The Irrevocable Call

In the passages we will study today and tomorrow, Paul seeks to sum up his amazing revelation of the purposes of God in the redemption of Jews and gentiles. These verses reinforce Paul’s teaching on what God is doing—and help us understand why He is doing it.

“Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake,” the apostle writes. He is speaking to gentiles about Jews. God, he explains, has left most of the Jews in their rebellion against His rule and has not predestined them to believe. In short, He has left them in their natural enmity toward Him and His gospel. But while that is tragic news for the Jews who are subject to this judgment, it is wonderful news for those gentiles to whom the saving call of God is going forth instead. As Paul has taught previously, the divine bypassing of the Jews is for the sake of the gentiles. But we must remember that Paul has told us that God will bypass the Jews neither completely nor eternally. As he puts it here, “Concerning the election they are beloved.” If we consider what Paul has taught us about God’s plans for the Jews over the long term, it is clear that they are still beloved. There must be many Jews, living or yet to live, among His elect people, and they will be called in due time, coming with the trickle of Jews before “the fullness of the gentiles” is complete or during the flood after God switches the focus of His redemptive call from gentiles to Jews once more.

We have already learned from Paul that the Jews are “holy,” or “set apart,” because of God’s choice of Abraham. Paul now returns to this theme, telling us that the Jews are beloved “for the sake of the fathers.” Does this mean God is fond of the Jews because Abraham and his heirs were so good and righteous? Hardly. They did not earn God’s favor; God bestowed His favor upon them despite their sinful ways. He entered into a covenant with Abraham, a covenant that resulted in great blessings for Abraham’s descendants (Rom. 9:4–5). Those blessings, and the divine calling from which they flow, are irrevocable, Paul says. Why? Because of who God is. God is immutable, and He will not be thwarted in the exercise of His grace. His promises of judgment come to pass and His promises of grace come to pass. And He has promised His grace to a thousand generations. All those who are Abraham’s seed will receive blessing upon blessing, now and forever.