God’s free choice
Paul now draws on Scripture to substantiate his contention regarding the true Israel’s dual citizenry. Hosea serves to illustrate the inclusion of Gentiles; Isaiah indicates that not all of Abraham’s physical descendants are among the saved, but only a “remnant.” Paul begins with two quotes from the prophet Hosea.
25 As he [God] says in Hosea:
“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”
26 and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said
to them, ‘You are not my people,’
they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”
Although in their original setting Hosea’s words were spoken to the Jewish nation, Paul here adapts them to serve as an illustration of God’s gracious and unmerited love shown to Gentiles. Verse 25 draws on Hosea 2:23; verse 26 reflects Hosea 1:10. The point of both quotations is the same: Gentiles who at one time were foreign to God and did not at all seem to be chosen by him have at this time become his beloved people and “sons of the living God."