“By no means!” (1)
[Romans 11:1-10]
Have you ever felt abandoned in your life? Have you ever felt abandoned by your beloved parents, or abandoned by your beloved husband or wife, or abandoned by your beloved children, or abandoned by your dear friends? The psalmist David cries out in Psalm 22:1 – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” What do you feel through David's groaning? I have the feeling that David was abandoned by the God he loves. In fact, God did not forsake the beloved David, but David had the feeling that he was abandoned by God. Have you ever felt, like David, that you have been abandoned by the God you love? Have you ever felt that you were abandoned by God in despair when you felt the limit of endurance due to long suffering when you cried out, ‘O Lord, how long?’ and when there is no answer to God no matter how much we cry out to God?
If we look at Romans 3:4, 6, 9, which we have already meditated on, Paul wrote a letter to the saints in Rome and said three times, “Not al all!” (v. 4), “Certainly not!” (v. 6), “Not all all!” (v. 9) What is Paul euphemistically denying three times here?
- Apostle Paul euphemistically denies that our unbelief can never destroy God's faithfulness (3:3-4).
“If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Tim. 2:13).
- Paul euphemistically denies that God can never be unrighteous (Rom. 3:5-6).
The more our lies are exposed, the more we realize God's truthfulness. The more our unfaithfulness is exposed, the more we realize God's faithfulness. Because of the true and faithful presence of God, the more our unrighteousness is revealed, the more clearly God's righteousness is revealed (v. 5).
- Paul euphemistically denies that we are never better (v. 9).
Why did Paul tell the saints in Rome that we are never better? The reason is because both Jews and Greeks are under sin (v. 9). In addition to these words in Romans 3, the Apostle Paul says, “By no means!” twice in Romans 6 (vv. 2, 15), twice in Romans 7 (vv. 7, 13) and once in Romans 9 (v. 14). In Romans 6:2 and 15, Paul says, “By no means!” because we who have already died to sin cannot live in sin (v. 2) and shall not sin (v. 15), and we are no longer under the law but under grace. He said in Romans 7:7 (“Is the law sin? Certainly not!”) and 7:13 (“Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means!”), and in Romans 9:14, “Is God unjust? Not at all!”
In today's text, Romans 11:1, Paul continues to write letters to the saints in Rome, saying "By no means.” What does Paul euphemistically deny by saying, “By no means!” here? It is none other than that God never forsakes His chosen people. Look at Romans 11:1a – “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! …” After Paul constantly reminded the fact that Jesus was inviting the disobedient Israelites with stretched arms all day long in Romans 10:16-21, coming to Romans 11:1, he clearly said that God has never forsaken His chosen people, even though the Israelites now do not believe in Jesus and disobey the gospel of Jesus. As he did so, Paul presented two evidences in today's text:
The evidence that Paul first presented to the saints in Rome to prove that God never abandoned His chosen people was Paul himself.
Look at Romans 11:1 – “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.” Here Paul introduces himself on three sides: (1) an Israelite, (2) the seed of Abraham, and (3) the tribe of Benjamin. Although Paul, like the Israelites, who did not believe in Jesus and disobeyed the gospel of Jesus, Paul himself was an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, and a Benjaminite from the tribe of Benjamin, to which King Saul, the smallest of the 12 tribes, belonged, he persecuted the Christians who followed Jesus and slandered the church of Christ, by God's total grace, he met the resurrected and ascended Jesus on the road to Damascus and presented the fact that he was justified by God by faith in Jesus as the first evidence to the saints in Rome. In this way, Paul himself was an unbelieving Israelite, but just as he was saved through meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul thought that among the Israelites there would be people who were chosen by God and would be saved like himself (Park). And he believed that if God could save him (Acts 9:22, 26), He could also save other Israelites (The Bible Knowledge Commentary). Look at 1 Timothy 1:15-16: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” Then Paul said this in Romans 11:2a: “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew ….” In other words, God never abandoned His covenant people, whom He foreknew and chose before the foundation of the world. Rather, God called the believers beforehand, in other words, those whom He foreordained, and those whom He called, He also justified, and those whom He justified, He also glorified (8:29-30). 1 Samuel 12:22 says: “For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own.” Those whom God foreknew, whom He foreordained, He never forsakes for the sake of His great name. Why? It is because God delights in His people. Look at Zephaniah 3:17 – “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
The second evidence that Paul presented to the saints in Rome to prove that God never abandoned His chosen people was the 7,000 people God left behind in the time of Elijah in the Old Testament.
Look at Romans 11:2b-4: “… Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel: ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me’? And what was God's answer to him? ‘I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’” This is a story from 1 Kings 19 and is the conversation Elijah had with God. After Elijah fought against the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and was victorious, Queen Jezebel, wife of King Ahab, sent a messenger to Elijah and said, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them” (1 Kgs.19:2). So, Elijah ran away for his life and went into the wilderness by himself. The essence of this conversation is the fact that God has left seven thousand people who have not bowed the knee to Baal (an idol) (v. 18). After Paul said that God left seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal in the days of Elijah, he said in Romans 11:5 – “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” What he is saying is that not only did God reserve a gracious elect in the time of Elijah, but also in the time of Paul, and even now, God has retained a gracious elect of His people. In this way, God's chosen people whom God has left behind are of grace, not of human works (v. 6). This remnant was chosen by God's sovereign will and received salvation by believing in Jesus. And other people who were not chosen by God hardened their hearts in unbelief (v. 7). These unchosen, hard-hearted people still have blinded eyes and deaf ears in their spirits of stupor and refuse to receive the truth of God. So, there will be eternal judgment and their backs will always be bent due to the gravity of their sins since God's wrath and retribution are with them (vv. 8-10).
Sometimes during Wednesday prayer meetings, I sing praises to God with gospel songs. Among the gospel songs often sung is “Abide in Me.” The song's lyrics are: “For I am the Lord your God, so abide in Me Your Deliverer and Protector, a Shelter from the storm Don’t tremble with fear. Surely I will help you. I am holding your hand, so do not be afraid. I have called you by name; you are Mine. You are Mine and I am the Lord your God. You are precious in My sight and you are highly honored. I, the Lord your God love you. I the Lord your God love you.” When I sing this gospel song, I often think of Isaiah 43:1b, 4a when I think of the lyrics “You are Mine … You are precious in My sight and you are highly honored”: “… "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. … Since you are precious and honored in my sight ….” I find great comfort and strength in the fact that God loves me, chose me, redeemed me, considers me precious and honorable, and says that I am His. Will God, who loves us so much, forsake us? The Bible clearly says: “By no means!” How could Heavenly Father, who loves us even to the point of giving up His only begotten Son, Jesus, on the cross, forsake us? Certainly not!