Romans 11

Read Romans 11

Verses chosen for meditation: Romans 11:5, 13-14, 20, 26, 33-36 ESV

5. So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

13. Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.

20. That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.

26. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Reflect

What are your thoughts on the word 'remnant'?  Refer also Isaiah 10: 21 and 37: 31.

In reference to Acts 1: 8, do you see a cycle in the making? How can this cycle be completed?

What advice is there for Gentile worshippers like you and me? What are some of the pitfalls that we should avoid?

What is the significance of Paul ending his discourse with a doxology?

What other truths or lessons are there?

Relate

While some may be hung up on numbers, I've always been more interested in the remnant, all thanks to Isaiah 37: 31. It has caused me to see discipleship as a sieve. At the end, what's left and what matters is really the remnant. For only a remnant will be faithful to the end. Then, out of this remnant, something will grow again. For that reason, I'm not excessively disappointed when numbers get smaller. Instead, I've learned to be thankful for the faithful remnant. 

Another interesting observation from the passage is that evangelism goes through a cycle like most things in life. We know for a fact that trends go through a cycle. What's yesteryear's fashion decades back is today's fad. The same goes for evangelism, that which was started in Jerusalem will make its way back to its place of origin.

Over the centuries, countless opportunities have been given to non -Jewish people like us to receive the gospel, wherever it was taken to, through divine agency as well as the blood, sweat and tears of apostles, missionaries, church planters and evangelists. The duty now falls to us to see to its return to Israel. Even then, there's a remnant already chosen by grace. But still, Israel needs to know how much she has missed out and how much she's still within the sovereign will of God.

In that sense, there has been a level playing field as far as receiving the gospel is concerned though the availability of the gospel, the accessibility to it, is still much lacking in some parts of the world and quarters of the world population.

No doubt, there is a lesson to be learned from our Jewish counterparts. The greatest obstacle to receiving the gospel is not opportunity per se, though valid in some situations, but pride. True faith is not proud. Just as love is not proud. 

There is an element of pride in all the arguments that have been levelled against the gospel. It is pride in the guise of logic and reasons. Besides pride, there is also an element of fear, a misplaced fear of persecution and judgement from others, which ironically weighs more heavily than the reverential fear of the God of the gospel.

For even when we cannot connect all the dots or wrap everything around our heads, the big picture should always be God, not ourselves.

That's what happened to Paul when things were too much for him to comprehend, for even someone like him. He broke into a doxology and simply let God be the big picture.

Don't forget that the gospel is God's story. He gave it the greatest love theme of all. He even cast his own son as the central character. And He will see to the end of the story.

What then will your doxology and mine be like?

Rest

Lord, let me be counted among the remnant. Even as things go through a cycle, let me stay true amid the changes. At any stage, may there be zilch pride in me, but enough fear of you. For you are the Most High and your ways are higher. To you be glory and honour forever.

Naville Chia