A Remnant. Romans 11:1-6 V.1. At the beginning of this chapter, Paul points out that there has always been a remnant of Israelites who have been kept true to God. He was one of them and was even chosen by God to be an apostle to take the Gospel to the Gentiles as well as to his own people, the Jews. Some individuals have remained faithful to God despite rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as a nation. In the days of the prophets and faithless kings, God had His people who, though few in number, did not follow the crowd into idolatry and evil.
V.2. God has not entirely rejected Israel and some Jews even now hear the Gospel of the grace of God preached in one way or another and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. God’s rejection of the nation is not final. He wants “all men to be saved,” whether Jews or Gentiles. God saved Paul and others who He “foreknew” would believe in Him. Spiritual Israelites are those who are saved by grace, not by human works. In times of rampant apostasy Noah and his family were saved. Joseph and his family and Elijah and seven thousand others were saved in dark times.
Today a number of Jews are entering the narrow gate on to the narrow way that leads to life, even though out of all who are called, “few are chosen” and “few there be that find it.” People who reject the word of God and His way of salvation are in the majority, but the grace of God is still extended to all who will come to Christ by putting their faith in Him.
V.3-4. I understand the need for the Spirit of God to clarify the position of His chosen earthly people the Jews, because I am a Gentile, and we might think we are the only ones God is saving. It would seem like the Israelis have turned almost agnostic because of all that has happened to them as a people. There are some Jews who still try to keep the law as a means of acceptance by God. Others have added Jewish traditions to their efforts to be brought into the blessing of God's favor as a people.
V.5. It is only in my lifetime they have again become a nation separate from all the other nations on earth. So, were all the Jews of the "Diaspora" hopelessly lost without any access to God? No! Among that nation, the same as in all nations, "he that feareth him (God) and worketh righteousness is accepted with him." Any individual who responds to the grace of God and puts their personal faith in Christ alone for salvation is accepted by God when they are born again. Thousands of Jews, "a remnant," have been, and are being saved in various places today, by grace. They have been chosen by God's sovereign grace.
V.6. These people do not stand out in the nation and have not been known specifically as Jews because God had called both Jews and Gentiles to be "one new man;" the body of believers in which we are "neither Jews nor Gentiles, but the Church of God." They are saved through faith in Christ, not because of nationality or religion. No one is saved because they deserve it. We cannot earn salvation in any way; we are saved by grace alone. Whether one is part of the remnant of the Jews or is a Gentile; all are without any claim on the mercy and grace of God. When God in sovereign grace brings us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, all we can do is accept that salvation by grace with our thankfulness and praise to God. Grace and works do not mix in any way when it comes to the salvation that is declared in the Gospel.