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英語原文
The apostle, having plainly asserted and largely proved that justification and salvation are to had by faith only, and not by the works of the law, by Christ and not by Moses, comes in this and the following chapters to anticipate an objection which might be made against this. If this be so, then what becomes of the Jews, of them all as a complex body, especially those of them that do not embrace Christ, nor believe the gospel? By this rule they must needs come short of happiness; and then what becomes of the promise made to the fathers, which entailed salvation upon the Jews? Is not that promise nullified and made of none effect? Which is not a thing to be imagined concerning any word of God. That doctrine therefore, might they say, is not to be embraced, from which flows such a consequence as this. That the consequence of the rejection of the unbelieving Jews follows from Paul's doctrine he grants, but endeavours to soften and mollify, Ro 9:1-15. But that from this it follows that the word of God takes no effect he denies (Ro 9:6), and proves the denial in the rest of the chapter, which serves likewise to illustrate the great doctrine of predestination, which he had spoken of (Ro 8:28) as the first wheel which in the business of salvation sets all the other wheels a-going.
1-5
Paul's Anxiety for the Jews (58 AD)
繁體中文
保羅為猶太人的憂傷（主後五十八年）
¹ 我在基督裏說真話，並不謊言，我的良心也聖靈裏給我作見證；
² 我是大有憂愁，心裏時常傷痛；
³ 為我弟兄，我骨肉之親，就是自己被咒詛，與基督分離，我也願意。
⁴ 他們是以色列人；那兒子的名分、榮耀、諸約、律法、禮儀、應許都是他們的。
⁵ 列祖就是他們的祖宗；按肉體說，基督也是從他們出來的，他是在萬有之上，永遠可稱頌的神。阿們！
我們在此看到使徒對猶太民族和百姓深深關切的莊嚴宣告——他誠心為他們中間有如此多人與福音為敵、在救恩之道以外而深感困擾。為此他有大有憂愁，心裏時常傷痛。如此宣告是必要的，以消除他本會因斷言並證明他們被棄絕而招致的惡名。智慧之道，在於盡量柔化那些聽來刺耳、令人不快的事實：把釘子蘸在油裏，就更容易釘進去。猶太人對保羅的仇恨超過對任何使徒的仇恨，如使徒行傳的歷史所載，因此更容易誤解他所說的話；為了防範這一點，他以這番溫柔而充滿深情的宣告開始他的論述，好叫他們不至於以為他對被棄絕的猶太人幸災樂禍，或為將臨到他們的災禍而歡喜。如此，耶利米也曾為他那日子將要速速滅亡的猶太人向神起誓（Jer 17:16）：*我也没有求那災禍的日子，你知道的。*不但如此，保羅非但沒有求那日子，更是極其懇切地為之代求。為免人以為這不過是他的虛飾，為了奉承和取悅他們——
I. 他以莊嚴的斷言來肯定此事（Ro 9:1）：我在基督裏說真話，「我作為基督徒、作為神的子民、作為不說謊的兒女說話，作為一個不知道如何給人奉承頭銜的人。」或，「我向那察驗人心的基督上訴，論及此事。」他同樣向自己的良心上訴，這良心勝過千名證人。他將要斷言的事不僅是重大要緊的（如此莊嚴的斷言不可浪費在瑣事上），而且是一項隱密之事；這關乎他心中的憂愁，除了神和他自己的良心，無人有資格作證。——我是大有憂愁，Ro 9:2。他沒有說是為了甚麼；一提就令人不悅、令人反感；但顯然他是為猶太人的被棄絕而憂愁。
II. 他以一個非常認真的祈願來支持它，這祈願他出於對猶太人的愛而隨時準備發出。我也願意；他沒有說「我願意」，因為這不是為達此目的而指定的正當途徑；但若是的話，我也願意自己被咒詛，與基督分離，為我弟兄——這是他對同胞之愛和熱心的極高境界。他情願忍受最大的苦難以使他們得益。愛容易如此勇敢、如此冒險、如此捨己。因為神在多人得救中所彰顯的恩典之榮耀，當被置於單個人的福祉和幸福之上，所以保羅若將二者並列比較，情願放棄自己的一切幸福以換取他們的。1. 他情願從活人之地被剪除，以最羞辱可恥的方式被當作anathema——當滅之物或獻出之人。他們渴望流他的血，迫害他，視他為世上最可惡的人，視他為他那時代的咒詛和瘟疫，1Co 4:13, Ac 22:22。「如今，」保羅說，「我情願為你們的益處忍受這一切，以及更多更多。你們盡可以任意辱罵我，隨你們所喜歡稱呼我；你們的不信和被棄絕在我心中造成的憂愁，遠超過這一切患難所能造成的，以致我不僅視這些患難為可忍受的，更視之為可羨慕的——與其你們被棄絕，我情願如此。」2. 他情願被逐出聖徒的團契，與教會分離，與聖徒的相通斷絕，被當作外邦人和稅吏那樣，只要這對他們有益。他情願自己不再被記念在聖徒之中，情願他的名字從教會名冊上被塗抹；雖然他是教會的偉大建立者、是成千上萬人屬靈的父，卻情願被教會否認、與她一切相通斷絕，情願他的名字被埋沒於遺忘或羞辱之中——只要這能使猶太人得益。也許有些猶太人因保羅的緣故對基督教存有偏見；他們對他如此懷恨，以致恨他所屬的宗教：「如果這絆倒你們，」保羅說，「我情願自己被逐出、不被接納為基督徒，只要你們能被接納。」如此，摩西（Ex 32:33）在類似的聖潔關切激情中說：*求你從你所寫的冊上塗抹我的名。*3. 不僅如此，有人認為這話語更進一層，他情願被剪除與基督無分、失去在基督裏的一切幸福之分，只要這能成為他們得救的途徑。尋常的愛心是從自己開始的；這乃是更高尚、更慷慨的。
III. 他說明這深情和關切的原因。
1. 因為他們與他的關係：*我弟兄，我骨肉之親。*雖然他們在一切場合都對他極其苦毒，並以最不自然、最野蠻的方式待他，他卻如此恭敬地稱呼他們。這顯示他是一個有饒恕之靈的人。我並沒有要控告我本國的百姓，Ac 28:19。*我骨肉之親。*保羅是希伯來人所生的希伯來人。我們當特別關心我們親屬、弟兄和骨肉之親屬靈的益處。我們對他們負有特別的責任，也有更多機會向他們行善；關於他們以及我們對他們的用處，我們必須特別交賬。
2. 特別因為他們與神的關係（Ro 9:4,5）：他們是以色列人，是亞伯拉罕——神的朋友——的後裔，是神所揀選的雅各的後裔，被納入特殊之約中，以可見的教會特權加以尊榮和分別，其中許多在此被提及：——（1.）兒子的名分；不是那拯救人、使人有權得永恆福樂的兒子名分，而是外在的、預表性的，使他們有權得迦南地的兒子名分。以色列是我的兒子，Ex 4:22。（2.）榮耀；就是有施恩座的約櫃，神在二基路伯中間居住其上——這就是以色列的榮耀，1Sa 4:21。神同在和引導的許多象徵和記號——雲柱、捨吉拿、以及所賜給他們的特殊恩惠——這些就是榮耀。（3.）諸約——與亞伯拉罕所立的約，並在不同的場合多次向他的後裔更新。在西奈山立過約（Ex 24:1-18），在摩押平原立過約（De 29:1-29），在示劍立過約（Jos 24:1-33），此後還屢次更新；而這一切都屬於以色列。或指特殊之約，在其中以預表的方式包含了恩典之約。（4.）律法。禮儀律和民事律是賜給他們的，成文的道德律也屬於他們。在我們中間有神的律法是極大的特權，也當如此視之，Ps 147:19,20。這是以色列的尊榮，De 4:7,8。（5.）禮儀。他們中間有神敬拜的典章——聖殿、祭壇、祭司、祭物、節期，以及與這些相關的制度。他們在這方面大受尊榮，因為當列國敬拜事奉木頭、石頭、鬼魔以及自己發明的各種偶像時，以色列人卻按神自己所指定的方式事奉真神。（6.）應許——在一般的約之上附加的特定應許，關乎彌賽亞和福音時代的應許。當注意，應許伴隨著律法的頒賜和對神的事奉；因為應許的安慰只能在順服那律法、事奉那敬拜中獲得。（7.）列祖就是他們的（Ro 9:5），亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各，那些聲名顯赫、在神的恩寵中居崇高地位的人。猶太人與他們有關係，是他們的子孫，並以此為足夠驕傲：我們有亞伯拉罕為我們的祖宗。正是為列祖的緣故，他們才被納入聖約，Ro 11:28。（8.）但最大的尊榮是：按肉體說（即按他的人性），基督是從他們出來的；因為他取了亞伯拉罕的後裔，Heb 2:16。按他的神性，他是從天降下的主；但按他的人性，他是亞伯拉罕的後裔。這是猶太人的極大特權——基督與他們有血統之親。論到基督時，他插了一句關於他的極重要的話：他是在萬有之上，永遠可稱頌的神。免得猶太人因基督與他們同宗而輕看他，他在此如此尊榮地論到他：這是基督神性的非常充分的證據；他不僅作為中保在萬有之上，更是永遠可稱頌的神。因此，那些棄絕他的人該受何等更重的刑罰！這同樣是猶太人的尊榮，也是保羅對他們心存善意的理由之一——既然永遠可稱頌的神要成為人，他要作一個猶太人；而考慮到那時那民的光景和品格，這也可以被看作是他降卑的一部分。
英語原文
Paul's Anxiety for the Jews (58 AD)
¹ I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
² That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
³ For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
⁴ Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
⁵ Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
We have here the apostle's solemn profession of a great concern for the nation and people of the Jews—that he was heartily troubled that so many of them were enemies to the gospel, and out of the way of salvation. For this he had great heaviness and continual sorrow. Such a profession as this was requisite to take off the odium which otherwise he might have contracted by asserting and proving their rejection. It is wisdom as much as may be to mollify those truths which sound harshly and seem unpleasant: dip the nail in oil, it will drive the better. The Jews had a particular pique at Paul above any of the apostles, as appears by the history of the Acts, and therefore were the more apt to take things amiss of him, to prevent which he introduces his discourse with this tender and affectionate profession, that they might not think he triumphed or insulted over the rejected Jews or was pleased with the calamities that were coming upon them. Thus Jeremiah appeals to God concerning the Jews of his day, whose ruin was hastening on (Jer 17:16), Neither have I desired the woeful day, thou knowest. Nay, Paul was so far from desiring it that he most pathetically deprecates it. And lest this should be thought only a copy of his countenance, to flatter and please them,
I. He asserts it with a solemn protestation (Ro 9:1): I say the truth in Christ, "I speak it as a Christian, one of God's people, children that will not lie, as one that knows not how to give flattering title." Or, "I appeal to Christ, who searches the heart, concerning it." He appeals likewise to his own conscience, which was instead of a thousand witnesses. That which he was going to assert was not only a great and weighty thing (such solemn protestations are not to be thrown away upon trifles), but it was likewise a secret; it was concerning a sorrow in his heart to which none was a capable competent witness but God and his own conscience.—That I have great heaviness, Ro 9:2. He does not say for what; the very mention of it was unpleasant and invidious; but it is plain that he means for the rejection of the Jews.
II. He backs it with a very serious imprecation, which he was ready to make, out of love to the Jews. I could wish; he does not say, I do wish, for it was no proper means appointed for such an end; but, if it were, I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren—a very high pang of zeal and affection for his countrymen. He would be willing to undergo the greatest misery to do them good. Love is apt to be thus bold, and venturous, and self-denying. Because the glory of God's grace in the salvation of many is to be preferred before the welfare and happiness of a single person, Paul, if they were put in competition, would be content to forego all his own happiness to purchase theirs. 1. He would be content to be cut off from the land of the living, in the most shameful and ignominious manner, as an anathema, or a devoted person. They thirsted for his blood, persecuted him as the most obnoxious person in the world, the curse and plague of his generation, 1Co 4:13, Ac 22:22. "Now," says Paul, "I am willing to bear all this, and a great deal more, for your good. Abuse me as much as you will, count and call me at your pleasure; your unbelief and rejection create in my heart a heaviness so much greater than all these troubles can that I could look upon them not only as tolerable, but as desirable, rather than this rejection." 2. He would be content to be excommunicated from the society of the faithful, to be separated from the church, and from the communion of saints, as a heathen man and a publican, if that would do them any good. He could wish himself no more remembered among the saints, his name blotted out of the church-records; though he had been so great a planter of churches, and the spiritual father of so many thousands, yet he would be content to be disowned by the church, cut off from all communion with it, and have his name buried in oblivion or reproach, for the good of the Jews. It may be, some of the Jews had a prejudice against Christianity for Paul's sake; such a spleen they had at him that they hated the religion he was of: "If this stumble you," says Paul, "I could wish I might be cast out, not embraced as a Christian, so you might but be taken in." Thus Moses (Ex 32:33), in a like holy passion of concern, Blot me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written. 3. Nay, some think that the expression goes further, and that he could be content to be cut off from all his share of happiness in Christ, if that might be a means of their salvation. It is a common charity that begins at home; this is something higher, and more noble and generous.
III. He gives us the reason of this affection and concern.
1. Because of their relation to them: My brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Though they were very bitter against him upon all occasions, and gave him the most unnatural and barbarous usage, yet thus respectfully does he speak of them. It shows him to be a man of a forgiving spirit. Not that I had aught to accuse my nation of, Ac 28:19. My kinsmen. Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. We ought to be in a special manner concerned for the spiritual good of our relations, our brethren and kinsmen. To them we lie under special engagements, and we have more opportunity of doing good to them; and concerning them, and our usefulness to them, we must in a special manner give account.
2. Especially because of their relation to God (Ro 9:4,5): Who are Israelites, the seed of Abraham, God's friend, and of Jacob his chosen, taken into the covenant of peculiarity, dignified and distinguished by visible church-privileges, many of which are here mentioned:—(1.) The adoption; not that which is saving, and which entitled to eternal happiness, but that which was external and typical, and entitled them to the land of Canaan. Israel is my son, Ex 4:22. (2.) And the glory; the ark with the mercy-seat, over which God dwelt between the cherubim—this was the glory of Israel, 1Sa 4:21. The many symbols and tokens of the divine presence and guidance, the cloud, the Shechinah, the distinguishing favours conferred upon them—these were the glory. (3.) And the covenants—the covenant made with Abraham, and often renewed with his seed upon divers occasions. There was a covenant at Sinai (Ex 24:1-18), in the plains of Moab (De 29:1-29), at Shechem (Jos 24:1-33), and often afterwards; and still these pertained to Israel. Or, the covenant of peculiarity, and in that, as in the type, the covenant of grace. (4.) And the giving of the law. It was to them that the ceremonial and judicial law were given, and the moral law in writing pertained to them. It is a great privilege to have the law of God among us, and it is to be accounted so, Ps 147:19,20. This was the grandeur of Israel, De 4:7,8. (5.) And the service of God. They had the ordinances of God's worship among them—the temple, the altars, the priests, the sacrifices, the feasts, and the institutions relating to them. They were in this respect greatly honoured, that, while other nations were worshipping and serving stocks, and stones, and devils, and they knew not what other idols of their own invention, the Israelites were serving the true God in the way of his own appointment. (6.) And the promises—particular promises added to the general covenant, promises relating to the Messiah and the gospel state. Observe, The promises accompany the giving of the law, and the service of God; for the comfort of the promises is to be had in obedience to that law and attendance upon that service. (7.) Whose are the fathers (Ro 9:5), Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, those men of renown, that stood so high in the favour of God. The Jews stand in relation to them, are their children, and proud enough they are of it: We have Abraham to our father. It was for the father's sake that they were taken into covenant, Ro 11:28. (8.) But the greatest honour of all was that of them as concerning the flesh (that is, as to his human nature) Christ came; for he took on him the seed of Abraham, Heb 2:16. As to his divine nature, he is the Lord from heaven; but, as to his human nature, he is of the seed of Abraham. This was the great privilege of the Jews, that Christ was of kin to them. Mentioning Christ, he interposes a very great word concerning him, that he is over all, God blessed for ever. Lest the Jews should think meanly of him, because he was of their alliance, he here speaks thus honourably concerning him: and it is a very full proof of the Godhead of Christ; he is not only over all, as Mediator, but he is God blessed for ever. Therefore, how much sorer punishment were they worthy of that rejected him! It was likewise the honour of the Jews, and one reason why Paul had a kindness for them, that, seeing God blessed for ever would be a man, he would be a Jew; and, considering the posture and character of that people at that time, it may well be looked upon as a part of his humiliation.
6-13
The Divine Sovereignty (58 AD)
繁體中文
神的主權（主後五十八年）
⁶ 這不是說神的話落了空。因為從以色列生的，不都是以色列人；
⁷ 也不因為是亞伯拉罕的後裔，就都作他的兒女；惟獨「從以撒生的，才要稱為你的後裔。」
⁸ 這就是說，肉身所生的兒女不是神的兒女；惟獨那應許的兒女才算是後裔。
⁹ 因為所應許的話是這樣說：「到明年這時候我要來，撒拉必生一個兒子。」
¹⁰ 不但如此，還有利百加，既從一個人——就是從我們的祖宗以撒——懷了孕；
¹¹ （雙子還沒有生下來，善惡還沒有作出來，只因要顯明神揀選人的旨意，不在乎人的行為，乃在乎召人的主，）
¹² 神就對她說：「將來大的要服事小的。」
¹³ 正如經上所記：「雅各是我所愛的；以掃是我所惡的。」
使徒既以自己對他們的愛的申明、以及對他們無疑特權的承認，鋪平了所要說的話——關於他大部分同胞被棄的事——就在這幾節和本章以下部分，證明猶太人的被棄（因福音制度的設立）完全沒有使神對列祖的應許之話失效：這不是說神的話落了空（Ro 9:6）——考量到猶太人如今的狀態（這狀態使保羅大有憂愁，心裏時常傷痛，Ro 9:2），這可能被懷疑。我們不可將無效歸於神的任何話：他所說的，沒有一句會、也不能落空；見賽 55:10,11。應許和威嚇必成就；他以這樣或那樣的方式尊崇律法、使之為大。這特別要理解為神的應許——它因後來的護理對動搖的信心可能是十分可疑的；但它不是、也不能被作廢；到了末後它必說話，並不虛謊。
如今困難在於調和不信猶太人的被棄與神應許的話，以及他們所得之外在神恩表記。他以四種方式作這事：1. 藉著解明應許的真意和用意，Ro 9:6-13。2. 藉著主張並證明神在處置世人上的絕對主權，Ro 9:14-24。3. 藉著表明猶太人的被棄和外邦人的被納在舊約中已預言，Ro 9:25-29。4. 藉著確定猶太人被棄的真正緣由，Ro 9:30 至末。
在本段使徒解明應許的真意和用意。我們若誤解了這話、誤會了應許，難怪我們在應驗上預備與神爭論；所以這話的意義必須先正確地立定。如今他在此證明，當神說他要作亞伯拉罕和他後裔的神（這就是賜給列祖的著名應許）時，他不是指他一切按血統而生的後裔，好像它是亞伯拉罕血統的必然附屬物；而是他只以如此如此的人為限。正如從起頭它被指定給以撒而非以實瑪利、雅各而非以掃，然而神的話並不因此失效；照樣如今同一應許被指定給信之的猶太人——那些接受基督和基督信仰的人——雖然它拒絕了成群拒絕基督的人，應許並不因此被挫敗和廢除，正如它不被以實瑪利和以掃作為預表性的拒絕所廢除一樣。
I. 他立下這命題——從以色列生的，不都是以色列人（Ro 9:6），*也不因為是……*等等，Ro 9:7。許多從亞伯拉罕和雅各的腰中而出、屬於那被稱為以色列名之百姓的人，離真正的以色列人——在新約拯救之福中有分的人——還差得遠。按名義和信仰表白為以色列人的，並不都是真正的以色列人。並不因為他們是亞伯拉罕的後裔，所以必然是神的兒女——雖然他們自己如此幻想，並大肆誇口和建立在他們與亞伯拉罕的關係上，Mt 3:9，Joh 8:38,39。但並不如此。恩典不在血統中傳遞；拯救之福也不可分割地附屬於外在教會特權——雖然百姓如此普遍地擴大神應許的意義，以支撐自己虛妄的盼望。
II. 他以實例證明這一點；在其中他不僅表明亞伯拉罕的後裔中有些蒙揀選、有些沒有，更表明神在其中是照他自己旨意的計謀行事，而非照著那現今不信的猶太人所如此奇特依戀的誡命律法。
1. 他指明以撒和以實瑪利的情形——兩人都是亞伯拉罕的後裔；然而以撒被納入與神的約中，以實瑪利被拒絕和逐出。為此他引用 Ge 21:12，從以撒生的，才要稱為你的後裔——這在那裏作為亞伯拉罕當樂意逐出使女和她兒子的理由，因為約要與以撒建立，Ge 17:19。然而神所說過的話——他要作亞伯拉罕和他後裔的神——並不因此落空；因為包含在那大話中的福分，是由神作為賜恩者傳遞的，他有自由決定這些福分應落在誰身上，並照此將之遺贈給以撒，拒絕以實瑪利。他進一步解釋這一點（Ro 9:8,9），並說明神藉這安排要教導我們甚麼。(1.) 肉身的兒女——僅憑他們按肉體與亞伯拉罕的關係——並不因此是神的兒女，否則以實瑪利就有充分的理由提出要求。這話直接擊中那些不信的猶太人——他們誇口自己按肉體與亞伯拉罕的關係，並指望以肉體的方式稱義——藉著那些基督已經廢除的屬肉體的禮儀。他們信靠肉體，Php 3:3。以實瑪利是肉身之子，由夏甲所生——她年輕而強壯，很可能有兒女。他的成孕沒有甚麼特別或超自然之處，不像以撒；他是按著血氣生的（Ga 4:29），代表那些指望以自己的力量和義得稱義和拯救的人。(2.) *應許的兒女才算是後裔。*那些有幸被算為後裔的人，不是因自己的功德或功勞，而是純粹憑著應許——在其中神已按自己的美意使自己有義務賜下所應許的恩惠。以撒是應許之子；他如此證明，Ro 9:9，引自 Ge 18:10。他是應許之子（許多別的人也是），並且他是憑著應許的大能成孕和出生的——因此是那些如今被算為後裔的人，即真信徒——他們不是從血氣生的，不是從情慾生的，也不是從人意生的，乃是從神生的——從不能壞的種子，就是應許的道生的，憑著賜新心這特別應許的大能：見 Ga 4:28。以撒是因著信成孕的，Heb 11:11。救恩的大奧秘在舊約中如此教導，不是用明言，而是用有意義的預表和護理的安排——這些對他們當時並不如如今對我們那樣清楚，因如今帕子已被揭去，預表已被本體所解明。
2. 雅各和以掃的情形（Ro 9:10-13），這更為有力，表明亞伯拉罕肉身的後裔並不因此就有分於應許，而是只有神在主權中所指定的人。以實瑪利和以撒在被逐之前已有先在的區別：以實瑪利是使女的兒子，遠在以撒之前出生，性情兇猛粗野，並曾譏笑或逼迫以撒——在這一切上都可以設想神在吩咐亞伯拉罕逐出他時有所顧及。但在雅各和以掃的情形中，既非如此也非如此——他們都是以撒由同一母親所生的兒子；他們hex henos——由一次成孕而懷的；hex henos koitou，某些抄本如此讀。在他們出生之前、或作了任何善惡之前，神的計謀就在他們之間作了區別。當說將來大的要服事小的時，兩人都在母腹中同樣掙扎——不顧所作或所預見的善工惡工，為要顯明神揀選人的旨意——為要建立這大真理，即神作為自由行事者，憑他自己絕對而主權的旨意，揀選一些、拒絕另一些，隨他的喜悅賜下或保留他的恩惠。他在雅各和以掃之間所設的這區別，他進一步以引自瑪 1:2,3 的引文說明——在那裏所說的不是雅各和以掃個人，而是他們的後裔以東人和以色列人：*雅各是我所愛的；以掃是我所惡的。*以色列民被納入特選之約，得著迦南地為業，蒙神在他們一切特別的保護、供應和拯救中更顯著的顯現所賜福；而以東人被拒絕，沒有殿、壇、祭司、也沒有先知——沒有如此特別的看顧，也沒有如此施恩。神在這兩個都從亞伯拉罕和以撒的腰中而出的國家之間設了如此大的區別，正如起初在雅各和以掃——這兩國的頭——之間設了區別。所以這一切揀選和拒絕都是預表性的，意在表明別的揀選和拒絕。(1.) 有人理解為條件或資格的揀選和拒絕。正如神揀選了以撒和雅各、拒絕了以實瑪利和以掃，他也可以並確實揀選了信心作為得救的條件、拒絕了律法的行為。阿民念（Arminius）如此理解，De rejectis et assumptis talibus, certa qualitate notatis——論那些以特定品質被標記的被棄者和被選者；約翰·古德溫（John Goodwin）也如此。但這非常勉強聖經；因使徒始終論到的是人——他憐憫他所要憐憫的（不是說他憐憫哪一種人），此外反對這意義的那兩個異議（Ro 9:14,19）完全不會發生，而他關於神對世人兒女之絕對主權的回答，若所意的不過是他指定得救的條件，就完全不貼切。(2.) 另有人理解為特定個人的揀選和拒絕——一些人從永遠被愛，另一些人被恨。但使徒論到雅各和以掃，不是論他們個人，而是作為祖先——雅各這民、以掃這民；神也不定任何人的罪，或定意如此作，僅僅因為他要如此作，而無他們自己功過的任何理由。(3.) 因此另有人理解為複合地考量的民族的揀選和拒絕。他的目的是為神辯護——在他的憐憫和真實上——在呼召外邦人、將他們納入教會、與他自己立約之事上，同時任憑猶太人頑固的部分堅持不信，從而自己使教會不復存在——如此隱藏了他們眼中那些關乎平安的事。然而使徒為解明和證明這一點的推理，非常適用於、且無疑（如聖經中常見的）是為了澄清神對待特定個人之恩典方法——因為拯救之福的傳遞與教會特權的傳遞有類比之處。揀選年幼的雅各、並使他優先於年長的以掃（如此交叉雙手），是要暗示猶太人——雖是亞伯拉罕肉身的後裔、教會的長子——將被放在一邊；而外邦人——如同年幼的兄弟——將在他們的位置被納入，並得著長子的名分和祝福。猶太人作為政治團體、一個民族和百姓——以禮儀律、殿宇和祭司為聯結的紐帶和凝聚的根基、為他們合一的中心——在許多世代中一直是天的寵兒和寵愛，是祭司的國度、聖潔的國民，因神在他們中間和為他們所作的神蹟顯現而得尊榮和分別。如今福音既已傳開、基督教會既已建立，這個國家團體就被撇棄，其教會制度被解散；而基督教會（以及後來的基督教國家）以同樣方式組成，成為他們在神恩惠中、以及那恩惠所產生的特別特權和保護中的繼承者。澄清神在這大安排中的公義，正是使徒在此的範圍。
英語原文
The Divine Sovereignty (58 AD)
⁶ Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
⁷ Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
⁸ That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
⁹ For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
¹⁰ And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
¹¹ (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
¹² It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
¹³ As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
The apostle, having made his way to that which he had to say, concerning the rejection of the body of his countrymen, with a protestation of his own affection for them and a concession of their undoubted privileges, comes in these verses, and the following part of the chapter, to prove that the rejection of the Jews, by the establishment of the gospel dispensation, did not at all invalidate the word of God's promise to the patriarchs: Not as though the word of God hath taken no effect (Ro 9:6), which, considering the present state of the Jews, which created to Paul so much heaviness and continual sorrow (Ro 9:2), might be suspected. We are not to ascribe inefficacy to any word of God: nothing that he has spoken does or can fall to the ground; see Isa 55:10,11. The promises and threatenings shall have their accomplishment; and, one way or other, he will magnify the law and make it honourable. This is to be understood especially of the promise of God, which by subsequent providences may be to a wavering faith very doubtful; but it is not, it cannot be, made of no effect; at the end it will speak and not lie.
Now the difficulty is to reconcile the rejection of the unbelieving Jews with the word of God's promise, and the external tokens of the divine favour, which had been conferred upon them. This he does in four ways:—1. By explaining the true meaning and intention of the promise, Ro 9:6-13. 2. By asserting and proving the absolute sovereignty of God, in disposing of the children of men, Ro 9:14-24. 3. By showing how this rejection of the Jews, and the taking in of the Gentiles, were foretold in the Old Testament, Ro 9:25-29. 4. By fixing the true reason of the Jews' rejection, Ro 9:30, to the end.
In this paragraph the apostle explains the true meaning and intention of the promise. When we mistake the word, and misunderstand the promise, no marvel if we are ready to quarrel with God about the accomplishment; and therefore the sense of this must first be duly stated. Now he here makes it out that, when God said he would be a God to Abraham, and to his seed (which was the famous promise made unto the fathers), he did not mean it of all his seed according to the flesh, as if it were a necessary concomitant of the blood of Abraham; but that he intended it with a limitation only to such and such. And as from the beginning it was appropriated to Isaac and not to Ishmael, to Jacob and not to Esau, and yet for all this the word of God was not made of no effect; so now the same promise is appropriated to believing Jews that embrace Christ and Christianity, and, though it throws off multitudes that refuse Christ, yet the promise is not therefore defeated and invalidated, any more than it was by the typical rejection of Ishmael and Esau.
I. He lays down this proposition—that they are not all Israel who are of Israel (Ro 9:6), neither because they are, etc., Ro 9:7. Many that descended from the loins of Abraham and Jacob, and were of that people who were surnamed by the name of Israel, yet were very far from being Israelites indeed, interested in the saving benefits of the new covenant. They are not all really Israel that are so in name and profession. It does not follow that, because they are the seed of Abraham, therefore they must needs be the children of God, though they themselves fancied so, boasted much of, and built much upon, their relation to Abraham, Mt 3:9, Joh 8:38,39. But it does not follow. Grace does not run in the blood; nor are saving benefits inseparably annexed to external church privileges, though it is common for people thus to stretch the meaning of God's promise, to bolster themselves up in a vain hope.
II. He proves this by instances; and therein shows not only that some of Abraham's seed were chosen, and others not, but that God therein wrought according to the counsel of his own will; and not with regard to that law of commandments to which the present unbelieving Jews were so strangely wedded.
1. He specifies the case of Isaac and Ishmael, both of them the seed of Abraham; and yet Isaac only taken into covenant with God, and Ishmael rejected and cast out. For this he quotes Ge 21:12, In Isaac shall thy seed be called, which comes in there as a reason why Abraham must be willing to cast out the bond-woman and her son, because the covenant was to be established with Isaac, Ge 17:19. And yet the word which God had spoken, that he would be a God to Abraham and to his seed, did not therefore fall to the ground; for the blessings wrapt up in that great word, being communicated by God as a benefactor, he was free to determine on what head they should rest, and accordingly entailed them upon Isaac, and rejected Ishmael. This he explains further (Ro 9:8,9), and shows what God intended to teach us by this dispensation. (1.) That the children of the flesh, as such, by virtue of their relation to Abraham according to the flesh, are not therefore the children of God, for then Ishmael had put in a good claim. This remark comes home to the unbelieving Jews, who boasted of their relation to Abraham according to the flesh, and looked for justification in a fleshly way, by those carnal ordinances which Christ had abolished. They had confidence in the flesh, and looked for justification in a fleshly way, by those carnal ordinances which Christ had abolished. They had confidence in the flesh, Php 3:3. Ishmael was a child of the flesh, conceived by Hagar, who was young and fresh, and likely enough to have children. There was nothing extraordinary or supernatural in his conception, as there was in Isaac's; he was born after the flesh (Ga 4:29), representing those that expect justification and salvation by their own strength and righteousness. (2.) That the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Those that have the honour and happiness of being counted for the seed have it not for the sake of any merit or desert of their own, but purely by virtue of the promise, in which God hath obliged himself of his own good pleasure to grant the promised favour. Isaac was a child of promise; this his proves, Ro 9:9, quoted from Ge 18:10. He was a child promised (so were many others), and he was also conceived and born by force and virtue of the promise, and so a proper type and figure of those who are now counted for the seed, even true believers, who are born, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God—of the incorruptible seed, even the word of promise, by virtue of the special promise of a new heart: see Ga 4:28. It was through faith that Isaac was conceived, Heb 11:11. Thus were the great mysteries of salvation taught under the Old Testament, not in express words, but by significant types and dispensations of providence, which to them then were not so clear as they are to us now, when the veil is taken away, and the types are expounded by the antitypes.
2. The case of Jacob and Esau (Ro 9:10-13), which is much stronger, to show that the carnal seed of Abraham were not, as such, interested in the promise, but only such of them as God in sovereignty had appointed. There was a previous difference between Ishmael and Isaac, before Ishmael was cast out: Ishmael was the son of the bond-woman, born long before Isaac, was of a fierce and rugged disposition, and had mocked or persecuted Isaac, to all which it might be supposed God had regard when he appointed Abraham to cast him out. But, in the case of Jacob and Esau, it was neither so nor so, they were both the sons of Isaac by one mother; they were conceived hex henos—by one conception; hex henos koitou, so some copies read it. The difference was made between them by the divine counsel before they were born, or had done any good or evil. Both lay struggling alike in their mother's womb, when it was said, The elder shall serve the younger, without respect to good or bad works done or foreseen, that the purpose of God according to election might stand—that this great truth may be established, that God chooses some and refuses others as a free agent, by his own absolute and sovereign will, dispensing his favours or withholding them as he pleases. This difference that was put between Jacob and Esau he further illustrates by a quotation from Mal 1:2,3, where it is said, not of Jacob and Esau the person, but the Edomites and Israelites their posterity, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. The people of Israel were taken into the covenant of peculiarity, had the land of Canaan given them, were blessed with the more signal appearances of God for them in special protections, supplies, and deliverances, while the Edomites were rejected, had no temple, altar, priests, nor prophets—no such particular care taken of them nor kindness shown to them. Such a difference did God put between those two nations, that both descended from the loins of Abraham and Isaac, as at first there was a difference put between Jacob and Esau, the distinguishing heads of those two nations. So that all this choosing and refusing was typical, and intended to shadow forth some other election and rejection. (1.) Some understand it of the election and rejection of conditions or qualifications. As God chose Isaac and Jacob, and rejected Ishmael and Esau, so he might and did choose faith to be the condition of salvation and reject the works of the law. Thus Arminius understands it, De rejectis et assumptis talibus, certa qualitate notatis—Concerning such as are rejected and such as are chosen, being distinguished by appropriate qualities; so John Goodwin. But this very much strains the scripture; for the apostle speaks all along of persons, he has mercy on whom (he does not say on what kind of people) he will have mercy, besides that against this sense those two objections (Ro 9:14,19) do not at all arise, and his answer to them concerning God's absolute sovereignty over the children of men is not at all pertinent if no more be meant than his appointing the conditions of salvation. (2.) Others understand it of the election and rejection of particular person—some loved, and others hated, from eternity. But the apostle speaks of Jacob and Esau, not in their own persons, but as ancestors—Jacob the people, and Esau the people; nor does God condemn any, or decree so to do, merely because he will do it, without any reason taken from their own deserts. (3.) Others therefore understand it of the election and rejection of people considered complexly. His design is to justify God, and his mercy and truth, in calling the Gentiles, and taking them into the church, and into covenant with himself, while he suffered the obstinate part of the Jews to persist in unbelief, and so to un-church themselves—thus hiding from their eyes the things that belonged to their peace. The apostle's reasoning for the explication and proof of this is, however, very applicable to, and, no doubt (as is usual in scripture) was intended for the clearing of the methods of God's grace towards particular person, for the communication of saving benefits bears some analogy to the communication of church-privileges. The choosing of Jacob the younger, and preferring him before Esau the elder (so crossing hands), were to intimate that the Jews, though the natural seed of Abraham, and the first-born of the church, should be laid aside; and the Gentiles, who were as the younger brother, should be taken in in their stead, and have the birthright and blessing. The Jews, considered as a body politic, a nation and people, knit together by the bond and cement of the ceremonial law, the temple and priesthood, the centre of their unity, had for many ages been the darlings and favourites of heaven, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, dignified and distinguished by God's miraculous appearances among them and for them. Now that the gospel was preached, and Christian churches were planted, this national body was thereby abandoned, their church-polity dissolved; and Christian churches (and in process of time Christian nations), embodied in like manner, become their successors in the divine favour, and those special privileges and protections which were the products of that favour. To clear up the justice of God in this great dispensation is the scope of the apostle here.
14-24
The Divine Sovereignty (58 AD)
繁體中文
神的主權（主後五十八年）
¹⁴ 這樣，我們可說什麼呢？難道神有什麼不公平嗎？斷乎沒有！
¹⁵ 因他對摩西說：我要憐憫誰就憐憫誰，要恩待誰就恩待誰。
¹⁶ 據此看來，這不在乎那定意的，也不在乎那奔跑的，只在乎發憐憫的神。
¹⁷ 因為經上有話向法老說：我將你興起來，特要在你身上彰顯我的權能，並要使我的名傳遍天下。
¹⁸ 如此看來，神要憐憫誰就憐憫誰，要叫誰剛硬就叫誰剛硬。
¹⁹ 這樣，你必對我說：他為什麼還指責人呢？有誰抗拒他的旨意呢？
²⁰ 你這個人哪，你是誰，竟敢向神強嘴呢？受造之物豈能對造他的說：你為什麼這樣造我呢？
²¹ 窯匠難道沒有權柄從一團泥裏拿一塊做成貴重的器皿，又拿一塊做成卑賤的器皿嗎？
²² 倘若神要顯明他的忿怒，彰顯他的權能，就多多忍耐寬容那可怒、預備遭毀滅的器皿，
²³ 又要將他豐盛的榮耀彰顯在那蒙憐憫、早預備得榮耀的器皿上——
²⁴ 這器皿就是我們被神所召的，不但是從猶太人中，也是從外邦人中。這豈不可以作他的主權嗎？
使徒既已斷定應許的真意，此處來維護並證明神絕對的主權——在處置世人關乎其永遠狀態之事上的主權。在此神當被視為，不是作為按其所啟示的律法和聖約施行賞罰的治理者和長官，而是作為主人和恩主，按他在自己隱秘而永遠的旨意和籌算中所定的，賜給世人恩惠和恩寵：既有可見的教會會員資格和特權的恩惠——賜給某些民而拒絕別的民；也有有效恩典的恩惠——賜給某些特定的人而拒絕別的人。
如今他這段論述是為回答兩個反對。
I. 可能有人反對說，*難道神有什麼不公平嗎？*若神在待人時如此任意地揀選某些人、拒絕另一些人，豈不可以懷疑他有不公平嗎？使徒一想到這事就驚駭：*斷乎沒有！*我們決不可有這樣的思想；審判全地的主豈不行公義嗎？創 18:25，Ro 3:5,6。他否認這推論，並證明這否認。
1. 關於他所施憐憫的人，Ro 9:15,16。他引用那處經文表明神在分施恩惠上的主權（出 33:19）：我要恩待誰就恩待誰。神一切憐憫的理由都是從他自己裏面取的。世人既都同樣陷在罪和悲慘的狀態中，同在罪咎和忿怒之下，神就以主權的方式，從這墮落背逆的族類中揀選一些人，作恩典和榮耀的器皿。他隨己意分賜恩賜，不給我們任何理由：按他自己的喜悅揀選某些人作憐憫和恩典——那在前、有效的恩典——的記念碑，同時越過其他人。這表達非常有力，重複使它更為有力：我要憐憫誰就憐憫誰。這暗示神旨意中完全的絕對性；他要作他所要作的，不為他任何的事交賬，他如此行也不合宜。正如那些大話我是自有永有的（出 3:14）豐富地表達了他存在之絕對獨立性，照樣這些話我要憐憫誰就憐憫誰，也同樣完全地表達了他旨意的絕對特權和主權。為辯護神向他所要憐憫的人施憐憫之公義，使徒訴諸神自己所說的話——在其中他宣稱這主權的權柄和自由。神在他自己的事上也是有資格的判斷者。無論神所作的，或定意要作的，都因這兩者被證明為公義。Eleeso on han heleo——我要憐憫誰就憐憫誰。當我開始時，我必成全。所以神的憐憫永遠長存，因為其理由是從他自己裏面取的；所以他的恩賜和選召是沒有後悔的。因此他推論（Ro 9:16），這不在乎那定意的。凡從神臨到人的善事，其榮耀不可歸於人最慷慨的願望，也不可歸於人最勤奮的努力，唯獨並純粹歸於神白白的恩典和憐憫。在雅各的事上，這不在乎那定意的，也不在乎那奔跑的；不是利百加懇切的意願和願望使雅各得福；不是雅各急於得著（因他是被迫去追逐的）為他取得了祝福，而是唯獨神的憐憫和恩典。神那些聖潔有福的百姓與別人不同之處，是神和他的恩典使他們與別不同。將這一般規則應用於保羅面前的特殊情形：為何那些不配、不配得、惡配的外邦人蒙召、被接枝於教會，而大部分猶太人被留在不信中滅亡——不是因為那些外邦人更配得或更傾向於這樣的恩惠，而是因為神白白的恩典造成了那分別。外邦人既沒有意思，也沒有奔跑，因為他們坐在黑暗中，太 4:16。在黑暗中，所以不會願意他們所不知道的；坐在黑暗中，是一種滿足的姿勢，所以不是跑去迎接，而是被這些無價的良善之福所預先得著。神恩典對一切有分於它的人都是如此的方法，因為他被那些沒有尋求他的人尋見（賽 65:1）；在這在前的、有效的、有分別的恩典中，他作為恩主而行動，他的恩典是他自己的。所以我們的眼不可因他的眼善而惡；相反，我們或別人所擁有的一切恩典，他必得著榮耀：不是歸我們，詩 115:1。
2. 關於那些滅亡的人，Ro 9:17。神的主權，彰顯在罪人的沉淪上，此處在法老的實例中表明；這引自出 9:16。當留意，
(1.) 神向法老作了什麼。他興起他，帶他到世上，使他聞名，賜他國度和權能——將他立如山上的信號，作他一切災禍的靶子（與出 9:14 比較）——使他的心剛硬，如他曾說他要作的（出 4:21）：我要使他的心剛硬，即收回使之軟化的恩典，任憑他自己，放撒但在他身上，並將使之剛硬的護理之工擺在他面前。或，藉著興起他，可以指災禍的停頓——給了法老喘息，以及法老在那些災禍中的緩刑。在希伯來文中，我叫你存立，使你仍存留在活人之地。神如此興起罪人，為自己造他們，就是為禍患之日（箴 16:4），在外在的興旺、外在的特權（太 11:23）、免去刑罰的憐憫中興起他們。
(2.) 他在其中所定的旨意：特要在你身上彰顯我的權能。神要藉這一切事奉他名的尊榮，並在挫敗那大膽狂妄的暴君的驕傲和蠻橫上彰顯他的權能——那暴君公然藐視上天，踐踏一切公正和神聖的事物。若法老沒有如此高大、如此膽大剛硬，神毀壞他的權能就不會如此輝煌；但使這樣一位作威作福的君王的靈氣焰被挫，確實宣告了神至聖至榮，可頌可畏，施行奇事（出 15:11）。這就是法老和他的群眾。
(3.) 關於兩者他的結論我們在 Ro 9:18 有。*他要憐憫誰就憐憫誰，要叫誰剛硬就叫誰剛硬。*神各樣的對待——藉此使某些人與別人不同——必歸結於他絕對的主權。他不欠任何人，他的恩典是他自己的，他可隨己意賜下或扣留；我們沒有一個人配得，不，我們都公義地千次喪失了它，所以在這事上我們拯救的工被安排得奇妙地妥當——那些得救的必唯獨感謝神，那些滅亡的必唯獨感謝自己，何 13:9。我們有責任（正如神已經束縛我們的那樣）竭盡所能為一切我們所接觸之人的拯救而作工；但神只受他樂意藉自己的約和應許所束縛自己的範圍所限——這就是他已啟示的旨意；那就是他要接待、不丟棄那些到基督那裏來的人；但為了那來到而吸引靈魂，是在前的、有分別的恩惠，賜給他所願意的人。他向 外邦人施了憐憫嗎？是因為他要憐憫他們。猶太人被剛硬了嗎？是因為他自己的喜悅要拒絕賜給他們使之軟化的恩典，並任憑他們陷於自己所揀選、所執意的不信之中。父啊，是的，因為你的美意本是如此。那處經文（路 10:21）極好地解釋了這一點，並且如這處一樣，表明了神在賜予或扣留恩典的途徑以及那些途徑上有效祝福方面的主權旨意。
II. 可能有人反對說，*他為什麼還指責人呢？有誰抗拒他的旨意呢？*Ro 9:19。若使徒只是在論證神在設立和安排蒙悅納和得救的條件上的主權，這反對就毫無根據；因為若人們拒絕達到如此大救恩所提出的條件，他完全可以指責他們；救恩如此之大，條件不會太難。但反對他論證神在賜予和扣留那造成分別、在前的恩典上的主權，就可能有根據；這反對常被輕易提出來對抗那有分別之恩典的教義。若神一面賜有效的恩典給某些人，一面拒絕賜給別人，他為何指責那些他不賜給的人呢？若他棄絕了猶太人，將關乎他們平安的事隱藏在他們眼前，他為何因他們的瞎眼指責他們呢？若他的喜悅是丟棄他們——不作他的子民、不蒙憐憫——他們使自己脫離就不是抗拒他的旨意。這反對他詳盡地回答，
1. 藉著責備反對者（Ro 9:20）：你這個人哪。這不是受造物反對造物主、人反對神所宜提出的反對。在耶穌裏的真理正是那使人降卑至無有、甚至小於無有，並高舉神為統管萬有之主權之主的真理。當留意他當與神他的造物主理論時，他何等輕蔑地論到人：你是誰——你如此愚昧、如此軟弱、如此目光短淺、如此無資格判斷神的籌算？你能測透這樣的深淵、爭論這樣的案情、追溯那在海中的路、大水中的路徑嗎？竟敢向神強嘴。我們理當順服他，不當向他強嘴；躺臥在他手下，不當向他變臉，不當以愚妄指控他。Ho antapokrinomenos——那再回答的。神是我們的主人，我們是他的僕人；僕人不可再回答，多 2:9。
2. 藉著將一切歸結於神的主權。我們是受造之物，他是造作者；我們不當質疑或審問他在安排和處置我們成這種或那種形狀上的智慧。那粗陋未成形之物質沒有權利要求這種或那種形狀，而是按造作者之喜悅被塑造。神在我們身上的主權，恰當地以窯匠對泥的權柄來說明；與耶 18:6 比較，在那裏藉著類似的比喻，神宣告他對猶太民族的統治權——當他即將藉尼布甲尼撒在他們的毀滅上彰顯他的公義時。
(1.) 他給出這比喻，Ro 9:21。窯匠從同一團泥中，可以作出一個時髦的器皿、一個適合體面尊貴用途的器皿，或一個可鄙的器皿、一個毫無喜悅的器皿；在此他任意而行，因為他可以選擇究竟是否要用它作任何器皿，或是否要把它留在挖出它的坑洞中。
(2.) 這比喻的應用，Ro 9:22-24。神從墮落人類這一大團泥中造出兩種器皿：[1.] 可怒的器皿——裝滿忿怒的器皿，如同裝酒的器皿是裝滿酒的器皿；滿了耶和華的烈怒，賽 51:20。在這些器皿上神樂意顯明他的忿怒，即他施罰的公義，以及他對罪的敵意。這必須向全世界顯明，神必使它顯出他恨惡罪。他也要彰顯他的權能——to dynaton autou。這是一種力量和效能的權能，一種施罰的權能，它運作並成就那些滅亡之人的毀壞；這是出於他權能的榮耀的毀壞，帖後 1:9。罪人永遠的定罪將是神權能的豐富證明；因為他要在其中親自直接行動，他的忿怒彷彿啃噬有罪的良心，他的膀臂伸出徹底毀壞他們的福祉，卻同時奇妙地保存受造物的存在。為此，神多多忍耐寬容他們——對他們施了極大的忍耐，任憑他們填滿罪的量度，任憑他們生長直到成熟可以毀壞，如此他們就成了預備遭毀滅的——因自己的罪和自我剛硬而預備好。靈魂中作王的敗壞和邪惡是它對地獄的預備和傾向：靈魂因此成為可燃之物，適合地獄的火焰。當基督對猶太人說（太 23:32），你們去充滿你們祖宗的罪孽吧，使世上所流義人的血都歸到你們身上（太 23:35）時，他確實多多忍耐寬容他們，使他們可以因自己在罪中的頑梗和執意而為自己預備毀壞。[2.] 蒙憐憫的器皿——裝滿憐憫的器皿。賜給得救餘民的福分，不是他們功勞的果子，而是神憐憫的果子。天堂一切喜樂和榮耀的源頭，是那永遠長存之神的憐憫。尊貴的器皿到永遠必承認自己是蒙憐憫的器皿。當留意，第一，他在他們身上所定的旨意：要將他豐盛的榮耀彰顯，即他良善的榮耀；因為神的良善是他最大的榮耀，尤其是當它以最大的主權賜予時。求你顯出你的榮耀給我看，摩西說，出 33:18。我要顯我一切的恩慈在你面前經過，神說（出 33:19），並且白白賜予：我要恩待誰就恩待誰。神在保存和供應一切受造之物上彰顯他的榮耀——這良善：遍地滿了他的 goodness，年歲以之為冠冕；但當他要證明他良善那不可搜尋的豐富時，他是在聖徒的拯救中作的——他們將是永遠彰顯神聖恩典的榮耀記念碑。第二，他為他們所作的，是他預先預備他們得榮耀。成聖是靈魂為榮耀的預備，使它配得與眾聖徒在光明中同得基業。這是神的工作。我們足夠快地能毀壞自己，卻不能拯救自己。罪人為自己預備地獄，但預備聖徒進天堂的是神；一切神定意將來要進天堂的人，他如今就預備並裝備他們進天堂：他造成他們這同一件事，林後 5:5。你願知道這些蒙憐憫的器皿是誰嗎？就是他所召的人（Ro 9:24）；因為他所預定的人，他也用有效的呼召呼召了他們：這些不僅是從猶太人中，也是從外邦人中；因為中間隔斷的牆既已拆毀，世界就成為共同的，不再如從前那樣——神的恩惠專屬於猶太人，他們被放在比世界其他民族更接近他悅納的地步。他們如今與外邦人站在同一水平上；如今問題不再是是否亞伯拉罕的後裔，那無關緊要，而是是否照他的旨意蒙召。
英語原文
The Divine Sovereignty (58 AD)
¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
¹⁵ For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
¹⁶ So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
¹⁷ For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
¹⁸ Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
¹⁹ Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
²⁰ Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
²¹ Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
²² What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
²³ And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
²⁴ Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
The apostle, having asserted the true meaning of the promise, comes here to maintain and prove the absolute sovereignty of God, in disposing of the children of men, with reference to their eternal state. And herein God is to be considered, not as a rector and governor, distributing rewards and punishments according to his revealed laws and covenants, but as an owner and benefactor, giving to the children of men such grace and favour as he has determined in and by his secret and eternal will and counsel: both the favour of visible church-membership and privileges, which is given to some people and denied to others, and the favour of effectual grace, which is given to some particular persons and denied to others.
Now this part of his discourse is in answer to two objections.
I. It might be objected, Is there unrighteousness with God? If God, in dealing with the children of men, do thus, in an arbitrary manner, choose some and refuse others, may it not be suspected that there is unrighteousness with him? This the apostle startles at the thought of: God forbid! Far be it from us to think such a thing; shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Ge 18:25, Ro 3:5,6. He denies the consequences, and proves the denial.
1. In respect of those to whom he shows mercy, Ro 9:15,16. He quotes that scripture to show God's sovereignty in dispensing his favours (Ex 33:19): I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. All God's reasons of mercy are taken from within himself. All the children of men being plunged alike into a state of sin and misery, equally under guilt and wrath, God, in a way of sovereignty, picks out some from this fallen apostatized race, to be vessels of grace and glory. He dispenses his gifts to whom he will, without giving us any reason: according to his own good pleasure he pitches upon some to be monuments of mercy and grace, preventing grace, effectual grace, while he passes by others. The expression is very emphatic, and the repetition makes it more so: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. It imports a perfect absoluteness in God's will; he will do what he will, and giveth not account of any of his matters, nor is it fit he should. As these great words, I am that I am (Ex 3:14) do abundantly express the absolute independency of his being, so these words, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, do as fully express the absolute prerogative and sovereignty of his will. To vindicate the righteousness of God, in showing mercy to whom he will, the apostle appeals to that which God himself had spoken, wherein he claims this sovereign power and liberty. God is a competent judge, even in his own case. Whatsoever God does, or is resolved to do, is both by the one and the other proved to be just. Eleeso on han heleo—I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. When I begin, I will make an end. Therefore God's mercy endures for ever, because the reason of it is fetched from within himself; therefore his gifts and callings are without repentance. Hence he infers (Ro 9:16), It is not of him that willeth. Whatever good comes from God to man, the glory of it is not to be ascribed to the most generous desire, nor to the most industrious endeavour, of man, but only and purely to the free grace and mercy of God. In Jacob's case it was not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth; it was not the earnest will and desire of Rebecca that Jacob might have the blessing; it was not Jacob's haste to get it (for he was compelled to run for it) that procured him the blessing, but only the mercy and grace of God. Wherein the holy happy people of God differ from other people, it is God and his grace that make them differ. Applying this general rule to the particular case that Paul has before him, the reason why the unworthy, undeserving, ill-deserving Gentiles are called, and grafted into the church, while the greatest part of the Jews are left to perish in unbelief, is not because those Gentiles were better deserving or better disposed for such a favour, but because of God's free grace that made that difference. The Gentiles did neither will it, nor run for it, for they sat in darkness, Mt 4:16. In darkness, therefore not willing what they knew not; sitting in darkness, a contented posture, therefore not running to meet it, but anticipated with these invaluable blessings of goodness. Such is the method of God's grace towards all that partake of it, for he is found of those that sought him not (Isa 65:1); in this preventing, effectual, distinguishing grace, he acts as a benefactor, whose grace is his own. Our eye therefore must not be evil because his is good; but, of all the grace that we or others have, he must have the glory: Not unto us, Ps 115:1.
2. In respect of those who perish, Ro 9:17. God's sovereignty, manifested in the ruin of sinners, is here discovered in the instance of Pharaoh; it is quoted from Ex 9:16. Observe,
(1.) What God did with Pharaoh. He raised him up, brought him into the world, made him famous, gave him the kingdom and power,—set him up as a beacon upon a hill, as the mark of all his plagues (compare Ex 9:14)—hardened his heart, as he had said he would (Ex 4:21): I will harden his heart, that is, withdraw softening grace, leave him to himself, let Satan loose against him, and lay hardening providences before him. Or, by raising him up may be meant the intermission of the plagues which gave Pharaoh respite, and the reprieve of Pharaoh in those plagues. In the Hebrew, I have made thee stand, continued thee yet in the land of the living. Thus doth God raise up sinners, make them for himself, even for the day of evil (Pr 16:4), raise them up in outward prosperity, external privileges (Mt 11:23), sparing mercies.
(2.) What he designed in it: That I might show my power in thee. God would, by all this, serve the honour of his name, and manifest his power in baffling the pride and insolence of that great and daring tyrant, who bade defiance to Heaven itself, and trampled upon all that was just and sacred. If Pharaoh had not been so high and might, so bold and hardy, the power of God had not been so illustrious in the ruining of him; but the taking off of the spirit of such a prince, who hectored at that rate, did indeed proclaim God glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders, Ex 15:11. This is Pharaoh, and all his multitude.
(3.) His conclusion concerning both these we have, Ro 9:18. He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. The various dealings of God, by which he makes some to differ from others, must be resolved into his absolute sovereignty. He is debtor to no man, his grace is his own, and he may give it or withhold it as it pleaseth him; we have none of us deserved it, nay, we have all justly forfeited it a thousand times, so that herein the work of our salvation is admirably well ordered that those who are saved must thank God only, and those who perish must thank themselves only, Ho 13:9. We are bound, as God hath bound us, to do our utmost for the salvation of all we have to do with; but God is bound no further than he has been pleased to bind himself by his own covenant and promise, which is his revealed will; and that is that he will receive, and not cast out, those that come to Christ; but the drawing of souls in order to that coming is a preventing distinguishing favour to whom he will. Had he mercy on the Gentiles? It was because he would have mercy on them. Were the Jews hardened? It was because it was his own pleasure to deny them softening grace, and to give them up to their chosen affected unbelief. Even so, Father, because it seemed good unto thee. That scripture excellently explains this, Lu 10:21, and, as this, shows the sovereign will of God in giving or withholding both the means of grace and the effectual blessing upon those means.
II. It might be objected, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Ro 9:19. Had the apostle been arguing only for God's sovereignty in appointing and ordering the terms and conditions of acceptance and salvation, there had not been the least colour for this objection; for he might well find fault if people refused to come up to the terms on which such a salvation is offered; the salvation being so great, the terms could not be hard. But there might be colour for the objection against his arguing for the sovereignty of God in giving and withholding differencing and preventing grace; and the objection is commonly and readily advanced against the doctrine of distinguishing grace. If God, while he gives effectual grace to some, denies it to others, why doth he find fault with those to whom he denies it? If he hath rejected the Jews, and hid from their eyes the things that belong to their peace, why doth he find fault with them for their blindness? If it be his pleasure to discard them as not a people, and not obtaining mercy, their knocking off themselves was no resistance of his will. This objection he answers at large,
1. By reproving the objector (Ro 9:20): Nay but, O man. This is not an objection fit to be made by the creature against his Creator, by man against God. The truth, as it is in Jesus, is that which abases man as nothing, less than nothing, and advances God as sovereign Lord of all. Observe how contemptibly he speaks of man, when he comes to argue with God his Maker: "Who art thou, thou that art so foolish, so feeble, so short-sighted, so incompetent a judge of the divine counsels? Art thou able to fathom such a depth, dispute such a case, to trace that way of God which is in the sea, his path in the great waters?" That repliest against God. It becomes us to submit to him, not to reply against him; to lie down under his hand, not to fly in his face, nor to charge him with folly. Ho antapokrinomenos—That answerest again. God is our master, and we are his servants; and it does not become servants to answer again, Tit 2:9.
2. By resolving all into the divine sovereignty. We are the thing formed, and he is the former; and it does not become us to challenge or arraign his wisdom in ordering and disposing of us into this or that shape of figure. The rude and unformed mass of matter hath no right to this or that form, but is shaped at the pleasure of him that formeth it. God's sovereignty over us is fitly illustrated by the power that the potter hath over the clay; compare Jer 18:6, where, by a like comparison, God asserts his dominion over the nation of the Jews, when he was about to magnify his justice in their destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.
(1.) He gives us the comparison, Ro 9:21. The potter, out of the same lump, may make either a fashionable vessel, and a vessel fit for creditable and honourable uses, or a contemptible vessel, and a vessel in which is no pleasure; and herein he acts arbitrarily, as he might have chosen whether he would make any vessel of it at all, or whether he would leave it in the hole of the pit, out of which it was dug.
(2.) The application of the comparison, Ro 9:22-24. Two sorts of vessels God forms out of the great lump of fallen mankind:—[1.] Vessels of wrath—vessels filled with wrath, as a vessel of wine is a vessel filled with wine; full of the fury of the Lord, Isa 51:20. In these God is willing to show his wrath, that is, his punishing justice, and his enmity to sin. This must be shown to all the world, God will make it appear that he hates sin. He will likewise make his power known, to dynaton autou. It is a power of strength and energy, an inflicting power, which works and effects the destruction of those that perish; it is a destruction that proceeds from the glory of his power, 2Th 1:9. The eternal damnation of sinners will be an abundant demonstration of the power of God; for he will act in it himself immediately, his wrath preying as it were upon guilty consciences, and his arm stretched out totally to destroy their well-being, and yet at the same instant wonderfully to preserve the being of the creature. In order to this, God endured them with much long-suffering—exercised a great deal of patience towards them, let them alone to fill up the measure of sin, to grow till they were ripe for ruin, and so they became fitted for destruction, fitted by their own sin and self-hardening. The reigning corruptions and wickedness of the soul are its preparedness and disposedness for hell: a soul is hereby made combustible matter, fit for the flames of hell. When Christ said to the Jews (Mt 23:32), Fill you up then the measure of your father, that upon you may come all the righteous blood (Ro 9:35), he did, as it were, endure them with much long-suffering, that they might, by their own obstinacy and wilfulness in sin, fit themselves for destruction. [2.] Vessels of mercy—filled with mercy. The happiness bestowed upon the saved remnant is the fruit, not of their merit, but of God's mercy. The spring of all the joy and glory of heaven is that mercy of God which endures for ever. Vessels of honour must to eternity own themselves vessels of mercy. Observe, First, What he designs in them: To make known the riches of his glory, that is, of his goodness; for God's goodness is his greatest glory, especially when it is communicated with the greatest sovereignty. I beseech thee show me thy glory, says Moses, Ex 33:18. I will make all my goodness to pass before thee, says God (Ro 9:19), and that given out freely: I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. God makes known his glory, this goodness of his, in the preservation and supply of all the creatures: the earth is full of his goodness, and the year crowned with it; but when he would demonstrate the riches of his goodness, unsearchable riches, he does it in the salvation of the saints, that will be to eternity glorious monuments of divine grace. Secondly, What he does for them he does before prepare them to glory. Sanctification is the preparation of the soul for glory, making it meet to partake of the inheritance of the saints in light. This is God's work. We can destroy ourselves fast enough, but we cannot save ourselves. Sinners fit themselves for hell, but it is God that prepares saints for heaven; and all those that God designs for heaven hereafter he prepares and fits for heaven now: he works them to the self-same thing, 2Co 5:5. And would you know who these vessels of mercy are? Those whom he hath called (Ro 9:24); for whom he did predestinate those he also called with an effectual call: and these not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles; for, the partition-wall being taken down, the world was laid in common, and not (as it had been) God's favour appropriated to the Jews, and they put a degree nearer his acceptance than the rest of the world. They now stood upon the same level with the Gentiles; and the question is not now whether of the seed of Abraham or no, that is neither here nor there, but whether or no called according to his purpose.
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Conversion of the Gentiles (58 AD)
繁體中文
外邦人的歸信（主後五十八年）
²⁵ 就像神在何西阿書上說：那本來不是我子民的，我要稱為「我的子民」；本來不是蒙愛的，我要稱為「蒙愛的」。
²⁶ 從前在什麼地方對他們說：你們不是我的子民，將來就在那裏稱他們為「永生神的兒子」。
²⁷ 以賽亞指著以色列人呼喊說：「以色列人雖多如海沙，得救的不過是剩下的餘數；
²⁸ 因為主要在世上施行他的話，徹底而迅速。」
²⁹ 又如以賽亞先前說過：「若不是萬軍之主給我們存留餘種，我們早已像所多瑪、蛾摩拉的樣子了。」
使徒既解釋了應許、又證明了神的主權，此處表明猶太人的被棄和外邦人的被接納，在舊約中早已預言，因此必與舊約下列祖所領的應許完全相符。觀察聖經在其中如何應驗，對澄清一項真理大有幫助。猶太人無疑樂意將此訴諸舊約——其經卷交託給了他們。如今他表明，這件對他們如此不安的事，在那裏早已論及。
I. 藉著先知何西阿，他論到許多外邦人的被接納，何 2:23，何 1:10。外邦人從前不是神的子民——既不承認他，也不被他以那關係承認：「但」他說，我要稱他們為「我的子民」——使他們成為如此，並承認他們為如此，儘管他們一切的不配。何等蒙福的改變！從前的敗壞不能攔阻神現今的恩典和憐憫。——本來不是蒙愛的，我要稱為「蒙愛的」。神稱為他子民的人，他稱之為蒙愛的：他愛那些屬他自己的人。為免人以為他們必須歸化猶太教、成為那國的會員才能成為神的子民，他從何 1:10 加上：從前在什麼地方……將來就在那裏稱他們。他們不必與猶太人合併，也不必上耶路撒冷去敬拜；而是，無論他們散佈在地面上何處，神就在那裏承認他們。當留意聖徒極大的尊嚴和尊榮——他們被稱為永生神的兒子；他如此稱呼他們，就使他們如此。看哪，這是何等的慈愛！這尊榮他的一切聖徒都有。
II. 藉著先知以賽亞，他在兩處論到許多猶太人的被棄。
1. 一處是賽 10:22,23，論到餘數的得救，即僅僅是餘數得救；雖然在預言中看來是指從西拿基立和他的軍隊即將帶來的毀滅和荒涼中存留餘數，卻當理解為看得更遠，並且充分證明：神將許多亞伯拉罕的後裔交給毀滅，卻仍維持他對亞伯拉罕之應許的話於完全的效力之中，這並非奇事。這在假設中暗示了——以色列人的數目如海沙，這是對亞伯拉罕所應許的一部分，創 22:17。然而只有餘數得救；因為蒙召的多，選上的少。在這餘數的得救中，我們從先知得知（Ro 9:28）：(1.) 他必完成這工：他要徹底地施行。神既開始，就必成終，無論是在審判的路上或在憐憫的路上。不信的猶太人之被棄，神必藉羅馬人徹底完成於他們完全的毀滅中——此後不久羅馬人完全除去了他們的地方和國家。將基督徒的教會納入神的恩寵、並使福音在其他國家中傳開，也是一項神必照樣完成、並以他的名耶和華而為人所知的工作。至於神，他的作為是完全的。旁註：他必結清賬目。神在他永遠的籌算中已經為世人記了賬，將他們分配到這樣或那樣的狀態、這樣或那樣的特權份額；當他們來到存在之中時，他對他們的對待就是照著這些籌算而行的：而他必結清賬目，完成這奧祕的身體，召聚一切屬於恩典之選民的人，那時賬目就結清了。(2.) 他必速成；不僅完成它，更迅速地完成它。在舊約之下他似乎遲延，使之成為一項更長更乏味的工作。輪子向著教會擴展的方向移動得很慢；但如今他要徹底而迅速，在世上速成這工。如今外邦的歸信者如雲飛翔。但他要在公義中速成，既在智慧中、也在公義中。人速成時常出差錯；他們確實迅速處理事案；但當神速成時，總是在公義中。教父們普遍如此應用。有人將之理解為福音的律法和聖約——基督在世上引入並設立的：他在其中完成了這工，終止了舊約的預表和禮儀。基督說成了，那時幔子裂開，彷彿回應基督在十字架上所說的話。而他必速成。這工（是logos——這道，這律法）在舊約之下很長：一長串的條例、禮儀、條件；但如今它被縮短了。我們的本分如今在福音之下，比在律法之下被總結在更小的篇幅中；聖約被簡略濃縮；信仰被帶入更小的範圍。而這是在公義中——對我們是恩寵，對他自己的計畫和籌算是公義。在我們縮短常使事物變暗：但在這事上並非如此。它雖被縮短，卻是清楚明白的；正因為短，所以更容易。
2. 另一處引自賽 1:9，在那裏先知表明在普遍災禍和毀滅的時候，神如何保存餘種。這與前者意思相同；其要旨是表明：神將猶太百姓的大部分留在毀滅中，唯獨為自己保留一小群餘民，這並非奇事：如此他從前作過，正如他們自己的先知所表明的；所以如果現在他如此行，他們不必驚奇。當留意，(1.) 神是什麼。他是萬軍之主，即萬軍之耶和華——一個希伯來字保留在希臘文中，如雅 5:4。天上地下一切軍兵都在他的吩咐和調遣之下。當神從一個墮落背逆的世界中為自己確保一個餘種時，他是作為萬軍之主而行動。這是一項全能的權柄和無限的主權之作為。(2.) 他的百姓是什麼；他們是餘種，一個小數目。為來年播種而保留的穀物，與所花費和吃掉的相比，不過是少數。但他們是有用的數目——下一代人的種子、實質，賽 6:13。這絲毫不損害神的公義和正直——那麼多人滅亡被毀；相反，這是神權能和憐憫的奇蹟——並非所有人都被毀滅，竟有得救的；因為即使是那些被留下作餘種的，若神照他們的罪對待他們，也必與其餘的人一同滅亡。這就是這處經文教導我們的大真理。
英語原文
Conversion of the Gentiles (58 AD)
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.
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.
²⁷ Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
²⁸ For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
²⁹ And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
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, Ho 2:23, Ho 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 Ho 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 10:22,23, 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, Ge 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 (Ro 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:—
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.
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Reception of the Gentiles and Rejection of the Jews (58 AD)
繁體中文
外邦人的被接納與猶太人的被棄（主後五十八年）
³⁰ 這樣，我們可說什麼呢？那本來不追求義的外邦人反得了義，就是因信而得的義。
³¹ 但以色列人追求律法的義，反得不着律法的義。
³² 這是什麼緣故呢？是因為他們不憑著信心求，只憑著行為求。他們正跌在那絆腳石上。
³³ 就如經上所記：我在錫安放一塊絆腳的石頭、跌人的磐石；信靠他的人必不至於羞愧。
使徒終於在此確定了外邦人被接納、猶太人被棄的真正原因。他們追求的途徑有所不同，因此有那不同的結果，雖然始終是神白白的恩典使他們與別不同。他如演說家般結論說，*這樣，我們可說什麼呢？*這整個辯論的結論是什麼？
I. 關於外邦人當留意，1. 他們從前如何與義無分：他們不追求它；他們不認識自己的罪咎和悲慘，所以全不急於尋求救治。在他們的歸信上，那在前的恩典大得彰顯：神被那些沒有尋求他的人尋見，賽 65:1。他們裏面沒有什麼使他們傾向於這樣的恩惠，除了白白的恩典在他們裏面所運行的。神如此樂意以主權和絕對統治的方式施恩。2. 他們卻如何達到了義：因信；不是藉著歸化猶太教、順服禮儀律，而是藉著接受基督、信靠基督、順服福音。他們藉著真誠信靠基督的捷徑達到了那猶太人長久徒然地在外圍打轉所尋求的。
II. 關於猶太人當留意，1. 他們如何錯失了目的：他們追求律法的義（Ro 9:31）——他們多談稱義和聖潔，似乎極渴慕作神的子民和天之寵兒，卻沒有達到，即他們中大多數人沒有達到；凡是堅持他們舊的猶太原則和禮儀、並在那些遵守中追求幸福的——在實體已經來到時仍擁抱影子——這些人達不到神的悅納，不被承認為他的子民，也不能蒙了稱義回家。2. 他們如何誤入歧途——這是錯失目的的原因，Ro 9:32,33。他們尋求了，卻不在正確的途徑中，不在謙卑的途徑中，不在所設立所指定的途徑中。不憑著信心，即不藉著接受基督信仰、不倚靠基督的功勞、不順服福音的條件——這些正是律法的生命和目的。他們卻憑著行為求；彷彿他們當藉著遵守摩西律法的誡命和禮儀而得稱義。這就是他們所跌在其上的絆腳石。他們不能越過他們所採納的這個敗壞原則——即律法賜給他們，別無目的，只是要他們藉著遵守和順服而在神面前稱義：所以他們決不能與基督的教義和好——這教義使他們脫離那原則，去期待藉著另一位之功勞和滿足而得稱義。基督自己對某些人就是絆腳石，為此他引用賽 8:14，28:16。基督竟被設立為某些人跌倒的原因，這是可悲的，然而確是如此（路 2:34），竟有人從基列的乳香中吸出毒來，那房角石竟對某些人成為絆腳石，那拯救的磐石竟成為跌人的磐石；他對千萬人是如此；他對那些不信的猶太人也是如此——他們拒絕他，因為他終止了禮儀律。但仍然有一群餘民信靠他；他們必不至於羞愧，即他們藉著他得稱義的盼望和期待不至落空——如同那些藉律法期待的人的盼望落空一般。所以在整體上，不信的猶太人沒有理由因被棄而向神爭論；他們曾有公義、生命和拯救在福音條件下向他們提出公平的邀請，他們不喜歡，也不肯達到；所以他們若滅亡，當感謝自己——他們的血歸在他們自己頭上。
英語原文
Reception of the Gentiles and Rejection of the Jews (58 AD)
³⁰ What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
³¹ But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
³² Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
³³ As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
The apostle comes here at last to fix the true reason of the reception of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews. There was a difference in the way of their seeking, and therefore there was that different success, though still it was the free grace of God that made them differ. He concludes like an orator, What shall we say then? What is the conclusion of the whole dispute?
I. Concerning the Gentiles observe, 1. How they had been alienated from righteousness: they followed not after it; they knew not their guilt and misery, and therefore were not at all solicitous to procure a remedy. In their conversion preventing grace was greatly magnified: God was found of those that sought him not, Isa 65:1. There was nothing in them to dispose them for such a favour more than what free grace wrought in them. Thus doth God delight to dispense grace in a way of sovereignty and absolute dominion. 2. How they attained to righteousness, notwithstanding: By faith; not by being proselyted to the Jewish religion, and submitting to the ceremonial law, but by embracing Christ, and believing in Christ, and submitting to the gospel. They attained to that by the short cut of believing sincerely in Christ for which the Jews had been long in vain beating about the bush.
II. Concerning the Jews observe, 1. How they missed their end: they followed after the law of righteousness (Ro 9:31)—they talked much of justification and holiness, seemed very ambitious of being the people of God and the favourites of heaven, but they did not attain to it, that is, the greatest part of them did not; as many as stuck to their old Jewish principles and ceremonies, and pursued a happiness in those observances, embracing the shadows now that the substance was come, these fell short of acceptance with God, were not owned as his people, nor went to their house justified. 2. How they mistook their way, which was the cause of their missing the end, Ro 9:32,33. They sought, but not in the right way, not in the humbling way, not in the instituted appointed way. Not by faith, not by embracing the Christian religion, and depending upon the merit of Christ, and submitting to the terms of the gospel, which were the very life and end of the law. But they sought by the works of the law; as if they were to expect justification by their observance of the precepts and ceremonies of the law of Moses. This was the stumbling-stone at which they stumbled. They could not get over this corrupt principle which they had espoused, That the law was given them for no end but that merely by their observance of it, and obedience to it, they might be justified before God: and so they could by no means be reconciled to the doctrine of Christ, which brought them off from that to expect justification through the merit and satisfaction of another. Christ himself is to some a stone of stumbling, for which he quotes Isa 8:14,28:16. It is sad that Christ should be set for the fall of any, and yet it is so (Lu 2:34), that ever poison should be sucked out of the balm of Gilead, that the foundation-stone should be to any a stone of stumbling, and the rock of salvation a rock of offence; so he is to multitudes; so he was to the unbelieving Jews, who rejected him, because he put an end to the ceremonial law. But still there is a remnant that do believe on him; and they shall not be ashamed, that is, their hopes and expectations of justification by him shall not be disappointed, as theirs are who expect it by the law. So that, upon the whole, the unbelieving Jews have no reason to quarrel with God for rejecting them; they had a fair offer of righteousness, and life, and salvation, made to them upon gospel terms, which they did not like, and would not come up to; and therefore, if they perish, they may thank themselves—their blood is upon their own heads.
使徒既已清楚地宣告並充分證明，稱義和得救惟獨靠信心，而非靠律法的行為；惟獨靠基督，而非靠摩西，便在本章和接下來的幾章中，預先回應一個可能針對此教義提出的反對。如果事情如此，那麼猶太人——他們作為一個整體，尤其是不接受基督、不信福音的那些人——將如何呢？按這原則，他們必不能得着福樂；那麼對列祖所作、將救恩歸給猶太人的應許又如何呢？那應許豈不是被廢棄、歸於徒然了嗎？這在神任何話語上都是不可想象的。因此，他們或會說，那從中引出如此後果的教義，是不可接受的。不信的猶太人被棄絕這後果確實從保羅的教義中引伸出來——這一點他承認，卻力圖加以緩和（羅9:1-15）。但由此引出「神的話落了空」——這一點他否認（羅9:6），並在本章餘下部分加以證明；這證明同時也闡明了預定這偉大的教義，他先前（羅8:28）已論及預定，視之為在救恩之事上推動一切其他齒輪運轉的第一個輪子。