Chapter 29 [XXI.]—It is an Inscrutable Mystery Why Some are Saved, and Others Not.

Now there is much significance in that He does not say, “The wrath of God shall come upon him,” but “abideth on him.” For from this wrath (in which we are all involved under sin, and of which the apostle says, “For we too were once by nature the children of wrath, even as others”88    Eph. ii. 3.) nothing delivers us but the grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. The reason why this grace comes upon one man and not on another may be hidden, but it cannot be unjust. For “is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.”89    Rom. ix. 14. But we must first bend our necks to the authority of the Holy Scriptures, in order that we may each arrive at knowledge and understanding through faith. For it is not said in vain, “Thy judgments are a great deep.”90    Ps. xxxvi. 6. The profundity of this “deep” the apostle, as if with a feeling of dread, notices in that exclamation: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!” He had indeed previously pointed out the meaning of this marvellous depth, when he said: “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all.”91    Rom. xi. 32. Then struck, as it were, with a horrible fear of this deep: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, and through Him, and in Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”92    Rom. xi. 33–36. How utterly insignificant, then, is our faculty for discussing the justice of God’s judgments, and for the consideration of His gratuitous grace, which, as men have no prevenient merits for deserving it, cannot be partial or unrighteous, and which does not disturb us when it is bestowed upon unworthy men, as much as when it is denied to those who are equally unworthy!

CAPUT XXI.

29. Inscrutabile, cur infantes alii discedant frustrati Baptismo, alii non. Bene autem non ait, ira Dei veniet super eum; sed, manet super eum. Ab hac quippe ira, qua omnes sub peccato sunt, de qua dicit Apostolus, Fuimus enim et nos aliquando naturaliter filii irae, sicut et caeteri (Ephes. II, 3), nulla res liberat, nisi gratia Dei, per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Haec gratia cur ad illum veniat, ad illum non veniat, occulta esse causa potest, injusta non potest. Numquid enim iniquitas apud Deum? Absit (Rom. IX, 14). Sed prius sanctarum Scripturarum auctoritatibus colla subdenda sunt, ut ad intellectum per fidem quisque perveniat. Neque enim frustra dictum est: Judicia tua sicut abyssus multa (Psal. XXXV, 7). Cujus abyssi altitudinem veluti expavescens, exclamat Apostolus: O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei! Praemiserat quippe sententiam mirae profunditatis, dicens: Conclusit enim Deus omnes in incredulitate, ut omnibus misereatur. Cujus profunditatis veluti horrore percussus: O altitudo, inquit, divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei! quam inscrutabilia judicia ejus, et investigabiles viae ejus! Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini? Aut quis consiliarius illius fuit? Aut quis prior dedit illi, et retribuetur ei ? Quoniam ex ipso, et per ipsum, et in ipso sunt omnia; ipsi gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen (Rom. XI, 32-36). Valde ergo parvum sensum habemus ad discutiendam justitiam judiciorum Dei; ad discutiendam gratiam gratuitam, nullis meritis praecedentibus non iniquam, quae non tam movet cum praestatur indignis, quam cum aeque indignis aliis denegatur.