ROMANS 11: 1-10
A PEOPLE [REMNANT] OF GRACE
The thrust of Romans 9–11 has primarily been Israel's rejecting Christ and rebelling against God, and God's choosing and turning to Gentiles in grace. These themes continue in chapter 11, but God's sovereign choice also involves His restoring Israel and His being magnified thereby.
Romans 9–11 uses the nation Israel to illustrate that God is faithful even when His people are fickle. You take that to the bank. You can count on Him. No matter what your situation is, no matter what you're going through, God will be faithful to you.
How can I be sure? Look at God's relationship with Israel. In chapter 9, Paul points to God's past dealings with Israel and highlights the sovereignty of God. In chapter 10, he deals with God's present dealings with Israel, based upon equity. Whether Jew or Gentle, all are invited to be saved. In chapter 11, we come to God's future dealings with Israel, which show His integrity. That is, God made certain promises to the nation of Israel, which He will fulfill. For even though they've blown it badly, God has promised to see Israel through on the basis of His own integrity and faithfulness (CIT).
The same is true for us. He who has begun a good work in us shall complete it (Philippians 1:6). That's His promise. And in it I rest. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003, S. 960]
I. A FAITHFUL GOD, 1.
II. A BELIEVING MINORITY/REMNANT, 2-4.
III. A CHOICE OF GRACE, 5-6.
IV. A HIGH COST, 7-10.
The transition from chapter 10 is seen in Paul's repetition of the rhetorical clause "I ask" in verse 1. "I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."
Has God cast away His chosen people? There is not the slightest possibility, or, Certainly not! Romans11:1 should be noted in your Bible because many people teach that God is finished with Israel. Some contend that the church is now the recipient of the blessings that were promised to Israel and forfeited by Israel when Israel rejected Jesus Christ. Yet Romans 11 deals a deathblow to this mentality, as Paul asks, "Has God cast away His people? God forbid. No way."
God had chosen Israel as His covenant people from eternity past and entered into a relationship with them that will never be destroyed [1 Sam 12:22; Jer 31:37; 33:24–26]. God has "not rejected" them even though they have rejected Him. Their failures are not final because God is faithful.
Paul then points to himself as Exhibit B. "For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." God isn't through with the Israelites. The point Paul makes here is not the fact that he's saved, but the way he was saved. While persecuting the church, coming against Christianity, in an audible and tangible encounter with Jesus Christ, Paul's eyes were opened (Acts 9). So, too, at a time when persecution will be coming down on Israel, when Jerusalem will be surrounded and about to be annihilated in the Tribulation period, what will happen? Suddenly, the Lord will appear, and, like Paul, Israel will realize they erred greatly and will turn to Him and be saved (Zechariah 13).
You see, Paul was simply a shadow of what will happen to the entire nation prophetically. So Paul points to himself and says, "Is God through with Israel? Consider me and my conversion as an illustration of what will happen eventually." [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003, S. 961]
II. A BELIEVING MINORITY, 2-4.
Verse 2 responds to the blunt question as to whether or not God has rejected His chosen people Israel. "God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?"
"Look not only at my life personally," say Paul, "but check out history. Remember Elijah?" After his great victory in taking on four hundred prophets of Baal and calling down fire from heaven, Elijah caved in when Jezebel threatened him. Running for his life, he hid in a cave, depressed. "What are you doing here?" asked God (see 1 Kings 19:13). "I'm the only one really serving You," Elijah cried out to God.
[By the way, are you hiding in a cave of depression? Are you thinking, "all of the Christians in my community are carnal. All of the Christians at my church are shallow. I alone serve God." We think that too often.]
Now God chose Israel ("His people, whom He foreknew") to be the people through whom the rest of the world could find salvation. But this did not mean the entire Jewish nation would be saved; only those who were faithful to God (the remnant) were considered true children of Abraham (11:5). We are saved through faith in Christ; not because we are part of a nation, religion, or family. By the way, on whom or on what are you depending for salvation?
Elijah blamed the nation for his predicament. He was fed up with Israel. Look how Elijah prayed. He made intercession to God against Israel. Yet even this man to whom James points as an example of one who prevailed in prayer, an example of one who knew how to pray, didn't influence God in this case at all.
Sometimes you may have someone curse you, pray against you, or come down on you. But their curses and prayers don't move God. If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). Elijah was unable to pray successfully against the people of Israel, for God had made promises to Israel that still needed to be kept. He had a remnant in Israel Elijah didn't know about.
Next time you, like Elijah, pray God will get someone, remember that there are things about him or her you don't know. There are qualities in her you are just too blind to see. God sees people in a whole different light than we do. Yes, He's aware of their failings and frailties—but He also sees what He's doing, and the work that has already taken place in their lives. We miss it. We judge people by what we think they should be. God looks at them and sees what they would have been without Him.
Paul then quoted part of the prophet's complaint in verse 3. "Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life."
At a time of national apostasy, Elijah, the prophet of God, became most discouraged and engaged in a pity party. He thought he was the only believer left, and, having seen what had happened to the other prophets, he didn't hold out much hope for his own survival. Thinking himself the only faithful prophet left in Israel, Elijah felt highly vulnerable.
God's response to Elijah is found in verse 4. But what is the divine response to him? "I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
God pointed out to His man that he was not alone. In fact, there were seven thousand others who had not betrayed the Lord. These people God claimed to have reserved for Himself. They were part of the unfailing remnant which runs like a thread through the bewildering tapestry of Israel's history—at times highly visible as the children of faith, at others practically lost from sight in the apostasy of the nation, but always surviving, because God, having chosen by His grace that Abraham would be the father of all that believe, is committed to seeing that His line is not broken.[Briscoe, D. Stuart. The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol. 29. Romans. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982, S. 204] The preservation of the faithful remnant has always been a work of God.
III. A CHOICE OF GRACE, 5-6.
After the historical illustration Paul drew a conclusion for his day in verse 5. "In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice."
Just as there was a remnant in Elijah's day, so, too, Paul says, there will always be a remnant in Israel. In every generation "a remnant chosen by grace" has been called from among the Jews. There always has been, presently is, and always will be a believing minority in Israel. And the believing minority in Israel today is wonderfully radical for Jesus Christ.
Verse 6 again clarifies that the way to God is opened by receiving grace. "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."
The opportunity for this choice is totally by God's grace (Eph. 2:8-9) or is completely undeserved and unmerited on the part of man (Rom. 4:4-5; 9:30-32).
So this remnant does not refer to Jewish believers who keep the law. No, the remnant is made up of those who are saved by grace. Now, what's true in Israel is true for you and me as well. [If we're saved by grace, let us continue to walk in grace. If I start mixing works into the equation, saying, "Lord, I anticipate Your blessing on my life or this church or my family because of how hard I'm working," I will be rewarded on that basis.] I am convinced that the Lord is looking for people, families, and churches He can bless who will truly say and believe, "It is only by God's grace that we've been blessed. It is not because of our powerful prayer, our diligent devotions, or our determined effort. It's simply, purely, only by grace."
Do you secretly suspect that God saved you and loves you because you deserved it? Do you think God loves you more when you're good? Do you think some people's behavior is so bad that God couldn't possibly save them? If you think this way, you don't entirely understand that salvation is by grace, a free gift. It cannot be earned, in whole or in part; it can only be accepted with thankfulness and praise.
IV. A HIGH COST, 7-10.
These verses describe the punishment for hardened hearts predicted by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-13). If people refuse to hear God's Good News, they eventually will be unable to understand it. Paul saw this happening in the Jewish congregations he visited on his missionary journeys.
Verse 7 begins reveals the hardening that comes when we reject God's grace. "What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; [Mark 6:52; Rom 9:18; 11:25; 2 Cor 3:14]
Yes, there is a believing minority in Israel today. But there is also a blinded majority. You can show them verses in black and white concerning the prophecies that were fulfilled in Christ. But they'll just look at you [and smile pleasantly]. Only those who believe or are chosen have obtained true spirituality. The others rejected the truth and closed the eyes of their heart to it.
God's punishment for their unbelief was "the rest were hardened." It was a confirmation of their own stubbornness. The more they have resisted the grace of God, the harder their hearts have become, until, like Pharaoh, their hearts have arrived at such a state that God has hardened them. In judging them, God removed their ability to see and hear, and to repent; for such are the consequences of rebellion against God and His truth.
[The hallmarks of an obstinate heart [Pharaoh]
o Out for self interest ("bless me")o Fashioned after man's heart (analogy of the world & its temporary riches)
o Doesn't care about the truth (Didn't want to hear about Yahweh)
o Never acknowledges error (my magicians can do the same)
o Deflects the truth when presented (make them work harder)
o Blames others for own problems (you brought this on)
o Gets hard (7x's pharaoh hardened, 7 times God hardened)
o Slow to change (took 10 plagues)
o Changes are often temporary (chased Israel after they left)]
What it means to be hardened is explained and supported by Scripture quotations in verses 8-10. The first quotation in verse 8 is taken from both Deuteronomy 29:3-4 and Isaiah 29:10, and indicates that grace rejected brings spiritual drowsiness. "just as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, Eyes to see not and ears to hear not, Down to this very day."
Hardening involves spiritual drowsiness (stupor is the rendering of katanyxes, "a numbness resulting from a sting"), blindness, and deafness (Isa. 6:9-10). Those uniquely privilege by God became entrenched in unbelief.
[Is it mean-spirited of God to blind people? No, God only blinds those who want to be blind. You see, God's goodness is so completely irresistible that, were He not to blind their eyes, people who didn't want to know Him or walk with Him would have no other choice. Thus, God would violate man's free will. So, in His love and wisdom, God says to humanity, "If you don't want to see Me, you won't." That is why you can witness until you're blue in the face to some—only to realize he just doesn't get it.
"Well, then," you say, "we should only witness to those who will believe or the elect." OK, but who are they? I'm not sure—so I just talk to everyone I possibly can. I am slowly learning, however, that I need to invest my energy and time where the harvest is ripe rather than spin my wheels hour after day after month after year with people who are blinded. [Jon Courson. S. 962]
We do not need to do anything to be condemn. All we need do is to fail to respond to the Lord. If a lack of response to God begins to characterizes our lives, we will find ourselves unable to response. That is a strange fact of life.
Take MY ARM and bind it to my side, leaving it bound for a certain period of time. Then loose the velcro sling, and I will not be able to raise it or to use it. The nerves would have atrophied.
If I close my eye and leave it closed for a certain period of time, I will not be able to see out of it. It will have lost its ability to react to wave lengths. I would be blind.
It gives you a strange feeling to see the fish at the Lost Sea in Tennessee or the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. They are just like all other fish. They have sockets where their eyes ought to be, but they have no eyes. For generations they have lived in those dark caves in Tennessee and Kentucky, and now they have lost the ability to see.
We are like that in our souls and in our volitional will. If we do not respond, the day may come when we cannot respond. The volitional will can cease to be able to respond; it will have atrophied.
The second quotation in verses 9 and 10 is from Psalm 69:22, 23. which predicts that the very things which should have been the source of nourishment and blessing to Israel, which should have led them to Christ, became the occasion for their rejection of God. Verse 9, "And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap, And a stumbling block and a retribution to them."
"If you could just see how Jewish people worship on Shabbat—the lighting of the candles, the wearing of the shawls, the ceremonial cleansing—it gives me goose bumps," some say. Perhaps—but it's all a snare because their trust in their tradition and ritual keeps them from coming to Jesus Christ in the only way any man can come: by faith.
The very things which should have been the source of nourishment and blessing to Israel (table means their blessings from the hand of God, which should have led them to Christ; Gal. 3:24) became the occasion for their rejection of God (a snare and a trap, a stumbling block; Rom. 9:32-33) and God's judgment (retribution) on them.
Verse10 reminds us that grace rejected leads to spiritual blindness. "Let their eyes be darkened to see not, And bend their backs forever."
Because they refused to receive God's truth (Isa. 6:9-10; John 5:40) their backs will be bent under the weight of guilt and punishment forever.
God always protects and provides for His people. But if those blessings are not received by faith, then they become a stumbling block. God's blessings call forth a response, one way or the other. Either you accept them with gratitude or you reject what God has done in your life. You receive the truth of God or you resist it. Because Israel resisted God and took His blessings for granted, God said, "Since you don't appreciate what I have done for you, I am going to harden your heart." This "judicial hardening" always comes as a result of people responding wrongly to God's blessings.
IN CLOSING
The situation in Paul's day differed only in detail from the days in which his great predecessors lived. Then, as now, there was a believing remnant characterized by eyes wide open to the truth and ears unstopped to hear the word, while many had dimmed eyes that could not see and ears that grasped nothing of the significance of Christ. But God hasn't written Israel them off; He hasn't cast them away. Quite the contrary. The existence of the remnant through the years is proof positive that God has not cast away His people, Israel.
