In grace, God chooses to love his people.
Elijah had just come from Mt. Carmel. He saw the Lord send fire from heaven. He heard the crowd shout in one voice, “The Lord—he is God!” He felt the rain fall again as the drought that lasted over three years ended at the words of his prayer. What prophet of the Lord had ever known such vindication or a greater victory?
Then came the message from Queen Jezebel, who vowed revenge and promised to claim his life. Fear sent Elijah running as this victory turned to ash. He ran all the way to Mt. Sinai, where God asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me.” It didn’t work! God’s word must have failed. God rejected his people, or actually, here Elijah is urging God to reject his people because most of the people of God had turned to wickedness and idolatry.
Paul considers some of the same points in Romans. The gospel of Jesus had been proclaimed for a generation by this point, but so many of his fellow Jewish people did not believe it. They didn’t consider Jesus the Messiah. Indeed, many worked vehemently and violently against Jesus and his followers. Paul had been one of them. These people had heard and seen God’s saving work, and it wasn’t just with Jesus. Paul points to the time of Moses, and he points again to the time of Isaiah. So what about the Jews? Why don’t they believe? Why are they treating fellow believers so poorly? Maybe it didn’t work! God’s word must have failed. God rejected his people.
Maybe you can relate. Nearly two millennia of Christian preaching have taken place. Many do not know Jesus, many have turned away from him, many claim to follow him but proudly contradict his teachings, and many live contrary to his teachings in any number of ways. Maybe it didn’t work...
Is that what happened? “Did God reject his people? By no means!” Paul says in Romans 11:1. What was God’s answer to Elijah? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” The church remained; there were still believers. What did Paul say about people of his day? He points to himself as an answer. “I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham…God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.” The church remained; there were still believers, even among the Jews. God did not reject his people. His word did not fail. The gospel worked, even if only a remnant wanted to hear it. Grace is always there, even if only a remnant was looking for it. What does that say to you today?
In grace and through a love that is never deserved, God chooses to love his people. In eternity before the world began, God in grace chose Paul and Elijah and Moses and Isaiah and you and me and all who will be saved for salvation. He then worked through all of history to bring his plan of salvation to fulfillment in Christ. He then continued to work through history to bring the gospel down through the centuries and across oceans to you. He made sure it would reach you, and through that gospel, he worked faith, which receives what Jesus worked for you. So, he will also guide your life in grace to see that you are delivered safely to your heavenly home.
So grace remains grace; we can’t claim God’s love by works. Grace prompted God to choose you and plan your salvation. Grace brought Jesus from heaven to the cross for you. Grace sent you a preacher to proclaim the gospel, to baptize you, to commune you. Grace brought faith to your heart, which began life dead in sin. Grace has brought you into the body of Christ, the church. What a glorious mystery, even if all you get to see of the church with your eyes is a disappointing remnant. One day, grace will close your eyes here only to open them again to see the face of Jesus in heaven.
Praise God for always preserving his church. Praise God for choosing you to be part of that remnant. Praise God for his grace.
We read Romans 10:18–11:6:
But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.” And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
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