I Still Choose You

Introduction

The last few weeks we have been giving an introduction to Romans chapter 11, but today we are actually going to jump into the text of scripture. By now, you should be aware that Paul’s primary purpose in writing chapters 9-11 is to explain how God is working with Israel now and in the future. He speaks of His people (vs 1) in this chapter. It clearly refers to Jews whether saved or not saved. He is essentially asking what role does Israel play in all this? Practically speaking, the church of Rome is noticing a shift in Christianity: more and more Gentiles are getting saved and fewer and fewer Jews are getting saved. So it seems that God has rejected Israel. But Paul is going to show that this is not the case. Jesus came unto his own who rejected Him, but that doesn’t mean that God has cast them away. He begins the chapter with that very question:

Has God cast away His people? The word for cast away here has the idea of pushing someone away. Has there ever been a time in your life when you were really upset about something? Maybe someone tries to come and put their arms around you to comfort you, but you push them away. This is the action described here in this word. Has God gotten so fed up with his people that he has pushed them away. He’s done with them. He can’t stand them anymore.

The simple answer is God forbid. The phrase literally means may it never be said. Certainly not. It is outrageous to think that God would shove His people away. God’s rejection of Israel in chapter 11 will neither be complete nor final. The rejection of Israel is not a complete rejection. Not every Jew has been rejected; nor is it final. There is coming a day when the Nation of Israel will all be restored. We can argue about the distinction of individual Jews and the nation of Israel all day. Right now, individual Jews are getting saved, but there is coming a day when the nation will be saved. I read these words that I think sum up God’s perspective towards his people in Isaiah 14:1 “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, And will yet choose Israel, And set them in their own land: And the strangers shall be joined with them, And they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.”

That word yet is so important. Even after all the idolatry, false worship, oppression, impurity, and idolatry in Israel before the Babylonian invasion. Even after God had promised judgment is coming. Even after they faced the horrors of the seige of Jerusalem, God said I still choose you.

This morning I am going to teach through what Paul says about God’s rejection of Israel in vs 1-6 but then I would like to make a practical application to our lives. To begin, how do we know that God hasn’t completely cast off Israel? Paul gives us three proofs that God has not rejected all Jews.

Personal

Romans 11:1 “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.”

Paul’s first argument is the fact that He a Jew was saved. I want you to think about two aspects of how this answers the question. I want you to see how important this claim actually is.

Jews had been saved. Turn with me back to Acts 2:41 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Even on the day of Pentecost, thousands had gotten saved in one sermon. Imagine if I got up and preached a gospel message and thousands got saved. We would say God was bringing Revival to our nation. That’s exactly what happened under Peter’s preaching. Acts 4:4 “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.” So far Christianity has grown to atleast 8,120 people in just the space of a few days. Acts 5:14 “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)” shows us explosive growth. Finally in Acts 6:7 “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” We see multiplication. The reason we looked at all these passages is to show that many Jews had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ. We would call this a revival within our nation if it happened today.

Today, in our time, the nation of Israel as a whole is not saved and don’t forget Paul is not primarily talking about individuals in Romans 9-11 but the role of a nation. And yet, though the nation rejects God, individuals are receiving him. The estimates of Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah vary depending on where you look. Among Messianic Jews, there are about 250,000 in the US and 30,000 in Israel. If you include other groups of Christian Jews, the number can reach 1.5 to 2 million. Considering that there are estimated to only be 15.7 million Jews worldwide according to the Jewish Agency for Israel this is still a significant number.

2. Another reason, this statement is so moving is that Paul who had been a dedicated Israelite, with a great family line from Abraham through Benjamin; Paul a zealous Jew who hated Christians; Paul who had rejected Jesus Christ; Paul who had heard the preaching of Stephen and rejected it, this Paul had been saved. If you had met Paul years earlier, you would have said there was no way he would ever get saved. He was so anti-Christian. He argued against Christianity. He even sought to persecute and kill Christians; but God saved Him. If anyone would have been beyond hope, he would have been. So there is still hope for Israel.

It can be easy to write people off and say well, they will never get saved. The life of Paul reminds us that it is never too late until God says its too late. Either they die or God gives them up to a reprobate mind, but in the end, that is in God’s hands and only he knows when that point has been reached. We would have walked away from Paul in a heart beat, but God did not. So is there hope for Israel, is it true that God hasn’t totally forsaken His people? Yes because individuals are still getting saved.

Theological

Romans 11:2 “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,”

Foreknowledge:

to know beforehand- Acts 2:23 “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:” God’s plan and his knowledge are two separate things in this verse. Peter is saying God knew Christ would die and planned that Christ would die at your hands.

a special relationship Amos 3:2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” This passage doesn’t mean that God did not have knowledge of other nations. Rather it implies a deeper connection. This same concept is often included in the use of the word foreknow.

to elect Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

In this passage, while I think all these meanings combine in the word foreknowledge, I think Paul’s primary emphasis is on the special relationship that God had with Israel. God had called Israel from among the nations and made them his special people. If you go back to the Abrahamic covenant, you will see that this covenant was unconditional. It wasn’t dependent on whether they were good enough. Now the blessings that came were conditional, but God’s covenant relationship with the people of Israel were unconditional. Here’s what that means: God couldn’t have cast them off completely because they were unconditionally His people.

Even in the worst of times, God has not forsaken Israel. Even when they were scattered throughout Assyria and Babylon, God had not forsaken them. Even in recent history when Jews didn’t live in Israel, God had not forsaken them. This special relationship between God and Israel is an everlasting covenant. Genesis 17:7 “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.”

God couldn’t have thrown his people away because that would make him a liar. They are still his special people even today. Just as it grieved the heart of Paul that so many Jews were not getting saved; so it must grieve the heart of God.

Biblical

Romans 11:2–4 “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.”

Paul uses one final example from the OT to show that even in the worst of times, God has not forgotten his people. God’s way of staying faithful to his promises is protecting a remnant among them. In order to prove this Paul quotes from 1 Kings 19:1-18

This is right after Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Baal. God has won a great victory and if they nation had kept their side of the bargain, there would have been massive revival in Israel. King Ahab and Jezebel had led the people in wicked idolatry; so much so that even in the face of a great miracle, the hard hearts of the people do not turn to God. When Elijah would have expected revival, he got persecution instead. (read this text here)

Israel was so given over to idolatry in the days of Ahab that God could have just walked away from them and it would have been just. In fact, Elijah in his depression assumed he was the only one left. He was all alone. Some day I plan to preach a message on depression from the life of Elijah; so I don’t want to get sidetracked in this text. But notice that Elijah says this twice in vs 10 and vs 14. Elijah felt like it was all over, he was the only one left and he wanted to die so God could just come up with another plan.

But God corrects his distorted thinking. Even in the darkest moments, God had preserved 7000. Elijah was not alone even though he felt like he was. The point of the story is this, that even during the dark days of King Ahab when Israel went into idolatry, God still had faithful men who worshipped him.

Conclusion

Romans 11:5–6 “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

Verse 5-6 introduces Paul’s application of the text. Those two words even now indicate the application of what he has been saying. Just like it was in Elijah’s day; so it is today. At this present time- when it seems like so many Jews have rejected Christ, there is still a remnant and God is still faithful to his promises.

The end of the verse reminds us God’s faithfulness is because of the election of grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor in our lives. It isn’t about anything we have done. If it were because of our good, then it would no longer be of grace. I want to make two applications of this text to our lives today and this is a perfect spot to make an application. This week in my devotions I read those words yet will I choose Israel and it hit me: God still chooses me.

Have you ever chosen someone only to find out they weren’t what you thought they were? It’s like choosing a kid to play on your dodgeball team and then finding out he can’t throw. You instantly regret your decision and wish you had chosen someone else.

Or have you ever felt like if people just knew who you were they wouldn’t choose to have anything to do with you? We call this imposter syndrome. Here is the truth of this text: God knew you completely and utterly when he chose you and he still chooses you.

AW Tozer once said:

No Talebearer can inform on us, no enemy make an accusation stick, no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of the closet to abash us and expose our past, no unsuspected weakness in our character can come to light to turn God away from us, since he knew us utterly before we knew him and called us to Himself in the full-knowledge of everything that was against us.

God is not faithful to his promises because we are good. God is faithful to his promises because he is good.

God chose us by grace not by works. My security is not found in what I do. Ephesians 1:6 “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” I am accepted because of what Jesus did not because of what I did. God has not forsaken Israel just because they have forsaken Him and He will not forsake me though at times I go my own way.

There is a second thought here that must be brought out.

Though God still chooses His people in spite of their sin, they do face discipline.

Israel back in Isaiah still went into captivity. Jerusalem was still besieged and destroyed, the nation of Israel still suffered for their sins. But it wasn’t because God had abandoned them. It wasn’t because God didn’t love them any more; rather Hebrews teaches that it was actually because he did love them. Hebrews 12:6 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”

God has chosen us, but it is for that very reason that he deals with our sin. He loves us too much to let us live in self-destructive behaviors. We tend to interpret God’s chastening as God’s abandonment. We either give up or get bitter because of it. But this is the wrong way to look at it. Inspite of how things might seem, God is working my greatest good through this. In Israel, God desired to provoke them to jealousy so they also can be saved.

God has not abandoned His people and He will not abandon you.