HAS GOD GIVEN UP ON HIS PEOPLE? The Importance of Grace

We all know the song Amazing Grace, written by John Newton in 1772.

Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see.

Below is a message I found educational and interesting, and it communicates clearly.

This message helped me a lot, and I’m excited to share it with you.

Link to the message – E. Joshua Sims – Renewed Life Community Church – Has God Given Up On His People

HAS GOD GIVEN UP ON HIS PEOPLE?

Scripture: Romans 11:1–6

MAIN IDEA:

Israel’s unbelief has not caused God’s purposes to fail. God remains faithful, preserves a remnant, and does so entirely by grace.

1. GOD HAS NOT REJECTED HIS PEOPLE — vv. 1–2a

• Paul’s answer: “Far from it!”

  mē genoito — “May it never be!”

• Paul himself is evidence:

  – An Israelite

 – A descendant of Abraham

  – Of the tribe of Benjamin

• Paul once persecuted Christ, yet Christ saved him.

• “Foreknew” — God had chosen Israel as His people and set His love upon them.

• Israel’s unfaithfulness did not cancel God’s faithfulness.

• Romans 3:3–4 — Human unbelief does not nullify God’s faithfulness.

APPLICATION:

Keep praying. Keep witnessing. Keep trusting God.

Don’t assume you know the ending while God is still working.

2. GOD ALWAYS PRESERVES A REMNANT — vv. 2b–4

• Paul reaches back to Elijah — 1 Kings 19.

• Elijah saw Israel’s apostasy and concluded:

  “I alone am left.”

• God’s answer:

  “I have kept for Myself seven thousand.”

• A remnant is a smaller group that remains faithful when many others turn away.

• Elijah saw ONE.

  God knew about SEVEN THOUSAND.

• Romans 9:27 / Isaiah 10 — The remnant is a recurring biblical theme.

APPLICATION:

Don’t measure God’s faithfulness by what you can presently see.

“Don’t confuse what you can see with everything God is doing.”

—Pastor Josh

“God’s work is always bigger than our field of vision.”

—Pastor Josh

3. GOD’S REMNANT IS PRESERVED BY GRACE — vv. 5–6

• What God did in Elijah’s day, He was doing in Paul’s day.

• The remnant exists “according to God’s gracious choice.”

• Grace and works cannot be mixed.

  If salvation is earned, it is no longer grace.

• Salvation is not God’s paycheck for good behavior.

  It is His gift to undeserving sinners.

• Ephesians 2:8–9 — We are saved by grace through faith, not works.

• Good works are the RESULT of salvation,

  not the REASON for salvation.

APPLICATION:

If He saved you — GRACE!

If He kept you — GRACE!

If He forgave you — GRACE!

If He restored you — GRACE!

If you’re still standing — GRACE!

And if you make it all the way home —

IT’LL STILL BE GRACE!

CONCLUSION:

“God hasn’t given up on His people

because God hasn’t given up on His purposes.”

And what God preserves…

He preserves by GRACE.

RECAP:

1. God Has Not Rejected His People.

2. God Always Preserves a Remnant.

3. God’s Remnant Is Preserved by Grace.

PRAYER