Tonight at sunset, members of the Jewish community will celebrate the festival of Yom Kippur, also known as the Day (yom) of Atonement (kippur). This feast was ordained by God in Leviticus as the day in which the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of a lamb on the top of the Ark of the Covenant. This was the space between the golden cherubim and was called “the mercy seat.” (Leviticus 13 & 26)

While that is very interesting, what does it symbolize for us today? Glad you asked!

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:11-15 NASB)

In Christ, we now do not need to wait for a yearly day of atonement in order to be forgiven. Nor do we have a high priest who is continually offering he sacrifice of His blood to atone for our sins.

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (Hebrews 9:24-28 NASB)

This is a one time sacrifice that has been offered once-for-all and needs never to be repeated. As a sacrifice of infinite value, it cannot be added to.

By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:10-14 NASB)

That is why He can continually cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:9) and why we can enter into His presence boldly.

With that in mind, every day is part of the one eternal Day of Atonement for Christians. So we should rejoice in the salvation that has been purchased with the blood of the Lamb of God. Christ has fulfilled the feast, and as our high priest has completed the atonement once for all!

I can’t stand things that rip me off. Whether it’s a vending machine, or a product that doesn’t work as advertised, many of us feel humiliated and/or embarrassed that we have wasted our money, and have nothing to show for it. The same thing is true of our lives. Jehovah God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and asked some penetrating questions, and then gave an open invitation for all who would heed His call.

“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance. (Isaiah 55:1, 2 NASB)

Each of us, at some point in life, have felt spiritually dry. We thirst for fulfillment and satisfaction that somehow evades us. We search n our own and try to figure out some way to quench that longing and only end up filling it with other poor substitutes for genuine nourishment for our souls. In the first verse, God initially calls out to those who realize their spiritual poverty. He r
Invites only those who are conscious of their spiritual bankruptcy and utter helplessness before God. No invitation is wasted on those who have any confidence in their own ability to satisfy their spiritual thirst.

God then says something counterintuitive at first. He tells broke people to “come, buy and eat”! How can that happen? Only because of grace. We are all invited to nourish our souls without paying for it ourselves. What is being offered is of tremendous value, but it is being offered to us freely by the one who alone possesses it and can provide it to us.

God then reiterates the futility of our current predicament. He uses a question to remind us of how we are wasting our substance on things of no eternal value. We are attempting in vain to quench the thirst and satisfy the hunger that can only be filled by God.

How do we partake in this abundance? By listening to the Word of God. Jesus Christ proclaimed that He was the fulfillment of these verses when He said,

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” (John 6:35)

Only as we take in this One, who is the Word of God (John 1:1) that we can experience the joy of having our spiritual hunger and thirst finally satisfied.

So if you have a hunger and a thirst for something real. A hunger for something that is not spiritual junk food, then come to Jesus and be filled. Come to the waters of baptism and delight yourself in spiritual abundance. Heed the advice of the Psalmist and “O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Psalm 34:8)

Isaiah records the invitation in this passage a few verses later.

Seek the LORD while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the LORD,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6, 7)

Our Unconditional Election

Before the comments start coming in asking if I have gone off the deep end, please read this post. To be clear, I am not talking about the “U” in the acrostic for the Calvinist belief system. In one way, I am talking about the exact opposite of that. So here is my premise: we must choose Jesus Christ purposely, obediently, and unconditionally.

Purposely

I have heard it said that “God has no grandchildren” and I believe it is true. Each on of us must come to a personal decision to submit to the lordship of Christ, based on the faith and understanding we have gained from His Word. Infant baptism is not a concept that was taught in the New Testament, and therefore it has no place in a New Testament patterned church. If we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9) and faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17), then there is no way for an infant who can do none of those things to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and submit to His lordship.

Obediently

As James wrote, faith is dead without obedience. Remember, when James is talking about works, he is referring to obedience. When Paul writes about works, he is usually addressing works of the Law, or works of our own merit. All people today are not just called to mentally ascent to a set of doctrines about Christ. We are called to submit to His authority by obedience that is made possible by grace through faith.
Jesus put it this way in John 3.

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36 NASB)

And later on in chapter 8:31 Jesus said:

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; (John 8:31 NASB)

Unconditionally
When we come to Jesus, we must come without reservation or preconditions. Too many are taking Jesus for a test drive to see if He really can make their life more enjoyable. Jesus demands that we come to Him not just as our Savior, but as our Lord as well. When we come to Jesus, our theme needs to be “I Surrender All” or don’t bother coming at all. Jesus is not here to be a welcome addition to your life. He wants to BE our life, but He does not share our lives. We die, and He becomes our very life.

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. (Luke 9:23 NASB)

Paul picks up on this theme as well in Romans 6.

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, (Romans 6:3-5 NASB)

So yes, we can say we believe in unconditional election when it concerns salvation. We just need to be clear that we are talking about our choosing to accept the free gift of salvation in the Gospel message, and that we are placing no conditions upon Jesus to make us footloose and fancy free in this life.

First of all, that was not a typo. I want to briefly take a look at an incident the happened with the Israelites in the wilderness. God was judging them with poisonous serpents. The nation chose to repent, and God gives Moses a cure for the snake bites that is very unusual.

The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:6-9 NASB)

One of the things I wonder is how many people rejected the solution because it was just too easy, or because it didn’t make any sense to them. Many people are that way about salvation even now. Many reject it because it can’t be that easy. There has to be something we have to do to earn salvation rather than just receiving the free gift by faith in the resurrection in baptism! Or even reason that they are not worthy of it because they have so much sin.

But what does this story really have to do with us today? It was a shadow of what Jesus would do for us so many years later. Jesus himself said so.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. (John 3:14, 15 NASB)

Just as the serpent was lifted up for the salvation of all those who will look to Him. But why was it a serpent? In the whole Bible, the serpent represents sin, and Jesus was without sin. How could a serpent represent salvation? Here’s how:

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:20, 21 NASB)

When we look to Jesus, we need to see Him as the one bearing sin. Not just the sin of the world in general, but our personal sin debt. As we look at Him as our atoning sacrifice for sin, we can claim the freedom that He purchased for us from that sin. In fact, we did provide something that day at Calvary. We provided our sins for Jesus to bear for us. When He died, we died with Him so that we can be free from the power of sin.

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. (Romans 6:4-7 NASB)

Now that the sin debt has been paid, we should continue to look to Jesus for the strength to endure. As we look upon Him and what He has done, we also look forward to the day when we, too, will be before the throne of God.

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 NASB)

Have you ever been listening to someone, or just reflecting on a situation and come to the sudden realization that you were wrong? You know, that sinking feeling that you have totally blown it and are helpless to make things right? It is a terrible feeling when it comes from within us, and is even more frightening when it comes from the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. That kind of terrifying reality check is what happened to those gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost in Acts 2.

Peter is bringing his sermon to its end and says this:

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? (Acts 2:36, 37 NKJV)

What hit the audience that day was nothing short of cataclysmic. It would be bad enough to find out that the promised Messiah that you have been waiting centuries for had been killed. But Peter brings home the point that THEY had been the ones to have it done by the Romans! Could there be any sin in the universe greater than the murder of the Sin of God?

The word Luke uses here for being cut to the heart is only used once in the New Testament. It connotes being stabbed in the heart suddenly. This was not a slowly building realization of discomfort. This was a divine piercing through of the heart. And it must have been accompanied by the sudden dread of judgment for what they had done, for in verses 34 – 35 Peter had said,

“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

This was not a picture of someone using you as an ottoman. The picture that would have come to their minds was that of a heel on the neck. These men had been convicted by the true gravity of their sin, and their utter helplessness before a righteous and holy God. It must have been something akin to what Saul of Tarsus felt on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1-9. He was breathing threatenings and murder against the believers, and was knocked off of his high horse in a blinding light. Have you ever wondered how doomed he felt when the voice said he was “Jesus whom you are persecuting”? He went from self righteous anger to “getting up trembling and astonished.”

This is what it means to be poor in Spirit. Before we can come to Christ we must come to the realization that we are hopelessly lost and condemned before God and fully deserving of His wrath. As long as we think we can do anything to rescue ourselves, we are not ready to be saved. Only when we come to that place in our hearts can we truly throw ourselves on His mercy and accept the forgiveness that is being offered, just like they did in Acts 2:38. Peter didn’t leave them hanging there. He told them what they must do in order to accept the free gift of the Grace of God.

There is no hint in apostolic preaching of “try this because Jesus will make your life better” or of “just be a good person.” The method of conviction of the sin of rejecting the Messiah must come first because that is part of the mission of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 16:8-9,

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; (John 16:8, 9 NKJV)

Salvation that begins at the place of utter inability to save ourselves will also result in disciples who are walking with God for the long haul. They are not coming to Jesus because He is really cool and makes them feel good. They are there because only Jesus can rescue them from the judgment to come. Don’t be afraid to talk about how our sins were part of what sent Jesus to the cross with a lost one. We must not neglect the preaching of judgment in our messages, lest we fail to show sinners the reality of their predicament and they someday find themselves standing before the Messiah they have rejected and are eternally lost.

Who did Jesus die for?
Seems like a fairly simple question, and many are surprised to find out that there is heated theological debate surrounding it. One the one side stand those who subscribe to Calvinist theology and claim that Jesus only died for the sins of the elect. The elect are those whom God has predestined for salvation out of the world, as opposed to the reprobate, whom He has chosen for destruction. This is known as the doctrine of “Limited Atonement.”
On the other side stand those who say that Christ died for all, but that the price that was paid is only efficacious for those who obey the Gospel offered by grace to those with faith.

How this question is answered is highly consequential, for it will affect your entire view of the nature of God. Does God only love and save a few, or is there a universal invitation offered in love but which only a few will accept and obey? Let’s see what the Bible says on the matter.

Who has Jesus invited to come to Him?

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (Titus 2:11 NKJV)
That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. (John 1:9 NKJV)
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, (Acts 17:30 NKJV)
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. This He said, signifying by what death He would die. (John 12:32, 33 NKJV)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 NKJV)

What can be seen from these verses is that the call to salvation has gone out to all men, not just to an elect few, and that the invitation is for whoever will believe and obey it. So then, it is reasonable to conclude that the blood that was shed was sufficient for the forgiveness of every sin ever committed.

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 2:2 NKJV)

Do you see the significance of that? The price has already been paid. All that is left is for us to accept that sacrifice through faith when we obey the Gospel. If someone goes to eternal punishment, how much more tragic it is that they will do so in spite of someone having paid their sin penalty for them!

The last words Jesus spoke before ascending to the Father, we’re a command to go into ALL the world and make disciples of all the nations. How? By baptizing them, and teaching them to do all things He had commanded them. (Matthew 28:18-20). It is certainly fitting, then, that the New Testament should end with a call to salvation as well. And it is a call to whosoever will (aka all y’all).

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely…
He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:17, 20 NKJV)

Circumcision By Baptism

Under the Old Testament systems in the Patriarchal and Mosaic covenants, there was a sign instituted between God and Abraham that would show who truly belonged to God. This sign was called circumcision and was instituted by God, because no man would ever have thought of this.

and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. (Genesis 17:11 NKJV)

But circumcision is no longer a requirement today. It has been replaced by baptism (amen) as stated by the Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Colossians chapter 2.

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (Colossians 2:11, 12 NKJV)

In former times, circumcision was a sign between man and God, but under the New Covenant, it is that and so much more! For Abraham, the circumcision of the flesh occurred after faith, so Romans 4:9-12 says he was justified by faith before the circumcision happened. But in baptism, the saving faith by which one is justified before God happens simultaneously with immersion.

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. (Romans 2:28, 29 NKJV)

So now, instead of a sign on our flesh, God uses baptism to mark or hearts permanently as His. This is a mark that only God can see. Someone can say they have the mark, but only God knows if they are true or not. At is why their praise is from God, and why we need to be satisfied with little or no praise and recognition from men. We must learn that only God’s approval matters in the end.

When people witness our baptism, they are not just watching as a soul is saved. They are seeing a circumcision take place. By salvation being a public thing, we are telling all who see it that we desire to be in covenant relationship with Jesus. Like it said in Colossians 2, as we participate in the death, burial and resurrection at baptism, we enter into the covenant that His blood was shed to inaugurate for us. And because of the faith we have in the “operation of God” that is transferring us from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of the Son, our faith and obedience combine to spiritually mark us and set us apart for God.

As we move later into Romans chapter 11, we find the theme for this passage.

For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins. 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. (Romans 11:27-29 NKJV)

The rejection of Israel is temporary, not because of effort or merit. The eventual re-grafting of Israel is based completely on the nature of God. While humans may change their minds or dissolve a contract, God is perfect and His word is unalterable. Once God makes an unconditional promise, He will never renege on it. To do so would mean His promise was less than perfect. And God made these covenant promises with full knowledge of what would happen in the future. God has no “Plan B” and He will never need one.

In the previous verses, Paul reiterates the temporary nature of Israel’s blindness.

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; (Romans 11:25, 26 NKJV)

Who is the group being referred to as “all Israel” here? It is made up of the true children of Abraham. Those who have faith, whether born as Gentiles or Jews. And there will come a day when the last of the Gentiles who God foreknows will obey the Gospel is saved, and the blindness is taken away, and masses of Jews turn to the Messiah and are grafted back into the olive tree.

For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. (Romans 11:30-32 NKJV)

Just as we, as Gentiles, we’re once lost and walking in disobedience, and received mercy for salvation, God will cause Israel to turn from their disobedience because of His mercy. Thus, God will have saved both groups for one reason alone. Because He decided to do it!
Paul makes it clear that we are not qualified to determine the reasons God does things. It’s not about us, or what we think should happen. God’s ways are beyond our ability to fully fathom.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36 NKJV)

It’s not about us. It’s about the glory of God. Period! And so both groups, Jew and Gentile alike, will fulfill the plan of God together. We can’t do it without them, and they can’t complete it without us. I will finish this one with what the Hebrew writer said:

And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us. (Hebrews 11:39, 40 NET)

I hope you’ve got some time on your hands, because we are going to analyze every verse about Israel in the Bible. Okay, just kidding. What I really want to do is to take a closer look at what Paul has to say about the nation of Israel in Romans 11. See? It doesn’t seem so bad by comparison, does it!
From doing so, I plan to show two things.
1. Israel’s rejection is not total; and,
2. Israel’s rejection is not permanent.

God’s Rejection Of Israel Is Not Total

I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, Lord , they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life? But what does the divine response say to him? I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day. And David says: Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes
be darkened, so that they do not see, And bow down their back always. (Romans 11:1-10 NKJV)

Clearly, at the present time, the church which is made up mostly of Gentiles, is what God is using. But that does not mean that He will not use the Jewish people in the future as He promised. If that is not the. As, then how does that reflect on the faithfulness of God, who made certain unconditional and everlasting promises to Israel? God is not capable of being anything but faithful to His Word.

So let’s take a closer look at this passage verse by verse.
I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (Romans 11:1 NKJV)
Has God thrown away His people? Did He finally say that He could not take it any longer and cast them out? To some it would appear to be so, since God is using those of us who have been adopted into the Family of God . It could seem like this was the case.

It is kind of like Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Aaron is under contract to play quarterback for the team. But what would happen if the season started and he started getting full of himself and disregarded the instructions of his coach. He would be pulled from the game and benched. But would he still be a part of the team? Even though he might feel that the team has broken promises to him by keeping him out of the game. But that would not be true. He is still on the team, but he is not on the field. Eventually, he will grow tired, or even jealous, of seeing a second string quarterback in his place on the field, change his attitude, and be put back onto the field when he starts obeying the coach’s instructions.

That is where Israel is right now. They were selected and prepared to fulfill a position before God, but chose to be rebellious. After rejecting their Messiah, they We’re benched and spiritual Israel, the church, has taken their place. But they have not been fully rejected by God. Because of that, Paul can answer his own question in verse 1 with a resounding “no!”

But do we have any other evidence that this is true? Yes, Paul uses himself as evidence. And since God had saved him, and he was an Israelite, then the rejection isn’t a complete one of all Hebrews. The fact that there are some believers of Jewish descent shows that God has not cast off all Jews from henceforth.

God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, Lord , they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life? But what does the divine response say to him? I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. (Romans 11:2-4 NKJV)

“God did not reject his people whom he foreknew.” God knew ahead of time how Israel would reject The Messiah. This was not a shock to Him. And yet he still chose them and gave them a covenant in spite of that. There were many times Israel’s rebellion seemed so total that they were beyond repair. For instance, during the time of the prophet Elijah, he complained, “Lord they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I’m the only one left, and they’re trying to kill me.” It probably seemed to Elijah that God’s plan for Israel had failed, that there were no faithful people left to work through. In verse 4 we find God’s answer to Elijah, “I’ve reserved for myself 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” In other words, God had a remnant, a small number of faithful Israelites, to work through and fulfill his promises even in the worst of times. According to verse 5 the same is true today.

Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. (Romans 11:5, 6 NKJV)

There are not huge throngs of Jewish Christians, but there are a few. Because that is true, it cannot be said that God has negated his promises or completely rejected his people. Why are these remnant Jews saved today? Is it because they were more deserving, or worked harder at it than other Jews? Of course not! Paul answers that in verse 6 by saying they were chosen by grace. What is different is that they chose to obey the Gospel of grace instead of trying to earn God’s approval by law keeping.

But why are there so many who reject the grace of God in Christ Jesus? Paul answers that question in the next verses.

What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day. And David says: Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them. (Romans 11:7-9 NKJV)

Paul’s point is that, as a general rule, the have their hearts “hardened” to the Gospel message. And hard ground resists seeds planted on it. This is the consequence of their resistance to the Messiah. It is judgment for rejecting the Gospel when they had the chance to understand and obey it.

There is more contained in these verses, but the point Paul seems to be trying to make is that God’s rejection of Israel was not total. There is a small group of Jewish Christians who are being saved, but this will not always be the case. For the present, there is a minority who believe and a majority who reject Christ. But that leads to the next point.

God’s rejection of Israel is not permanent!.

I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Romans 11:11-15 NKJV)

Is this fall permanent? In other words, is God finished with Israel forever? According to Paul, that is not the case. At some point, they will get back into the starting line up and be back in the game with us. This is important because so many have been taught “Replacement Theology” where the promises to Israel were forfeited and they have been replaced by the Church. Unfortunately, this has also led to some anti-Semitism, which is totally contrary to what Paul is teaching here about the attitude gentile Christians should have toward the Jewish people.

Paul even makes a point of showing how this has been a benefit to us, because salvation has come to the Gentiles because of it. Only God can take something so bad and turn it around for good! And if Israel’s loss is our gain, how mu h fuller and richer will it be when they are with us!
And eventually, many will be converted because of our gentile witness, and will be resurrected as a result. Rather than being against the Jewish people, we should be actively praying and sharing the Gospel with those who may listen. Then they too will receive new and eternal life in Christ.

And in the end, physical Israel will rejoin the tree from which they were broken, and join with those of us who have been grafted in. And our love for them, through whom Jesus came into the world, will grow more and more as true Israel, Gentiles and Jews alike, will be saved by their obedience to the Gospel message. When will this happen? I don’t know, but let it not be delayed by our lack of preaching the Good News to them at every opportunity!

Does that statement shock you? Have you been told repeatedly that sinners need to just accept Jesus into their heart and/or invite Jesus into their lives for salvation? Well, in fact, that is not only wrong, it is the exact opposite of what is supposed to happen. Before you delete this or send angry comments, let me explain.

So what is wrong with inviting Jesus into your life? To start with, it puts the focus on you instead of where it belongs, which is on Jesus. The fact is that Jesus is inviting us into HIS life! The call to salvation is a call to die to our lives, in order to be resurrected to life in Christ. As Paul put it in Galatians:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NKJV)

Jesus himself said that if anyone does not pick up their cross daily, they cannot be His disciple (Luke 9:23). There is only one reason for someone to take up a cross — dying! So what we need to do is to give up our lives and enter into His life. It is only after we have given up our lives in exchange for His that He can make all things new. Just as Jesus “emptied himself” (Philippians 2:7) in order to become like us, we must also empty ourselves to be enabled to become more and more like Him.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV)

But what about Revelation 3:20? Doesn’t it say that Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts, and all we need to do is to let Him in? In fact, that verse is not talking about salvation at all. It is a tragic picture of Jesus trying to gain entrance into a congregation of Christians that have decided they have it all figured out and no longer need Him. Our hearts actually appeal to God for a good conscience when we obey the Gospel in baptism! (1 Peter 3:21)

Well then, how do we die and enter into the life of Christ? Paul spelled it all out in Romans 6:3-11.

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:3-11 NKJV)

So rather than do something as foreign to Scripture as repeat a sinners prayer, call on the name of the Lord by being baptized into the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. That’s the key; baptism is the sinners prayer! Don’t invite Jesus into your life. Accept His invitation for you to die to yourself and enter into His life!