An
Analysis of Romans 11:1-8
As stated previously, the scope of Gospel Deficiency
is limited by design to an analysis of Calvinism as it pertains
to the gospel of Christ. Inasmuch as many Calvinists claim to have
embraced Calvinism after a reading Romans 9 and 11, we must expand our
scope to include references to Election. As we pointed out in our
analysis of Romans 9:1-24, we must consider the companion text of
Romans 11:1-8 in light of the whole counsel of God, avoiding the
'private interpretation' trap and the imposition of Calvinistic tenets
upon the text. It should be noted that an unbiblical view of election
is largely responsible for the philosophical speculations of Calvinism.
If God arbitrarily elected some sinners to be saved and passed over the
rest, then a Particular Atonement on behalf of the so-called 'elect'
makes perfect sense. For why should or would Jesus die for those whom
he had no intention to save in the first place? Paul
opens Chapter 11 by asking: “Hath God cast away his people?” (11:1).
This inquiry comes on the heels of these two conclusions: (1) Gentiles
had found God, whom they had previously neither sought nor asked after,
and (2) Israel, God's chosen people, continued to languish in
disobedience and denial despite God's standing invitation (“all day
long”) for them to come unto him. Perish the thought, Paul says! He
cites his own pedigree and salvation as evidence that God has NOT cast
away his people. He then makes this assertion: “God hath not cast away
his people which he foreknew” (11:2). The fact that God set his
affection on Israel and elected them to be the conduit through which
the Lord Jesus would come into the world did not guarantee the
salvation of a single Israelite. God foreknew Israel. Yet many of the
foreknown on the national level would perish on the personal level.
Paul was an exception. Paul proceeds to draw a
parallel between himself and Elijah. He was not alone in his Christian
faith any more than Elijah was alone. “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'” (11:2-3). Paul
continues: “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” (11:4). The questions that arise are: Was it God's reserving
of these seven thousand individuals that accounted for their refusal to
bow the knee to Baal? What does it mean for God to “reserve” folks? Is
the verb “reserved” here synonymous with “elected”? If so, to what were
those seven thousand men elected? Does it mean that God intended to
save ONLY seven thousand from the entire nation? The verb “reserved” is kataleipo (kata=”down” + leipo=”to
leave”). It means to leave, leave behind or abandon. In its twenty-five
NT usages, it is translated “leave” (22x), “forsake” (2x) and “reserve”
(1x). The aorist (past) tense with the reflexive “to myself” indicates
personal action that goes beyond a mere leaving behind. The use of
“remnant” in 11:5 demands the stronger “reserved” translation. It is
NEVER translated “elected” or as any equivalent. Its contextual usage
in Romans 11, however, does create a strong association with
election. There are two phrases in our text
that lend themselves to a proper interpretation. The first is “who have
not bowed the knee to Baal.” The second is “the election hath obtained
it.” Bowing the knee to Baal is an act of worship and service. The
seven thousand men God reserved to himself, by implication, bowed the
knee to the One true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Even as
Elijah properly worshiped and served the One true God, so also did the
seven thousand men. Elijah was not alone. Election in the scripture
ALWAYS has reference to service, not personal salvation, In the one
place where Paul said the Thessalonian believers were “chosen to
salvation”, the context clearly teaches that the salvation in view is
deliverance from the Day of the Lord, the Great Tribulation. The
conditions that made this privilege of deliverance possible were
“sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thessalonians
2:13). No man is ever elected (chosen) until he hears the Spirit's
voice and believes the gospel. Election is one of the many “spiritual
blessings” that one must be “in Christ” to enjoy (Ephesians 1:3). For
these seven thousand men, who remained faithful in their worship and
service, they were first elected to perform that service and reserved
as a result of their faithfulness. Paul affirms
there is a remnant today as there was in Elijah's day (11:5-6). God is
still in the reservation business. The “election of grace” accounts for
the remnant. In 11:6, Paul painstakingly juxtaposes the concepts of
“grace” and “works” as he did 3:26-28, 4:4-5 and 4:16. The election of
grace has faith as its operative principle or entry point. Paul stated:
“It is OF FAITH that it might be BY GRACE“ (4:16). In contrast to the
false assertions of Calvinism, grace and faith are NOT mutually
exclusive. Faith on the part of the sinner is absolutely essential for
grace to work. Scripture teaches the mutual exclusivity of GRACE and
WORKS, not grace and faith. A fatal flaw of Calvinism is reckoning
faith as a work when scripture clearly distinguishes between the two.
Faith depicts the sinner approaching a Holy God with empty hands,
acknowledging his total dependence upon the WORK Christ accomplished on
his behalf. Faith is full acknowledgment of the futility of works.
Calvinists are bound by their rationalistic system of thought to
misconstrue faith as work. Grace and faith are biblical friends. Grace
works through faith. Calvinists often accuse
those that reject the Five Points of Calvinism as being opponents of
grace. Such is not the case. Opponents of the Five Points readily
acknowledge that: (1) no lost man ever seeks after God unless drawn by
grace through the Spirit, and (2) it is grace that enables a lost man
to believe on Christ. Salvation begins with grace and ends with grace.
It's ALL of grace! But scripture teaches God's saving grace needs faith
to make it operative. Grace looks for faith! One main difference
between the Calvinist and the Biblicist is the insistence by the
Calvinist that grace is irresistible, that regeneration of the elect by
grace prior to faith makes faith in Christ inevitable. The Biblicist
follows the teachings of Jesus, John and Paul, insisting that God
regenerates lost men in response to faith in Christ, a faith that's
impossible apart from God's drawing grace. In this regard, Calvinism
treats its 'elect' no differently than a vending machine of bottled
sodas where God inserts a dollar bill of regeneration, pushes a button
and waits for faith to come forth. The election of grace is inclusive
of faith and exclusive of works. Failure to acknowledge this biblical
distinction results in the theological trainwreck called Calvinism. The
phrase “the election hath obtained it” is critical to understanding the
passage. Notice that Paul does NOT say: “The election WILL obtain it.”
That's what he might have said IF the Unconditional Election doctrine
of Calvinism is the correct theological view. The verb “obtained” is epilygchano (epi=”upon” + lygchano=”to
chance, attain, obtain”). In every NT usage (5x), it's translated
“obtain.” Paul uses the aorist (past) tense for both “Israel” and
“Election.” The former had not [yet] obtained what they were seeking
for; the latter had obtained it. We add 'yet' because Paul uses the
present tense to describe the seeking of Israel, signifying that, at
the time Paul wrote Romans, Israel as a nation was STILL seeking God's
righteousness, but had yet to obtain it. The righteousness of God is
obtainable ONLY by faith (Romans 10:31-32). As part of the present-day
remnant, Paul had obtained it. Therefore a member of the “Israel” class
could STILL become a member of the “Election” class by believing on
Jesus Christ, as did Paul. The groups “Israel” and “Election” are not
static or fixed. They are dynamic (in flux) at any given moment in
time. This truth is apparent from the singular
form of “election.” The election is a snapshot in time. But at any
given moment, whether it consists of one million or ten million chosen
vessels, it remains ONE elected body. If Calvinism is correct, there
are many members of the election that have not yet obtained to the
righteousness that comes by faith. But scripture teaches ALL the elect
have found and obtained to the righteousness of God. That's why no one
can lay a charge against God's elect, ALL of whom are justified (Romans
8:33). The number (size) of the election can and does grow daily. But
regardless of its number, it's ONE elected body, a snapshot, at any
given moment in time. The phrase “the rest were blinded” requires analysis. The verb “blinded” is poroo
(“to make stony, to make dull or hard, to callus”). It is passive in
voice, which means their hearts were made callused by an outside
influence. It is the word Mark used in 6:52 when describing how the
disciples were “hardened” (or callused) because they failed to consider
the miracle of the loaves earlier that day. Question: Is God the source
of Israel's blindness, or were they blinded (callused) by their own
failure to consider the claims of Christ? It is abundantly clear that
God has given Israel the spirit of slumber (11:8). Based on the usage
of poroo, however, the
callusing that unbelief produces is not necessarily permanent. Even as
those callused disciples became ardent followers of Jesus Christ, even
so can blinded Israelites find the righteousness of God they seek for
through proper consideration of the gospel. A blinded Israelite, if the
Spirit of God breaks through the calluses, can believe the gospel,
obtain to God's righteousness by faith, and become a member of the
election. This blindness “in part” is not necessarily a permanent
condition. The apostle Paul is the prime example! The
scripture knows nothing of a lost elect man. A strict Calvinist
interpretation of Romans 11:1-8, and imposition of a Calvinist
template, convolutes the text. The doctrines of Calvinism simply CANNOT
be supported from Romans 9-11 based on exegetical, contextual and
expository treatment of the text. Bottom line: If you're IN CHRIST by
virtue of grace operating through faith, you are elected IN HIM to
serve God and equipped BY HIM with the spiritual gift(s) necessary to
perform the service to which God called and elected you.
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