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They became the remnant on their own, and

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he kept them alive.

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You might think that that would be implied

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in the words, kept for myself.

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The problem with that is, it would not

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help Paul's argument at all if that's what

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he were saying.

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Because the question that he's trying to answer

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here is not, Are there believing Jews who've

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been kept from dying, who've been kept alive?

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That's not the question.

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The question is, are Israelites believing in being

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saved and inheriting the covenant promises?

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And it looks like it isn't happening, or

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it's not happening on the scale that it

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should if God keeps His promises.

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Now that, he has to answer in a

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different way.

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Verse 4, I have kept for myself 7

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,000 men.

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Does not mean I saw to it that

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they stayed alive.

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It means I saw to it that they

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were faithful.

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I saw to it that they believed.

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Now that makes Paul's argument work.

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That's exactly the point that he draws out

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of Elijah's day for his own day.

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Just as God kept for Himself a people

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believing, just as He saw to it that

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there would be 7,000 who believed in

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Him, so too today there is a group

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chosen by grace.

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In other words, the link between Elijah's day

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and Paul's day is not historical likelihood, but

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divine certitude.

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God did it there, and since He has

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power and authority and commitment and rights, He

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will and He does do it here.

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Paul says, I myself am a Jew.

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That's the connection that he makes.

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So also, there is a remnant chosen by

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grace.

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The way God did the choosing was by

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grace.

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That's what we need to think about.

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What does it mean that election or God's

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choosing of a remnant for Himself is by

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grace?

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This is huge.

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Paul evidently thought the point of it would

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be missed at the end of verse 5.

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Knowing that it's relevant for history, it's relevant

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for your life, it's relevant for how you

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pray, how you witness, it's relevant for your

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marriage, it's relevant for your faithful obedience of

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missions and your sacrifices of love, he now

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says, so too at the present time there's

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a remnant chosen by grace or there's an

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election.

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It's according to the election of grace.

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And then he adds this, verse 6.

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If it is by grace, it is no

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longer on the basis of works.

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Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

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In other words, Paul is really jealous, really

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jealous that we not turn grace into something

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else with a wrong understanding of election and

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how God preserves a remnant for Himself.

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He really is jealous.

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That's why he adds that amazing verse 6.

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If it is by grace, that is, if

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keeping a remnant for myself by election is

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by grace, then it's not by works and

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otherwise grace wouldn't be grace and I don't

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want grace not to be grace and so

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I'm telling you this, let grace be grace.

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And I wonder if you know what grace

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is.

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Let's remove a misunderstanding here immediately.

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Notice something.

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He is not contrasting works and faith, which

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he does often.

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Romans 3.28, Romans 9.32. Faith is

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not mentioned in these verses.

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He's not contrasting works and faith.

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He's not saying works are the sort of

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thing you do that earns God's favor and

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faith is the sort of thing you do

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that receives God's favor freely.

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That's true and not here at all.

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Very important.

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That's not the point.

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What does he contrast?

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He contrasts not works and faith but works

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and grace.

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Verse 6.

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If it is by grace, it is no

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longer on the basis of works.

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Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

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So the contrast is not between two kinds

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of human acting.

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It's between all human acting and divine human

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acting.

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That's really important.

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Things people do and grace.

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That's the contrast here in this text.

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And he says, if election, if God's choosing

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of people is based on what they do,

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grace is no longer grace.

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If we provide the decisive act in causing

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our election, it is not an election of

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grace.

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It is a response to our decisive work.

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Whatever the thing is, we provide.

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Think of it for a moment.

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What meaning could it have for election to

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be gracious if it depended on our decisive

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initiative?

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God contemplating in eternity, as it were, waiting

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in eternity, wondering, as it were, in eternity,

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what will they do with the will that

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I have given them?

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Waiting, watching.

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What possible meaning would gracious election have if

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He waited and we decided and determined and

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constrained that act of election?

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It would be wholly dependent on us.

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How could that be called grace?

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God would be a responder.

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We would determine His action.

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And grace would no longer be grace.

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Let me try to confirm the trajectory that

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we're on here.

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Let's go back to Romans 9, because what

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he's doing here is reasserting what he said

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in Romans 9, 11, and 12.

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So it would be good to confirm this

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with a more detailed statement of it, which

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we saw a couple of years ago in

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Romans 9, 11.

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What God is doing, or what Paul is

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doing here in Romans 9, is describing God's

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free choice of Jacob over Esau before they

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were born.

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And he says this, verse 11 of chapter

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9.

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Though they were not yet born and had

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done nothing, either good or bad, in order

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that God's purpose of election might continue, not

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because of works, but because of Him who

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calls, she was told, the older will serve

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the younger.

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You see the parallels all over the place,

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don't you?

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Human works are mentioned and they are contrasted

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with free grace in election.

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Nothing that they had done, either good or

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bad, before they were born, constrained God's choice

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of Jacob over Esau.

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What does he contrast faith with?

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God's calling.