The life and work of St. Paul

FRUITS or FAITH. 501
The concluding words of this section of the Epistle open a glorious perspective
of ultimate hope for all whose hearts are sufficiently large and
loving to accept it. He calls on the brethren not to ignore the mystery that
the partial hardening of Israel should only last till the fulness of the
Gentiles should come in ; and he appeals to Scripture (Isa. lix. 20) to support
his prophecy that " all Israel shall be saved," beloved as they are for the
sake of their fathers as regajds the election of grace, though now alienated
for the blessing of the Gentiles as regards the Gospel.
For God's gifts and calling admit of no revocation; once given, they are given
for ever. 1 Once themselves disobedient, the Gentiles were now pitied in consequence
of the disobedience of the Jews so the Jews were now ;
disobedient, but
when the pity shown to the Gentiles had achieved their full redemption, the Jews
in turn should share in it. 1 " For "
such is the grand conclusion of this sustained
exposition of the Divine "
purposes God shut up all into disobedience, 8 that He
might show mercy unto all." Many are anxious, in accordance with their theo-
to show that
logical views, to weaken or explain away the meaning of these words ;
44 "
ail does not really mean " all " in the glad, though it does in the gloomy
clause or to show that ; " having mercy upon all " is quite consistent with the final
nun of the vast majority. Be that as it may, the Apostle, as he contemplates the
universality of free redeeming grace, bursts into a paean of praise and prophecy :
" O the depth of the riches, and wisdom, and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable
are His judgments, and untrackable His ways ! For who ever fathomed the mind
of the Lord, or who ever became His counsellor ? Or who gave Him first, and it
shall be repaid to him ? For from Him, and through Him, and unto Him aro all
things. To Him be glory for ever. Amen."
CHAPTER XXXIX.
FRUITS OF FAITH.
44 La foi justifie quand il opere, mais il n'opere que par la charitS " (Quesnel).
41 Not that God doth require nothing unto happiness at the hands of man save
only a naked belief (for hope and charity we may not exclude), but that without
belief all other things are as nothing; and it is the ground of those other divine
virtues " (Hooker, Eccl. Pol. I. xi. 6).
" Faith doth not shut out repentance, hope, love, dread, and the fear of God, to be
joined with faith in every man that is justified ; but it shutteth them out from the
office of justifying " (Homily of Salvation, pt. i.).
[It is needless to point out that the sense of the word " faith " in these passages
is by no means the Pauline sense of the word."]
AT this point there is a marked break in the letter, and we feel that the
writer has now accomplished the main object for which he wrote. But to
1 Hos. xiii. 14, "I will redeem them from death . . . repentance shall be hid
from mine eyes."
2
xi. 41. If, as in this explanation, the comma is placed after ^iri0rj iifneTepta l\i?i is very awkward, and almost unparalleled. On the other haud, the
antithesis is spoiled if we place the comma after A, and render it, "So they too now
disbelieved (or disobeyed) the pity shown to VOTV"
s
Iii the declaratory sens*.