Romans 11:5,6 - A remnant chosen by grace

So just as it was in Elijah’s day, so it was in Paul’s time, and so it is now. There are more who are saved than we imagine. As an aside, Elijah was prominent, taking on the prophets of baal, Ahab and Jezebel directly. Most of the seven thousand were presumably not prominent, otherwise Elijah would have known about them. So in any age there will be those who are at the forefront, but there will be many more who are saved but are not prominent.

Paul stresses again the works versus grace conflict. The means of salvation is by grace, not works. We need to view things from a grace perspective not a works perspective. If we view our own lives from a works perspective we will either delude ourselves or become despondent. If we view others from a works perspective we will reject people whom God has chosen. Grace can overcome all things. It can work miracles in our own lives, and in the lives of those to whom any rational assessment would write them off.

Now if we go back to the “those He foreknew” (v2). There are those of an Arminian persuasion (and what I am about to say probably applies to Molinism as well) who would say something along the lines of God knew who would put faith in Him, and He chose them. But if we take that line then salvation is getting close to being dependent upon the works of man, in this case faith being a work. The Calvinist view stresses that God actively chose the people He would save, and faith was the fruit of this choice. Whatever line you take you can easily run into difficulties. If we look at what Paul has said he stresses both the sovereignty of God and human responsibility. We find it very difficult, if not impossible, to see just how the two concepts can work together, but we must be careful that in seeking to reconcile the two we do not end up rejecting Biblical truth. We must not make an idol out of understanding.