| THE ELECT REMNANT
by D. B. Moore
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the
election of grace... Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the
election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (Ro 11:5-7)
Romans was the last book written by Paul during the Acts period. We find the
expression to the Jew first used 3 times in this book. Chapters 9,10, and 11 are
dispensational.
The remnant according to the election of grace can be clearly identified during
the Acts period. They are set out in contrast with the remainder of the nation
of Israel. Those who made up this remnant had believed in the Lord, and were
justified. This elect remnant was not exclusively Jewish, but consisted of those
who followed Abraham's faith, and included some Gentile proselytes to the Jewish
faith and beliefs.
Ro 11:26 reads: All Israel shall be saved, but we also read in 9:7 In Isaac
shall thy seed be called. Here we have a just balance of truth.
In Ro 11 we read of those who have stumbled and of a casting away. These are the
rest that were blinded. Both the remnant and the rest belong to Israel.
God was dealing with national Israel during this time, and His plan for the
church which is His body had not yet been revealed.
It is necessary when studying the Word of God that we keep a passage of
Scripture within its context as well as within its dispensational setting. We
need to have an outline of the chronology of the Bible, to know when a passage
or a book was written, to whom it was written, and the circumstances at the time
that it was written.
There are those who insist that God was finished with Israel at the cross, and
that the church then became spiritual Israel. This cannot be true because it is
still to the Jew first during the Acts period.
In Ro 11:17, we read of some of the branches that were broken off. These are the
great majority of apostate Israel. The remnant according to the election of
grace is here still considered as the olive tree into which the believing
Gentiles were graffed at that time. These believing Gentiles could partake of
Israel's promised blessings.
This condition does not exist at the present time. Gentiles cannot be grafted
into a tree that has been cut down.
We have a foreshadowing of this in Luke 13, when the Lord spoke a parable
concerning a fig tree that had been without fruit for 3 years. He told the
dresser to cut it down because it only cumbereth the ground. The dresser
entreated Him to let it alone for a little longer, and if it still did not bear
fruit, then it should be cut down.
The olive tree represents Israel's covenant privileges, while the fig tree
represents the national fruitfulness of Israel.
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