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A
11:33-35.
Song.
Doxology:
`Of Him, through Him, and to Him are all things (ta
panta). To Him be glory unto the ages' (11:36).
Israel's privileges are given in detail in Romans 9:3-5:
Israel's Dispensational Privileges (Rom. 9:3-5)
A
According to the flesh kinsmen.
B
Who are Israelites.
C
To whom pertaineth the adoption.
D
And the glory.
E
And the covenants.
E
And the giving of the law.
D
And the service.
C
And the promises.
B
Whose are the fathers.
A
According to the flesh Christ.
With this emphasis on the privileges of Israel, the case of the Gentiles
should be compared, as set forth in Ephesians.
Dispensational disabilities of the Gentiles (Eph: 2:11,12)
A
Gentiles
in the flesh.
B
Without Christ.
C
Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.
C
Strangers from the covenants of promise.
B
Having no hope.
A
Godless
in the world.
With the opening of Romans 11 the apostle begins to draw his
conclusions. Stated briefly, they are as follows:
(1)
God hath not cast away His people: Proof -- I also am an
Israelite and saved.
(2)
God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew: Proof -- In
Israel's darkest days, God had reserved unto Himself a faithful
company, unknown even to Elijah himself.
(3)
There is now also at the present time, `a remnant according to
the election of grace'.
Those who form this `remnant' have believed in the Lord, and are
justified. Their standing is in grace, and not in works. Israel as a nation
has entered into a period of darkness and blindness, but the salvation of
`the election' foreknown by God, is in perfect harmony with God's sovereignty
as discussed at length in Romans 9. No Israelite was coerced into believing;
no Israelite was prevented from believing. God's foreknowledge covers the
whole problem, without doing violence either to the principles of morality,
or to Divine sovereignty.
The quotation from Psalm 69 with which the apostle concludes his argument is
suggestive. The Psalm is Messianic, and contains the verse (25) quoted by
Peter concerning Judas: `Let their (his) habitation be desolate' (Acts 1:20).
Israel had betrayed the Lord. Their self-righteousness had blinded their