Has God Cast Away His People?

I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

In Romans 11:1 above, Paul asks, “Hath God cast away his people?” He answers, “God forbid.” Paul points to himself as an example of how God has not cast away natural Israel. Paul had seen many Israelites come to faith in Christ during his journeys. Remember Acts 21:20, where myriads of Jews believed, i.e., untold numbers - as the sand of the sea and the stars of heaven. This is a New Covenant fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise.

However, Paul does add one caveat to his answer.

11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.

This caveat concerning “His people,” are those “he foreknew.” Why did Paul add this qualifier and who are these that God foreknew? Paul answers this for us back in chapter eight of Romans.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Here, Paul says that we know for those loving God, who are the called ones according to His purpose, all things work together for good.

He did not say all things are good. He said all things work together or work in unison for good, for those who love God. Those who love God are also known as the called ones. The call here is not a one-shot deal but is a continual present reality.

Those who love God are in a constant state of being the called ones. They stand ready to answer the call of the God they love, to do His bidding. There is not a special class of called ones. All those who love God are also the called ones of God.

He first states that those He did foreknow, He did also predestinate. Did God know you or I would come to faith in Him when presented with the decision? Yes, this is His foreknowledge. However, this foreknowledge is in no way the cause of the happening.

God’s Foreknowledge does not equal man’s causation.

This is the mystery of God’s omniscience and man’s free will.

God foreknew those who would love Him. Those He knew would love Him, He predestinated. Now, this predestination issue is where people can get tripped up. Many have been trained to think of predestination strictly in terms of heaven or hell. The extreme of this is the idea that God has pre-destined some to heaven, and some to hell. This is at best, a seriously flawed doctrine. At worst, a most hellish, monstrous one.

Either way, it results in the shredding of my free will. If God had pre-determined I should go to heaven or hell, where is my choice? It has been overruled. I no longer have a free will, but am a puppet created to do the bidding of the puppet master. God did not create a vast multitude of puppets. He wants us to choose life, not death.[Dt. 30:19]

However, it is clear that this passage has nothing to do with heaven or hell, per se. Those whom He foreknew, He predestined “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Glory! God determined beforehand that those who love Him, would be conformed to the image of His Son. We could camp on this one thought for a good while. Let’s break it down as briefly as we can.

The idea of being conformed is having the same form as another. We are to be conformed to the image, or the eikon, of His Son. This image (eikon, icon) “involves the two ideas of representation and manifestation.” God determined beforehand that we should be the representation and the manifestation of His Son. The apostle John says something very similar when he says,

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. [1 Jn. 3:2]

Paul states that the purpose of this conforming to the Son’s image, is so “He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” God desires to give His Son many brethren (and sisters, of course. Shall we simply say, siblings?). God wants a huge family, wherein Jesus is the Firstborn, and all the rest of His children are made in the image of their elder brother.

Vine states that when the term brother is used in the plural (brothers/brethren), it describes “a community based on identity of origin or life.” Jesus became the “firstborn from the dead,” [Col. 1:18] when the Spirit of God raised Him from the dead. This same Spirit which raised up Christ will raise us up. As Paul states,

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. [Rom. 8:11]

Continuing, those whom He predestinated, He also called. What are they called to? They are called “according to His purpose.” What is His purpose? This purpose for which we have been called can be none other than Christ Jesus Himself.

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: [Eph. 1:11]

According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: [Eph. 3:11]

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, [2 Tim. 1:9]

You have a divine purpose in Christ, given before the world began.

Those whom He called for His purposes in Christ Jesus, He justified. To be justified means to be declared righteous and innocent of any guilt. We stand before God in the righteousness of Christ [Rom. 3:22, 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9].

Those whom He declared to be righteous, He glorified. This glorification speaks of the complete and final stage of salvation. This glorification of our bodies is so that we should be made like Him when He appears. All of these acts of God concerning those He foreknew; being predestinated, being called, being justified, and being glorified, are all past tense. This means from God’s perspective, these have already been accomplished. These are all finished works. This is what God has prepared for those whom He foreknew. This is the future of the Israel of God.

God has not forsaken His people whom He foreknew. He has a glorious future set out for them. Those whom He foreknew, Paul also calls His Elect. The example he uses comes from an episode in the life of Elijah. In Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal, he appears to lose hope and confidence. He begins to think he is the only one left who stands for God. He complains,

Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. [Rom. 11:3]

Elijah feared the faith of Yahweh would disappear from the earth, if he were killed. Amid his feelings of isolation, loss, and despair, the Lord responds,

I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.

God tells Elijah he is not alone. He has reserved for Himself a remnant of seven thousand men who have not bowed their knee to the idol of Baal. Elijah couldn’t see them. He had no idea they existed. However, God held these men in reserve for such a time as this.

Paul then says,

Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. [Rom. 11:5]

Paul says that just as there were seven thousand men who had the heart to be faithful to God, not bowing their knee to Baal, even today there is a remnant that God has placed in reserve for Himself. Throughout the centuries, until this very day, there are those among natural Israel, whom God foreknew. He has prepared for them a glorious future in the New Covenant Israel of God. They are broken branches no more. God has not cast away His people which He foreknew. He has prepared a glorious future for them in the Messiah.