God's Hidden Work

Romans 11:1-18


God’s hidden work

In keeping in tow with the heart of God for a disobedient people from chapter 10, Paul continues the thought with a question. As God’s hand is continually outstretched to the disobedient does He at some point pull back? As long as people are still on this earth and the final judgment has not come, God will continually reach out to mankind. God is relentless in His pursuit of people. He has been dubbed the Hound Dog of Heaven, who has caught the scent of lost souls and will remain in a steadfast hunt for them.

Paul for the most part is talking about the Nation of Israel. The Jewish people had vehemently rejected the Messiah Jesus. Some might think that it was the straw the broke the camel’s back but God like in the days of Elijah will always have a reserve set up. There are those Jews that have seen the error of their ways in trying to obtain salvation by works rather than seeing God’s law as a standard that shows us we will never be perfect so we need the bar to be lowered. However God could not lower the bar of perfection but by HIS GRACE He has brought us to perfection through His Son Jesus Christ. The remnant that Paul talks about among the Jews are those who like himself, have received the free gift of grace through Jesus Christ. The remnant isn’t a group of people who are perfect that we know for sure.

“(8) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

For the mass majority of the Jews that have decided to be in the dark about the truth Paul says that their stumbling is our benefit. The Jew’s rejection of Jesus their Messiah has become the Gentiles’ riches. If you’re not a Jew then you are a Gentile which is the vast majority of the world. As we are recipients of the Gospel Paul in a way calls us to make the Jewish people jealous of what we have in Jesus. This jealousy is a good jealousy towards God’s grace, mercy and goodness. We for the most part I’m afraid to say have failed in this calling. We have left the Jews to wallow in the darkness of strict religious practices and continue in the thought that their standard of living is what brings them favor with God.

Paul is making it clear that God has not given up on them and we should also not give up on them. The branches that have been cut off from the tree have made room for us to be grafted into the family tree of God. We need to not be so proud of our being grafted in that we forget that we are supported by the foundational work the Nation of Israel has set for us.

In the midst of a dark sinful world God is always working behind the scenes with the hidden work of His people to make an impact that is lasting into eternity.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” (Psalm 33:12)