Romans 11:1-10

Romans Chapter 11:1-10

1I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to 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 kill me"? 4And what was God’s answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

7What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,

8as it is written:

"God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes so that they could not see

and ears so that they could not hear,

to this very day."

9And David says:

"May their table become a snare and a trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them.

10May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,

and their backs be bent forever."

So the question is asked, did God’s plan fail for the Jew? Did God reject the Jewish people?

This discussion began back in chapter 8 with a similar question for Christians, that is, how can we as Christians believe in eternal security. If God has in some way rejected chosen Israel then maybe He will reject us.

Paul’s response to this (Romans 9:6) was that God’s plan for Israel did not fail “6It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.”

Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

True Israel are those who like Abraham had faith in God and what God told him, no matter what that was. Abraham was saved by his faith not in the hope of fulfillment of the Law.

To prove his point of the question “did Gods plan fail for Israel”. Paul unfolds seven points found in chapters 9-11.

1)God’s historical purpose toward the Jewish nation has not failed, because all whom God has elected to salvation are or will be saved (Rom. 9:6-24). That is what it comes down to. God never promised the Jews that if they would be a member of some club called Judaism that He would give them all salvation. God never promised us that if we became a member of some club called Christianity that we would be saved. It has never been about being a part of anything. It has never been about us doing anything. It has been about God out of His kindness, His love and His grace will save some when not one deserved it.

2)God’s historical purpose toward the Jewish nation has not failed, because God had previously revealed that not all Israel would be saved and that some Gentiles would be (Rom. 9:25-29). Now if God had promised that all Jews would be saved and then failed to save some of them, indeed God’s word would have failed. But this is not the case, in fact God had foretold that many Jews would not believe and would be scattered and that, some Gentiles would be gathered in faith in Christ.

3)God’s historical purpose toward the Jewish nation has not failed, because the failure of the Jews to believe was their own fault, not God’s (Rom. 9:30-10:21). The majority of Jews felt that they could accomplish salvation on there own. They felt that their works would pay for their salvation. The fact is God never told them that. God told them to have faith and believe. From the beginning of Judaism starting with Abraham that was the way it was accomplished, but the Jews kind of pushed that aside, they didn’t want to see it even though it was right in front of their faces.

4)God’s historical purpose toward the Jewish nation has not failed, because some Jews (Paul himself being one) have believed and have been saved (Rom. 11:1). God did not reject the Jew as a whole; in fact He did save some. He saved the true Israel, those who had faith. Those who didn’t have faith were not truly Israel.

5)God’s historical purpose toward the Jewish nation has not failed, because it has always been the case that even in the worst of times a remnant has been saved (Rom. 11:2-10). Even in the time of Elijah when the Jew was in one of its darkest periods, we see by Gods own count, seven thousand Jews that had stayed faithful to Him.