Romans 11:5-10
"So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written: 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.'..."
Since the Lord said that He has never forsaken the Israelites, why are there so many Israelites who have not been saved? Paul said in verse 7 that "What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did." How do we interpret this phrase? If we study the Bible in entirety, we would see that people have been seeking God in two ways - through the flesh according our own ways, or through the revelation Holy Spirit and by faith, according to God's way.
Cain used his own way and offered harvest from the field as sacrifice, but Abel obeyed God and offered lamb as sacrifice. Consequently, Abel became God's chosen one and Cain was rejected. Esau didn't value blessings from God and used his own strength to hunt for a living, but Jacob understood and sought after God's blessing. Later on, Jacob was chosen and Esau was rejected. At the time of David and Saul, Saul offered the sacrifice without waiting to grand priest Samuel, and he also lusted after the properties of Amaleks and took them for his own use. David, on the other hand, was honest before God, and when he repented to God he was granted mercy. David was the chosen one, but Saul was rejected by God. The real problem is not whether one is a Jew or a gentile, but whether one really follows revelation from the Holy Spirit to seek God. This principle of God has never changed even till today.
In Galatians 3:3, Paul rebuked the believers at the time: "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" The same danger still exists in the church today; although we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal savior by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, we are not following the Holy Spirit in our daily Christian life. We may even turn back to our old values and cultural backgrounds right after we accepted the Lord, and thus ignored the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Which way are you seeking the Lord? Are you doing it your own way, or are you seeking the guidance from the Holy Spirit, and living a renewed life each and every day?
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