Godbey's Commentary - Acts - Romans - Enter His Rest

ROMANS
CHAPTER IX.
This is one of the places where the chapter division is injudiciously made, breaking the subject
in two in the middle.
1. “I speak the truth, I lie not, my conscience bearing witness in the Holy Ghost.” Paul had the
approval of his conscience while, unconverted, he persecuted the saints. Then his conscience bore
him witness, but not in the Holy Ghost. Though the conscience survived the Fall, God’s telephone
to speak to the soul, without which man never could be saved, but must go like the fallen angels; yet
it is not a safe guide unless regenerated by the Holy Ghost, but is very likely to be usurped by Satan,
who is fond of speaking through God’s telephone and thus passing himself for God. For that reason
the leading preachers in the Jewish Church murdered Jesus, and have martyred the saints in the fallen
churches of all ages. They follow their consciences, which are manipulated by the devil and an
unsafe guide. It bears them witness, but not in the Holy Ghost, as they are strangers to Him.
3. “For I could wish that I were a sin-offering from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kindred
according to the flesh.” This verse in E.V. has led to the conclusion that Paul was willing to give
up his interest in Christ and lose his soul for the salvation of the Jews. That is altogether a mistake.
He simply states that he would gladly suffer martyrdom, as Christ had, in order to save them.
“Accursed,” in E.V., is anathema, from ana, “upon,” and titheemi “place.” Hence it originally means
“an offering,” and became applied to a sin-offering, in that sense being applied to Christ, who had
a perfect right to let him die a martyr to save the Jews, or live to preach the gospel. He here assures
us that he would gladly lay down his life for the Jews if Christ should so order.
4-10. He here recapitulates the signal and extraordinary blessings which God conferred on the
Jews, and bewails their apostasy, at the same time observing that the true Israel were in harmony
with Christ, representing the seed of Abraham.
ELECTION OF THE MESSIANIC PROGENITORSHIP IN CONTRADISTINCTION TO
THE ELECTION OF GRACE.
If you do not recognize and keep before you this distinction, you get much tangled in both
Testaments. While the election of grace determinative of heaven or hell is optionary with man, that
of the progenitorship was utterly independent of human volition, absolute and unchangeable in this
sense. The Jews were elected and the Gentiles reprobated; Isaac elected and Ishmael reprobated, and
Jacob elected and Esau reprobated.
11. “For the children not having yet been born, nor done anything good nor evil, in order that
the purposes of God may stand according to election, not of works but of him that calleth.” This was
because Jacob was elected to the progenitorship before he was born, and Esau reprobated from the
same. Yet the atonement was as free and efficacious for Esau as for Isaac, for the Arabs as the Jews.