To Florus 1.132

For Esau, profane and sexually immoral, sold his birthright for a single meal. He sought the blessing he had despised and did not obtain it, although he begged for it with tears (Hebrews 12:16–17; Genesis 25:29–34; Genesis 27:34–38). Jacob, however, quiet and gentle, obedient to his parents' instructions and most eager for holy blessings, advanced so far that among the holy people God was called the God of Jacob as well as of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 25:27; Genesis 27:8; Exodus 3:6; Matthew 22:32).

All examples therefore establish that by a just judgment God does not withhold his mercy from good minds in any nation, while allowing no nobility of ancestry to defend evil minds. The Jews should understand that they must not despise the nations' faith. Just as Israelite ancestry does not defend crimes, so Gentile descent is no obstacle to virtues. The apostle pursues all this in that debate. In some passages, however, to bow down the pride of the circumcised, he settles the issue on God's power alone under the name of grace.