What is the reason why Israel was not saved? (Romans 11:6-8)
The difference between worldly religions and Christianity is the difference between achievement and receiving.
God's grace is a miraculous mechanism that becomes mine through the assurance of the Holy Spirit by hearing, believing, and accepting the fact that God has already accomplished what He promised.
By hearing and believing by grace that God raised us from the dead in our trespasses and sins with the Lord Jesus Christ and seated us with Christ in the heaven, we are saved, and it is not a result of our works, but a gift of God. (Ephesians 2:5-8)
However, all religions and education in the world teach us to achieve on our own.
Humans who are addicted to the tree of knowledge of good and evil only see good and evil, so although they confess that they have been called in Christ and have obtained righteousness through faith, this habit remains for a long time and they do not accept God's will, so they rebel against God's grace like Israel.
Therefore, the message of the cross of Christ becomes offensive to them and they become enemies. (Philippians 3:18)
By teaching us to carry the cross, we end up straying from the faith that accepts the cross of Christ.
The cross of Christ means accepting and following with faith the fact that he has already achieved.
The act of taking up the cross and following the Lord is what happens after accepting Christ as my Savior.
Q. Why didn’t Israel get God’s grace?
“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel has not obtained that which he sought for; but the election has obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” (Romans 11:6-7)
A. Because they wanted to fulfill God’s will through the work of the law.
The remnant of the bible is by no means created or destroyed by work.
It exists only by the grace of God.
Therefore, it never happens that his mission is canceled by his work.
Even though we may experience scorching hardships, we can never be abandoned by God.
Israel was never able to obtain the salvation it sought through the works of the law.
Only a few chosen remnants were saved by God's grace.
Everyone else has become slumber spiritual idiots.
This kind of history can be seen as a mirror of christianity in this era.
There are so many stupor servants of the Lord who were invited by God but were not chosen, so there are many who try to enter the heavenly banquet without wearing wedding clothes.
Even now, there are countless people thrown out into the darkness, weeping and gnashing their teeth. (Matthew 22:13)
In the past, the spacesuits worn by astronauts when landing on the moon were made of 21 layers to allow them to move in a vacuum and even urinate, and the price was as much as 10 billion won. I was very surprised to hear this.
If a spacesuit that briefly stays on the moon and returns to earth costs 10 billion won, then I think about how much this suit that I wore through Christ by I died and lived again with Christ (Galatians 3:27) would be worth. As I thought about it, tears started flowing from my eyes.
With these robes, we approach the throne of God and see His glory. It cannot be compared to a spacesuit.
Moreover, with the blood of Christ and the words of the cross, you can wash these robes and go to the tree of life and confidently enter through the gates of the holy city. (Revelation 22:14)
This robe is not put on through our own righteous actions, but is a garment of righteousness put on in Christ by hearing and receiving the words of Christ. It is not the garment of my works.
Q. What is the reason why Israel cannot see or hear?
“According as it is written, God has given them a spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that should not hear, unto this day” (Romans 11:8)
A. It is God’s providence to save the Gentiles and achieve all Israel.
When telling the parable of the sower, the Lord also quoted the prophecy of Isaiah and said, “Hearing you will hear, but you will not understand; seeing you will see, but you will not perceive.”
He also says that he is afraid that those who boast about the works of the law will see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed by God (Matthew 13:14-15).
That is why God gave them a spirit of slumber and eyes and ears that cannot see and hear.
A spirit of slumber means a stuporous spirit
They are sleeping soundly now.
Eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear are like sleeping when the sermon begins and waking up when it ends.
Because their brains are filled with only words of works and blessings, they cannot accept Christ’s atonement grace.
So there are many people who do not feel the pain and hunger of their souls at all.
However, the chosen people, those who have received God's grace, become restless if they cannot hear the word of God.
If there is no news from the person you love, or you hear a faint voice but you cannot understand, but you remain silent, that is not love.
What is important is that the modern church is becoming like this and the words of the bible are being fulfilled.
This is a phenomenon in which you can understand rational words well, but feel sleepy whenever the word of God is spoken.
To put it funny, it is spiritual destiny.
In fact, even those who have a slumber spirit, or are insensitive to the Word of God, are chosen to do so.
This is because God's drama of salvation must also include a blind and deaf role.
This phenomenon continues to this day.
That is why there are many groups who call themselves Jews (Revelation 3:9), who are Jews of the flesh, and christians.
Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.
Translated by Nancy Chung
COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION