But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.  Romans 11:6 

Romans 11:1-10 – Romans: The Righteousness of God
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – August 20, 2023 (am)

The doctrine of election is one of the more divisive points of theology in all of church history. Granting that human beings are responsible for their own sin and therefore stand accountable to God for it, does God alone apply the saving work of Christ, reconciling sinners to Himself based on His own sovereign will, or do those human beings, self-aware and responsible for their sin as they are, cooperate with God somehow, most likely by having Him neutralize the impact of their inherited sinfulness so that they actually are able to decide to repent and believe in Jesus as their Savior and Lord?

To be clear, we believe Scripture unequivocally teaches the former, that salvation is the work of God from beginning to end (1:17) with human beings doing nothing but receiving it by faith, that faith itself being a gift from God (Eph.2:8-10). But that aside, the doctrine of election is given to us in Scripture not as a point for theological debate, but to provide relational confidence and spiritual, emotional comfort—reassurance that salvation is in God’s hands so we don’t need to worry that we’re going to have enough discernment to see it or intelligence to understand it or faith to believe it or wisdom to choose it or determination to stick with it. Just as there’s no way we can achieve our salvation, there’s also no way we can mess it up!

Our God is reliable! And when He opens our eyes to the undeniable truth of our sinful rebellion against Him, and therefore our state of spiritual death before Him, then when He saves us by His sovereign grace, cleansing our sin, reconciling us to Himself, and making lavish promises about our eternal future with Him, we can believe Him! We can trust Him, take Him at His Word, be confident that He’ll keep His promises and never forsake us!

Paul is tracing out the implications of this doctrine as we move into Rom.11. And he’s still under the heading of 9:6 … it is not as though the word of God has failed. … Grand promises are made to the church (the new covenant community) in c.8—the Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us (8:26); all things work to together for good in our lives (8:28); having given us his own Son, God will also graciously give us all things (8:32); and [nothing] will be able to separate us from [His] love in Christ Jesus our Lord (8:39). These are grand promises! But grand promises were also made to Israel and those don’t seem to’ve been kept. In fact, as c.10 came to a close Paul was quoting Isa.65:21 … All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. So, can we trust the promises we just heard? Yes, our salvation is in God’s hands, but is it reliable?

We hear Paul addressing such questions in today’s text. Let’s handle it in three parts.

Another Rhetorical Q&A – 1-2a

1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? We can anticipate Paul’s answer by now; this is the ninth time he’s used it! (3:4, 6, 31; 6:2, 15; 7:7, 13; 9:14; 11:1, 11) By no means! Why? For I myself am an Israelite! Paul himself is the clearest proof! He’s a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. … Paul’s life proves it!

And by the way, Paul is also an example of how God saves. Just like in Job, where we understand God’s purpose in his suffering better than we understand it in our own because God showed it to us with Job (cc.1-2), the same thing happens with regard to salvation in Paul’s life. We don’t know how God went about saving us, but we know with Paul because God showed it to us (it’s recorded three times in Acts [cc. 9, 22, 26]).

If God doesn’t save that sovereignly all the time, it would be highly questionable for Him to do it at any time. Was Saul of Tarsus less deserving of self-determination than all the rest of humanity, that God should save him without his consent? Was Paul more lost or broken than you or me?

No. He’s just a case study of how God saves, even though we don’t know how God did it with us like we do with him.

A Rich Historical Example – 2b-6

This insight is helpful to us toward understanding the doctrine of election. But there’s even more particular help that’s offered here in Rom.11 by remembering Paul’s conversion. Not only do we not really know how God saves, we don’t always know that He has saved! And what I mean by this is, when God does the saving, He can save many more people in many more places than we’re even aware of! There could be redeemed brothers and sisters in this world we don’t even know about! Amazing stories come out of Russia or China or Albania or far less developed countries where Christian missionaries go in and find brothers and sisters in Christ that we didn’t know were there! The number of Christians in China, for instance, grew massively while the eyes of the world and the church were all but blocked by the tight controls of an atheistic government. But Operation World reports that while there were roughly 2.7 million evangelical Christians in the People’s Republic of China in 1975. But by 2010 there were 75 million.

God is always at work. And Paul wants his readers to know that. So, he tells the story of Elijah (1Ki.19), after he’d won that great victory against the prophets of Baal and had the people put them to death (1Ki.18), Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, king of Israel, threated to do the same to Elijah, and he was terrified! That’s the historical setting for Paul’s question. 2 … Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, that was Elijah’s belief, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself (sovereign election) seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Then Paul observes: 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. God is always at work! He’s not going to leave His promises unfulfilled! He’s not going to allow His covenant community to dwindle to zero! As Jesus said to Peter: Mat.16:18 … I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Have you considered that if God is not sovereign over the granting of His salvation, then this whole line of questioning is strangely misdirected? Paul should be asking Israel: Why aren’t you choosing to trust Christ? That’s where the problem would be. But, as we’ll see, only God can answer even that question. And His answer is: Israel isn’t embracing Christ because they’re presently under judgment. Their eyes have been blinded by a judicial hardening from God (7-10), just as He said He would do. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First, we have to finish this thought, affirming that salvation is fully by grace alone: 5 … at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. God has done it all Himself; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

A Startling Theological Insight – 7-10

So, what does this mean for Israel? That’s precisely Paul’s question here. 7 What then? Even though it could seem like God has rejected His people, that’s not what’s happening here. 7 … Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking, namely, 9:30 … a law that would lead to righteousness. But they did not succeed in reaching that law. 9:32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They… stumbled over the stumbling stone. So, 7 … Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect—most likely speaking now of true believers from among the Jews, not again here, as at the close of c.9, the elect that includes both Jews and Gentiles, a point that will become important as we proceed—like Paul himself, Jews who’ve trusted Christ, obtained it, but the rest were hardened.

So, the bulk of Israel (the remaining part after a remnant is separated out) is under a temporary (cf. 25-27) judgment from God. And that is so according to His eternal, sovereign plan. Paul draws from the OT again to make that clear. He quotes from all three sections of the Hebrew Bible: the law, the prophets, and the writings. He quotes from Isa.29:10 (judgment pronounced on Jerusalem) and Deu.29:4 (Moses’ warning to Israel before entering the Land) (8), then from Psa.69:22-23 (a prayer of David with several Messianic echoes) (9-10). Clearly David is seeking judgment on his enemies at this point in his song. And the linkage of Psa.69 to Isa.29 and Deu.29 is in its reference to the darkening of their eyes, closing their minds to the understanding of God’s saving grace, feeling the weight of their sin. Those in Israel who reject Jesus remain under God’s judgment. And God Himself is holding them there by His sovereign decree.

Conclusion

And there’s our text for today—it surely feels like we’re under a dark cloud as it finishes, but it’s one of those dark clouds that has a silver lining, which we should notice. Without even looking ahead to the positive outcome that’s promised to ethnic Israel as Paul finishes this section of his letter (25-32, 34-36), we can discern that silver lining just in what we’ve heard today (1-10).

So, what is it? The disturbing unbelief we see here among ethnic Israel, and still see in our day, is not irreversible! It’s not an accident of history that’s somehow going to depend on human effort or human strategizing or human persuasiveness for a resolution, if any resolution is even possible at all. The good news is that God is behind this hardening! And He is a God of sovereign grace and mercy, of love and forgiveness, of judgment, yes, according to his perfect holiness and righteousness and justice, but He’s a God who delights to forgive and to cleanse and to heal and restore and save! He’s promised to do all this. And we can already see even at this stage of this chapter that everything which makes it seem dark and disturbing is happening under His all-seeing eye and according to His eternal plan in which He promises to work all things together for good (8:28).

Put another way, the fact that it’s God Himself Who’s inserted this season of judgment into Israel’s history means it can be lifted at any time of His choosing! It’s not random! It’s not chance! Again, it’s not dependent on human resources to resolve it! Just as David did in Psa.69, we can call out to this God for His mercy and grace and deliverance. He’s promised to hear and to respond (Heb.4:16; 1Jo.5:14-15). And He always keeps His promises!

In fact, that is our bottom line today. And that is our calling! We need to live in the assurance that God is never going to make promises then fail to keep them. And this, too, is a work of His sovereign grace in our lives: strengthening us in our full assurance of His salvation and in our unwavering trust in His promises.

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Resources

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Moo. Douglas J. 2000. The NIV Application Commentary. Romans. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

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Sproul, R. C. 2005. The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans. Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus.

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NEXT SUNDAY: A Cultivated Olive Tree, Romans 11:11–24