Making It Personal
This afternoon I would like to look more closely at the verses found in Romans 11:5-8. We see the doctrine of salvation taught. The ideas of election, grace, and seeking God are all mentioned and put together in one package.
First, the remnant is mentioned and is referred to be elected by grace. What does this mean? God does the saving no ands, ifs, or buts. We know that this salvation is totally based upon the grace of God and the completed work of Jesus Christ. It is a gift that none deserves and many reject. Upon reading Ephesians 2:8, 9, we see the grace of God making salvation possible for then all the praise goes to God. Romans also tell us that God elected to save us all through grace. The election is the method that God chose to save not the choosing of people.
In Ephesians, we also see the word faith. For by grace we are saved through faith. God did the work, gives us the Law, His Word, and His creation, and then leaves it up to us to respond to His grace. Faith is our response to the Master’s grace.
Now let us look at verse 7, 8. We see the idea of man seeking after God. Earlier in Romans 3 we see that none are righteous and that none understand and seek after God. Yet in verses like Psalms 69:32 and Hebrews 11:6 teach us that it is good to seek the Lord. So, if natural man does not seek the Lord, when does he start seeking?
This seeking happens after a couple of other things. One, the Law that God wrote upon each heart begins to convict. In addition, creation will teach the lost of a just and loving God. Secondly, we must lift up Christ for when God is lifted up, He will draw all men to Himself. Once these happen, those around us will begin to seek God. In all of this, we need use the gift of grace to continually lift up God for all to see.