A. Many years ago, Gina Cruz, a Manila grandmother, had spent months playing Pepsi-Cola’s Numbers Fever promotion lottery.
1. She bought several bottles of Pepsi a day and saved the caps in hopes that one of the numbers printed inside the cap would win her a one million peso prize ($40,000 at the time).
2. When the magic number was announced in May of 1992, Cruz was overjoyed to find that she had not one, but two bottle caps bearing the winning number – she promptly fainted.
3. Unfortunately, the biggest shock came when Cruz discovered she had not won anything at all.
4. Cruz and thousands of others were victims of a computer error that generated 800,000 winning numbers instead of 18.
5. Pepsi Cola explained that it simply didn’t have the money it would take to pay all claimants and that the real winners would be identified by security codes placed on the bottle caps.
6. Can you imagine how let down all those people felt who thought they had won?
B. Have there been times in your Christian experience when you’ve felt that God has let you down?
1. Perhaps you did the best job you could raising your kids, and you believed God’s promise that they would not depart from God’s way, but they have.
a. They’re going their own way, and they’re far from God, and you feel as though God has not kept His Word.
2. Perhaps you’ve given faithfully and generously to God’s work over the years, and you believed God promise that “in all things at all times” God would give “all that you need.”
a. Yet right now you’re staring bankruptcy square in the face.
b. And where’s God in it all? It doesn't seem like He's kept His promise, does it?
3. Perhaps you prayed diligently about changing jobs.
a. You didn’t want to make a mistake, and you really wanted to do the will of God.
b. And you believed that God would answer your prayer for guidance.
c. So you made the change, and it hasn’t worked out at all.
d. It’s been a disaster and you feel like God has let you down.
C. Similarly, those were likely the kinds of questions going through the minds of many first century Christians, particularly when they thought about the Jewish nation.
1. God had made some spectacular promises to the Jews - promises of salvation, promises of blessing, promises of spiritual leadership among the nations.
2. But the nation of Israel as a whole had rejected its Messiah, the only one in whom those blessings could be fulfilled.
3. So what’s going to happen to Israel? Is God going to cancel His promises to His people. Will He fail to keep His Word. Is He finished with them? Is He going to cast them off forever? Have they no more place in His scheme of things?
D. These are some of the questions that Paul addressed in Romans chapters 9 through 11.
1. In chapter 9, we saw how Paul responded to the question of God’s faithfulness to His promises to Israel, by explaining what those promises did not mean.
a. Paul explained that God’s promise did not guarantee salvation for all the physical descendants of Israel, but only the spiritual descendants of God’s people.
2. In chapter 10, Paul explained God’s sovereign choices and how God has a right to call the Gentiles as well as the Jews to be His spiritual children.
a. In Chapter 10, Paul also explained that the main problem is that many Israelites have persisted in unbelief, and that they have rejected God’s plan of salvation because they are a disobedient and obstinate people.
E. With that introduction and review, we are ready to jump into chapter 11.
1. Paul begins the chapter with a related question: I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! (Romans 11:1)
2. In the rest of this chapter, Paul proceeds to give reasons for his answer.
3. Let’s work our way through the chapter and see why God’s promises to Israel did not fail and as we do so, we will also discover why His promises to us have not failed, in spite of how it looks or feels.
4. Today, we are going to examine two of the reasons that God has not rejected His people, and Lord willing, next week we will examine the last reason.
F. The first reason Paul gives to show that God’s has not rejected His people is that there is a remnant.
1. The word remnant appears in verse 5: In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.
2. When we think of a remnant, we think of a small piece of cloth left over at the end of the bolt.
3. When Paul talks about a remnant, he is thinking of a small number of people.
4. God has allowed His people to reject their Messiah, and at first sight it seems like the entire nation has turned their backs on Him, but God has kept His promise by saving a small remaining number, those Jews who have come to Him by faith in Christ.
5. Paul offers three examples of that remnant.
G. The first example Paul gave is Paul himself, Paul wrote: 1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. (Romans 11:1)
1. The apostle Paul was a Jew - there was no question about that.
2. He underscores it three ways: calling himself an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
3. So Paul was a Jew who was receiving all of God’s salvation blessings.
4. God had not failed to keep His Word – God was extending His salvation promises to Jews who responded in faith to His Son, and Paul was one of them.
H. The second example Paul gave is Elijah the prophet: 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life! 4 But what was God’s answer to him? I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal. (Romans 11:2-4)
1. Do you remember the story of Elijah, and how he was depressed because he thought he was the only one left who was faithful to the Lord? But he was wrong – God still had 7000 faithful.
2. The devil loves it when God’s people think they’re the only ones left, that everybody else has defected to the enemy.
3. When we think we’re all alone, we usually keep quiet about our faith.
4. But when we stand up and speak out for our Lord, it often encourages other believers to come out of the woodwork and join us.
5. God always has a remnant of true believers - He had one in Paul’s day, and He had one in Elijah’s day, and He has one today.
I. The third example Paul gave was Jewish Christians: 5 In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace. 6 Now if by grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace. (Romans 11:5-6)
1. Paul was writing to some of the remnant there in Rome – for there were many Jewish Christians in that congregation.
2. And, Praise God there are many Jewish people who claim to be Christians in the world today.
a. Many of those Jewish Christians are members of Christian churches – whether they be protestant or Catholic (data from 2013 reports that there are 1.6 million American Jews who identify themselves as Christians).
b. However, some Jewish Christians are a part of Messianic Judaism (data from 2012 estimates there is a worldwide membership of 350 thousand in Messianic Judaism houses of worship.
c. Praise God for the Jews who have put their faith in Jesus as their Messiah.
3. They are proof that God has not failed to keep His Word - He has not cast away His people.
a. God has always had a remnant of true believers and they are a monument to His grace.
4. God does not save His remnant on the basis of their works, but on the basis of His own sovereign grace.
a. Verse 6 is a great verse to help us understand grace.
b. Grace and works are mutually exclusive.
c. Grace is something freely given to the undeserving.
d. Works are something that earn us favor.
e. If our hope of eternal salvation is resting on any work we have done, then we have not received it freely from God’s gracious hand.
f. God’s way of salvation is by grace!
J This matter of the remnant and grace causes Paul to ask another question and to answer it with Old Testament quotations.
1. 7 What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened, 8 as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, to this day.” 9 And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution to them. 10 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and their backs be bent continually.” (Romans 11:7-10)
2. God’s promises are sure and God has kept His Word.
3. Israel as a whole has been temporarily set aside, but individual Jews who believe in Christ are being saved.
4. The elect remnant has obtained salvation and those who persist in unbelief have been hardened.
5. The quotations from the Old Testament substantiate the fact that the rest were hardened.
6. It is a scary thought to think that God actually hardens people.
a. But keep in mind that people don’t refuse to believe because they are hardened; rather they are hardened because they refuse to believe.
b. People willfully and persistently reject God's grace, so He allows them to go their own way, and eventually confirms them in their unbelief.
c. We must always remember that they made their own volitional choice.
d. And it was their poor choice that made it look like God had not kept His promises.
e. Yet God was at work all along, doing what He promised He would do, even when it looked like He was being unfaithful to His Word, God always is faithful, people are not.
K. So what is it that causes us to doubt God? Often it is human failure, not God’s that leads to doubt.
1. Perhaps when friends disappoint us, we can’t understand why God let it happen
2. How could we have a failing marriage, after we asked God to show us His choice for our life partner?
3. We must keep in mind that people may let us down, and we may let ourselves down, but God won’t.
4. Somebody’s poor choices may make it look like God has let you down, but I can assure you, He is still at work, fulfilling His promises and keeping His Word.
5. It’s just as sure as the remnant He has always had according to His grace.
6. God cannot fail, for He is God and we must continue to put our trust in God.
L. Let’s look at the second reason Paul says God has not rejected His people, and not failed to keep His Word: the second reason Paul gives is that there are benefits from Israel’s unbelief.
1. Paul wrote: 11 I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring! (Romans 11:11-12)
2. Paul begins this section with a question, just as he did the first one: “have they stumbled so as to fall?”
a. Paul is asking if they have fallen to a place beyond recovery.
b. Paul answered the question with that same strong negative for the 10th and final time in this letter to the Romans – “Certainly not!” “By no means” “Absolutely not!”
3. Why not? Well, for one thing, it’s only a stumbling, a temporary setting aside, not a permanent fall.
a. God has brought about that rejection in order to further His plan for salvation history.
b. This plan initially is bringing salvation to the Gentiles, but it ultimately is intended to “bounce back” and benefit Israel as well.
4. When we read the book of Acts, we find that wherever Paul went he always presented the gospel to the Jews first.
a. Only after they rejected the gospel did he turn to the Gentiles.
b. It was Israel’s rejection of the message that brought the blessing of salvation to Gentiles.
5. So Paul says: Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring! (vs. 12)
a. Paul is alluding to something he will expand on in the last section of this chapter (verses 25-36), where Paul says: And in this way all Israel will be saved.
b. We will wrestle with what that means next week.
c. Meanwhile, we see that Paul argued from the lesser to the greater – if Israel’s failure brought blessing, how much more will their fullness bring? Something greater indeed.
d. What a wonderful thing that will be, but meanwhile, their fall has resulted in bringing the riches of eternal salvation and reconciliation with God to the Gentiles.
M. Paul now turns his attention to the Gentile Christians in Rome to scold them for their arrogant boasting over the Jews.
1. Here surfaces what was probably one of the most basic purposes of the letter to the Romans.
2. The Gentiles have become the majority in the church at Rome as well as in the church at large.
3. The Gentile Christians were likely tempted to take undue pride in their new position in Christ, even to the extent of thinking that they have now replaced the Jews in God’s plans.
4. Let’s see how Paul deprives them of that notion, showing that, by an act of grace, they have been added to Israel.
5. Boasting is out of the question because their own salvation is part of God’s plan to offer His mercy to all people.
N. Paul wrote: 13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if I might somehow make my own people jealous and save some of them. (Romans 11:13-14)
1. This is the third time Paul has mentioned the salvation of Gentiles was intended to make the Jews jealous (Romans 10:19; 11:11; and 11:14).
2. Jealousy is a powerful motivator: How many times has someone devalued a boyfriend or girlfriend, or even broke up with them, and then when someone else shows them attention, their jealousy causes them to have a change of heart?
3. So, God, knowing how He had made us humans, anticipated that when Jewish people look at Gentile Christians, they would see something that made them view Christianity in a new light.
4. God knew it would make them jealous.
5. Perhaps they would see such perfect peace, such vibrant joy, such caring love for one another, such clear meaning and purpose in life, such freedom in the forgiveness of sins, and such confident assurance of eternity in heaven, that they would say, “How come they have that and we don't? That’s what we need.” And as a result, they will trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.
6. That's the way it was supposed to work - their unbelief would bring salvation to the Gentiles, which in turn, would make them jealous and bring them to faith in Jesus Christ.
O. Paul then used an illustration from the sacrifices of the Old Testament: 15 For if their rejection brings reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 Now if the firstfruits are holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. (11:15-16)
1. In Old Testament times, an entire lump of dough was sanctified by offering a part of it to the Lord.
2. Likewise, the entire harvest was sanctified by the offering of a part of it to the Lord.
3. It was called the “firstfruit.”
4. The firstfruit here represents Abraham; the “lump” is the whole nation Israel. The God who made Abraham holy can make his descendants holy too.
5. The same truth is taught in that second illustration - the branches (the whole nation) share the same nature as the root (Abraham) from whom they come.
6. By this Paul does not mean to say that all the descendants of Abraham will be saved, but all Abraham’s descendants continue to be “set apart” by God for special attention.
7. That continuing special relationship between God and Israel gives reason to hope for a future spiritual renewal of the people.
8. But before Paul uses this analogy to talk about Israel’s future, he first employs the metaphor to chastise the Gentile Christians in Rome.
P. Paul continues: 17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree, 18 do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast—you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.
1. Paul opens with a conditional sentence that gets to the heart of his concern.
2. Now remember, the olive tree represents the place of blessing and privilege as the people of God.
3. The root of the tree is the covenant God made with Abraham, which he received by faith.
4. The branches that were broken off are the Jewish people as a whole who rejected God’s way of salvation.
5. The wild olive branches that were grafted in are the sum-total of Gentile believers whom God grafted into the place of blessing.
6. Gentile Christians might be tempted to feel a little proud about being grafted into the tree, and might start to possibly feel a little superior. But that would not be too smart or wise.
Q. Paul makes two points about why it is wrong for Gentile Christians to express arrogance toward Jews in general, and to Jewish Christians as well.
1. First, Paul says that Gentile Christians receive the spiritual benefits they enjoy only through the Jews.
a. They have been grafted into the olive tree, the people of God.
b. The roots of that tree are the Jewish patriarchs.
c. The Gentiles have not replaced the Jews in God’s plan, but have been grafted into the Jews.
2. Second, Paul reminds the Gentiles that they didn’t earn the right to be grafted in, but they were grafted in by faith, and can just as easily be removed for unbelief.
a. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but beware, 21 because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. 22 Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness toward you—if you remain in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. (Rom. 11:19-22)
b. You see, if we come to God as needy repentant sinners, God responds to us with open arms and we experience His goodness.
c. But if, on the other hand, after starting with humility and faith, we begin to become arrogant and try to make ourselves look good in His sight, offering Him our good works, implying that we deserve His favor, we will experience His severity, His judgement – a separation from His olive tree, from the place of privilege and blessing.
R. Paul ends this section with a word of hope for the Jews who remain in unbelief: 23 And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these—the natural branches—be grafted into their own olive tree? (Romans 11:23-24)
1. If the gardener is able to graft a wild olive branch into a cultivated olive tree, then it would be much easier to graft a cultivated branch back into a cultivated tree.
2. If the Jewish people will put their faith in Jesus, they will be grafted back in again.
3. We must reckon with the possibility that the Jews can be restored to the place of privilege and blessing.
4. How and when will it happen? It will happen by faith, when they put their faith in Jesus.
5. Lord willing, we will discuss that more in our next sermon on Romans 11:25-36.
S. I want to leave us with three lessons to think about and apply to our lives.
1. God is always faithful to His promises.
a. Whenever we think that God has abandoned us or isn’t keeping His promises, let’s put our trust in God and wait.
b. What God is doing and how He might be keeping His promise are still a work in progress.
2. There is no place for arrogance, pride or boasting.
a. Certainly there is no place for arrogance over or judgment against the Jews.
b. They were and are God’s special chosen people through whom God has brought salvation into the world, and we should be ever grateful for them and the role they played.
c. It is true that they rejected the Messiah when He came, and that God used the Jewish leadership of the time to force Pilate to crucify Jesus.
d. But in the end, the ones responsible for the death of Jesus is all of us and our sins.
e. Our sins put Jesus on the cross, and God’s grace is the only way our sins are forgiven through the blood of Christ – so there’s no place for arrogance, pride or boasting.
3. Faith and Faithfulness to God and God’s grace are the only way we will be saved.
a. The majority of the Jewish people have missed out on God’s grace because of unbelief.
b. And, the majority of all people have missed out on God’s grace because of unbelief.
c. Those of us who have believed in Jesus and have put our faith in the grace that comes from Him are in Christ and will be saved.
d. But Paul warns us in today’s passage that God will not spare us either, if we don’t remain in God’s kindness.
e. If we leave the place of faith and humility, and become proud, and put our faith elsewhere, we will be lost, cut off from God and His grace.
f. We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
g. We must walk by faith and in faithfulness – trusting in God and in His grace.
Resources:
Romans, The NIV Application Commentary, by Douglas Moo
Has God Let You Down? Sermon by Dr. Richard Strauss
