By Kent Fry
Read: Romans 11:1-10; 1 Kings 19:13-14
“I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means!” (Rom. 11:1)
Today’s key verse is not only a key question for the Roman house churches of the first century, but an important question for our time. We observe the decline of church attendance, or the piety of those in other religions, and we wonder whether God has passed by us.
As Paul traveled the synagogues of the Mediterranean world, he was inundated with the question about whether God’s covenant faithfulness to Israel was still in effect. Paul gave two examples in today’s reading of the covenant faithfulness of God.
First, Paul used his own life as a classic example. He was of the tribe of Benjamin and encountered the risen Christ on the Damascus Road (Acts 9). Paul was a representative of his own people who had come to faith in Jesus, the Messiah (Rom. 11:1).
Second, perhaps because Paul himself could become spiritually depressed by the failure of his own people to respond to Jesus as Savior, he drew on the example of Elijah (1 Kings 19:13). He, too, was depressed after his great triumph over the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18). When God encountered Elijah on Mount Horeb, there were still 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal.
In these examples, we see that God remains faithful to his covenant promises, sometimes works through a small remnant, and uses elective grace so that Israel was not permanently rejected. We can indeed sing, “Great is thy faithfulness … morning by morning new mercies I see.”
As you pray, give thanks for God’s faithfulness.
—————
Kent Fry is a retired pastor and visiting research fellow at the Van Raalte Institute in Holland. He and his wife, Joyce, are active members of Second Reformed Church in Zeeland.
Read: Romans 11:1-10; 1 Kings 19:13-14
“I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means!” (Rom. 11:1)
Today’s key verse is not only a key question for the Roman house churches of the first century, but an important question for our time. We observe the decline of church attendance, or the piety of those in other religions, and we wonder whether God has passed by us.
As Paul traveled the synagogues of the Mediterranean world, he was inundated with the question about whether God’s covenant faithfulness to Israel was still in effect. Paul gave two examples in today’s reading of the covenant faithfulness of God.
First, Paul used his own life as a classic example. He was of the tribe of Benjamin and encountered the risen Christ on the Damascus Road (Acts 9). Paul was a representative of his own people who had come to faith in Jesus, the Messiah (Rom. 11:1).
Second, perhaps because Paul himself could become spiritually depressed by the failure of his own people to respond to Jesus as Savior, he drew on the example of Elijah (1 Kings 19:13). He, too, was depressed after his great triumph over the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18). When God encountered Elijah on Mount Horeb, there were still 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal.
In these examples, we see that God remains faithful to his covenant promises, sometimes works through a small remnant, and uses elective grace so that Israel was not permanently rejected. We can indeed sing, “Great is thy faithfulness … morning by morning new mercies I see.”
As you pray, give thanks for God’s faithfulness.
—————
Kent Fry is a retired pastor and visiting research fellow at the Van Raalte Institute in Holland. He and his wife, Joyce, are active members of Second Reformed Church in Zeeland.
