Commentary on Romans, Biblical exegesis 1 · Chapter 8 · Section 3 · Subsection 48
Quest. 48. Of certaine doubts out of the 30. verse, whom he predestinate, them also be called.
Origen here noteth certaine doubts. 1. Obiect. Whereas it is said, whom he knewe before he predestinate, hence it wil followe, that God did not foreknowe or foresee those whom he did not predestinate. Answ. Origen here giueth good satisfaction, shewing that according to the phrase and vse of Scripture, God is said to knowe or foreknowe some, that is, in affectum recipere, & sibi sociare, to affect them, and associate them to himselfe: as in this sense Adam is said to hauehave knowne his wife, that is, ioyned her in societie vntounto him: And thus only they are foreseene and foreknowne of God, that is, beloued, approoued, whom he predestinate vntounto life.
2. Obiect. The Apostle saith, whom he calleth he iustifieth, and yet there are many called which are not iustified, nor ordained vntounto salvation.
Answ. Origen here propoundeth a good answear, videtur mihi vocationis quaedam differentia, &c. there seemeth vntounto me to be a certaine difference of callings, &c. but Origen proceedeth not well in the explication of this distinction: some (saith he) are called, secundum propositum boni, according to their good purpose, but some are called, that hauehave no such good purpose at all: whereas the difference of callings is not in the purpose of the heart, but in the grace of God, which maketh vntounto some their calling effectuall, which some wanting that grace doe resist and disobey: so Haymo interpreteth well, quos vocauit per gratiam, whome he called by grace. There is then an externall calling onelyonly, without the inward worke of grace, and with this, election is not alway ioyned, there is beside an inward effectuall calling by grace, concurring with the outward, and this necessarily followeth predestination, and this the Apostle speaketh of here.
3. Obiect. Whom he calleth he iustifieth, &c. Hence it will followe, nihil culpae habere, &c. that there is no fault in them which are not iustified, because they are not called. Ans. Origen answeareth, that iustification, non ex sola vocatione pendet, doth not depend onelyonly of vocation: but from the desire which men hauehave vntounto their saluation, whereby their vocation it made effectuall: but this is dangerous, to make the efficacie of ones calling to depend vponupon his owne will and desire: and it is contrarie to the Apostle, it is not in him that willeth, or in him that runneth, but in God that sheweth merciemercy, Rom. 9.16. The better answear is: 1. that no man that is called outwardly by the preaching of the word, and yet thereby is not conuerted vntounto God, can excuse himselfe, seeing he resisteth the grace of God offered. 2. in that God giueth more grace vntounto some, then to others, whereby their calling is effectuall, no other reason can be giuen thereof then the good pleasure of God, and we must not dive too deepe into Gods secrets, to knowe a reason of his doings.
4. Obiect. But why doth the Apostle omit sanctification, ioyning vntounto iustification, glorification: the answear is, that sanctification must be vnderstood, and it is here by a synecdoche included in iustification, as the more principall: yet otherwhere the Apostle expresseth them both, as 1. Cor. 6.11. But ye are sanctified, but ye are iustified, Pareus.
5. Obiect. But why doth the Apostle speake as of a thing alreadie past and done, he hath glorified, whereas the glorification of the Saints is yet expected. 1. Origen answeareth that there is a double kind of glorie, one, quam iustificati in vita praesenti, &c. which the iustified doe enioy in this life present, an other, quae speratur in futura, which is hoped for in time to come. 2. some answear that it is true of many of the Saints, that they are now glorified in heauen: But the Apostle speaketh in generall of all that are iustified by Christ, not of some onelyonly. 3. therefore I preferre Haymo his solution, who saith it is the manner of Scripture, sic narrare futura, tanquam praeterita, to speake of things to come, as alreadie done and past because of the certaintie of them.