Simply put: God has never turned His back on Israel. He did, however, even the playing field so that all people can approach Him by grace.
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. Romans 11:1 (NIV)There is nothing I could have done to earn the grace extended to me through Jesus. I could have done all the right things, been the nicest person, and obeyed the law and still I am guilty of sin. My actions cannot cleanse me of my guilt. I must have a judge to rule on my behalf.
With sin in my life, God can only rule against me. Because of His grace, God the Father sent God the Son. The Son did what I am incapable of doing. He lived a sin free life and freely offered Himself as a sacrifice. His sacrifice was all the work needed. He did everything and then passed it on freely to those who would believe.
Unfortunately, some refuse to even entertain the thought of needing a Savior. So satisfied are they with their own works that they will do everything they can to disregard the need of a Savior: evolution, anti-Christian attacks through lawsuits, removal of Christian thought from teaching, and more.
Their hearts are hardened. Hardened by fear, hatred, greed, pride, selfishness, lust, and so much more. The hardening comes from the loss of any desire for the life giving blood of God. The hardening can only produce sin and guilt.
Sure a few people can produce some good. They can follow teachings that lead to good works. But all of it is the futile aspirations in the hands of men and women still trying to erect their own personal Towers of Babel. These futile efforts unceasingly forget that the real issue of sin has yet to be dealt with. Ignorance in this case is never bliss. Ignore sin and it festers and grows and becomes malignant.
If man could win his argument for the removal of sin on his own merit, then grace would be a useless word without power. God, however, has chosen to freely give grace over works because the work needed could only be accomplished by Christ. Grace has power because only grace is sufficient in cleansing sin, for guiding in holiness, for healing, in bringing one through difficulties, for providing a platform to communicate with God and so much more.
Remnants have upheld the Gospel for centuries. Under attacks and faced with death, remnants in Israel's history have refused false gods, overturned brutal dictatorships, and endured long exiles.
"Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me" Romans 11:3 (NIV)Remnants in church history will have to endured humiliation, be willing to suffer death, and work to overcome spiritual excesses. Today's remnant is tasked to bring peace, hope, and love to all mankind through the spread of the good news.
We must learn better ways of communicating the truth. Harassing abortion clinics, condemning homosexuals, and passing morality laws are not the answer. Only Christ can change hearts. The answer lies in showing how life only improves through Jesus. We have to start cleansing our own houses - lowering the out-of-wedlock pregnancy rates, end divorces, stop promiscuity, end hatred and bigotry and malice and greed and so many other sins that have permeated the church - or we also will soon have hardened hearts, walking in a deaf and blind stupor with our backs bent forever.
as it is written:
"God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes so that they could not see
and ears so that they could not hear,
to this very day."
Romans 11:8 (NIV)
- What would God say if you were standing before Him today? Would you want to hear it?
- How are Christians over-judgmental?
- How does the church begin to clean up its act without compromising the truth?
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