Thomas Aquinas Commentary Romans 11:25-32

"For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: And this is my covenant unto them, When I shall take away their sins. As touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers` sake. For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of. For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy. For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all." — Romans 11:25-32 (ASV)

1. After leading the Gentiles to a knowledge of the divine judgments, in which God’s goodness and severity were manifested, the Apostle, acting as if they are still unable to consider these things, explains how they seem to him.

He proceeds in three steps:

1. First, he presents the fact.
2. Second, he proves it, beginning with as it is written.
3. Third, he gives the reason, beginning with for just as you also.

2. Regarding the first point, he does three things. First, he states his intention, saying: I have urged you to consider the kindness and severity of God, for I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, since you cannot grasp all mysteries. This is a prerogative of the perfect, to whom the Lord says, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God” (Luke 8:10), and as it is written, “I will not hide from you the mysteries of God” . But ignorance of this mystery would be very damaging to us: “but if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized” (1 Corinthians 14:38).

3. Second, he discloses the reason for his intention: so that you would not be wise in your own estimation; that is, so you do not presume on your own understanding to condemn others and exalt yourselves above them: “Do not be wise in your own conceits” (Romans 12:16); “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:21).

4. Third, he states what he intended. First, with respect to the fall of particular Jews, when he says, that a partial hardening has come upon Israel, not universally but upon a part: “Make the heart of this people dull” (Isaiah 6:10). Second, he predicts the end of this hardening, saying, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in to the faith. This means not only some Gentile nations as had been converted then, but that the Church would be established in all or the greater part of them: “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof” (Psalms 24:1). The Gentiles converted to the faith are said to “come in,” as if they are moving from the external and visible things they venerated to spiritual things and the divine will: “come into his presence with singing!” (Psalms 100:2).

5. It should be noted that the word until can signify the cause of the Jews’ hardening, for God permitted them to be hardened so that the full number of the Gentiles might come in. It can also designate the end point, meaning that the hardening of the Jews will last until the time when the full number of the Gentiles will come to the faith. With this agrees his next statement: and so, meaning, when the full number of the Gentiles has come in, all Israel will be saved—not some, as now, but all of them universally: “I will save them by the LORD their God” (Hosea 1:7); “he will again have compassion on us” (Micah 7:19).

6. Then when he says, as it is written, he proves what he said about the future salvation of the Jews. He does this in two ways:

1. First, he proves this with an authority from Scripture.
2. Second, he proves it with a reason, beginning with As for the gospel.

7. First, therefore, he says: I say that all Israel will be saved, as it is written. Our Hebrew text says, “A Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the LORD” (Isaiah 59:20). But the Apostle uses the Septuagint and touches on three things. First is the coming of a Savior, when he says, the Deliverer will come out of Zion, namely, God in human flesh to save us. He comes out of Zion, that is, from the Jewish people, who are signified by Zion, the citadel of Jerusalem, a city in Judea. Hence it says in Zechariah, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you” (Zechariah 9:9), and in John, “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). Alternatively, he says that Christ comes from Zion not because He was born there, but because His doctrine went out from there into the whole world, since the apostles received the Holy Spirit in the upper room in Zion: “out of Zion shall go the law” (Isaiah 2:3).

8. Second, he touches on the salvation offered by Christ to the Jews, saying, he who will deliver and will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. This could refer to deliverance from punishment: “you have delivered my soul from death” (Psalms 116:8). He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob could refer to deliverance from guilt: “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” (Psalms 53:6). Or both could refer to liberation from guilt. He says he who will deliver because of the few who are now converted with great difficulty and with, so to speak, a certain force: “As a shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel be rescued” (Amos 3:12). But he says he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob to show the ease with which the Jews will be converted at the end of the world: “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?” (Micah 7:18).

9. Third, he shows the manner of salvation when he says, and this will be my covenant with them, a new one from me, when I take away their sins. The old covenant did not remove sins, because “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Therefore, because the Old Testament was imperfect, a New Testament is promised to them: “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). This new covenant will have the power to remit sin through the blood of Christ: “this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28); “you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19).

10. Then when he says, As for the gospel, he proves his statement with a reason. He does this in two steps:

1. First, he presents the proof.
2. Second, he removes an objection, beginning with for the gifts and the calling.

11. First, therefore, he says that their sins will be taken away and that, because they have sinned, they are enemies of Christ. As for the gospel, which they resist, they are enemies for your sake; that is, it has turned out for your benefit. Hence, it says in Luke, “But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me” (Luke 19:27); and in John, “but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father” (John 15:24). Alternatively, as for the gospel means their enmity has helped the gospel, which has been spread everywhere because of this enmity: “in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing” (Colossians 1:5–6).

12. But as for election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers, because God chose their descendants on account of their forefathers’ grace: “the LORD loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them” (Deuteronomy 10:15).

This does not mean that the merits of the fathers caused the eternal election of their descendants. Instead, it means that God, from all eternity, chose the fathers and their children in such a way that the children would obtain salvation on account of the fathers. This is not as though the fathers' merits were sufficient for their children's salvation, but rather that through an outpouring of divine grace and mercy, the children would be saved because of the promises made to the fathers. Or it can mean as for election, that is, salvation was obtained for those elected from that people. For if they are dear to God, it is reasonable that they be saved by God: “from of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4).

13. Then when he says, for the gifts and the calling, he excludes an objection. For someone might claim that even though the Jews were previously beloved on account of their forefathers, the hostility they show against the gospel prevents them from being saved in the future. But the Apostle asserts that this is false, saying, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. It is as if to say: that when God gives something to certain people or calls them, it is irrevocable, because God does not change His mind: “the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret” (1 Samuel 15:29); “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind” (Psalms 110:4).

14. However, this seems false, for the Lord says, “I regret that I have made man” (Genesis 6:6), and, “if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it” (Jeremiah 18:8). The answer is that just as God is said to grow angry, not because the emotion of anger is in Him but because He produces the effect of punishment in the manner of an angry man, so He is said to repent, not because the change involved in repentance is in Him but because He changes what He had done in the manner of one who repents.

15. Nevertheless, it seems that God's gifts are not without repentance, since they are frequently lost, as in Matthew: “take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents” (Matthew 25:28). Furthermore, God’s call seems to be changed sometimes, since it is written, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).

But it should be noted that gift is understood here as a promise made according to God’s foreknowledge or predestination, and calling is understood as election. Because both are so certain, whatever God promises is as good as given, and whoever He elects is, in a sense, already called. Such temporal gifts and callings are not revoked by a change in God, as though He repented of them, but by a change in the person who rejects them: “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God” (Hebrews 12:15).

16. This passage can also be taken to mean that God’s gifts which are bestowed in baptism, and the calling by which the baptized person is called, are given without the repentance of the person being baptized. Furthermore, it was introduced to counteract any despair about the future salvation of the Jews, since they do not seem to repent of their sin.

But against this interpretation are the words of Peter: “Repent and be baptized every one of you” (Acts 2:38). This can be answered by recalling that repentance is of two kinds: internal and external. Internal repentance consists of a contrition of the heart, by which a person is sorry for past sins. Such repentance is required of the baptized, because, as Augustine says, no one who is master of his own will can begin the new life unless he repents of his old life; otherwise, he would be approaching insincerely. But external repentance consists of making satisfaction outwardly, and this is not required of the baptized person, because by baptismal grace one is freed not only from guilt but from all penalty, by virtue of the passion of Christ who satisfied for the sins of all: “all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3); “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly” (Titus 3:5–6).

17. But since the keys of the Church and all the other sacraments work by the power of Christ’s passion, it seems that by the same logic all the other sacraments should liberate a person from guilt and from all punishment. The answer is that Christ’s passion works in baptism in the manner of a regeneration, which requires that a person die completely to his former life to receive a new life. And because the debt of punishment belongs to the old way of life, it is taken away in baptism. But in the other sacraments, Christ’s passion works in the manner of a cleansing, as in the sacrament of penance. A cleansing, however, does not require that every remnant of weakness be taken away immediately. The same argument applies to the other sacraments.

18. But since the confession of sins is part of external repentance, one could ask whether confession of sins is required at baptism. It seems that it is, because Matthew says that men were baptized by John, “confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:6).

The answer is that John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, because by receiving that baptism people declared that they would undertake penance for their sins. It was therefore fitting that they should confess so that penance could be assigned to them in accordance with the nature of their sins. But Christ’s baptism is a baptism for the remission of all sins, such that the baptized person no longer owes any satisfaction for past sins, and for this reason there is no need for vocal confession. Confession is necessary in the sacrament of penance so that the priest can, by the power of the keys, fittingly loose or bind the penitent.

19. Then when he says, For just as you also, he gives the reason for the future salvation of the Jews, which will follow their unbelief. He does this in two steps:

1. First, he shows a similarity between the salvation of both peoples.
2. Second, he shows the cause of this similarity, beginning with for God has concluded.

20. First, therefore, he says: So I say that Israel will be saved, although they are now enemies. For just as you Gentiles also were once disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they also have now been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. This was because of their disobedience, which was the occasion of your salvation, as was said above. So they also, the Jews, have now been disobedient in the time of grace, namely, toward Christ: “why do you not believe me?” (John 8:46). And this is what he adds: because of the mercy shown to you, that is, in Christ’s grace, by which you have obtained mercy: “he saved us... according to his own mercy” (Titus 3:5). Or they have been disobedient so that they might enter into your mercy. Or they have been disobedient, which turned out to be the occasion of the mercy shown to you, so that they also at some time may receive mercy: “For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob” (Isaiah 14:1).

21. Then, when he says for God has concluded, he assigns the reason for this similarity, namely that God has willed to have mercy on all. And this is what he adds: for God has concluded all in disobedience, that is, permitted them to be enclosed, as in a kind of prison of error: “all were fettered with the bonds of darkness” . He did this that he may have mercy on all, that is, that He may have mercy on every race of humanity: “but you have mercy on all” . This does not extend to the demons, in accordance with the error of Origen, nor even to all individual people, but to every race of humanity. For the distribution is made according to peoples, not according to every individual within those peoples. But God wills all to be saved by His mercy, so that they might be humbled by this and attribute their salvation not to themselves but to God: “You have destroyed yourself, O Israel; your help is only in me” (Hosea 13:9); “that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God” (Romans 3:19).