The Algebra of Grace and Hardening Text: Romans 11:1-10
Introduction: The Israel Question
We live in a time of great confusion concerning the people of Israel. On the one hand, you have various sentimentalisms that treat the modern secular state of Israel as though it were the kingdom of God on earth, a view that forces Scripture into all kinds of unnatural contortions. On the other hand, you have those who, seeing the general unbelief of the Jewish people over the centuries, conclude that God must have washed His hands of them entirely, breaking His covenant promises. Both positions, in their own way, misunderstand the nature of God's faithfulness.
Paul, having spent three chapters detailing the tragic unbelief of his kinsmen according to the flesh, now anticipates the question that must be burning in the minds of his readers. If salvation is by faith in the Jewish Messiah, and the vast majority of the Jews have rejected this Messiah, does this not mean that God's plan has failed? Has God's Word fallen to the ground? Has God rejected His people? This is not a trivial question. If God can break His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, what assurance do we have that He will keep His promises to us?
The apostle's answer in this chapter is a masterful defense of the sovereignty and faithfulness of God. He will show us that God's plan has not been thwarted in the slightest. Rather, God has been working His plan all along, a plan that operates not on the basis of ethnic descent or human works, but on the basis of His sovereign, electing grace. What looks like a failure from our vantage point on the ground is, from Heaven's perspective, the meticulous unfolding of a perfect and righteous purpose. Here Paul gives us the divine algebra that governs salvation history: the immutable constant of God's grace, and the terrifying variable of judicial hardening.
The Text
I say then, has God rejected His people? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
GOD HAS NOT REJECTED HIS PEOPLE whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
“Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.”
But what does the divine response say to him? “I HAVE LEFT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.”
In this way then, at the present time, a remnant according to God’s gracious choice has also come to be.
But if it is by grace, it is no longer of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.
What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but the chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;
just as it is written, “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.”
And David says, “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.
LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.”
(Romans 11:1-10 LSB)
The Unthinkable Proposition (vv. 1-2a)
Paul begins with the central question and a swift, decisive answer.
"I say then, has God rejected His people? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. GOD HAS NOT REJECTED HIS PEOPLE whom He foreknew." (Romans 11:1-2a)
The question is stark: Has God cast off His covenant people? Paul's response, "May it never be!", is the strongest possible negative in the Greek language. It is a statement of moral and theological horror. The thought itself is repugnant. Why? Because it would make God a liar. It would make Him unfaithful.
As his first piece of evidence, Paul puts himself on the witness stand. "For I too am an Israelite." He is not just any Israelite; he is a descendant of Abraham, from the honored tribe of Benjamin. If God had implemented a blanket rejection of all ethnic Jews, then Paul himself, the apostle to the Gentiles, would be lost. He is Exhibit A that God is still saving Jews.
But the ultimate foundation of this assurance lies not in Paul's existence, but in God's character. "GOD HAS NOT REJECTED HIS PEOPLE whom He foreknew." We must be very clear about what "foreknew" means here. This is not God with a celestial telescope, looking down the corridors of time to see who would choose Him. That would make salvation dependent on man's choice, which is the very thing Paul is about to dismantle. In Scripture, to know is often a term of intimate, covenantal relationship. To foreknow is to fore-love. It means to set one's electing love upon a people before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). God has not rejected the people He has eternally and graciously chosen. His purpose is not fragile; it cannot be broken by human unbelief.
The Elijah Precedent (vv. 2b-4)
To prove his point, Paul does what we must always do: he goes to the Scriptures. He finds a historical parallel in one of Israel's darkest hours.
"Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 'Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.' But what does the divine response say to him? 'I HAVE LEFT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.'" (Romans 11:2b-4 LSB)
Elijah is in utter despair. From his perspective, the apostasy is total. He feels completely isolated. He sees the visible covenant community in utter ruin and concludes that he is the only faithful man left. This is the view from the ground, and it is a feeling that many faithful Christians can sympathize with today as they look at the state of the church and the world.
But God's perspective is entirely different. The divine response corrects Elijah's limited assessment. God says, "I HAVE LEFT for Myself seven thousand men." Notice the active agent here. God did this. These seven thousand did not fail to bow the knee through their own superior moral fiber. They were preserved by the sovereign grace of God. God kept them. He reserved them for Himself. This is the doctrine of the remnant. God has always worked through a faithful remnant, a minority chosen by grace, even when the majority goes astray. The apparent failure of the whole does not mean the failure of God's purpose for the part He has chosen.
The Algebra of Grace (vv. 5-6)
Paul now applies this historical principle to his own day.
"In this way then, at the present time, a remnant according to God’s gracious choice has also come to be. But if it is by grace, it is no longer of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace." (Romans 11:5-6 LSB)
Just as in Elijah's time, so also in Paul's time: a remnant exists. This remnant consists of Jewish believers in Jesus, like Paul, Peter, John, and the thousands converted at Pentecost. And the defining characteristic of this remnant is its origin: it is "according to God's gracious choice." They are saved not because they were smarter, or more spiritual, or more diligent than their fellow Jews, but because God chose them.
Then, in verse 6, Paul gives us the unbending algebra of salvation. He draws a line in the sand with no middle ground. He presents two mutually exclusive principles: grace and works. If salvation is by grace, it cannot be by works. If you introduce even a tiny percentage of human works or merit into the equation, you have contaminated grace to the point that it is "no longer grace." You cannot have it both ways. Grace is not a divine helper to our own efforts. Grace is a divine accomplishment. It is 100% of God, or it is not grace at all. This is a direct assault on every religion of human achievement, including the Pharisaical works-righteousness that characterized so much of first-century Judaism.
The Great Sorting (vv. 7-10)
This principle of sovereign grace results in a great division within Israel, a divine sorting.
"What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but the chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened..." (Romans 11:7 LSB)
Here is the outcome. "Israel," meaning the nation as a whole, sought righteousness before God, but they sought it the wrong way, through works of the law. And so, they did not obtain it. But "the chosen," the elect remnant, did obtain it, because they received it by grace through faith.
And what of "the rest"? The text says they "were hardened." This is a terrifying doctrine, but a biblical one. Judicial hardening is God's righteous judgment upon those who persist in unbelief. When men repeatedly refuse the light of God's revelation, God in His justice gives them over to the darkness they prefer. He confirms them in their rebellion.
Paul is not inventing this doctrine. He immediately anchors it in the Old Testament, showing that this has always been God's way of dealing with covenant-breakers.
"...just as it is written, 'GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.' And David says, 'LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.'" (Romans 11:8-10 LSB)
The quotation from Isaiah and Deuteronomy in verse 8 is explicit: GOD GAVE them a spirit of stupor. This is an active judgment. He gave them eyes and ears that could not perceive the truth of the gospel, even though it was happening right in front of them.
The quotation from Psalm 69 is even more chilling. David's words are applied to the unbelieving Jews. Their "table," which represents their greatest spiritual blessings, the covenants, the Scriptures, the temple, the law, all the things they took pride in, became the very instrument of their downfall. By trusting in their table instead of the Lord of the table, their feast became a trap. Their eyes were darkened, and their backs were bent in a posture of slavery and judgment. This is what happens when God's grace is spurned; the very blessings of that grace become a curse.
Conclusion: The Terrible Comfort
These are hard truths. The doctrines of sovereign election and judicial hardening are not fashionable in our democratic, man-centered age. But they are profoundly biblical, and they are filled with a terrible comfort.
The comfort is this: our salvation, and the ultimate success of God's kingdom, rests not on the flimsy foundation of human will, but on the granite foundation of God's electing purpose. God's promises cannot fail because He is the one who guarantees them and brings them to pass. He has not rejected His people, the true Israel, which is composed of all who are united to the true seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ, by faith.
We should never despair when the visible church appears to be in shambles or when the world seems to be winning. God has His seven thousand. He is always preserving His remnant. The security of the Church does not lie in our numbers, our cultural influence, or our political savvy. It lies in the fact that we are "a remnant according to God's gracious choice."
The terror is this: God is not to be trifled with. The warning of Israel's hardening is a warning to all of us who sit at the table of God's blessings. If we, like them, begin to trust in our church attendance, our baptism, our theological knowledge, or our moral efforts, instead of clinging to Christ alone by faith, then our table too can become a snare. These truths should not lead to pride in the elect, but to profound humility, gratitude, and a holy fear. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.