Romans 9:27-29

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out His sentence on earth with speed and finality" [Isaiah 10:22,23]. It is just as Isaiah said previously: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah" [Isaiah 1:9].

Paul, in v27-28, gives a second indication of God’s mercy. First was God’s calling of the Gentiles. Second, according to Paul, is that through God’s election, a portion of Israel will be saved. God reveals His mercy by saving a remnant of Israel. Paul himself is part of this remnant, and he knows it. Though like the Gentiles, none of Israel deserved God’s mercy, and all of Israel deserved His judgment, God revealed His mercy by choosing a remnant for Himself.

The point here is that the root of salvation is always in the grace of God, in the gracious choice of God. The root of condemnation is in ourselves. We don’t usually look at it that way. We tend to think that God has an obligation to save, and that if He doesn’t make arrangements to save everybody, it’s not fair. That’s not how the Bible looks at it. The Bible says, “God’s obligation is to Himself, and He is just and righteous; thus His obligation is justice and righteousness, not primarily to mercy.” The surprising thing is that God Himself provides a way that His justice is delivered and His mercy is visited upon a multitude that no man can number. God is both just and the One who mercifully justifies (Romans 3:26).

In v29, Paul says that without God’s electing intervention, the natural result is always death in judgment. If God doesn’t intervene with grace, the natural result is always death in judgment. Look at the words: “It is just as Isaiah said previously: ‘Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” Paul is declaring a most uncomfortable truth: God’s mercy is the one thing that stands between us and judgment, and it’s the one thing that stands between us and self-destruction. Even the remnant cannot take credit for persevering itself. That credit belongs wholly to God. If He doesn’t intervene, only death in judgment awaits. This recognition is why we Calvinists prefer, “Preservation of the Saints” rather than “Perseverance of the Saints.” It’s all God.

Now, I’m sure that none of us realize how shocking what Paul is saying really is. His audience is made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers, and he’s saying to those Jewish believers, “Look, even the remnant of Israel would be like Sodom and Gomorrah were it not for the grace of God. There is nothing in us, there is nothing in us that made us to be the remnant. It’s only the grace of God.” That would be more than offensive to the Jews of Paul’s day, who prided themselves in their keeping of the law. Paul is saying that apart from the grace of God, even the remnant of Jews looks like Sodom and Gomorrah.