I say the truth in Christ, &c.— The Apostle has proved by three special arguments, that the grace or favour of God in the Gospel extends to the Gentiles, as well as the Jews: this he has done in the first five Chapter s; in the three next, he has shewn the obligations which the Gospel lays upon Christians, both Gentile and Jewish, to a life of virtue and holiness; and lastly, the certainty of their salvation, in case they love God, and live not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Now let it be well observed, that hitherto the Apostle has considered our being taken into the kingdom of God, and interested in the blessings of the covenant of grace, absolutely, or in itself, as it is the effect of grace, free to all who believe, whether Jews or Gentiles, in opposition to the merit of any works, or of conformity to any law whatever; and therefore hitherto he has pleaded and proved, that the Gentiles, by faith, have a good title to the blessings of God's covenant; and that the Jews themselves can have an interest in those blessings no other way than by faith. He has not yet considered the Jews as set aside, or rejected from the Messiah's kingdom, (except in a glance, and only by-the-bye,) but as having the same way opened to them to the Christian church under the kingdom of the Messiah, as the believing Gentiles, and as under a possibilityof continuing still in the visible church; and therefore he has only argued, that they ought not to exclude the Gentiles, but allow them to be sharers in the mercies of God under the reign of the Messiah. Hitherto his language has been, "Why may not they be admitted as well as you?" And therefore he has hitherto treated the subject (the reception of the Gentiles into the church) without mentioning their admission under the name and notion of CALLING or inviting; which, in the sense of all mankind, is understood to be a relative term; for whenever we hear of inviting to a feast, wedding, &c. it immediately gives us this idea,—that only some are admitted to it, while others are passed by, or left. Nor has he hitherto made any mention of elect or election, chosen or choice, which also supposes that some are taken, while others are left or rejected, in respect to the new dispensation.
But now in this chapter, and the two following, the Apostle writes in a different style, and considers our reception into the kingdom of the Messiah, under the relative notion of calling or invitation, and of election or choice; which shews, that he now views the two parties, Jews and Gentiles, in a light different from that in which he had hitherto placed them. Now he regards the Gentiles as invited into the peculiar kingdom of the Messiah, as chosen to be his peculiar people, and the Jews as left out, and rejected from this glorious privilege: for though the Jews were free to embrace the Gospel, as well as the Gentiles, yet he knew, by the Spirit of prophesy, that as the main body of them in fact rejected Christ and the Gospel, so they would in fact be quite unchurched and cast out of the visible kingdom of God,—not only by their own unbelief, but also by the just judgment of God; in the total overthrow of their polity, the destruction of their temple, their expulsion out of the land of Canaan, and dispersion over the face of the whole earth. Thus he knew they would be accursed, or anathematized from Christ in this national sense, and reduced to a level with the common or heathen nations of the world; and the event has proved him to be a true prophet. It is observable, that agreeably to his delicate manner of writing, and to his nice and tender treatment of his countrymen, he never mentions their rejection,—a subject extremely painful to his thoughts,—otherwise than in a wish that he himself wereaccursed from Christ for them, or to prevent their being accursed from Christ;—till he comes to the eleventh chapter, where, he has much to say in their favour, even considered as at present rejected. But it is very evident that his arguments in this chapter stand upon a supposition, that the main body of the Jewish nation would be cast out of the visible kingdom of God. For which reason, in this and the two following Chapter s he considers the reception of any people into the kingdom of the Messiah, under the relative notion of inviting and choosing.
From the latter part of the foregoing chapter we may observe, that St. Paul thought our calling or being invited into the kingdom of the Messiah a matter of great importance. For the unbelieving Jews levelled all their artillery against our being called or invited into the peculiar church or family of God, and laboured every argument to unhinge the believing Gentiles, and to persuade them that they were not duly taken into the church: alleging particularly that the Jews are, and for ever were to be, the only true church and people of God; that they could not be cut off, so long as God was true to his word and promise to Abraham: consequently, the Gentiles were miserably deceived, by supposing thatthey had a place and interest in God's kingdom by faith in Christ Jesus; when in fact, and as sure as God was true, there was no other wayof entering into the kingdom of God, or of gaining a right to its privileges, than by submitting to the law of Moses. To prove therefore that the Jews, by rejecting Christ and the Gospel, were themselves cast out of the visible church, consistently with the truth of God's promise to Abraham, was a matter of great moment for the establishment of the Gentile believers. The Apostle had touched upon this point at the beginning of chap. 3:; but an enlargement upon it there would have broken in too much upon the argument he was then pursuing; for which reason he suspended the particular consideration of it to this place: and accordingly, he first solemnly declares his tenderest affection for his countrymen, and his real grief of heart for their infidelity and rejection, Romans 9:1-5.; and this, most probably, to wipe off an aspersion which had been cast upon him, that he was so zealous for the Gospel out of a natural hatred and rancour against his own nation; or, however, it might be intended at least to guard against such an invidious construction. Secondly, he answers objections against the rejection of the Jews, Romans 9:6-23. Thirdly, proves from Scripture the calling of the Gentiles, Romans 9:24-30. Fourthly, gives the true state and reasons of the rejection of the unbelieving Jews and calling of the Gentiles, Romans 9:30.—chap. Romans 10:14.Fifthly, vindicates the mission of the Apostles, as expedient and necessary to the calling or invitation of the Jews, chap. Romans 10:14 to the end: and all this was intended at once to vindicate the divine dispensations; to convince the infidel Jew; to satisfy the believing Gentile, that his invitation into the church was well grounded, just, and valid; to arm him against the cavils and objections of the unbelieving Jews, and to dispose the Christian Jew to receive and own him as a member of the family and kingdom of God by a divine right, in all respects as good as he himself could pretend to. See Locke.