Lesson 137
Romans Chapter Eleven
The Faithfulness of God
Romans 11:1 - The Question is Raised
I
say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too
am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
- There is a parable which Jesus Himself told which says,
they have rejected the servants of God (the prophets), but now they have
rejected the Son (Matthew
- It seems most likely that believing Gentiles would be
the ones to raise this question.
After
all, if God does not literally keep the unconditional promises He has made to
the Jews, how can we be assured He will keep His promises to us?
If
God had truly rejected
God's
purpose was much broader, including both Jews and Gentiles as Paul emphasizes
in this chapter.
Look
at the words once more with the emphasis I have given to them:
I
say then, God has not rejected His people, has He?
Who
is the focus? God is the center of
attention.
(1 Samuel 12:22)
Paul's
response, the emphatic negative "May it never be!" is a
reflection of two things.
- First, it expresses Paul's strong reaction to the mere
possibility that God might fail to fulfill His promises
- Second, it expresses Paul's strong reaction also as a
Jew. Notice that he refers to himself
here as an Israelite;
- Paul's reaction is equally appropriate for any Gentile
believer.
If
God fails to fulfill His promises to the Jews, how can any Gentile, any
believer of the Church age feel secure about the promises God has made to them?
Romans 11:2-6 Sovereign Grace:
The Basis for
But
does this also mean that
Is
God finished with
Israel's
hope is certain, because her salvation and restoration are not dependent upon
fallible, sinful men but on the sovereign grace of God.
If
God rejected Israel He would repudiate His choice of them as His people! In fact His foreknowledge would be canceled!
- Satan has often offered, and fallen man has persistently
attempted, to establish a second way--man's righteousness attained through his own
good works.
He
is the "author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).
He
is the One who began the "good work" in us, and He is the One
who will "perfect it" bringing it to its goal/objective (Phil.
1:6).
- On the basis of His eternal purpose, God made unconditional
promises to His people in the Old Testament.
- The fulfillment of these unconditional promises does not
depend on the faithfulness of fallible men but on God.
- The foreknowledge of God refers to His plans, His
purposes, for His people which He has chosen in eternity past.
It
is this foreknowledge which is the basis for
Paul
turns to an incident in the ministry of Elijah to illustrate his point. [Read 11:2b-4]
Due
to the sin of this people, God's judgment was pronounced upon the nation just
as Moses had warned in Deuteronomy 28-31.
When
Elijah after some time stood before Ahab, he challenged the false gods of Ahab
and Jezebel, his wicked wife, to a contest on
In
spite of these events on
Worse
yet, Jezebel vowed to put Elijah to death (19:2).
Paul
wants us to focus on one aspect of Elijah's error and how God interceded.
Did
you notice that in the NASB (as well as the NIV and the KJV) Elijah is said to have pled with God
against
He
ran away because he believed God had, or should have, given up on this
rebellious people.
From
the words which Paul cites in verse 3, we can see why Elijah gave up hope. His
focus was all wrong.
Where
did Elijah place his emphasis?
Elijah's
focus is on
Because
he has fixed his eyes on man rather than on God, Elijah can only see failure.
In
Elijah's mind, man's failure, both his and
Notice that while Elijah's words are man-centered, God's
response in vs:4 is God-centered. It mattered not that
Elijah had failed or even that most of the nation