Election of Grace


Previous Page: The Elect in Romans Are Israelites

Romans 11:5, “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election [ekloge εκλογη] of grace.

This was spoken of the encounter of Elijah and the 400 Israelite prophets of Baal. Just when Elijah thought all was lost, God informed him that He had reserved 7000 that had not followed the evil ways of Baal. And thus, in like manner, most of Israel, who had been chosen, elected by God to be the conduit of blessing to the world, had rejected that special calling.

This concords with what Jesus stated in Matthew 22:14, “few [the Jews] are chosen” and that small group had for the most part rejected the special RSVP that God had sent to them to come to the wedding feast.

Paul continues in Romans 11:7, “What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect [ekloge εκλογη] have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.”

It must be noted that the word elect here is in fact feminine singular– demonstrating that it is not speaking of “the elect ones” (masculine plural eklektoiεκλεκτοι) but “election”. This means that in both Romans 11:5 and 11:7 the term is “election” thus God’s action of selecting Abraham, Isaac, Jacob to the be the recipients of the promises (Rom 9:4-5).

The entire context of the elect and election has to do with Israel as evidenced by Paul’s statement in Romans 11:11, how they, the Jews, “have not stumbled so as to fall… On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make the Jews jealous.”

The biblical “election of grace” is not Calvin’s idea of God choosing some to eternal life and others to eternal damnation; it is rather God choosing the Jewish race, which was based purely on God’s grace and not their righteousness.
God spoke this through Moses.

Deuteronomy 9:5, “It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

That the election of grace is referring to God’s choosing of the fathers is further established.

Romans 11:12 & 15, “Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their fall means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

Israel, nationally speaking, rejected the invitation to come to the wedding feast when the Bridegroom came which thereby translated into riches for the Gentiles.

However, the election of grace, that is God’s making promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their seed, was an irrevocable call which is why Paul says about the unbelieving Jews.

Romans 11:28-29, “Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

Paul probably had Jeremiah 31:35-37, among other passages, in mind when speaking of the irrevocability of God’s promise. God had called Israel to himself and would never let them go completely.

Romans 11:2, “God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.”
Peter also confirms that God foreknew the Israelites, in 1 Peter 1:2, “to the pilgrims of the Dispersion elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father

God chose Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants for a special purpose. His choosing them (election) had nothing to do with the Calvinistic idea of predestination to eternal life and eternal damnation. Though the Jews were elect, they were not automatically saved. They for the most part had rejected the invitation to the wedding feast and as such were blinded but they would be restored in the end.

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