them, even while their altar fires were burning and their feasts were religiously observed. Why rejected? Because they sought not their salvation by faith, but by works. There was no inward righteousness. It was all outward show. “Not every one that saith,” etc. It is a case of the last being first and the first last. Any who may have the form of righteousness may miss its blessings, if they have not the power of godliness. At the last there will be a sifting; the unworthy will be set aside. In this sense “a remnant” only will be saved—only those who have loved righteousness and accepted Christ as their Saviour.

V. If any are lost, the fault is theirs.—They can never plead the existence of a hard-and-fast law that dooms some and delivers others. The lost are not so lost because of any decree of God. It is because they reject Christ and His offers of mercy. Therefore the need that preachers should still continue to plead with men, as those for whom they must give account. And therefore, also, the need and happy opportunity for the worst to come and plead forgiveness from the Saviour of men.—Albert Lee.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_9:24-29

Paul’s design.—In the twenty-fourth verse the apostle explains whom he means by “the vessels of mercy”: “Even us, whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.” “To call,” as the word is used in Scripture, sometimes refers to the offer of salvation made by the preaching of the gospel, and sometimes to this offer rendered effectual by the co-operation of the Holy Spirit and embraced by those to whom it is proposed. Sometimes also, as in the next verse, it denotes to denominate in a particular manner—“I will call them My people”; and in this sense it often means to make them what they are called—“I will call them My people” being precisely equivalent to “I will make them My people.” Here the word is used in the last of these senses, and means “whom He hath called or constituted His people”—even us believers in Christ, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, whom God hath called to the obedience of the gospel, and thus constituted His Church and people. This application of the word, which is fixed by the following quotation, is a further proof that the preparation “for glory,” mentioned in the preceding verse, does not mean eternal glory, but merely the glorious distinction of being the Church and people of God. He goes on to show that the calling of the Gentiles, and the continuing of only a small portion of the Jews in the number of the people of God, need not appear incredible, seeing it might be clearly inferred from the Old Testament Scriptures (Rom_9:25), “As He saith also in Osee, I will call them My people which were not My people, and her beloved which was not beloved.” The quotation is taken from Hos_2:23; but the apostle has inverted the order of the two clauses and slightly changed the language, though without altering the meaning. It has been thought that this prophacy relates primarily to the Israelites, and only in a secondary sense to the calling of the Gentiles. But the words are certainly most appropriate when applied to the Gentiles. “I will call them My people—that is, I will make them My people—which were not My people, and I will render her beloved which was not beloved,” are phrases which describe correctly receiving into the number of the people of God those who did not formerly belong to it. They do not so well describe restoring to the number of God’s people those who had belonged to it formerly. And as the apostle quotes the prophecy as descriptive of the calling of the Gentiles, we are authorised to hold this to be its proper application. To these prophecies, relating to the extension of the privilege of the people of God to the Gentiles, there is added another relating to the Israelites (Rom_9:26): “And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people, there shall they be called the children of the living God.” This prediction relates to the displeasure of God with His people on account of their sins, and His refusing to acknowledge them as His people—a refusal, however, which would be only temporal, for they would in due time be constituted “the children of the living God.” By joining these two quotations together, the apostle confirms the doctrine which he has been inculcating, that the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, were to have the offer of the gospel made to them, and to be admitted without distinction to share in the privileges of the people of God. But though the offer of salvation through Christ was to be given to Jews and Gentiles without distinction, it had been foretold that only a small number of the Jews would accept the offered mercy (Rom_9:27): “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.” The quotation is from Isa_10:22, where the prophet alludes to the consequences of the destruction brought upon the ten tribes by the Assyrians. He “crieth concerning Israel,” said the apostle—that is, he openly and authoritatively declares—that though their number before their dispersion be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant—or, as it is in the original, the remnant—shall be saved from the general calamity, or return from their dispersion. This prediction is quoted as an illustration of the divine procedure in the present circumstances of the Jewish nation. For as the ten tribes were at that time scattered among the heathen, and ceased to be the people of God on account of their sins, a very small portion of them only escaping this calamity, so in the present times the great body of the nation would suffer a similar fate on account of the heinous guilt which they had contracted, the small number which believed in Christ only being continued a part of the Church and people of God.—Ritchie.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 9:25. Λέγει, saith) God. Paul asserted the prior right of God in calling the Gentiles, and their actual calling, and now at last that the event is shown, he brings in one testimony from the Old Testament, and ch. Rom 15:9, etc., a number more in succession, by a method worthy of notice. The predictions, though numerous and quite clear from their fulfilment, yet in the first instance do not easily obtain belief. The strength of the following quotation is not in the verb καλέσω I will call [name], but in the other part of the expression: ἐκάλεσεν, He called, is used as in Rom 8:30. Nevertheless naming immediately accompanies calling, and in a manner precedes it.—καλέσω τὸν οὐ λαόν μον, λαόν μου. καὶ τὴν οὐκ ἠγαπημένην, ἠγαπημένην) I will call them my people, who were not my people, and her beloved who was not beloved, Hos. 2:25. The LXX. have, And I will have mercy on her, on whom I have not had mercy, and I will say to them who are not my people, thou art my people.—[καὶ ἐλεήσω τὴν οὐκ ἠλεημένην. καὶ ἐρῶ τῷ οὐ λαῷ μου, λαός μου εἶ σύ.]—ἠγαπημένην loved) as one betrothed, as a bride.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_9:25. Of the καὶ ἐξ ἐθνῶν it is shown that it is in accordance with (ὡς) a divine prophetic utterance. The ἐξ Ἰουδαίων required no confirmation from prophecy; but the other statement required it the more, inasmuch as it was exactly the Gentiles who had become believing that had been introduced as σκεύη ἐλέους, in place of the Jews who had remained unbelieving.

ἐν τῷ Ὡς.] in libro Hoseae: comp. Mar_1:2; Joh_6:45; Act_7:42. The passage Hos. 2:25 (the citation varies both from the LXX. and the original text) treats of the idolatrous people of the ten tribes, to whom God announces pardon and renewed adoption as the people of God. The apostle recognises in this pardon the type of the reception of the Gentiles to salvation, and consequently, as its prophetically Messianic sense, a prediction of the calling of the Gentiles; and from this point of view, which has its warrant in the likeness of category to which the subjects belong (comp. Hengstenberg, Christol. I. p. 251), he has also introduced the deviations from the words of the original and of the LXX., transposing the two parallel sentences, and rendering the thought ἐρῶ τῷ οὐ λαῷ μου κ.τ.λ. (LXX.) by καλέσω κ.τ.λ., because the divine κλῆσις of the Gentiles loomed before him as the Messianic fulfilment of the saying. Yet we are not thereby justified in understanding καλέσω and κληθήσονται, Rom_9:26, immediately in the sense of vocation (Fritzsche); for καλεῖν τινά τι, to call any one to something, is without linguistic warrant, and the departure thus assumed from the original and from the LXX. would be unnecessary, and would amount to a mechanical proceeding. On the contrary, καλεῖν is to be left in its ordinary signification to name (comp. Hos_1:6); the divine naming, however, as my people, my beloved, of which the Gentiles were previously the very opposite, is in point of fact none other than just their calling to Messianic salvation, in consequence of which they are then named also from the human side υἱοὶ Θεοῦ ζῶντος (Rom_9:26), and are therewith recognised according to the theocratic status which they have obtained. The vivid thought laid hold of the expression καλέσω the more readily, since in this word to call and to name form a single notion. Accordingly we must translate: I will name that which is not my people, my people; and her who is not beloved, beloved. Both expressions refer in the original to the significant names of a son (לֹא עַמִּי) and of a daughter (לֹא רֻחָמָה) of the prophet, which he had been directed to give them as symbolically significant of the rejection of the people, Hos_1:6-9.

On the οὐ standing beside the noun with the article, where the denial refers to a concrete definite subject, see Baeumlein, Partik. p. 276.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 9:25 f. This result of God’s ways with man His calling not only from the Jews but from the Gentiles agrees with His own declarations in Scripture. Rom 9:25 answers roughly to Hos 2:23 , LXX: I will love her who was not beloved, and will say to that which was not My people, Thou art My people. Not My people (= Lo-ammi) and Not beloved (= Lo-ruhamah) were the names of a son and a daughter of Hosea, who symbolised the kingdom of Israel, rejected of God but destined to share again in His favour. Paul here applies to the calling of the Gentiles words which spoke originally of the restoration of Israel an instance which shows how misleading it may be to press the context of the other passages quoted in this chapter. Rom 9:26 is also a quotation from Hos 2:1 (LXX): the ἐκεῖ is supplied by Paul. The application of it is similar to that of Rom 9:25 . In Hosea the promise is that the Israelites who had lost their standing as God’s people should have it given back to them, in all its dignity. This also Paul reads of the calling of the Gentiles. They were once no people of God’s, but now have their part in the adoption. But what is the meaning of “in the place where … there shall they be called”? It is not certain that in Hosea there is any reference to a place at all (see margin of R.V.), and it is not easy to see what Paul can mean by the emphatic ἐκεῖ . The ordinary explanation the Gentile lands is as good as any, but seems hardly equal to the stress laid on ἐκεῖ .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And, first, Rom 9:25-26 : the proclamation by the prophets of the calling of the Gentiles; then Rom 9:27-29 : that of the rejection of the mass of the Jewish people.

Vv. 25, 26. “As He saith also in Osee, I will call that my people, which was not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called sons of the living God.”

The words as also evidently refer to the last words of Rom 9:24 : “but also of the Gentiles.” To facilitate the exposition of the following quotation, Hofmann has thought it best to apply this as also to the first words of Rom 9:24 : “not of the Jews only.” But this reference is not in keeping with the apostle’s thought; for when he really passes to the prophecies relating to Israel, Rom 9:27, he expressly indicates this transition. The difficulty which has driven Hofmann to his view is this Hosea, in the two passages quoted, Rom 2:23 and Rom 1:10, is certainly speaking of the Israelites of the ten tribes scattered in distant lands, and not of Gentiles; how can the apostle apply them to the latter? St. Peter does exactly the same thing (1Pe 2:10). Hodge remarks that the ten tribes having relapsed into idolatry, were thus in the same state as the Gentiles, so that what was said of the former could equally be applied to the latter. Then he cites the fact, as Tholuck does, that in Scripture a general truth enunciated in regard to a particular class of men is afterward applied to all those whose character and position are found to be the same. And, indeed, in the mouth of God the expressions: “that which is not of my people;” “her which is not beloved;” “I will call them my people..., beloved,” express a principle of the divine government which comes into play everywhere when circumstances reappear similar to those to which they were originally applied. This was the case with the Gentiles yet more completely, if that is possible, than with the inhabitants of Samaria. We shall add, that the exiled Israelites being mingled with the Gentiles, and forming one homogeneous mass with them, cannot be brought to God separately from them. Isa 49:22 represents the Gentiles as carrying the sons of Israel in their arms and their daughters on their shoulders, and consequently as being restored to grace along with them.

Instead of: I will call, Hosea simply says: I will say to. The meaning is the same; for I will call applies to the new name which will be given them (see the full context of Hosea). Only by the form I will call, Paul alludes to the calling of the Gentiles to salvation.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_9:25-33

Analysis

The conclusion at which the apostle had arrived in the preceding section, was, that God is at liberty to select the objects of his mercy, indiscriminately, from among the Gentiles and Jews. This conclusion he now confirms by the declarations of the Old Testament, according to which it is clear,

1. That those were to be included in the kingdom of God, who originally were considered as aliens, Rom_9:25, Rom_9:26; and

2. That, as to the Israelites, only a small portion should attain to the blessings of the Messiahs reign, and of course, the mere being a Jew by birth was no security of salvation, Rom_9:27-29. The inference from all this is, that the Gentiles are called, and the Jews, as Jews, are rejected, Rom_9:30, Rom_9:31. The reason of this rejection is that they would not submit to the terms of salvation presented in the gospel, Rom_9:32. As it had been long before predicted, they rejected their Messiah, taking offense at him, seeing in him no form or comeliness that they should desire him, Rom_9:33.

Commentary

Rom_9:25

The first part of the general conclusion, contained in the 24th verse, is, that the Gentiles are eligible to the blessings of Christs kingdom. This the apostle confirms by two passages from the prophecies of Hosea, which express the general sentiment, that those who, under the old economy, were not regarded as the people of God, should hereafter (i.e. under the Messiah) become his people. The first passage cited is from Hos_2:23, which in our version is, I will have mercy on her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people. The Hebrew, however, admits of the rendering given by the apostle, as the word translated to have mercy may signify to love. The difficulty with regard to this passage is, that in Hosea it evidently has reference not to the heathen, but to the ten tribes. Whereas, Paul refers it to the Gentiles, as is also done by Peter, 1Pe_2:10. This difficulty is sometimes gotten over by giving it a different view of the apostles object in the criterion, and making it refer to the restoration of the Jews. But this interpretation is obviously at variance with the context. It is more satisfactory to say, that the ten tribes were in a heathenish state, relapsed into idolatry, and, therefore, what was said of them, is of course applicable to others in like circumstances, or of like character. What amounts to much the same thing, the sentiment of the prophet is to be taken generally, those who were excluded from the theocracy, who were regarded and treated as aliens, were hereafter to be treated as the people of God. In this view, it is perfectly applicable to the apostles object, which was to convince the Jews, that the blessings of Christs kingdom were not to be confined within the pale of the Old Testament economy, or limited to those who, in their external relations, were considered the people of God; on the contrary, those who, according to the rules of that economy, were not the people of God, should hereafter become such. This method of interpreting and applying Scripture is both common and correct. A general truth, stated in reference to a particular class of persons, is to be considered as intended to apply to all those whose character and circumstances are the same, though the form or words of the original enunciation may not be applicable to all embraced within the scope of the general sentiment. Thus what is said of one class of heathen, as such, is applicable to all others, and what is said of one portion of aliens from the Old Testament covenant, may properly be referred to others.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hos. 2:23; 1 Pet. 2:10

Our vocation or calling is free and of grace, even as our predestination is: and therefore there is no cause why either our own unworthiness, or the unworthiness of our ancestors should cause us to think that we are not the elect and chosen of God, if we be called of him, and so embrace through faith the salvation that is offered us.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Having explained the promise, and proved the divine sovereignty, the apostle here shows how the rejection of the Jews, and the taking in of the Gentiles, were foretold in the Old Testament, and therefore must needs be very well consistent with the promise made to the fathers under the Old Testament. It tends very much to the clearing of a truth to observe how the scripture is fulfilled in it. The Jews would, no doubt, willingly refer it to the Old Testament, the scriptures of which were committed to them. Now he shows how this, which was so uneasy to them, was there spoken of.

I. By the prophet Hosea, who speaks of the taking in of a great many of the Gentiles, Hos 2:23 and Hos 1:10. The Gentiles had not been the people of God, not owning him, nor being owned by him in that relation: "But," says he, "I will call them my people, make them such and own them as such, notwithstanding all their unworthiness." A blessed change! Former badness is no bar to God's present grace and mercy. - And her beloved which was not beloved. Those whom God calls his people he calls beloved: he loves those that are his own. And lest it might be supposed that they should become God's people only by being proselyted to the Jewish religion, and made members of that nation, he adds, from Hos 1:10, In the place where it was said, etc., there shall they be called. They need not be embodied with the Jews, nor go up to Jerusalem to worship; but, wherever they are scattered over the face of the earth, there will God own them. Observe the great dignity and honour of the saints, that they are called the children of the living God; and his calling them so makes them so. Behold, what manner of love! This honour have all his saints.

II. By the prophet Isaiah, who speaks of the casting off of many of the Jews, in two places.

1. One is Isa 10:22, Isa 10:23, which speaks of the saving of a remnant, that is, but a remnant, which, though in the prophecy it seems to refer to the preservation of a remnant from the destruction and desolation that were coming upon them by Sennacherib and his army, yet is to be understood as looking further, and sufficiently proves that it is no strange thing for God to abandon to ruin a great many of the seed of Abraham, and yet maintain his word of promise to Abraham in full force and virtue. This is intimated in the supposition that the number of children of Israel was as the sand of the sea, which was part of the promise made to Abraham, Gen 22:17. And yet only a remnant shall be saved; for many are called, but few are chosen. In this salvation of the remnant we are told (Rom 9:28) from the prophet, (1.) That he will complete the work: He will finish the work. When God begins he will make an end, whether in ways of judgment or of mercy. The rejection of the unbelieving Jews god would finish in their utter ruin by the Romans, who soon after this quite took away their place and nation. The assuming of Christian churches into the divine favour, and the spreading of the gospel in other nations, was a work which God would likewise finish, and be known by his name JEHOVAH. As for God, his work is perfect. Margin, He will finish the account. God, in his eternal counsels, has taken an account of the children of men, allotted them to such or such a condition, to such a share of privileges; and, as they come into being, his dealings with them are pursuant to these counsels: and he will finish the account, complete the mystical body, call in as many as belong to the election of grace, and then the account will be finished. (2.) That he will contract it; not only finish it, but finish it quickly. Under the Old Testament he seemed to tarry, and to make a longer and more tedious work of it. The wheels moved but slowly towards the extent of the church; but now he will cut it short, and make a short work upon the earth. Gentile converts were now flying as a cloud. But he will cut it short in righteousness, both in wisdom and in justice. Men, when they cut short, do amiss; they do indeed despatch causes; but, when God cuts short, it is always in righteousness. So the fathers generally apply it. Some understand it of the evangelical law and covenant, which Christ has introduced and established in the world: he has in that finished the work, put an end to the types and ceremonies of the Old Testament. Christ said, It is finished, and then the veil was rent, echoing as it were to the word that Christ said upon the cross. And he will cut it short. The work (it is logos - the word, the law) was under the Old Testament very long; a long train of institutions, ceremonies, conditions: but now it is cut short. Our duty is now, under the gospel, summed up in much less room than it was under the law; the covenant was abridged and contracted; religion is brought into a less compass. And it is in righteousness, in favour to us, in justice to his own design and counsel. With us contractions are apt to darken things: -

- Brevis esse laboro, Obscurus fio -

I strive to be concise, but prove obscure.

but it is not so in this case. Though it be cut short, it is clear and plain; and, because short, the more easy.

2. Another is quoted from Isa 1:9, where the prophet is showing how in a time of general calamity and destruction God would preserve a seed. This is to the same purport with the former; and the scope of it is to show that it was no strange thing for God to leave the greatest part of the people of the Jews to ruin, and to reserve to himself only a small remnant: so he had done formerly, as appears by their own prophets; and they must not wonder if he did so now. Observe, (1.) What God is. He is the Lord of sabaoth, that is, the Lord of hosts - a Hebrew word retained in the Greek, as Jam 5:4. All the host of heaven and earth are at his beck and disposal. When God secures a seed to himself out of a degenerate apostate world, he acts as Lord of sabaoth. It is an act of almighty power and infinite sovereignty. (2.) What his people are; they are a seed, a small number. The corn reserved for next year's seedings is but little, compared with that which is spent and eaten. But they are a useful number - the seed, the substance, of the next generation, Isa 6:13. It is so far from being an impeachment of the justice and righteousness of God that so many perish and are destroyed, that it is a wonder of divine power and mercy that all are not destroyed, that there are any saved; for even those that are left to be a seed, if God had dealt with them according to their sins, had perished with the rest. This is the great truth which this scripture teacheth us.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

As he saith also in Osee--"Hosea."

I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved--quoted, though not quite to the letter, from Hos 2:23, a passage relating immediately, not to the heathen, but to the kingdom of the ten tribes; but since they had sunk to the level of the heathen, who were "not God's people," and in that sense "not beloved," the apostle legitimately applies it to the heathen, as "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise" (so Pe1 2:10).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 25. As he saith also in Osee] It is a cause of not a little confusion, that a uniformity in the orthography of the proper names of the Old and New Testaments has not been preserved. What stranger to our sacred books would suppose that the Osee above meant the Prophet Hosea, from whom, Ho 2:23, this quotation is taken: I will have mercy on her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people. The apostle shows that this calling of the Gentiles was no fortuitous thing, but a firm purpose in the Divine mind, which he had largely revealed to the prophets; and by opposing the calling of the Gentiles, the Jews in effect renounced their prophets, and fought against God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. As he says in Hosea, etc. He proves now that the calling of the Gentiles ought not to have been deemed a new thing, as it had long before been testified by the prediction of the prophet. The meaning is evident; but there is some difficulty in the application of this testimony; for no one can deny but that the prophet in that passage speaks of the Israelites. For the Lord, having been offended with their wickedness, declared that they should be no longer his people: he afterwards subjoined a consolation, and said, that of those who were not beloved he would make some beloved, and from those who were not a people he would make a people. But Paul applies to the Gentiles what was expressly spoken to the Israelites.

They who have hitherto been most successful in untying this knot have supposed that Paul meant to adopt this kind of reasoning, — “What may seem to be an hinderance to the Gentiles to become partakers of salvation did also exist as to the Jewish nation: as then God did formerly receive into favor the Jews, whom he had cast away and exterminated, so also now he exercises the same kindness towards the Gentiles.” But as this interpretation, though it may be supported, yet seems to me to be somewhat strained, let the readers consider this, — Whether it would not be a more suitable view to regard the consolation given by the prophet, as intended, not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles: for it was not a new or an unusual thing with the prophets, after having pronounced on the Jews God’s vengeance on account of their sins, to turn themselves to the kingdom of Christ, which was to be propagated through the whole world. And this they did, not without reason; for since the Jews so provoked God’s wrath by their sins, that they deserved to be rejected by him, no hope of salvation remained, except they turned to Christ, through whom the covenant of grace was to be restored: and as it was based on him, so it was then renewed, when he interposed. And doubtless, as Christ was the only refuge in great extremities, no solid comfort could have been brought to miserable sinners, and such as saw God’s wrath impending over them, except by setting Christ before their eyes, it was usual with the prophets, as we have reminded you, after having humbled the people by pronouncing on them divine vengeance, to call their attention to Christ, as the only true asylum of those in despair. And where the kingdom of Christ is erected there also is raised up that celestial Jerusalem, into which citizens from all parts of the world assemble. And this is what is chiefly included in the present prophecy: for when the Jews were banished from God’s family, they were thus reduced to a common class, and put on a level with the Gentiles. The difference being taken away, God’s mercy is now indiscriminately extended to all the Gentiles. We hence see that the prophet’s prediction is fitly applied to the present subject; in which God declares, that after having equalized the Jews and the Gentiles, he would gather a Church for himself from aliens, so that they who were not a people would begin to be so.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(25) As he saith also in Osee.—The original of the prophecy in Hosea relates to the pardon and reconciliation promised to the apostate and idolatrous people of the northern kingdom. It is here typically and prophetically applied to the Gentiles. Those who had ceased to belong to the chosen people, and those who had never belonged to it, were to all intents and purposes in the same position.

Osee.—“It may be questioned whether this word should be pronounced as a dissyllable, the double e being regarded as an English termination, as in Zebedee, Pharisee, &c., or as a tri-syllable, the word being considered as a reproduction of the Greek form of the name.” (Lightfoot, On Revision, p. 156, n.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(D) Quotations in Application

25. Osee] In the Gr., Oseë or Hoseë; the equivalent of the Heb. Hoshea. Here, lit., in the Oseë; i.e., probably, “in the writings of Hosea.”

I will call, &c.] Hos_2:23 (25 in the Heb.). The quotation does not agree with the LXX. The Heb. is, lit., “And I will have pity on the not-pitied-one (fem.), and I will say to the not-my-people, My people art thou.” St Paul here gives an equivalent for “pity;” the Divine equivalent, love; and otherwise quotes nearly with the Heb.—The first reference of the prophetic word was to the bringing back of the Ten Tribes to holy allegiance. The Apostle is guided to expound this as a type of the bringing in of the Gentiles to the chosen Israel of God.—The same text is quoted by allusion, 1Pe_1:10; an important parallel passage.

her] The familiar personification of a church or nation.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And it shall come to pass that in the place,.... This is another citation out of Hosea, and is to be seen in Hos 1:10, and the meaning is, that in those countries, as here in Great Britain, in the very selfsame place, or spot of ground,

where it was said unto them, ye are not my people; where were nothing but idolatry and idolatrous worshippers, and whose worship, works, and actions, declared them not to be the people of God:

there shall they be called the children of the living God; not only children of God, but of the living God; in opposition to their idol gods, their lifeless deities, and senseless statues of gold, silver, brass, wood, or stone, they fell down to and worshipped. The chosen of God among the Gentiles, were from all eternity predestinated to the adoption of children; this blessing was provided, laid up, and secured for them, in the covenant of grace; in this relation of children were they given to Christ, and under this consideration of them did he partake of the same flesh and blood with them, and died, to gather them together, who were scattered abroad in the several parts of the world; and because they were antecedently sons by adopting grace, therefore the Spirit of God in effectual calling is sent down into their hearts to bear witness to their spirits, that they are the children of the living God, and to work faith in their souls to believe it; by which grace they receive this blessing, as all others, even the right and privilege of being the children of God; by this they claim it, and enjoy the comfort of it; and so are manifestly, both to themselves and others, the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus; though this will more clearly appear another day, than it does now.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.

Ver. 25. And her beloved] Jer 12:7. God calls the Church the beloved of his soul, or (as the Septuagint and Vulgate read it) his beloved soul, την ψυχην την ηγαπημενην.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As he saith also - The doctrine which he had established, he proceeds now to confirm by quotations from the writings of Jews, that he might remove every objection. The doctrine was,

That God intended to call his people from the Gentiles as well as the Jews.

(2)That he was bound by no promise and no principle of obligation to bestow salvation on all the Jews.

(3)That, therefore, it was right for him to reject any or all of the Jews, if he chose, and cut them off from their privileges as a people and from salvation.

In Osee - This is the Greek form of writing the Hebrew word Hosea. It means in the book of Hosea, as “in David” means in the book of David, or by David, Heb 4:7. The passage is found in Hos 2:23. This quotation is not made according to the letter, but the sense of the prophet is preserved. The meaning is the same in Hosea and in this place, that God would bring those into a covenant relation to himself, who were before deemed outcasts and strangers. Thus, he supports his main position that God would choose his people from among the Gentiles as well as the Jews, or would exercise toward both his right as a sovereign, bestowing or withholding his blessings as he pleases.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Here the apostle proves, that the Gentiles were children of the Promise, or that the promise belonged to them, as well as to the Jews: and because the Jews could not endure to hear of this, he cites two testimonies out of Hosea, to convince them: one is in this verse, and it is taken out of Hos 2:23; the other is in the following verse.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. Osee—Hos_2:23, quoted not verbally but in general sense. The Hebrew is: I will love her who was not beloved; I will say to her who was not my people, My people art thou. The apostle changes the order of the two clauses.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 25-29. (c) The inheritance of the promises by the Gentiles, with a remnant only of the Jews, shown to be in accordance with prophecy. This is really a new section of the argument, though the writer, in a way usual with him, does not mark it as such, ver. 25 being in logical connection with the preceding one, suggested by the concluding expression, "Not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." So far nothing has been adduced to support the idea of Gentiles, to whom no original promises had been made, superseding the Jewish nation in the inheritance, though it had been shown generally that God may have mercy on whom he will; and in the earlier part of the argument (vers. 6-13) all that appeared plainly from the Old Testament was selection out of the total seed of Abraham not the calling of a new one apart from his stock. Hence this section is necessary for completing the whole argument.

Vers. 25, 26. As he saith also in Osee, I will call my people that which was not my people, and beloved her who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. The quotation in ver. 26 is from Hos_1:10, and is correctly cited; that in ver. 25 is from Hos_2:23, and varies from both the Hebrew and the LXX, but not so as to affect the meaning. Both refer to the same subject. The prophet had been directed to "take unto him a wife of wheredoms." He had so taken "Gomer the daughter of Diblaim," who had borne him a daughter, to whom was given the symbolical name Loruhamah ("Not beloved;" or, as it is interpreted in 1Pe_2:10, "Hath not obtained mercy." Love and mercy are both contained in the full meaning of the intensive form of the Hebrew word," Pusey on "Hosea"); and afterwards a son, who received the name Lo-ammi ("Not my people"). Both are symbols of the ten tribes of Israel as distinct from Judah; the two names denoting (as Pusey explains) successive stages of God"s repudiation of the people, and the last implying entire rejection. But in Hos_1:10, after the naming of Lo-ammi, it is said, "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are Lo-ammi, it shall be said unto them, Ye are the children of the living God." The subject is pursued through Hos 2, at the end of which (ver. 23) comes the other passage quoted: "And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy on Lo-ruhamah; and I will say to Loammi, Ammi "My people, and they shall say, My God." It might seem that these quotations are not apposite, since they referred originally, not to the Gentiles, but to the ten tribes of Israel. It is to be observed, however, that the words were spoken after these tribes had been declared to be cut off from being God"s people at all, so that a principle of Divine dealing is ex- pressed which is applicable to the Gentile world. "This, which was true of Israel in its dispersion, was much more true of the Gentiles. These, too, the descendants of righteous Noah, God had cast off for the time, that they should be no more his people, when he chose Israel out of them, to make known to them his Being, and his will, and his laws, and (although in shadow and mystery) Christ who was to come. He had threatened to Israel that he should be unpitied, and no more his people; in reversing his sentence, he embraces in the arms of his mercy all who were not his people, and says to them all, that they should be my people and beloved" (Pusey on "Hosea," 2:23). In 1Pe_2:10 the same text from Hosea is quoted as applying to those who were addressed in the Epistle, and then with more obvious applicability; for it appears to have been written, mainly at least, to Israelites of the dispersion. (see Rom_1:1) Still, Gentile converts may be concluded to have been included. (cf. Rom_1:14 Rom_4:3) It is to be observed that in ver. 25 the feminine hghphmenhn has reference to the daughter of the prophet, Lo-ruhamah; and that in ver. 26 "in the place where" must be understood, both in the original prophecy and the application, as meaning any region where those who were to be called my people might be. "And so St. Peter says that this Scripture, was fulfilled in them, while still scattered abroad through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. The place, then, where they should be called the sons of the living God is wheresoever they should believe in Christ" (Pusey). Zion, wheresoe"er they dwell, Who, with his own true Israel, Shall own him strong to save. ("Christian Year: Fifth Sunday in Lent.")

The texts from Isaiah which follow are intended to show that, according to prophetic utterance, while those who were not God"s people, in large numbers, would be called his people, a remnant only of the Jews would be so.

Vers. 25, 26. A great reversal

Whether the original reference of the prophet here quoted was to the "ten tribes" or to the Gentile world is, for our purposes, immaterial, since it is unquestionable that the Apostle Paul employs the quotation to illustrate and, in a sense, to prove his contention that it is the purpose of him, who is Eternal Wisdom and Unchanging Righteousness, to transfer privilege and blessing from those who considered themselves to possess an ancestral claim to them, unto those who had usually been regarded as aliens and reprobate even the "sinners of the Gentiles." If this phase of Divine action has to some extent lost its interest for us, the principle which it illustrates is ever important.

I THE HIGHLY FAVOURED AND PRIVILEGED MAY ABUSE THEIR ADVANTAGES, AND MAY LOSE THEM. Consider the case of the Hebrews.

1. Their special prerogatives in the possession of religious knowledge and means of spiritual improvement.

2. Their rebellion and apostasy in yielding in the earlier periods of their history to temptations to idolatry.

3. Their frequent chastisement, especially in the Captivity in the East, and in their subsequent national humiliations.

4. The repetition of their insensibility and disobedience in the rejection of Jesus, the true Messiah.

5. The final catastrophe which overtook the nation, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and in the dispersion of the people throughout the earth.

II THE LESS FAVOURED MAY BE, IN GOD"S PROVIDENCE, EXALTED TO PRIVILEGE, AND, BY A RIGHT USE OF IT, MAY BECOME PARTAKERS OF PRICELESS SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS. Consider the case of the Gentiles.

1. The publication of the gospel to them by St. Paul upon its rejection by his own fellow-countrymen.

2. The acceptance by many of the glad tidings intended for the enlightenment and salvation of men.

3. The position taken by Gentile converts in the diffusion of Christianity.

4. The consequent conversion of the Roman empire to the faith of Jesus of Nazareth.

5. And the course of the history of Christendom, which may all be traced to the operation of this wonderful principle.

APPLICATION.

1. They act foolishly who rely upon their privileges.

2. They are wise who, grateful for privileges, are concerned so to use them that they may not lose them, so to use them that they may become the vehicles of the highest spiritual blessing to themselves and to those associated with them, over whom their influence may extend.

3. They who are cast down because their circumstances seem unfavourable should not forget that the people who were not God"s people" became his people," beloved," children of the living God."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Our apostle having hitherto vindicated the wisdom and righteousness of God in the rejection of the Jews, and calling of the Gentiles; lest the Jews should stumble and take offence at it, in these and the following verses he proves, that the calling of the Gentiles was long before foretold, both by the prophet Hosea, and the prophet Isaiah; by the prophet Hosea,

I will call them my people, which were not my people. Hos 2:23

And, Instead of, ye are not my people, it shall be said, ye are the sons of the living God. Hos 1:10

Which expressions signify and import God’s receiving the Gentiles into the church as an act of free and undeserved mercy, whom the Jews looked upon as castaways, as strangers, as dogs; accounting themselves only to be of his family and household. Next he produces the testimony of Isaiah.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As he saith also in Hosea [Paul does not seek to prove his question about God's grace to the wicked which he exercises instead of his right to immediate punishment -- that needs no proof. That God wishes to save all, and hath no pleasure in the damnation of any, has always been Scripturally plain. What he now seeks to prove is his last assertion about impartiality. He has shown out of the Scriptures that God has elected between the apparently elect; he now wishes to also show, out of the same Scriptures, that he has elected the apparently non-elect--viz., the Gentiles--and that the apparently elect, or Jews, are all to be rejected save a remnant. The first quotation is a compilation of Hos_2:23 and Rom_1:10 . The translation is from the Hebrew, modified by the LXX., and by Paul, but not so as to affect the meaning. It reads thus:], I will call that my people, which was not my people; And her beloved, that was not beloved .

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25–29. As he saith also in Hosea. Hosea 2:23. That it was God's plan aforetime to call the Gentiles to salvation he shows by this prophecy. In Hosea 1:10, there is a prediction of the same import, which Paul quotes in verse 26. Both passages show that the gospel call to the Gentiles is only in harmony with the long-declared purpose of God.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

In this section Paul explains how Israel's unbelief as a nation was told ahead of time by the prophet Hosea.

As he says also in Hosea

Here "he" refers to God. AT: "As God says also in the book that Hosea wrote" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Hosea

Hosea was a prophet. (See: How to Translate Names)

I will call my people who were not my people

"I will choose for my people those who were not my people"

her beloved who was not beloved

Here "her" refers to Hosea's wife, Gomer, who represents the nation of Israel. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "I will choose her whom I did not love to be one whom I love" (See: Active or Passive)

sons of the living God

The word "living" may refer to the fact that God is the only true God, and not like the false idols. AT: "children of the true God"

translationWords

beloved

sons of God

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

25–29. The four quotations are cited to show that the prophets contemplated that the choice of the chosen people would be maintained only in a remnant, and that there would be a choice of others also. There is warrant in Scripture for both sides of his proposition; not only for GOD’S working κατ’ ἐκλογήν, but also for the assertion that the ἐκλογὴ in fact involved a call of Gentiles and at least contemplated a falling away of Israelites, or, as he here prefers to call them, Jews.

25. Hos 2:23. The original refers to the restoration of the ten tribes, who had fallen from their privileged state. S. Paul applies this to the inclusion in the privileged state of Gentiles who had not possessed it; on the principle that, if GOD could bring back the disowned, He could call in those who had not before been called. Cf. 1Pe 2:10 (and Hort’s note).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. ὡς καί: ‘and this point, the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles, is foretold by the prophet.’ St. Paul now proceeds to give additional force to his argument by a series of quotations from the O. T., which are added as a sort of appendix to the first main section of his argument

καλέσω … ἡγαπημένην—quoted from the LXX of Hos 2:23 with some alterations. In the original passage the words refer to the ten tribes. A son and daughter of Hosea are named Lo-ammi, ‘not a people’ and Lo-ruhamah, ‘without mercy,’ to signify the fallen condition of the ten tribes; and Hosea prophesies their restoration (cf. Hos 1:6, Hos 1:8, Hos 1:9). St. Paul applies the principle which underlies these words, that God can take into His covenant those who were previously cut off from it, to the calling of the Gentiles. A similar interpretation of the verse was held by the Rabbis. Pesachim viii. f. Dixit R. Eliezer: Non alia de causa in exilium et captivitatem misit Deus S. B. Israelem inter nationes, nisi ut facerent multos proselytos S. D. Oseae 2:25 (23) et seram eam mihi in terram. Numquid homo seminat satum nisi ut colligat multos coros tritici? Wetstein.

The LXX reads ἐλεήσω τὴν οὐκ ἠλεημένην, καὶ ἐρῶ τῷ οὐ λαῷ μου Λαός μου εἶ σύ, but for the first clause which agrees with the Hebrew the Vatican substitutes ἀγαπήσω τὴν οὐκ ἠγαπημένην. St. Paul inverts the order of the clauses, so that the reference to τὸν οὐ λαόν μου, which seems particularly to suit the Gentiles, comes first, and for ἐρῶ substitutes καλέσω which naturally crept in from the ἐκάλεσεν of the previous verse, and changes the construction of the clause to suit the new word. In the second clause St. Paul seems to have used a text containing the reading of the Vatican MS., for the latter can hardly have been altered to harmonize with him. St. Peter makes use of the passage with the reading of the majority of MSS.: οἱ ποτὲ οὐ λαός, νῦν δὲ λαὸς Θεοῦ, οἱ οὐκ ἠλεημένοι, νῦν δὲ ἐλεηθέντες (1Pe 2:10).

καλέσω with a double accusative can only mean ‘I will name,’ although the word has been suggested by its previous occurrence in another sense.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That my people which was not my people [τον ου λαον μου, λαον μου] . The Greek is much more condensed. "I will call the not - my - people my - people." See Hos 1:6 - 9. The reference is to the symbolical names given by the prophet to a son and daughter : Lo Ammi not my people, and Lo Ruhama not having obtained mercy. The new people whom God will call my people will be made up from both Jews and Gentiles. Hosea, it is true, is speaking of the scattered Israelites only, and not of the Gentiles; but the ten tribes, by their lapse into idolatry had put themselves upon the same footing with the Gentiles, so that the words could be applied to both. A principle of the divine government is enunciated "which comes into play everywhere when circumstances reappear similar to those to which the statement was originally applied. The exiled Israelites being mingled with the Gentiles, and forming one homogeneous mass with them, cannot be brought to God separately from them. Isa 49:22 represents the Gentiles as carrying the sons of Israel in their arms, and their daughters on their shoulders, and consequently as being restored to grace along with them" (Godet).

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.