ACC ~ Romans 9 v19

WHO CAN RESIST HIS WILL? ORIGEN: It is certain that no one can resist God’s will, but it is good for us to remember that his will is just and right. Whether we are good or bad depends on our will, but it is God’s will that the bad person is destined to punishment and the good person is destined to glory. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

AMBROSIASTER: Paul teaches us first that nobody can resist God’s will because he is more powerful than anyone else. Next he teaches us that God is the Father of all and therefore does not want anyone to suffer evil. What God has made he wants to remain unharmed. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

PAUL’S PERSISTENT WAY OF PRESSING QUESTIONS. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul does everything he can to embarrass the questioner. He does not answer him right away either, but prefers to shut him up with a further question. … This is what a good teacher does. He does not follow his pupils’ fancy everywhere but leads them to his own mind and pulls up the thorns, and then puts the seed in and does not immediately answer all the questions put to him. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 16.

AUGUSTINE: Having given his conclusion [in the last verse] Paul plays devil’s advocate by asking a rhetorical question. … He responds to this question in a sensible way so that we might understand that the basic rewards of faith and of unbelief are made plain only to spiritual people and not to those who live according to the earthly man. Likewise with the way God in his foreknowledge elects those who will believe and condemns unbelievers. He neither elects the ones because of their works nor condemns the others because of theirs, but he grants to the faith of the ones the ability to do good works and hardens the unbelief of the others by deserting them, so that they do evil. This understanding, as I have said, is given only to spiritual people and is very different from the wisdom of the flesh. Thus Paul counters his inquirer so that he may understand that he first must put away the man of clay in order to be worthy to investigate these things by the Spirit. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 62.

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