Chosen By Grace | Romans 11:1-10
Introduction
In days of abundance, the temptation is to forget God. In days of adversity, the temptation is to believe that God has forgotten you. Either way, the temptation is always to disbelieve God, to question his goodness, to doubt that he can or will take care of you, and to rely on yourself instead.
We live in unstable times—times of moral decay, global conflict, skyrocketing inflation, sexual insanity and gender disorientation, and all sorts of other madness and mayhem. What you need in times like these is stability—rock solid truth you can build your life on. What you need is strong assurance that the grace of God will never fail you. And that’s what we have in Romans 11:1–10.
Romans 11:1–10 (ESV)
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. 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.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 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.”
Did God Reject Israel?
Paul begins this section of his letter to believers in Rome by raising a question: “I ask, then, has God rejected his people?” (Romans 11:1). Paul is anticipating a question that could arise from what he has said up to this point about Israel’s rejection of Jesus Christ.
From the end of Romans 9 to the end of Romans 10, we have seen that Israel attempted to fulfill God’s law as though it called for works and not faith (9:31–32). Israel sought to establish their own righteousness (10:3). Israel refused to believe in or call upon Jesus in spite of hearing the good news (10:16). And Israel repeatedly resisted God’s gracious invitation (10:21).
At the time when Paul wrote this letter to Gentile Christians in Rome, most Jews had rejected Jesus. They refused to submit to and rely on him as their Savior and Lord. So, does Israel’s rejection of God mean that God has rejected Israel? That’s the question.
And it is a massively important question. If God has rejected his people, Israel, what would be the implications of that? Two things are at stake: the glory of God and your confidence in God.
First, consider how it would undermine your faith if God in fact rejected Israel. As Paul says in Romans 9:4, to Israel belonged “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.” If God rejected them, how could you rest securely in God’s promises? Romans 8:39 declares that nothing “in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” But if God rejected his people Israel, might he also reject us?
Also at stake is the glory of God. Israel’s persistent stubbornness and rebellion is a common theme in the Old Testament. And so is God’s response to Israel.
In Exodus 32, right after God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt, they turned away from the LORD and worshiped the image of a golden calf. This is what God said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you” (Exodus 32:9–10).
What would happen if God completely rejected Israel and started over with Moses? Moses implored God not to destroy Israel, and listen to his reasoning: “Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin, lest the land from which you brought us say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness’” (Deuteronomy 9:27–28; cf. Exodus 32:12).
So what was at stake? If the Egyptians heard that God had rejected stiff-necked Israel, the Egyptians would have falsely concluded that 1) God was not strong enough to fulfill his promises and 2) that God was not good enough. God’s reputation among the nations is what’s at stake!
The same scene plays out in Numbers 14, when the 10 unbelieving spies returned from the Promised Land with a negative report that made the hearts of the people fear. “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you [Moses] a nation greater and mightier than they’” (Numbers 14:11–12).
Moses’ reasoning is the same as he intercedes again: “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. … Now if you kill this people as one man [i.e., wholesale rejection], then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness’” (Numbers 14:13–16).
Now, it wouldn’t be the Egyptians only who would hear, but the Egyptians would hear and tell the Canaanites and all the other nations. And the whole world would conclude that God was not able to keep his promise.
What’s at stake in Romans 11? The faithfulness, character, and trustworthiness of God is at stake. Israel rejecting God is nothing new. But if the gospel of Jesus means that God has finally rejected Israel and started over with Gentiles, then the whole world will conclude that it was just a matter of time, but God ultimately failed with Israel.
So, did God reject Israel?
“By no means!” (Romans 11:1). Paul denies the possibility in the strongest terms.
In fact, the way Paul worded the question itself gave away the answer. The ESV says, “Has God rejected his people?” Which makes it sound like it could go either way. But the Greek wording is more like, “It can’t be that God has rejected his people, can it?” No way!
And again in verse 2, Paul explicitly denies that God could ever fail to fulfill his covenant obligations: “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.”
The main point of Romans 11:1–10 is that it is impossible for the sovereign grace of God to fail the people of God. God’s grace cannot possibly fail to secure forever those who belong to him. God cannot fail. His word cannot fail. His promises and covenant cannot fail.
But Paul is not content simply to deny the possibility. Inspired by the Spirit of God, Scripture provides you with strong supporting reasons so that you can be fully assured. Romans 11:1–10 is meant to convince you to rest securely in the sovereign grace of God. How kind and gracious of God to speak like this and reveal himself in this way! Even when it looks to the human mind like God has abandoned his people, God reveals here in his Word that he will never do so. God will never fail you or turn you away if you are united to Christ by faith.
So how can you be sure that the sovereign grace of God will never fail you? By understanding how God works, which Romans 11:1–10 reveals in two parts. It’s not that God rejects (or fails) his people. Rather, God graciously chooses and keeps his people, while he also hardens those who are not his people. Those are the two parts to the answer. And God does both sovereignly and freely without ever breaking his promises or turning away any who call on him.
God Graciously Chooses and Keeps His People
Throughout this passage, Paul underscores and emphasizes by repetition this point—that God sovereignly and graciously chooses his people. And to choose them is the opposite of rejecting them. That’s how verse 2 puts it: “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.”
There are two verbs set in contrast: reject and foreknow. God has not rejected his people; he has foreknown them. To foreknow is more than knowing the outcome in advance. It means “to choose beforehand.” So Paul is saying, “God has not rejected his people; he has selected his people.”
Then Paul points to the story of Elijah as proof that God is able to protect his chosen people when it looks to the eyes of flesh like God has abandoned his people.
In 1 Kings 18, Elijah challenged the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in the sight of King Ahab and all Israel. The false god Baal failed to answer his prophets, but the God of Israel answered Elijah with fire from heaven, proving that the LORD alone is God (1 Kings 18:39). Then Elijah executed all 450 of Baal’s prophets, which angered Queen Jezebel, who notified Elijah that he was sentenced to death. So Elijah fled in fear (1 Kings 19:1–3). And he cried out to God “against Israel” (Rom. 11:2).
In 1 Kings 19:10, Elijah lamented, “The people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Talk about hopeless! If you think these are dark days we’re living in, how would you feel in Elijah’s shoes? The entire nation was living in an all-out rebel war against God: they demolished God’s altars; they killed God’s prophets; and they wanted to kill Elijah.
And here’s the part Paul wants you to see. “But what is God’s reply to him? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal’” (Romans 11:4).
“I have kept!”
“I have kept for myself!”
Why are there seven thousand men faithful to God in the midst of Israel’s darkest days? Because God sovereignly selects and providentially protects his people.
And this reality of God’s remnant functioned powerfully in Paul’s own life. He was so convinced of God’s purpose to preserve his people that his first answer to the question was to point to himself as proof: “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” (Romans 11:1). Paul was an Israelite who trusted in Jesus. And Paul so trusted the sovereign grace of God that he knew God was sovereignly saving others.
Loved ones, you too can rest assured that God is preserving a remnant now just as he has always done. He did it in the wilderness, keeping Joshua and Caleb by grace. He did it in Israel, preserving Elijah and 7,000 others by grace. He did it in the first century, preserving Paul (and other Jews) by grace. He has done it in countless other generations and you can be sure that he is doing it today. How can you know? Because you believe, don’t you? And you’re not alone.
Paul concludes, “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace” (Romans 11:5). “Chosen by grace.” Paul pauses here to emphasize this point so no one misses it. The only reason God chooses to show mercy to whom he shows mercy is grace. Verse 6: “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”
God does not choose you based on any merit or virtue or characteristic in you. In order for grace to be grace—by definition—it must be freely and sovereignly given to those who could not earn it or deserve it or choose it for themselves. And so clearly God does not reject his people; he chooses them by grace.
Finally, verse 7 refers to “the elect” when Paul says, “The elect obtained it” (that is, right standing with God). This is yet one more way of declaring that God does not reject his people, but sovereignly and graciously secures them forever. What’s interesting is that Paul doesn’t actually say “the elect.” He could have, but he doesn’t. What he says is, “the election obtained it.” The first way would put the spotlight on the elect themselves. “The election” puts the spotlight on God who does the electing, the saving and redeeming.
So does God ever fail to fulfill his promise and secure his people? No, exactly the opposite! God foreknows his people, chooses them by grace, keeps them for himself, and obtains for them the righteousness they could never obtain on their own.
But the fact remains that many (if not most!) in Israel rejected Jesus. What do we do with that? Look at verses 7–10, which says, “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 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.’” Here, Paul explains that Israel’s rejection of God is not evidence of God’s failure, but evidence of Israel’s failure and God’s judgment.
God Justly Hardens Those Who Are Not His People
“Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking” (Romans 11:7). What was Israel seeking? According to Romans 9:31–32, “Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone.”
And according to Romans 10:3, Israel was seeking to establish their own righteousness, while refusing to submit to God’s righteousness. Israel failed to obtain righteousness because Israel failed to submit to and rely on God.
That describes what happened from man’s perspective. But we could also describe it from God’s perspective, which is what Paul does when he says, “the rest were hardened.” I understand this to be a judicial hardening—a manifestation of God’s judgment in history. Of course there will be a final judgment at the end, but no one should think that God’s judgment is only a far-off threat.
In verse 9, Paul quotes a prayer of David from Psalm 69. Psalm 69 is one of the most cited Psalms in the NT. David’s innocent suffering prophetically foreshadowed the innocent suffering of Jesus. It has familiar lines like:
“They hated me without cause” (Ps. 69:4; cf. Jn. 15:25).
“Zeal for your house has consumed me” (Ps. 69:9; cf. Jn. 2:17)
“For my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink” (Ps. 69:21; cf. Jn. 19:29)
In Romans 11, Paul cites a section of the Psalm (vv. 22–23) where David asked God to punish those who hated him without cause. “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them” (Romans 11:9).
A “retribution” is a just penalty, a punishment that fits the crime. When God hardens those who are morally responsible for their own rebellion, he makes them spiritually numb and blind and deaf.
Three times in Romans 1, Paul says that God “gave them up” to their own filthy lusts, dishonorable passions, and debased minds. Those who fail to honor God and give thanks to him become “futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts [are] darkened” (Rom. 1:21). Because they enjoy God’s gifts without thanking him, he causes them to become ensnared in those blessings (“their table,” v. 9). Later in this chapter Paul speaks of unbelieving Israelites and says, “They were broken off because of their unbelief” (Romans 11:20).
So, when God hardens those who rebel against him, he is not being unfaithful to his promises, or acting contrary to his covenant, or undermining his merciful and gracious character. What you must not think is that Israel was clamoring to get to God, but God was picking and choosing, slamming the door in the face of some. Trying to establish your own righteousness apart from God rather than relying on God is a way of rejecting God.
You may be tempted to think that God is unfair to harden some and have mercy on others. But “fair” or just would be for God to harden all and save none. For grace to be grace, it must be undeserved. If you insist on “fairness”—that everyone gets what he or she deserves—then you insist that God must save no one.
But does this mean that God shows partiality? Scripture says repeatedly that God does not show partiality (Rom. 2:11, Gal. 2:6, Eph. 6:9, Acts 10:34), in the sense that God does not show favoritism based on some quality in people, such as their ethnicity or class or other status.
But Scripture is also clear that God does differentiate between “the elect” (whom he saves) and “the rest” (whom he hardens). He pours out favor on some and wrath on others. But those to whom God graciously chooses to reveal himself are not more moral, more intelligent, more spiritual, or more virtuous … or else grace would not be grace.
And some of you will hear this and wonder, “What if I’m one of the one’s God hardens?” The reality of God’s hardening work is not revealed so that you will go speculate about whether you are among the elect or the rest. It is revealed to assure you that when some persist in unbelief, it is not because God failed to keep his saving promises. Therefore, you can be sure that God will never fail you as you rely on him.
If that’s you, let me ask you this: why would you think that you would not be a recipient of God’s mercy? Do you think your sin is too great for God to forgive? Do you think your heart is too hard for God to overcome? Do you think you are too undeserving of his favor?
Listen again to what Scripture says! “There is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:5–6). If salvation depends on the grace of God and not the merit or man, then there is nothing about who you are or what you have done that could disqualify you.
In fact, before Paul the Apostle wrote Romans, he was Saul, the hard-hearted and insolent opponent of the gospel. And he says in 1 Timothy 1:16, “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”
Conclusion
Here’s the greatest reason you can be sure that it is impossible for God to reject you if you come to him through Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ, the only perfectly righteous man to ever live, was rejected and cut off for you. He was forsaken by his Father when he hung on the cross and bore the wrath your sins deserve.
But his resurrection from the dead proves that he is God’s anointed King forever and that God has accepted his sacrifice for your sins once and for all. He was not abandoned to the grave. His body did not decay in the dirt. God raised him up and crowned him King of heaven and earth. And now he gives resurrection life to all who call on him.
So, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15).
Benediction
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24–25).