Romans 11:1-6
We established last week that Israel has rejected God. This week, we ask the question, Has God rejected Israel? And the answer is an emphatic No!
How Israel Rejected God
In Romans 9:30-10:4, we learn that Israel rejected God by rejecting grace. They worked in self-righteousness and refused to accept the gift-righteousness offered in Jesus. It is as though God presented Israel with an engagement ring and, instead of accepting it, Israel offered God a business contract. They didn’t need God’s gift, they would earn it.
Yet, God’s love is undeterred by Israel’s rejection.
Proof #1 that God has not rejected Israel: Paul (v.1)
Paul might as well wear a t-shirt that says “I am Israel” (Philippians 3:2-6). He is a Jew, and God chose him to use as his instrument for writing many books of the Bible and planting many of the first Christian churches. So Paul himself is proof that God has not rejected Israel.
Proof #2 that God has not rejected Israel: The Remnant (v.2-4)
In 1 Kings 18 and 19, the Jewish prophet, Elijah, confronts rampant idolatry among Israel. He feels like he is the only faithful Jew left. God tells him otherwise. He had kept for himself a remnant of 7,000 faithful men. This idea of a remnant of faithful Israelites is sprinkled through the rest of the Old Testament. There never was an entire, faithful Israel. But there was always a remnant, chosen by grace.
Chosen by Grace
In verses 5-6, Paul returns to a familiar theme: grace. Why does he keep hammering this same nail?
In Stranger Than Fiction, Will Ferrell plays an IRS agent who must audit a bakery. The owner of the bakery makes his job miserable by disorganizing her receipts and generally giving him a hard time. At the end of the first grueling day, she offers him a gracious olive branch: a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. It is a beautiful scene in which they connect over this merciful and kind gesture. And then he insists on paying for the cookies. As soon as the words leave his mouth, everything between them is ruined.
As soon as we shift the basis of our relationship with God from grace to works, it ruins everything. “Thanks for the salvation God! Let me pay you for that. Here’s some church attendance and some financial gifts. That ought to cover it.” This is the mistake Israel made and the mistake we must avoid.
We have this false idea that God supplies a percentage of our salvation in response to the percentage we supply. Paul relentlessly destroys this idea. Note that in verse 6, he isn’t contrasting two types of human effort (like works vs. faith); but human effort and divine effort. It’s not that some are chosen because they did the right thing. It’s that some are chosen because of God’s gracious action in their lives. It is 100% God.
3 Implications
1. God’s love is undeterred by rejection.
He holds his hands out all day long to Israel, even though they reject him (10:21). Are you receiving this love? If so, you are free to offer it to others (John 13:34-35). How much of your love for others is dependant upon their favorable response to you?
2. God’s love is individual.
We will each walk into heaven or hell as individuals. It doesn’t matter that you’re part of Dulin’s Grove, America, the middle class, your family, etc. What matters is your personal relationship with Jesus. Have you thought clearly and frankly about where you stand with Jesus?
3. God’s love is gracious.
God loves us graciously, with no strings attached. Are you receiving this love? If so, you are free to love others graciously. The word translated grace contains the idea of leaning toward. This kind of love extends toward others with blessing and kindness. It doesn’t demand that they lean toward us. How much of your love is dependant upon how nice those people are to you? How much of your love for others evaporates when they stop deserving it?
Discussion Starters
- How was your week? Take some time to share together.
- Do you usually think of Christianity as an extension of historic Judaism? Or do you usually think of them as disconnected? Why?
- How have you understood Israel’s place in God’s master plan in the past? How has Romans effected your understanding of Israel?
- Why do you think Paul finds the subject of Israel important enough to examine it for three chapters in the center of Romans?
- What does this passage convey regarding God’s character?
- Read verses 5-6 again. Work together to remember the many ways Paul has made this point (that salvation is by grace and faith, not work).
- What does it mean that God chose the remnant “by grace” rather than on the basis of works?
- Be sure to include Israel in your prayer time. (see Romans 9:1-5 and 10:1)
