Romans 11:1-6 (NIV)
I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God 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: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
Paul returns to his main question: since so many descendants of Abraham had not come into the kingdom through faith in Jesus, does that mean that God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had failed? Worse, did it mean that God had rejected His chosen people?
Paul’s answer is written in Greek’s strongest negative, Me genoito, “May it never be!” Paul points to the clearest evidence available to him: himself. He was an Israelite, from the tribe of Benjamin, and he had not only NOT been rejected by God, God had actually pursued him and had finally run him to ground.
Paul’s point is that, just as in previous times, God had received to Himself and had blessed mightily all those who had chosen to follow Him. These God had foreknown, had seen in advance that they would choose to receive Jesus, and thus receive Him. And for them, He had prepared an amazing destiny. He would transform them into the image of Jesus, He would justify them, and ultimately glorify them (Romans 8:29-30).
The first of those to be called, justified and transformed were indeed descendants of Abraham. God had not rejected His people. And the fact that He had opened the door to any of the gentiles who would choose to receive Jesus did not close the door to any of the Jews who would make the same choice.
But Paul also noted from the Scriptures that in the days of Elijah, only a small remnant of God’s people had not turned away to follow Baal and Asherah. The rest had rejected God, had turned away from His commands to serve no god besides Him and to make no idols for themselves (Exodus 20:3-6). Thus, they had effectively opted out of God’s chosen people, and had instead made themselves objects of His judgment and wrath.
In the same way, there was a remnant of God’s people who chose to receive salvation by choosing to receive Jesus. They were not saved because of their status as descendants of Abraham, or because of their prowess in keeping God’s commands in their own strength. Instead, they were saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus, just as the gentiles were.
Father, someone said that “God has no grandchildren”, meaning that no matter who our parents or grandparents were, no matter how devout or to what high positions in the church they had attained, that does nothing to grant us salvation. We are only saved as we repent, surrender, and receive Jesus as or Savior and Lord. This is bad news for those with a deep heritage of faith that they are relying on for their own salvation, but good news for everyone else. We don’t have to belong to an elite religious line in order to be saved, because everyone, no matter what their heritage, comes to the cross the same. We all have to repent, believe, and then set our course to take up our own cross, follow Jesus, and live for You all the rest of our lives. Thank You for opening the gates of grace wide enough for even me. Amen.