The Chosen Remnant

The Chosen Remnant

Romans 11:1-10

One day a young body overheard his teacher call him addled. When I first heard the word addled, I thought it was similar to the word rattled. Someone who was nervous or worried about something, someone who was shaken up with hearing unsettling news. But addled actually means confused, unable to think clearly or rotten. This young boy heard his teacher say he was addled and it would not be worthwhile to keep him in school any longer. As that young boy became a man, he thought back on that pivotal moment in his life. He wrote, 

One day I overheard the teacher tell the inspector that I was "addled" and it would not be worthwhile keeping me in school any longer. I was so hurt by this last straw that I burst out crying and went home and told my mother about it. Then I found out what a good thing a good mother is. She came out as my strong defender. Mother love was aroused, mother pride wounded to the quick. She brought me back to the school and angrily told the teacher that he didn't know what he was talking about, that I had more brains than he himself, and a lot more talk like that. In fact, she was the most enthusiastic champion a boy ever had, and I determined right then that I would be worthy of her and show her that her confidence was not misplaced.

If it was not for the confidence and the persevering love of Thomas Edison’s mother, who knows if we would be sitting in the dark today. 

Mothers often personify a persevering, never-give-up, belief in their children. Regardless of a child’s repeated mistakes and failures, or their aimless wanderings, mothers have a persevering belief in her children. It is this persevering belief that has led many mothers to be the enthusiastic champion of their children helping them to overcome the unique pains of childhood. A mother persevering love is a window for us to see the persevering, never-giving-up, love that God has for his children. He is our most enthusiastic champion who will never leave us or forsake us. He will not reject his children, but what if it feels like he has?

The Apostle Paul has been trying to answer that question over the last several chapters. We read at the end of Romans 8 that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus but it feels like God has rejected Israel. How could the end of Romans 8 be true, if God has turned his back on Israel? It looks like God is not the enthusiastic champion for the Israel whom he has chosen to be his treasured possession (Deut 7). The answer Paul gives the Romans in the New Testament is the same answer God gave Elijah in the Old Testament. “I have kept for myself a remnant, chosen by grace.” Paul gives three proofs of why God has not rejected his people. 

Proof 1 - The Personal Example

Paul begins this section again by asking and answering the question he believes will be on the mind of his audience. Romans 11:1,

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! 

Remember the context, Paul has just explained the comprehensiveness of salvation. Romans 10:11–13,

For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

Paul says, “Everyone who believes in him” and “Everyone who calls,” for both the Jew and the Greek, for there is the same Lord of all. Israel has heard the Word but has not obeyed the gospel. God has not abandoned Israel but rather, Romans 10:21,

But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” 

God’s hands have been open to Israel but Israel has not come to him. That is, not all ethnic Israel but true Israel, those of the promised have embraced Jesus as Messiah. And Paul uses himself as the first example to prove his point. Romans 11:1,

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

Paul provides his first proof. He says, “I am an Israelite. I have descended from Abraham, and I am even of the tribe of Benjamin.” (Benjamin was one of the two tribes that made up the southern kingdom of Israel who were more faithful to God than the northern kingdom composed of the ten tribes.) 

Paul, formerly Saul of Taurus, was not a likely candidate to believe in Jesus. Listen to Paul’s own words of his conversion, Acts 22:3–21

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

“And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

“When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

A man who was headed to arrest and kill the Jews was sent far away to seek and save the Gentiles. Paul uses himself as an example of how unlikely it would have been for him to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. If it was not for God calling him on the Damascus road, he would never have turned. 

Why was Paul converted? Why did Paul believe? He gives the answer in the next verse, Romans 11:2, 

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.

Foreknowledge does not mean foresight. Foreknowledge means God previously chose to love. A key text to grasp this is Deuteronomy 7:6–8a,

“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you.

In verse 6, The Lord chose Israel and in verse 7, notice how he connects choosing and loving. As one pastor notes,

For God to love is to choose to love, and for God to choose is to choose to love. God chose to love Israel in a way He did not choose to love other nations.

God chose a weak, small insignificant people to love. And the Lord hasn’t changed, 1 Corinthians 1:26–29,

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 

You reread that section and replace chose with love and it would mean the same. God loved what is foolish in the world to shame wise; God loved what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God loved what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. For God to choose is for God to love and God to love is for Him to chose. This is foreknowledge. We can see this also in Amos 3:2a, when God says to Israel, 

“You only have I known

of all the families of the earth;

To know is to have an intimate knowledge of. God knew Israel like he didn’t know other nations. God loved Israel like he didn’t love other nations. 

Proof 2 - The Prophet’s Example

As I have read over Romans 9-11, I have continued to marvel on how often Paul is grounding his argument in the text of Scripture. It is important for us as we approach God’s sovereign election and human responsibility and free will, we ground our belief in the text of Scripture. For this what Paul does again here, Romans 11:2–4,

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 

After the climatic scene on Mount Carmel when Elijah battled against the prophets of Baal, calling down fire from heaven to consume the burnt offering, Jezebel vowed to take his life. And Elijah feels like God has rejected him, “I alone am left, and they seek my life.” God spoke to Elijah, not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in a low whisper, “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” “You are not alone Elijah. I have not rejected my people.” 

Why does Paul use this example? Paul has made the case that he, an Israelite, of the tribe of Benjamin, has not been rejected, but he is only one, like Elijah. Like before, Paul interprets the text, Romans 11:5,

So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 

What happened in Elijah’s day, is happening in ours. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Not all Israel belongs to Israel. God has not rejected his people. He has always had a remnant, chosen by grace, chosen in love. 

Romans 11 will be talking about the corporate election of Israel, but I do not think you can separate the corporate election of Israel from the individual election of people. Paul was chosen by God, an individual, as part of the remnant. God says, “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” What does it mean for God to have kept seven thousand? It is a corporate election of a group, but it is also God keeping individuals from bowing the knee to Baal. It is a remnant, chosen by grace. It is a collection of individuals chosen by grace to form that remnant. God chooses individuals to be part of his people. He has chosen some by his grace to be his people. 

And as in Deuteronomy 7, God chose Israel not because of their merit, but his love and grace, Paul makes the same point here, Romans 11:6,

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. 

It is not on the basis of our works. We cannot earn our salvation. It is by grace so no man can boast. Paul is showing how justification by faith is not a new concept for Israel but one woven into the very beginning of their calling. 

Proof 3 - Pervasive Examples

God has not rejected his people. God cannot reject his people whom he foreknew. He never lies or goes back on his Word. Paul will give us three more Old Testament quotes, one from the Law, one from the Writings, and one from the Prophets. He is showing every part of the Old Testament, the Law, the Writings and the Prophets, communicate the same truth. Romans 11:7,

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 

There are three groups Paul is referring to. This is a summary of previous teaching in the chapter. The first is all of ethnic Israel. Ethnic Israel did not pursue righteousness by faith, but on the basis of works. They were unwilling to submit to God’s righteousness, we see in Romans 9:30–10:4. The second group is the elect or the remnant, chosen by grace, within Israel. Paul will reference Gentiles later in this chapter, but here I believe he is speaking specifically about the Jewish people who have obtained righteousness by faith by confessing that Jesus is Lord and believing in their hearts that God raised him from the dead as seen in Romans 10:5-13. 

The third group is those Jews who were hardened in their unbelief and rejected Jesus as Messiah. It is the third group who Paul addresses with a threefold quotation from the Old Testament. He quotes Deutoronmy 29:4, Isaiah 29:10, and Psalm 69:22-23, Romans 11:8–10

as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that would not see

and ears that would not hear,

down to this very day.”

And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,

and bend their backs forever.” 

The three verses all include something about the eyes not seeing which thematically connects them together. Unbelieving Israel did not see with faith. They were hardened to the truth of the Messiah. What is this hardening? One pastor notes,

We express our idolatry either by preferring food or sex or aesthetic pleasures to God, or by constructing a morality that makes our work, not God's grace, the basis of our religion and our life. So "bend their backs forever" means give them up to their self-made and self-exalting works-religion. That's what hardening is: spiritual numbness, blindness, deafness, and the turning of God's good gifts into God-replacing pleasures, and God's law into self-reliant labor.

We know what the hardening is but how does the hardening come about? The Bible speaks about the hardening of one’s heart against God and his grace in two different ways. One way is that hardening is a consequence for someone’s unbelief. We see this in verse 9, 

Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.

A retribution is what they deserve for what they have done. Those who are hardened receive a snare and a trap as a consequence for their behavior. We even see this in the account of Pharaoh. He hardened his heart against God, and received a just retribution because of it. 

The other way the Bible speaks about hardening is an act of God. We see this in verse 8, “God gave them a spirit of stupor.” Paul emphasizes this in Romans 9:16-18,

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 

As one pastor comments, “God is not finally constrained by human willing. We do not provide the ultimate, decisive causes for the actions of God. God does.”

Human beings are accountable to God for their actions and will face a just retribution for their sinful rebellion. God is never unjust in any of his actions and how he decides to give or withhold his mercy. There is mystery in God’s wisdom in how He shows mercy on whomever he wills and hardens whomever he wills. We can get addled with the philosophical implications of this doctrine or we can persevere in the faith and believe them. So much of what we believe and how we believe it has been ingrained in us from our childhood, from books we’ve read, teachers we’ve had, and pastors we’ve listened to. My appeal to all of us is that we would wrestle with the text and be and “as it is written,” Christian. 

Paul has given us 3 proofs for how God has not rejected his people, but I want to provide one more. 

Proof 4 - The Perfect Example

Our most enthusiastic champion, the one who nails Paul’s argument is one who took the nails for us. Jesus Christ is the proof to Paul’s question, “Has God rejected his people?” By no means! For He sent his Son. If we ever feel rejected by God, we need to look no farther than the cross. Jesus came and perfectly obeyed God’s law. He was righteous in every sense of the word. And even though he was righteous, he was rejected. He came to his own people, but they did not receive him. They turned their backs on him and killed him. They hung him on a tree as one who was cursed by God. That cross shows us that God has not rejected his people, but has rescued us. Jesus Christ gave himself as a ransom, a payment for sinners, so he could become the faithful and high priest in the service of God. Christ offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins. He was dead and buried, but God raised him from the dead and he sat down at the right hand of God waiting until the time to make his enemies his footstool. 

Jesus Christ did not reject Israel, he died for them. Jesus did not reject the Gentiles, he died for them. He did not reject but rescue. He did not condemn, but consecrate. He did not punish, but pursued. We have an enthusiastic champion who for the joy set before him he endured the cross despising its shame. He, the righteous one, died for the unrighteous ones to bring us to God. For our sake, He who knew no sin, became sin so we might become the righteousness of God. He emptied himself and took the cross. He did not reject his people.

Beloved, we will all have our moments when we will feel like God has rejected us. It may be after a lost job or a betrayal from a spouse or friend. It may be when you hear the words cancer, or you lose a child. We will have our moments when this world will kick us in the teeth and we will feel like God has rejected us, but He never will. God has not and cannot reject his people whom he has chosen to love. The good work God has begun he will complete on the day of Christ Jesus. 

Two final words as we close for the day. Embrace his Grace and Remember his Remnant. First, embrace his grace. Live in humility. Be humble for what God has given you. Everything you have you have received by his hand. From your intellect, to your health, to your strength, to your family, everything. Everything comes from his hand, including your salvation. You are not better than anyone because you are a Christian. You don’t deserve that title. None of us do. Let us live humble and gracious lives understanding everything we have is from Him. Look to the cross and know what you deserve. Look to the cross and know you are loved. Look to the cross and embrace his grace. 

If you are here and not a Christian, can I encourage you today to embrace the grace that Jesus Christ offers. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You probably know you aren’t perfect, it doesn’t take much to convince someone of their mistakes. What is more challenging is believing what we deserve because of our sin. The Bible says we do retribution or payment for our treason against our Creator. The retribution is eternal separation from God in hell. Sin against an eternal requires eternal punishment. But there is good news for you today. If you repent of your sins, turn from trusting in your works for salvation, turn from living your way to God’s way, and believe that Jesus is Savior and Lord, you will be saved. We want you to see Christ for who he is. He is the Savior, but he could be your Savior today, if you repent and believe. Embrace his grace extended to you today. 

Remember his Remnant. Elijah was discouraged because he thought he was the only one. He was not the only one. God had kept for himself a remnant. Paul says as it was in Elijah, it is in ours. God has kept for himself a remnant. We are not alone. He has kept us and will keep others. Remember God has a remnant will give us assurance on those dark days when we feel rejected. God has not rejected his people. 

Remembering his Remnant will assure us of our salvation but also encourage us to pursue the salvation of others. Church, it is our job to take the gospel to those who need to hear. Jesus has sheep who are not yet in the fold. We need to share Christ far and wide. We need to generously apply the seed to the soil so that we may see fruit. We can’t control the soil, but we can control the scattering. God has told us, he has a remnant. And what is his plan to reach that remnant? The church. He wants to use ordinary men and women with ordinary conversation and ordinary invention to bring people to Christ. 

And he wants to use moms and dads who share Christ with their kids. I have been reminded often this past week of the power of the influence of parents over the lives of their children. Parents, do not lose heart. Be the enthusiastic champion for your kids in prayer, in believing God’s best for them, and in sharing the beauty of the gospel with them every chance you get. God designed salvation to come through the eternal Son of God, who was born a baby to a teenage girl and blue collar carpenter in a worthless town who raised their son to love God and neighbor. 

Moms, you have no idea what will become of your sons and daughters, but press on to be your kids enthusiastic champion pushing them to embrace the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Love your kids. Share the Gospel with them. Point them to Jesus with your joy and patience. Persevere in the grace that was given to you. Give them a window to the God who will never leave nor forsake them. God has chosen his remnant by grace, it is our job to share Jesus with whom God has chosen to give to us by his grace. You belong to him. Press on to take hold of him as he has taken hold of you. 

Has God rejected his people? By no means. God has provided the proof. He has made his case. He has given more than we need. But if we ever doubt, behold the cross, and you will know that God will never reject his people. He is our Rock and our Redeemer. 

Strong defender of our weary hearts

Our sword to fight the cruel deceiver

And our shield against his hateful darts

Our song, when enemies surround us

Our hope, when tides of sorrow rise

Our joy, when trials are abounding

His faithfulness, Our refuge in the night

The Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer

Gracious Savior of our ruined lives

Our guilt and cross laid on His shoulders

In our place He suffered bled and died

He rose, the grave and death are conquered

He broke my bonds of sin and shame

He rose, the grave and death are conquered. Embrace his Grace, Remember his Remnant. God has not, and will not, ever reject his people. Those whom he has chosen in love, he will always hold with his grace. Rejoice, our Champion rose, sin and death are conquered.