Election and Predestination

Election and predestination are the biblical doctrines that God, before the foundation of the world, freely and sovereignly chose a definite people for himself in Christ. This is not a cold speculation but a warm, humbling, and stabilizing truth. It means salvation is entirely of grace from first to last, and that God's saving purpose cannot fail. Charles Spurgeon and Matthew Henry, drawing deeply on Romans and other Scriptures, present this doctrine as the backbone of assurance, the death of boasting, and the fuel for holiness.\n\n## God's eternal purpose, not foreseen works\n\nBoth Spurgeon and Henry are emphatic that election rests on God's eternal purpose, not on anything God foresees in the sinner. Spurgeon argues that boasting cannot take a place in election, because election is according to God's eternal purpose, not based on foreseen works or faith (Romans 3:27). He adds that God foreordained his people to faith and good works, so their faith and works cannot be the cause of their election (Romans 3:27). The order is crucial: God does not choose because we believe; we believe because he chose.\n\nHenry agrees, insisting that the saints are effectually called according to God's eternal purpose, not according to any merit or desert of their own (Romans 8:28). He explains that God's foreknowledge of his people is not foreseen holiness but his everlasting love and owning of them as his friends and favourites (Romans 8:29). This is a decisive point against every scheme that makes election conditional on human response. Henry further states that election is purely of free grace, not for the sake of works done or foreseen, otherwise it would not be grace (Romans 11:6). Even faith itself, which is opposed to works in justification, is included among works when it comes to election, for faith receives free grace for justification but not for election (Romans 11:6).\n\nSpurgeon makes the same point from the lips of Christ: it is not man who chooses God, but God who chooses man, as Christ taught (Romans 3:27). The initiative belongs wholly to God.\n\n## Christ as the appointed propitiation and representative of the elect\n\nElection is never abstract; it is election in Christ. Spurgeon notes that Christ's appointment as propitiation was part of God's eternal purpose, like the election of His body the church (Romans 3:25). The cross and the choice of a people are not two separate plans but one unified purpose of grace.\n\nHenry develops this by presenting Christ as the public representative of the elect, doing all things for them, including dying, rising, and entering heaven (Romans 5:14). This federal or representative view means that what Christ did, he did for a specific people. Henry also says that many shall be constituted righteous, meaning the whole number of the election of grace, who though scattered and few in each place will be a great multitude together (Romans 5:19). The elect are not a tiny, anxious remnant only; they are a vast host gathered from every place.\n\nHenry further explains that God delivered up his Son for all the elect, not only for their good but in their place as a sacrifice of atonement for sin (Romans 8:32). The substitutionary death of Christ is bounded by the electing purpose of God. This does not narrow the gospel offer, but it does define the sure scope of the atonement's saving effect.\n\n## The sovereign freedom of God in choosing\n\nThe classic proof of unconditional election is God's choice of Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau. Henry draws out the implications at length. He says the promise to Abraham was never intended for all his physical descendants, but only for a specific chosen line, so the rejection of some Jews does not break God's promise (Romans 9:6–13). Physical descent from Abraham or membership in the nation of Israel does not automatically make someone a true child of God or a recipient of saving covenant benefits (Romans 9:6–7). Saving grace is not inherited through physical lineage, nor are saving benefits automatically attached to external church privileges (Romans 9:7).\n\nThe case of Jacob and Esau is especially pointed. Henry observes that the case of Jacob and Esau is stronger than that of Ishmael and Isaac for showing that not all Abraham's natural descendants were in the promise, because Jacob and Esau had the same parents and were conceived together (Romans 9:10). The difference between Jacob and Esau was made by God's counsel before they were born or had done anything good or evil, so that God's purpose according to election might stand (Romans 9:11–12). God chooses some and refuses others as a free agent by his own absolute and sovereign will, dispensing his favors or withholding them as he pleases (Romans 9:11–12).\n\nHenry is careful, however, to note a nuance. He says the quotation from Malachi about loving Jacob and hating Esau refers not to the persons Jacob and Esau but to the nations descended from them, the Israelites and Edomites (Romans 9:13). The choosing and refusing of Jacob and Esau was typical, intended to shadow forth another election and rejection (Romans 9:11–13). He also cautions that the view that particular persons were loved or hated from eternity is also inadequate because the apostle speaks of Jacob and Esau as ancestors representing peoples, and God does not condemn anyone merely by his will without reason from their own deserts (Romans 9:13). Here Henry distinguishes between election to privilege and the final condemnation of individuals, a distinction that keeps God's justice clear.\n\nYet Henry does not soften the main point. He says the view that God chose faith as the condition of salvation and rejected the works of the law, rather than choosing persons, strains the scripture because the apostle speaks of persons and his answers about God's absolute sovereignty would not be pertinent to that view (Romans 9:11–13). The choosing of Jacob the younger over Esau the elder intimated that the Jews, though the natural seed of Abraham and first-born of the church, would be laid aside, and the Gentiles, as the younger brother, would be taken in and receive the birthright and blessing (Romans 9:10–13).\n\n## Vessels of mercy and vessels of wrath\n\nHenry uses the potter image to explain God's absolute right over fallen humanity. The potter may make from the same lump either a vessel for honorable use or a vessel for contemptible use, acting according to his own choice (Romans 9:21). God forms two kinds of vessels from fallen mankind: vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy (Romans 9:22–23). The vessels of mercy are those whom God has effectually called, and these are not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles, since the partition wall has been taken down (Romans 9:24). The question is no longer whether one is of the seed of Abraham, but whether one is called according to God's purpose (Romans 9:24).\n\nHenry is honest that this doctrine raises an objection. The objection is commonly raised against the doctrine of distinguishing grace: if God gives effectual grace to some and denies it to others, why does he find fault with those to whom he denies it? (Romans 9:19). He notes that the objection that God cannot find fault if no one resists his will would have no force if Paul were only discussing the terms of salvation, but it arises against the doctrine of distinguishing grace (Romans 9:19). The very presence of the objection shows Paul is teaching sovereign, distinguishing grace.\n\nHenry resolves the tension by pointing to God's character. God disposes of people's eternal state as an absolute owner and benefactor, not merely as a governor rewarding or punishing according to revealed law (Romans 9:14–18). God's mercy is dispensed according to his own sovereign will, with all reasons for mercy taken from within himself (Romans 9:15). The words 'I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy' express the absolute prerogative and sovereignty of God's will (Romans 9:15). The calling of the Gentiles and the leaving of most Jews in unbelief is due not to their better deserving or disposition but to God's free grace that made the difference (Romans 9:16). God's differing dealings with people, showing mercy to some and hardening others, must be resolved into his absolute sovereignty, since no one deserves his grace (Romans 9:18).\n\n## The remnant according to the election of grace\n\nA major theme in Henry's exposition is that God always preserves a remnant. God can abandon many physical descendants of Abraham to ruin while still keeping his promise to Abraham, because only a remnant will be saved (Romans 9:27). The promise to Abraham included a vast number of descendants, yet only a remnant would be saved, showing that many are called but few are chosen (Romans 9:27). God has allotted people to their conditions and privileges in his eternal counsels, and he will complete the account by calling in all who belong to the election of grace (Romans 9:28).\n\nThis remnant is not a sign of failure but of God's faithful sovereignty. God preserving only a small remnant of the Jews while the rest perish was not unusual, since their own prophets had foretold this pattern (Romans 9:29). God is the Lord of hosts, with all the hosts of heaven and earth under his command, and preserving a seed for himself is an act of his almighty power and infinite sovereignty (Romans 9:29). God's people are a small but useful remnant, like seed reserved for the next year's sowing, which becomes the substance of the next generation (Romans 9:29).\n\nHenry applies this to his own day. Just as in Elijah's time there was a remnant, so at the present time there is a remnant of believing Jews according to the election of grace (Romans 11:5). The remnant is called a remnant according to the election of grace because they were chosen from eternity in the counsels of divine love to be vessels of grace and glory (Romans 11:5). Believers are called the election because God's electing love is what first distinguished and dignified them above others (Romans 11:7). The ground of the difference between the believing remnant and the rest is God's electing love, which distinguished them before the world was (Romans 11:2).\n\nSpurgeon adds a sobering observation about who tends to believe. Unbelief has usually prevailed among the great ones of the earth, while the gospel has had freer course among the poor and lowly (Romans 3:3). God has hidden the things of the gospel from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes, so that not many wise, mighty, or noble are called (Romans 3:3). Henry sees the same pattern in the early church: God sometimes calls and chooses poor servants while their rich, wicked masters are passed by and left in unbelief (Romans 16:10–11).\n\n## Election and holiness\n\nNeither author allows election to become an excuse for sin. Henry states plainly that the doctrine of election is not licentious because none can know their election except by their conformity to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). All whom God has foreknown with favour he has predestinated to conformity to Christ; we cannot conform ourselves (Romans 8:29). Predestination leads to an internal, effectual call, not merely the external gospel call that many hear (Romans 8:30). Making our calling sure is the only way to make our election sure (Romans 8:22).\n\nSpurgeon agrees that election produces obedience. Divine grace reigns with irresistible goodness, compelling the chosen multitude to obedience and preparing them for eternal bliss (Romans 5:21). The law was never intended to save men, but to prove that salvation by works is impossible and to compel the elect to rely wholly on the gospel (Romans 5:20). Election does not make people careless; it makes them reliant on grace and eager for holiness.\n\nHenry also warns that even the elect can be harmed by the careless actions of others. Even if the elect cannot finally perish, a believer may do what tends to destroy them, and may destroy some whom in charity we are bound to believe Christ died for (Romans 14:15). This keeps the doctrine pastoral and urgent rather than fatalistic.\n\n## The unbreakable purpose of God\n\nThe final note is assurance. The privileges of believers are grounded in God's predestination, which infallibly secures their outcome (Romans 8:29–30). Henry says a certain number are predestinated so that Christ's undertaking might be infallibly secured and he might have many brethren (Romans 8:29). God's gifts and callings, especially effectual calling and grace, are unchangeable and without repentance, unlike his revoking of other gifts such as life or earthly power (Romans 11:29).\n\nSpurgeon sounds the same note of triumph. The unbelief of some will not prevent many others from receiving Christ, and He will reign forever (Romans 3:3). The unbelief of some Jews could not nullify God's faithfulness or turn him from his purpose to bless his chosen people (Romans 3:3). God's grace is sovereign and free, often finding and blessing those who were not seeking him, as he did with the Gentiles (Romans 10:20).\n\nHenry closes with the hope of final victory. The victory over Satan will be complete, fulfilling the first promise in Genesis that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head (Romans 16:20). Election is not a doctrine for speculation but for worship, humility, holiness, and unshakable hope.\n\n: But the porter says, "No, you can not take your place there, for election is according to the eternal purpose of God, which He purposed in Christ Jesus before the world was. This election is not of works but of Grace and the reason for God's choice of man is in Himself and not in man Charles Spurgeon, sermon “Grace Exalted—Boasting Excluded”\n: And as for those virtues which you say God did foreknow, God is the Author of all of them if they exist, and that which is an effect cannot be a first cause. God foreordained these men to faith and to good works and their faith and good works could not have been the cause of their foreordination Charles Spurgeon, sermon “Grace Exalted—Boasting Excluded”\n: It is not man that chooses God but God that chooses Man. What did Christ say—"You have not chosen Me but I have chosen you Charles Spurgeon, sermon “Grace Exalted—Boasting Excluded”\n: as surely as every member of Christ's body is elect according to the foreknowledge of God; as certainly as in God's Book all His members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them, so certainly was the Head, Himself, ordained the chosen of God Charles Spurgeon, sermon “Christ Set Forth As A Propitiation”\n: Thus Jesus Christ, the Mediator, acted as a public person, the head of all the elect, dealt with God for them, as their father, factor, root, and representative—died for them, rose for them, entered within the veil for them, did all for them Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Many shall be made righteous—many compared with one, or as many as belong to the election of grace, which, though but a few as they are scattered up and down in the world, yet will be a great many when they come all together Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Thus did he deliver him up for us all, that is, for all the elect; for us all, not only for our good, but in our stead, as a sacrifice of atonement to be a propitiation for sin Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Now he here makes it out that, when God said he would be a God to Abraham, and to his seed (which was the famous promise made unto the fathers), he did not mean it of all his seed according to the flesh, as if it were a necessary concomitant of the blood of Abraham; but that he intended it with a limitation only to such and such Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Many that descended from the loins of Abraham and Jacob, and were of that people who were surnamed by the name of Israel, yet were very far from being Israelites indeed, interested in the saving benefits of the new covenant. They are not all really Israel that are so in name and profession Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Grace does not run in the blood; nor are saving benefits inseparably annexed to external church privileges, though it is common for people thus to stretch the meaning of God's promise, to bolster themselves up in a vain hope Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: But, in the case of Jacob and Esau, it was neither so nor so, they were both the sons of Isaac by one mother; they were conceived hex henos—by one conception; hex henos koitou, so some copies read it Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: The difference was made between them by the divine counsel before they were born, or had done any good or evil. Both lay struggling alike in their mother's womb, when it was said, The elder shall serve the younger, without respect to good or bad works done or foreseen, that the purpose of God according to election might stand Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: that this great truth may be established, that God chooses some and refuses others as a free agent, by his own absolute and sovereign will, dispensing his favours or withholding them as he pleases Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: This difference that was put between Jacob and Esau he further illustrates by a quotation from Mal. i. 2, 3, where it is said, not of Jacob and Esau the person, but the Edomites and Israelites their posterity, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: So that all this choosing and refusing was typical, and intended to shadow forth some other election and rejection Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: But this very much strains the scripture; for the apostle speaks all along of persons, he has mercy on whom (he does not say on what kind of people) he will have mercy, besides that against this sense those two objections (v. 14, 19) do not at all arise, and his answer to them concerning God's absolute sovereignty over the children of men is not at all pertinent if no more be meant than his appointing the conditions of salvation Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Others understand it of the election and rejection of particular person—some loved, and others hated, from eternity. But the apostle speaks of Jacob and Esau, not in their own persons, but as ancestors—Jacob the people, and Esau the people; nor does God condemn any, or decree so to do, merely because he will do it, without any reason taken from their own deserts Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: The choosing of Jacob the younger, and preferring him before Esau the elder (so crossing hands), were to intimate that the Jews, though the natural seed of Abraham, and the first-born of the church, should be laid aside; and the Gentiles, who were as the younger brother, should be taken in in their stead, and have the birthright and blessing Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: The potter, out of the same lump, may make either a fashionable vessel, and a vessel fit for creditable and honourable uses, or a contemptible vessel, and a vessel in which is no pleasure; and herein he acts arbitrarily, as he might have chosen whether he would make any vessel of it at all, or whether he would leave it in the hole of the pit, out of which it was dug Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Two sorts of vessels God forms out of the great lump of fallen mankind:—[1.] Vessels of wrath—vessels filled with wrath, as a vessel of wine is a vessel filled with wine; full of the fury of the Lord, Isa. li. 20 Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: And would you know who these vessels of mercy are? Those whom he hath called (v. 24); for whom he did predestinate those he also called with an effectual call: and these not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles; for, the partition-wall being taken down, the world was laid in common Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: They now stood upon the same level with the Gentiles; and the question is not now whether of the seed of Abraham or no, that is neither here nor there, but whether or no called according to his purpose Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Had the apostle been arguing only for God's sovereignty in appointing and ordering the terms and conditions of acceptance and salvation, there had not been the least colour for this objection; for he might well find fault if people refused to come up to the terms on which such a salvation is offered; the salvation being so great, the terms could not be hard Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: But there might be colour for the objection against his arguing for the sovereignty of God in giving and withholding differencing and preventing grace; and the objection is commonly and readily advanced against the doctrine of distinguishing grace. If God, while he gives effectual grace to some, denies it to others, why doth he find fault with those to whom he denies it Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: And herein God is to be considered, not as a rector and governor, distributing rewards and punishments according to his revealed laws and covenants, but as an owner and benefactor, giving to the children of men such grace and favour as he has determined in and by his secret and eternal will and counsel Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: All God's reasons of mercy are taken from within himself. All the children of men being plunged alike into a state of sin and misery, equally under guilt and wrath, God, in a way of sovereignty, picks out some from this fallen apostatized race, to be vessels of grace and glory Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: As these great words, I am that I am (Exod. iii. 14) do abundantly express the absolute independency of his being, so these words, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, do as fully express the absolute prerogative and sovereignty of his will Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: the reason why the unworthy, undeserving, ill-deserving Gentiles are called, and grafted into the church, while the greatest part of the Jews are left to perish in unbelief, is not because those Gentiles were better deserving or better disposed for such a favour, but because of God's free grace that made that difference Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. The various dealings of God, by which he makes some to differ from others, must be resolved into his absolute sovereignty. He is debtor to no man, his grace is his own, and he may give it or withhold it as it pleaseth him Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: sufficiently proves that it is no strange thing for God to abandon to ruin a great many of the seed of Abraham, and yet maintain his word of promise to Abraham in full force and virtue Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: This is intimated in the supposition that the number of children of Israel was as the sand of the sea, which was part of the promise made to Abraham, Gen. xxii. 17. And yet only a remnant shall be saved; for many are called, but few are chosen Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: God, in his eternal counsels, has taken an account of the children of men, allotted them to such or such a condition, to such a share of privileges; and, as they come into being, his dealings with them are pursuant to these counsels: and he will finish the account, complete the mystical body, call in as many as belong to the election of grace, and then the account will be finished Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: the scope of it is to show that it was no strange thing for God to leave the greatest part of the people of the Jews to ruin, and to reserve to himself only a small remnant: so he had done formerly, as appears by their own prophets; and they must not wonder if he did so now Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: He is the Lord of sabaoth, that is, the Lord of hosts—a Hebrew word retained in the Greek, as James v. 4. All the host of heaven and earth are at his beck and disposal. When God secures a seed to himself out of a degenerate apostate world, he acts as Lord of sabaoth. It is an act of almighty power and infinite sovereignty Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: What his people are; they are a seed, a small number. The corn reserved for next year's seedings is but little, compared with that which is spent and eaten. But they are a useful number—the seed, the substance, of the next generation, Isa. vi. 13 Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Even so at this present time, v. 5-7. God's methods of dispensation towards his church are as they used to be. As it has been, so it is. In Elijah's time there was a remnant, and so there is now Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: This is called a remnant according to the election of grace; they are such as were chosen from eternity in the counsels of divine love to be vessels of grace and glory. Whom he did predestinate those he called Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: They are called the election (v. 7), that is, the elect, God's chosen ones, whom he calls the election, because that which first distinguished them from the dignified them above others was God's electing love. Believers are the election, all those and those only whom God hath chosen Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: These are said to be such as he foreknew (v. 2), that is, had thoughts of love to, before the world was; for whom he thus foreknew he did predestinate. her lies the ground of the difference Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Now, dear Friends, this unbelief has usually been the case throughout all ages among the great ones of the earth. In our Savior's day, they said, "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him?" The Gospel has usually had a free course among the poor and among those who some call, "the lower orders Charles Spurgeon, sermon “God Justified, Though Man Believes Not”\n: Jesus said, "I thank You, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight." I suspect that, until the King, Himself, shall come, we shall still find that the common people will gladly hear the Gospel and that, while Christ the Lord will choose, for His own, some from all ranks and conditions of men, it will still be true that, "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called Charles Spurgeon, sermon “God Justified, Though Man Believes Not”\n: The poor servant is called, and chosen, and faithful, while the rich master is passed by, and left to perish in unbelief. Even so, Father, because it seemed good unto thee Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: It is a mere cavil therefore to call the doctrine of election a licentious doctrine, and to argue that it gives encouragement to sin, as if the end were separated from the way and happiness from holiness. None can know their election but by their conformity to the image of Christ; for all that are chosen are chosen to sanctification Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: All that God hath from eternity foreknown with favour he hath predestinated to this conformity. It is not we that can conform ourselves to Christ. Our giving ourselves to Christ takes rise in God's giving us to him; and, in giving us to him, he predestinated us to be conformable to his image Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Whom he did predestinate those he also called, not only with the external call (so many are called that were not chosen, Matt. xx. 16; xxii. 14), but with the internal and effectual call. The former comes to the ear only, but this to the heart Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: So that the only way to make our election sure is to make sure our calling, 2 Pet. i. 10 Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: Just as sin has reigned, and with despotic and irresistible power has ground his subjects in the very dust, and then cast them into the flames, so does Divine Grace with irresistible goodness, compel the chosen multitude to yield obedience, and thus prepares them for eternal bliss Charles Spurgeon, sermon “Reigning Grace”\n: The law never came to save men. It never was its intention at all. It came on purpose to make the evidence complete that salvation by works is impossible, and thus to drive the elect of God to rely wholly on the finished salvation of the gospel Charles Spurgeon, sermon “Law and Grace”\n: If of the particular determination of the efficacy of his death to the elect, then, though none that were given to Christ shall perish (John vi. 39), yet thou mayest, as much as is in thy power, destroy such. No thanks to thee if they be not destroyed; by doing that which has a tendency to it, thou dost manifest a great opposition to Christ Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: These precious privileges are conveyed to us by the charter of the covenant, but they are founded in the counsel of God, which infallibly secures the event Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: There is, therefore, a certain number predestinated, that the end of Christ's undertaking might be infallibly secured. Had the event been left at uncertainties in the divine counsels, to depend upon the contingent turn of man's will, Christ might have been the first-born among but few or no brethren—a captain without soldiers and a prince without subjects Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: We find God repenting that he had given man a being (Gen. vi. 6, It repented the Lord that he had made man), and repenting that he had given a man honour and power (1 Sam. xv. 11, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king); but we never find God repenting that he had given a man grace, or effectually called him; those gifts and callings are without repentance Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: If you will not have Him, others will. If you who are so wise will not have Christ, there are plenty, whom you reckon to be fools, who will take Him to be their "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption Charles Spurgeon, sermon “God Justified, Though Man Believes Not”\n: Did He not, after all, bless the Jews though among them were unbelievers? Could it be that their unbelief would turn God from His purpose to bless the chosen people? Would their lack of faith affect God's faithfulness Charles Spurgeon, sermon “God Justified, Though Man Believes Not”\n: I was found of those that sought me not. The prescribed method is, Seek and find; this is a rule for us, not a rule for God, who is often found of those that do not seek. His grace is his own, distinguishing grace his own, and he dispenses it in a way of sovereignty, gives of withholds it at pleasure—anticipates us with the blessings, the riches choicest blessings, of his goodness Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”\n: He shall bruise Satan under your feet, plainly alluding to the first promise the Messiah made in paradise (Gen. iii. 15), that the seed of the woman should break the serpent's head, which is in the fulfilling every day, while the saints are enabled to resist and overcome the temptations of Satan, and will be perfectly fulfilled when, in spite of all the powers of darkness, all that belong to the election of grace shall be brought triumphantly to glory Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”