A Remnant According to the Election of Grace (Romans 11:6–9)

Rom. 11:6. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, then it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

Having said: “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace”, the Apostle introduces depth to the events happening. Then God from a great multitude of people preserved for Himself seven thousand; and now also He by grace chooses from all the mass of the people the few who are being saved. Who then are these chosen ones? All those who do not hope in themselves, in their works, and in any external advantage, but commit all their salvation into God’s hands with readiness to receive it from His goodness, if He deems it fitting to grant it. Upon such humble ones the ray of God’s grace falls and draws them to the source of salvation. It naturally finds them, as water itself flows to the low places. This discovery by grace of those capable of receiving it is the election. Upon whom grace falls so that he receives its influence, he is inwardly separated from the rest of the mass and begins to be different. All such are a “remnant” saved by grace like the few saved in Elijah’s time.

Here is the main reason why some are now saved and others are not! It is because those do not hope in anything of their own, but humbly commit the matter of their salvation into God’s hands—and such are never many; while these rely on their own works and as it were demand salvation from God as their right. As this is contrary to the laws of the life-giving life according to God, they are not received into the enclosure of the saved, and such self-reliant ones are always many. Such a condition is derived from the preceding words: “there is a remnant according to the election of grace”. And the words of the present verse 6 are applied to them both as a rebuke and as an exhortation, thus: if the election to salvation is from grace, then not from works; for if it were from works, it would not be according to grace, because grace is no longer grace when works enter in. Why then do you, O Jew, rely on works? Cast off this vain hope and humbly commit yourself to the action of grace. If you rely on works, you do not feel the need for grace; not feeling such need, you do not seek it; not seeking, you do not find it; not finding and not receiving it, you remain estranged from salvation. And it turns out that that on which you hope to base your salvation serves for your ruin. To unite both is impossible. If you bring works into the foundation of salvation, you eliminate grace; and your foundation becomes rotten. But if you direct your gaze toward grace, then turn it away from works: for with grace works are already not works—that is, they mean nothing. So reckon them in your mind and heart, and either dispel them entirely from your attention and present yourself bore to the action of God’s goodness.

Holy Chrysostom says: “Therefore, why do you fear to approach when works are not required of you? Why do you contend and resist when grace is being offered to you? Why without need and benefit do you refer to the Law? You cannot save yourself by the Law, and you diminish this gift. If you stubbornly insist on being saved by the Law, you nullify God’s grace. But lest this be thought a new teaching, the Apostle says that even those seven thousand whom he brings as an example were saved by grace. For by the words: ‘Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace’—he indicates that they too were saved by grace. This is evident also from the words: ‘I have reserved for Myself.’ By this God shows that He Himself accomplished the greater part of the work. And if it is by grace, you say, why are not all of us saved? Because you yourselves do not wish it. For grace, despite being grace, saves the willing, not those who do not wish and turn away from grace, who constantly rise up against it and resist it. Do you see how the Apostle everywhere affirms the truth that God’s word cannot fail to be accomplished; and he proves this by the fact that the promise extended to the worthy, and the worthy, though not many, can constitute God’s people.”

As Holy Chrysostom was speaking his Homilies to Christians from the Gentiles, he also added: “Therefore, let us give thanks to God for the fact that we have become among the saved, and when we could not be saved by works, we are saved by God’s gift. And let us attest our gratitude not only in words, but in deeds and conduct befitting gratitude. For gratitude is full when we do what serves to God’s glory, when we avoid that from which we have been set free.” This word applies to us as well.

Rom. 11:7. What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks, but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

“What then?” What, then, has come from such an order of Israel’s life? That Israel, if looked at as a whole, in all the mass of peoples, has not obtained what it sought; but within this same mass God both foreknew before and now sees a certain remnant of worthy persons and chose them from the mass by His grace, so that this chosen remnant obtained what was sought, while the rest were blinded. What did Israel seek? To be God’s and heir of the promises given to the fathers. But this is a good seeking, in accord with God’s intentions; why then did he not obtain it? Because he did not give proper honor to God’s grace. He did the works of the Law and by these labors and efforts alone hoped to obtain what was sought, forgetting that this obtaining, for all that, is still a matter of grace, received by faith, and not coming as a right. From this it came to pass that when grace was revealed and the word of faith was offered to him as the condition of obtaining what was sought, he resisted stubbornly, insisting on the conviction which he himself had hammered into his mind and heart. As this was contrary to God’s order, God deprived him for this stubbornness of what he hoped for and what should have become his possession if he had not resisted and opposed faith. On the contrary, those who are not many, who are the “remnant” of God’s, though they also kept the Law faithfully, yet placed their hope of obtaining what was sought in God’s grace alone. Therefore, when grace was revealed and the word of faith was proclaimed, they received it with all their hearts and cleaved to the One preached. For this they obtained more than they hoped for or could hope for. Those were blinded by their wrong prejudice; but these, not admitting prejudice, always had their eyes open to God and easily perceived the grace sent from Him, which also chose them. Blessed Theodoret writes: “By election the Apostle means believers from the Jews. He says this: Israel, attached to the Law, did not attain the goal, because it now unlawfully keeps the Law and reaps no righteousness from it; but the believers from Israel obtained it. ‘The rest were blinded’—that is, unbelief hardened their hearts.” Therefore, Holy Chrysostom rightly sees in the present passage “not merely a question, but also a rebuke. The Apostle says that the Jew contradicts himself, seeks justification and does not wish to receive it. He presents the Jews as inexcusable, proving their wrongness by the fact that some have obtained: ‘the elect,’ he says, ‘have obtained it.’ The elect will judge the Jews. Thus also Christ the Lord said: ‘But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges’ (Lk. 11:19). That no one might dare to refer to the nature of the matter itself, and everyone might blame the choice of the Jews, the Apostle mentions those who have obtained. Therefore he also uses an expressive saying that depicts both grace from above and their own effort. For the word ‘obtained’—does not nullify free choice, but expresses the greatness of the blessings and the fact that the greater part, though not all, was the work of grace. Among us it is customary to say of a person who comes out with great profit: he obtained, he found. Because most of it is acquired not by human labor, but by God’s gift. ‘The rest were blinded.’ Mark when the Apostle dared to call the rejection of the rest by its proper name. Though he had spoken of it before, nevertheless, he represented the Prophets as accusers; but now he himself appears as accuser. However, even here he is not content with his own opinion alone, but again testifies by the prophet Isaiah; for, having said they were blinded, he added:”

Rom. 11:8. Just as it is written: ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, until this day’ (Isa. 29:10; Deut. 29:4).

These words are taken by the holy Paul from two prophetic passages, and the prophecy itself is expressed in his own words. The first words, that God gave them a spirit of stupor, or dullness, are taken from chapter 29 of the prophet Isaiah, while the last—concerning eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear—are taken from the prophet Moses (Deut. 29:4). The prophet Isaiah in that chapter foretells a certain extreme disaster for the Jews from enemies and that when these enemies think they have already attained their goal, help will come from above and overthrow their hopes. Then, addressing the authorities of the Jews, he says that they will be in astonishment like the drunk, because the Lord will give them a spirit of stupor and seal their eyes, and the eyes of their Prophets and princes; and they will understand nothing of what is happening before them; it will be to them like a sealed book. It is not evident to what disaster and deliverance these prophecies refer; but since the stupor of the authorities and all the chief persons of the Jews depicted by the Prophet corresponds entirely to the way these persons regarded the Lord Jesus Christ the Deliverer and to the marvelous deeds of Him and His Apostles; there is no doubt that the prophetic spirit through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah foretold precisely this stupor and mental blindness of the Jewish authorities and, after them, of all the people, before the face of the Lord Jesus and the Holy Gospel. The Apostolic spirit indicated this to the Apostle in the words of the Prophet, and he truly testified by them that which he needed to testify to, namely that “they were blinded”.

The holy prophet Moses, in chapter 29 of Deuteronomy, after mentioning how the Lord God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and how many wondrous signs and wonders He performed in this—adds then: “And the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear until this day” (Deut. 29:4). That is: you looked upon this with open eyes and did not see; you heard of this with open ears and did not hear, and your hearts were not disposed to understand what all this meant. The deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery by the holy Moses is the most vivid type of our deliverance from slavery to sin and the devil by our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore what is spoken by the Prophets concerning the first must certainly be a prophetic foresight of the second. The Apostolic spirit understood this and brought forth the words depicting the mental state of those then as a depiction of those now. As then their hearts lacked understanding, so now they are blind—“they were blinded”.

From these two places the Apostolic spirit took the prophetic thought and set it forth in his own words: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear”. Both in the Prophets and in the Apostle it is spoken as if God Himself by His power produced such a grievous condition. It is customary for the Prophets to speak thus, referring all things to God, both good and bad. But some things are given directly by God, while others are merely permitted. God desires good for all people and seeks to bestow it on all. But when He encounters resistance from people, then after attempts to overcome this resistance He leaves them to their own will, which, as opposing God, never leads to good but is always accompanied by bad consequences. These bad consequences are evidently seen as God’s punishment for resisting His will. Therefore they are attributed to Him, though the reason why God permits this is found in the people themselves—in their disobedience. Such was it also with the Gospel. How many proofs did the Lord Himself display to the Jews, clearly pointing to who He was? How much also did the Apostles persuade both by word and deed that He was indeed the Promised One and that His teaching ought to be followed? The Jews did not have hearts to understand what was happening before their eyes and would not hear about its significance. But who was guilty? The Lord left them in their blindness. Blessed Theodoret writes: “The word ‘gave,’ as also ‘delivered,’ means ‘permitted.’ For it was not God who caused them not to believe; otherwise, how could He Himself instill unbelief in them and then punish them for it? The Prophet teaches this more clearly, saying: ‘The heart of this people has grown thick, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes’” (Isa. 6:10). “Therefore it was not another who blinded them, but they themselves shut their own eyes and would not see the light.” Holy Chrysostom says: “What caused this blindness? The Apostle explained the causes before, laid all the blame on the heads of the Jews themselves, proving that they underwent blindness for their untimely stubbornness, and now repeats the same thing. For when he says: ‘Eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear’—he accuses nothing but their stubborn will. Having eyes to see miracles, having received ears to hear this miraculous teaching, they did not use either as they ought. Therefore by the word ‘gave’—understand here not an action but a permission.”

“He gave them,’ it says, ‘a spirit of stupor”, κατανύξεως. Κατάνυξις—stupor, contrition of heart—is a good disposition; how then is this word used to denote a bad condition? But this word, from νύσσω—to smite—can depict a state of such smiting or of striking impression, in which the one smitten is bewildered, cannot gather his thoughts, looks and sees nothing, hears and perceives nothing of what is heard. Precisely such were the Jews before the face of the Lord and the Apostles—as though smitten, dazed, stupefied, like those of whom it is said: a stroke has fallen upon them. The Slavonic rendering in the note by the word ‘insensibility’—well expresses the force of the speech. Our interpreters do not change the meaning of the word, but take into account in their interpretation not the contrition and stupor itself, but its force—that when it takes possession of the heart, it is not bent toward the worse. This inflexibility of the stupor they take into account here, and by the spirit of stupor, κατανύξεως, they understand the spirit of the unyielding stubbornness of the Jews. Blessed Theodoret writes: “By the spirit of stupor the Prophet (and Apostle) called the fixed disposition of the heart; for as one who has praiseworthy stupor does not accept change for the worse, so one wholly given over to vice does not permit change for the better.” Holy Chrysostom says the same thing more fully and clearly: “By stupor the Apostle here calls such a habit of the soul toward the worse, which is incurable and unchangeable. For in another place it is said: ‘That my glory may sing praise to You and I will not be unmoved’” (Ps. 29:13)—that is, I will not change. As one who has become absorbed in godliness does not quickly leave that state, so one who has become absorbed in evil can with difficulty change. Therefore the Apostle, wishing to express that the will of the Jews is incorrigible and difficult to change, called this a spirit of stupor.

Rom. 11:9–10. And David says: ‘Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bend their backs forever’ (Ps. 68:23–24).

This passage is taken from Psalm 68, which is a prophetic psalm that foretells the sufferings of Christ the Saviour and the punishment of the Jews. From this psalm in the Gospels are cited: “Zeal for Your house has consumed me” (verse 10); and: “They gave me gall for food, and vinegar for my thirst” (verse 22). This verse ends the depiction of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ; and following it come the verses cited by Saint Paul (verses 23–24), which in the prophet David begin the depiction of the destructive consequences of the unjust condemnation of Christ the Lord to death. There is no doubt, therefore, that these verses contain a prophecy which, understanding it by his spirit, the holy Apostle brings to confirm his position. The punishment of the Jews for delivering the Lord to death is expressed by the Prophet in the optative mood: “Let their table become… Let their eyes be darkened”. So these words are also brought by the Apostle. The meaning is: their table before them becomes a snare—and their eyes are darkened—and their backs are bent.

Holy Athanasius the Great, expounding this psalm, says regarding the words: “Let their table become a snare before them” (Ps. 68:23)—the following: “By this the Prophet depicts what will befall the Jews after the suffering of the Lord.” The word “table”—Holy Chrysostom and Blessed Theodoret give an allegorical meaning, understanding by it enjoyment or pleasure. That which promised them pleasure and enjoyment, which they desired so much as nourishing food, becomes for them a snare—enmeshes them in calamities from which they cannot escape. As they thirsted and hungered for the death of the Lord, crying: “Crucify, crucify Him” (Lk. 23:21)—and did not heed any of Pilate’s exhortations! At last they satisfied their thirst for blood—they were satiated. And this very thing brought the most extreme calamities upon them. They thirsted for blood; they were repaid in blood. Holy Athanasius the Great writes: “By these words, as if speaking from the mouth of the Lord, the Prophet says: they will suffer the very things they prepared for Me, desiring that I experience this. Woe to the wicked, ‘for evil will meet the wicked according to the work of his hands’” (Isa. 3:11).

The other words: snare, stumbling block—mean the same: they were snared—thought they would be freed from harm by delivering the Deliverer to death, and fell into a snare, into all sorts of calamities. And the Prophet added the words “and a recompense to them”, so that it would be clear that the Jews would suffer all this as a punishment.

“Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see”—that is, their eyes are darkened. They did not see the Lord in the Son of Man walking on the earth, though in Him the Lord clearly showed Himself. But that was still a partial darkening. Complete darkening came to them after the death and resurrection of the Lord. Then their blindness was clearly God’s punishment upon them. How could they not see the Lord in the signs accompanying His death, when a Gentile saw Him, in the marvelous resurrection, in the descent of the Holy Spirit, in the testimonies of the Apostles confirmed by powers and wonders in the name of the Lord? One could have perceived the Lord in all this and cried out like the Apostle Thomas: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn. 20:28). But they did not see, because they did not wish to see. And the Lord darkened their eyes, “so that they do not see”.

“And bend their backs forever”—and they will forever be under the yoke of slavery. They were already under foreign power, but still held for themselves a certain share of self-government. But when they delivered the Lord to death, they soon lost everything—city, sanctuary, and were scattered everywhere as slaves. And until now they remain under foreign powers; and always will they remain under them, as the prophetic word shows: “forever bend”—that is, keep them always under the yoke bent down.

For the Apostle Paul to confirm his thought by prophecy, it would suffice to bring only the following words: “Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see”—that is, their eyes are darkened. But he brought also what stands before in the Prophet, and what comes after. Why did he do this? Perhaps so that the speech would not be meager and would be more rounded. But more truly, so as to show that this darkening according to prophecy is a recompense to them—a punishment and judgment from God—as is spoken before—and that it is only the vestibule of the snare and trap, while the end will be ultimate enslavement. When the Apostle brought these words, the darkening was already working in the Jews, but the “bending” of the back was not yet: they still held their heads high in pride and nursed vain hopes of their exaltation. By bringing this prophetic indication, he was leading them to think about what awaited them soon, hoping thereby to dispose those who had not yet accepted the gospel to receive it, and to confirm in faith those who had accepted it.

Holy Chrysostom, who wrote his Homilies after this punishment foretold by the holy David had been fulfilled—the “bending” of the neck—dwells on it with particular attention both as proof of the truth of the prophecies and as demonstration of the destructiveness of unbelief.

“Is any interpretation needed here,” he says, “Is it not clear even to the most simple-minded? Indeed, before our words the actual experience testified to what the Prophet said. When have the Jews ever been so easily taken captive and overcome? When have they been subjected to such slavery? But most important is the fact that there will be no end to these calamities, as the Prophet noted. For he did not simply say: ‘bend their backs’—but added: ‘forever.’ If then you, O Jew, claim that the calamities will end, judge the present by the past. You were taken captive to Egypt, but two hundred years passed, and despite all your ungodliness, God soon freed you from this slavery. After your deliverance from Egypt you worshipped the calf, offered your sons in sacrifice to Baal-Peor (Num. 25:3), defiled the temple, sank into every kind of vice, filled mountains, valleys, hills, fountains, rivers, gardens with abominable sacrifices, killed the Prophets, overthrew the altars, and succeeded thoroughly in evil and ungodliness. Yet God, having delivered you to the Babylonians for seventy years, again brought you back to your former freedom, and restored to you both the temple and your homeland and the former mode of prophecy. Even during the captivity you were not abandoned; you had Daniel and Ezekiel there. After this you again returned to your former vices, gave yourselves up to dissolution, and under the wicked Antiochus accepted Greek ways of life. But then too, having been under the domination of Antiochus for three years or a bit more, through the Maccabees you erected new famous monuments of victory. But now you have nothing of the kind; on the contrary, everything has gone differently. And what is particularly remarkable is that your former vices are not evident, yet the punishment increases, and there is no hope of a change in your situation. More than seventy years have passed, more than one hundred and two hundred—but three hundred (and now—1800) years and far more; yet there is not even a shadow of such hope. And all this has befallen you at a time when you do not serve idols, do not do anything of the kind you dared to do before. What then is the reason? This: that the figure has been replaced by reality and the Law excluded by grace. Foreseeing this in ancient times, the Prophet said: ‘bend their backs forever.’ Do you notice the precision of the prophecy—how it foretells unbelief, reveals obstinacy, announces the judgment that follows, and marks the endlessness of the punishment?’”

“Having explained that the rejection of the Jews and the acceptance of the Gentiles into the Kingdom of Christ is in accord with the promises given, and having shown the reason for this in the faith of some and the unbelief of others, Saint Paul now brings this event into the plans of God’s Providence over mankind, so as to completely calm minds and cut off all doubts on this subject. But in doing this, he at the same time gives a powerful admonition to the believers from the Gentiles—not to neglect the mercy shown to them—and comforts those troubled by compassion for the Jews with the prediction that blindness has befallen Israel only for a time, after which all of it will turn and be saved. “Thus the Apostle acts in order not to drive the Jews into despair, thus closing the path to faith, and not to give the believers from the Gentiles occasion for arrogance, lest they become proud and suffer harm in their faith. We must not simply listen to what is said, but discern the thought and intention of the speaker. If we receive each word with such reflection, we will encounter no difficulty in any of them. And in the present case the Apostle’s purpose consists in destroying arrogance in the believers from the Gentiles (while suggesting to the Jews that they have not completely fallen); for as the Gentiles, having learned humility, will more safely remain in faith, so the Jews, being drawn out of despair, will more readily approach grace. Therefore, attending to this purpose of the Apostle, let us hear all that he said in the present passage” (Holy Chrysostom).”