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“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.” (Romans 11.1-6; emphasis mine, jb).

First, notice the question which Paul answers, the question about God casting away His people. “Certainly that is not the case,” Paul responds. How can it be proven that this is not the case? Again hear Paul: “For I also am an Israelite.!” His argument is ironclad! If God had castaway His people [i.e. all His people], then Paul would also have been cast away. However, since Paul was not cast away [He was one of the elect], it follows that the charge that God had cast away His people was erroneous! Such begins the tremendous truths found in Romans chapter 11.

The general topic is, as today's title indicates, The Election of Grace. The further proof of Paul's claim concerning this election is rooted in Old Testament history. Although it can be correctly said that Israel was God's chosen people, it was and is incorrect to conclude that God's choice as pertains to salvation was without condition! Notice Paul's example, the example which he says is like the situation that existed at the time the book of Romans was being penned. He goes back to Elijah's days in which Elijah thought that everyone had gone astray other than himself (see 1 Kings 19.1-18). At that time Elijah's thinking about God's people and their election was incorrect inasmuch as there were some (seven thousand at least) whom God had not cast away! Though Israel was, as a nation, God's chosen people and that without condition, this choice clearly was not a choice to salvation! Rather, the choice of Israel was a choice as to the lineage of Christ.

Israel's election as pertains to salvation was an election which was conditional! Mark that fact and mark it well! Who were God's elect at the time Elijah was quoted? The answer was not Israel as a whole; rather there was a righteous remnant, a portion of the whole, that was God's elect as pertains to salvation. This part of the whole, this righteous remnant, was likened to the situation in Paul's day and God's election of grace. How did the remnant of Elijah's day become the elect? The answer lies in what they did in response to God's simple commands and was conditional as regarded those commands. The elect in Elijah's days were those who had resisted the temptation to bow in submission to Baal!

How does that compare to the election of grace in Paul's day? The analogy is precisely stated! Just as there was a remnant then, there was a remnant as Paul wrote. Just as only a portion of Israel was elect in Elijah's time, so it was during Paul's time. Just as the election in Elijah's time was according to grace, just so it was as Paul wrote. Just as that election was condition in Elijah's time, so that election was and is condition under the gospel system! Grace does not exclude condition; it does exclude the work of man's own devisings!

Questions:

1. Were some in Israel during Elijah's lifetime not elect as pertained to salvation?

2. Were some in Israel during Paul's lifetime not elect as pertained to salvation?

3. Since the answer to questions 1,2 is affirmative, what distinguished the elect from the non-elect during Elijah's time (allow the scripture to answer, please)?

4. If conditional election in Elijah's time did not violate the principle of grace, isn't it possible that conditional election under the gospel system can also exist without violation of the principle of grace?

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

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