Despite the fact that the majority of Jews rejected Christ in Paul’s day, he was emphatic that God had not co0mpletely rejected them. The fact that Paul himself was a Jew was proof that God had not rejected the Jews.(v.1)
The Jews are still the people group that God chose in advance (the Greek meaning here of the word “foreknew”) for a special purpose. And God doesn’t go back on his promises or change his mind. Even when the prophet Elijah spoke against Israel to God for all they had done against God and his prophets, God revealed he had made sure that some of the Jews remained faithful to him. (v.2-4)
In Paul’s time (and we can observe this today as well), God preserved a portion of the Jews for salvation. This choice was motivated by God’s grace, his undeserved favor. So even though this smaller group of Jews remained faithful to God, it was not because they were Jews or because of their innate goodness or achievements in morality. If human goodness factors into God’s “grace-motivated” choice, then it’s a choice not truly motivated by grace. (v.5-6) Put simply: grace + even a little bit of works = not grace.
Although Israel was looking to be right with God(righteousness), they were trusting their efforts instead of God to make that happen, and so they never achieved what they were aiming for. Instead, those that God chose to obtain righteousness were the ones to receive it, while the others among the Jews became hard and insensitive toward God.
God allows and even brings about this kind of “hardness” to achieve his purposes. (v.8-10) For more on the subject, be sure to go back and look at our examination of Romans 9:19-21.
But even given the “hardness” of the Jews against God, they have not stumbled so badly that they have completely fallen. The Jews are not a lost cause. And even their stumbling has resulted in non-Jews seeing the truth and being rescued from their sin, which in turn serves to make Israel jealous, eventually drawing the Jews back to God when they see what they have been needlessly missing. (v.11)
Next- The Hope For Jews And The Humility We Should Have
Coffee House Question- If we can even partially “earn” our good standing with God, what might that say about God, about us, or about Jesus?
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