Rom 11:32

“This, therefore, was the [object of the] long-suffering of God, that man, passing through all things, and acquiring the knowledge of moral discipline, then attaining to the resurrection from the dead, and learning by experience what is the source of his deliverance, may always live in a state of gratitude to the Lord, having obtained from Him the gift of incorruptibility, that he might love Him the more; for "he to whom more is forgiven, loveth more:" and that he may know himself, how mortal and weak he is; while he also understands respecting God, that He is immortal and powerful to such a degree as to confer immortality upon what is mortal, and eternity upon what is temporal; and may understand also the other attributes of God displayed towards himself, by means of which being instructed he may think of God in accordance with the divine greatness. For the glory of man [is] God, but [His] works [are the glory] of God; and the receptacle of all His wisdom and power [is] man. Just as the physician is proved by his patients, so is God also revealed through men. And therefore Paul declares, "For God hath concluded all in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all;" not saying this in reference to spiritual Aeons, but to man, who had been disobedient to God, and being cast off from immortality, then obtained mercy, receiving through the Son of God that adoption which is [accomplished] by Himself. For he who holds, without pride and boasting, the true glory (opinion) regarding created things and the Creator, who is the Almighty God of all, and who has granted existence to all; [such an one, ] continuing in His love and subjection, and giving of thanks, shall also receive from Him the greater glory of promotion, looking forward to the time when he shall become like Him who died for him, for He, too, "was made in the likeness of sinful flesh," to condemn sin, and to cast it, as now a condemned thing, away beyond the flesh, but that He might call man forth into His own likeness, assigning him as [His own] imitator to God, and imposing on him His Father's law, in order that he may see God, and granting him power to receive the Father; [being] the Word of God who dwelt in man, and became the Son of man, that He might accustom man to receive God, and God to dwell in man, according to the good pleasure of the Father.”

“God has not imprisoned them by force, but for a good reason he has confined all those whom he found in unbelief, i.e., all Jews and Gentiles. He confined the Jews because previously they were only sinners, not faithless as well. But since they have not believed Christ they are equal to the Gentiles and receive mercy in the same way. God does all this so that he may have mercy on them all.”

“Paul has put "consigned" here instead of "convicted." For God convicted the Gentiles, who had received the natural law and had created things to teach them the knowledge of God yet had not benefited from either the one or the other. He also convicted the Jews, who had received more teaching still (for besides nature and the creation they had also received the law and the prophets, who taught them what they needed to know) and had become liable to even greater punishments as a result. But God was pleased to offer salvation to each of them, even though basically they deserved to perish, if only they would believe.”

“That is, He convicted them, declared them disobedient, in order to save some by the stubbornness of others. For previously, when the Gentiles were disobedient, He saved, as was said, the Jews; again, when the Jews did not obey Christ, the Gentiles were saved, and when the Gentiles are saved, the Jews too will be saved, emulating them, and thus all will be shown mercy.”

“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, i.e., permitted to be concluded, all, i.e., every race of men, both Jews and gentiles, in unbelief, as in a certain bond of error: all were fettered with the bonds of darkness (Wis 17:2). That he may have mercy on all, i.e., that he may have mercy on every race of men: but you have mercy upon all (Wis 17:24). This does not extend to the demons in accord with the error of Origen, nor even to all men individually, but to every race of men. For the distribution is made according to races of individuals and not according to individuals of races. But God wills all to be saved by his mercy, so that they might be humbled by this and ascribe their salvation not to themselves but to God: destruction is your own, O Israel: your help is only in me (Hos 13:9); that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be made subject to God (Rom 3:19).”

“From earliest times all nations lived in ungodliness and ignorance because they were without God. For this reason the law was revealed, by which the worst ones could be restrained. But by the activity of the adversary sins began to multiply, so that through the commandment man was considered more guilty still. Then God, who in the mercy of his goodness always takes care of human creation, seeing that even without the law sin still existed and that by the law it could not be wiped out, decreed that he would require only faith, by which the sins of all men might be abolished. Thus although man had no ground for hope through the law, he was nevertheless saved by the mercy of God. To consign everything to disobedience means that this decree comes as a gift from God at a time when everyone was laboring in unbelief, so that grace might appear to be the freest of all rewards. Therefore nobody should boast, for the one who is proud of his ignorance is to be pitied.”