Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans John Calvin
Commentary on Romans this declaration of Paul opposes you; for he says, that grace leaves nothing to works. Paul speaks not here of our reconciliation with God, nor of the means, nor of the proximate causes of our salvation; but he ascends higher, even to this, — why God, before the foundation of the world, chose only some and passed by others: and he declares, that God was led to make this difference by nothing else, but by his own good pleasure; for if any place is given to works, so much, he maintains, is taken away from grace.
It hence follows, that it is absurd to blend foreknowledge of works with election. For if God chooses some and rejects others, as he has foreseen them to be worthy or unworthy of salvation, then the grace of God, the reward of works being established, cannot reign alone, but must be only in part the cause of our election. For as Paul has reasoned before concerning the justification of Abraham, that where reward is paid, there grace is not freely bestowed; so now he draws his argument from the same fountain, — that if works come to the account, when God adopts a certain number of men unto salvation, reward is a matter of debt, and that therefore it is not a free gift. 343
Now, though he speaks here of election, yet as it is a general reasoning which Paul adopts, it ought to be applied to the whole of our salvation; so that we may understand, that whenever it is declared that there are no merits of works, our salvation is ascribed to the grace of God, or rather, that we may believe that the righteousness of works is annihilated, whenever grace is mentioned.
Romans 11:7-10
Romans 11:7-10
7. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
7. Quid ergo? Quod quaerit Israel, non est assequutus; 344 electio autem assequuta est, reliqui vero excaecati fuerunt;
8. (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
8. Quemadmodum scriptum est, Dedit illis Deus spiritum compunctionis, oculos ut non videant, et aures ut non audiant, usque ad hodiernum diem.
343The last half of this verse is considered spurious by Griesbach, being not found in the greatest number of MSS., nor in the Vulgate, nor in the Latin Fathers; but it is found in some of the Greek Fathers, Theodoret, Oecumenius, Photius, and in the text, though not in the comment of Chrysostom, and in Theophylact, with the exception of the last clause, "Otherwise work," etc. The Syriac and Arabic versions also contain the whole verse. The argument is complete without the last portion, which is, in fact, a repetition of the first in another form. But this kind of statement is wholly in unison with the character of the Apostle's mode of writing. He often states a thing positively and negatively, or in two different ways. See Romans 4:4,5; Romans 9:1; Ephesians 2:8,9. Then an omission more probable than an addition. Beza, Pareus, Wolfius, etc., regard it as genuine, and Doddridge and Macknight have retained it in their versions. Every reason, except the number of MSS., is in favor of its genuineness. — Ed.
344Literally it is, "what Israel seeks, this he has not obtained." The pronoun for "this," {τούτου} Griesbach has displaced, and introduced {τοῦτο} in its stead, as the most approved reading. — Ed.