God has kept his promises
Romans 11:1-10
God will never reject those whom he graciously loves! We can rest peacefully in his promises.
#promises
Published December 28th, 2017
Main point summary
Discourse
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Main point summary
Some might question if God has kept his promises to the Jews, but he most certainly has! He has graciously saved a remnant both in the past and today! He has caused some to reject the truth, but he has graciously saved a remnant of them, and thereby has not rejected the people he promised to love!
Discourse
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Romans 11:1-10
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I ask, then, h has God rejected his people?
Did God turn his back on the Jews?
By no means!
No!
questionanswer
For i I myself am an Israelite,
Here's the evidence: I'm an israelite and he has saved me.
a descendant of Abraham, 1
God made promises to Abraham and I am a fleshly descendant of that promise.
a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
This is my tribe. I am an Israelite whom God has saved!
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j God has not rejected his people whom he k foreknew.
No, God did not turn his back on us! He loved us from the beginning of time, and he still shows love.
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Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah,
I'll show you how God has not rejected his people: remember what Elijah says?
how he appeals to God against Israel?
he asks God to destroy Israel!
ideaexplanation
l “Lord, they have killed your prophets,
They are killing the ones you sent to correct them
they have demolished your altars,
They are spitting on you and destroying places of worship meant to glorify You!
and I alone am left,
I'm the only one left that defends you,
and they seek my life.”
and now they want to kill me! Please wipe them off the earth!
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But what is God’s reply to him?
But how did God respond?
m “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
I will not. I have sovereignly chosen 7k Jews who will not leave me and whore after other gods!
situationresponse
So too at the present time there is n a remnant,
Just like this story in Elijah, there is a remnant of Jews that God has sovereignly chosen to save today!
chosen by grace.
This selection by God is completely by grace. All deserve hell and death, but he has graciously chosen to save some.
o But if it is by grace,
So, God choosing a remnant solely on the basis of grace means then
it is no longer on the basis of works;
that works or a person's personal holiness or lack there of has nothing to do with the selection.
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otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
If it did, grace wouldn't really be grace would it?
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What then?
So, if God hasn't reject his people but has saved a remnant, what does it all mean?
p Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking.
It means that physical Israel failed to obtain what it was looking for, namely righteousness in the eyes of God.
The elect obtained it,
Don't get me wrong, the remnant that was sovereignly chosen by God did obtain this righteousness
but the rest q were hardened,
But the rest of the Jews were hardened by God and will not be saved.
as it is written, r “God gave them a spirit of stupor,
This hardening of many Jews was written about in Isaiah! He said, "God, gave them a senseless spirit,
s eyes that would not see
he has blinded them from the truth of how to obtain righteousness
and ears that would not hear,
and he has made it so they refuse to hear and believe the truth
down to this very day.”
and he continues to do these things even today
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And David says, t “Let their table become a snare and a trap,
Still aren't convinced? Look, david says it too! "God let them be caught up with good food and drink,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
and let them miss the truth and pay dearly for it.
let their eyes be darkened
close their eyes to the truth
so that they cannot see,
so that they cannot see that grace through faith is the means of obtaining the righteousness of God
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and bend their backs forever.”
Let them miss this truth and continue to try working their way to God forever, but never come any closer!"
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Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.