Devotional Romans 11: The Chosen Remnant and Mercy Reflection on Romans 11: the remnant of Israel saved by grace, why the heart hardens when rejecting God, and the purpose of His mercy. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional Romans 11: The Chosen Remnant and Mercy

Today’s devotional is found in the book of Romans, chapter 11, and this is what took place.

Synopsis: In this letter from Paul addressed to the Romans, he touches upon and explains the following topics: the remnant of Israel, grafted branches, all Israel will be saved, and the doxology.

Observations

These were my observations:

1. The remnant chosen by God’s grace. Paul answers the question that many were asking: Has God rejected His people (the Israelites)? The answer is no; God simply set apart the Israelites who believed in Him and were blessed by grace (Romans 11:1–6). Meanwhile, those who rejected God were given over to their own idols so that those idols might save them (Judges 10:13–15). For when someone runs away from God for a long time, eventually they listen to the Holy Spirit less and less (Hebrews 3:15). And if they are not careful, they end up blaspheming the Holy Spirit—a sin for which there is no forgiveness (Matthew 12:31–32). Because of this, God hardens their hearts forever, and they stop listening to the Holy Spirit (Romans 11:7–8). The same thing happens to us today. When we hear the Word of God being preached, do we accept it or reject it? Today, there are many things competing for our attention, and we are seeking God less and less in our daily lives. This makes us proud because we think we are in control and that everything we achieve is by our own merit. But it is quite the opposite, and this pulls us away from God. Before we realize it, we stop listening to the Holy Spirit and end up blaspheming Him. Therefore, we must always dedicate time to praise God and give thanks for all the blessings in our lives.
2. God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all. This is an observation that might seem unfair. Why does God need to bind us over to disobedience in order to forgive us? Shouldn’t He have given us a less sinful nature so that we wouldn’t sin? These are all excellent questions. First, God is not unfair; He is the essence of justice and mercy (Psalm 145:17). Second, God did not deliberately create us to be disobedient. On the contrary, God created us in His image and likeness, with free will so that we could choose between good and evil and love ourselves, others, and God (Genesis 1:27, 5:1–2). In other words, God created us to be good. But we disobeyed Him and preferred to follow our own path—from Adam down to us. And God, respecting our free will, left us subject to the consequences of our disobedience. When we disobey God and seek to satisfy the desires of the flesh, we sin and become slaves to sin (John 8:34). Consequently, we become increasingly disobedient to God because we get used to sinning, making obeying God harder and harder. This is what subjects us to disobedience. However, God is so good that He sent us His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16–18).