John Calvin Commentary Romans 11:1

"I say then, Did God cast off his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." — Romans 11:1 (ASV)

I say then, etc. What he has until now said about the blindness and obstinacy of the Jews might seem to imply that Christ, at His coming, had transferred God's promises elsewhere and deprived the Jews of all hope of salvation. He anticipates this objection in this passage, and he so modifies what he had previously said concerning the rejection of the Jews, that no one might think that the covenant formerly made with Abraham is now abolished, or that God had so forgotten it that the Jews were now so entirely alienated from His kingdom as the Gentiles were before the coming of Christ.

He denies all this, and he will soon show that it is completely false. But the question is not whether God had justly or unjustly rejected the people; for it was proved in the previous chapter that when the people, through false zeal, had rejected God's righteousness, they suffered a just punishment for their presumption, were deservedly blinded, and were finally cut off from the covenant.

Therefore, the reason for their rejection is not now under consideration. Instead, the dispute concerns another matter: even though they deserved such punishment from God, was the covenant God formerly made with the fathers abolished? It was completely unreasonable that it should fail through any faithlessness of men. For Paul holds this as a fixed principle: since adoption is freely given and based on God alone and not on men, it stands firm and inviolable, however great the unfaithfulness of men might be that could tend to abolish it. It was necessary to untie this knot, so that God's truth and election would not be thought to depend on human worthiness.

For I am also an Israelite, etc. Before he proceeds to the main subject, he proves, in passing, by his own example, how unreasonable it was to think that the nation was utterly forsaken by God. For he himself was by origin an Israelite, not a proselyte, or one recently introduced into the commonwealth of Israel. Since he was then justly considered one of God’s special servants, it was evidence that God’s favor rested on Israel. He then assumes the conclusion as proved, though he will later explain it satisfactorily.

That he called himself the seed of Abraham and also mentioned his own tribe, in addition to the title of an Israelite—he did this so that he might be considered a genuine Israelite; and he did the same in his Epistle to the Philippians (Philippians 3:4). But what some think, that it was done to commend God’s mercy because Paul came from that tribe which had been almost destroyed, seems forced and far-fetched.