Romans 11:1-10

On the whole, the Israelites rejected Christ and so rejected God, but this does not mean that God rejected them. We must base our assessments on what God does, not on what man does. Man never has the last word, only God has the last word.

Paul shows that God has not rejected His people in a number of ways. First, Paul himself was an Israelite par excellence, and the apostle to the Gentiles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't you think that God was amazingly wise in choosing Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles?!

Then he turns to the example of Elijah. Elijah was a great prophet of God and won a great victory on Mount Carmel. Yet when Jezebel turned on him he ran in fear and felt like giving up. He complained to God that he was the only one left. God's answer was that he was not the only one left, for there were at least 7000. In Paul's day there were a significant number of Jewish believers, as there are today. The remnant is chosen by grace.

It is by grace we are saved. No one merits salvation. The surprising thing is not that some are not saved, but that anyone at all is saved. We are so prone to look at things in a man-centred and works oriented way. We need to look at everything in a God-centred way and a grace oriented manner. It has always been the case that there are many who will not believe.