Chapter # 11 Paragraph # 1 Study # 4
July 14, 2009
Lincolnton, N.C.

• I. Paul's Evidence For His Denial of God's Casting Away of His People.
  • A. In the first place, there is the reality of "foreknowledge" [See Notes for June 30, 2009<506>].
  • B. Then there is the declaration of God to Elijah [See Notes for July 7, 2009<508>].
  • C. Then comes the "conclusion".
    • 1. "In the same manner, therefore, also ..." (literal translation).
      • a. "Even so then" uses both the typical word for coming to a conclusion and the typical word for "in like manner". This means that, on the basis of the prior declaration in respect to Elijah, there is both a "conclusion to be drawn" and a parallel similarity in terms of "methods".
      • b. The conclusion is that what was true in Elijah's day because of the activity of God in reserving a remnant to Himself is still true now.
    • 2. The "...in the present time..." brings the Elijah-truth forward hundreds of years.
      • a. This reveals the issue of constancy in respect to certain "actions" of God. God does not always retain a constancy of actions at the level of the particulars. There are certain broad parameters that are established by character/heart/love/truth/Plan realities so that there will always be a constancy of "general" activities, but those same parameters mean that individuals will be treated in specific ways that address them in their particularity and, at this level, the actual actions may be opposites (in Luke 8 Jesus told the demoniac to "go and tell" and turned right around and told Jairus not to tell).
      • b. When the factors are the same, the actions will be the same. The Elijah-problem was one of a deep-seated depravity that expressed itself in apostasy and idolatry. That has never changed. Therefore, if there was a "remnant" in his day, and a remnant is required for the words of God to be maintained in integrity, there has to be a "remnant" also in the present time.
    • 3. The "...a remnant according to the election of grace has come into being..." clarifies the real issues that are involved in God's preservation of the integrity of His words.
      • a. The processes of Sin are impossible for Adamic humanity to resist and/or overcome.
      • b. If those processes have been permitted to permeate this world (and they obviously have), there will be no people who are faithful to God unless those processes are blocked in some powerful form.
      • c. God's action is produced by omnipotence and that activity is guided by His wisdom in the use of an effective "form".
        • 1) The form is "election". This is not a hard to understand concept. Election is God's choice of individuals who will be "reserved by Himself" from the apostasy/idolatry of the majority.
        • 2) The form is qualified as an election "of grace". This is where most of the objections begin. Some object to any kind of divine selectivity and posit a universal triumphalism that results in the salvation of all persons, including Satan. Most do not go there. The majority do not object to the principle of divine selectivity as long as its method of selection allows those who are selected to have the ultimate say in their being chosen. The problem with this majority position is that they cannot settle upon the particulars of the "ultimate say". Some insist that people are given a choice and their election results from which choice they make. Others, recognizing that the "choice" issue is extremely elastic in terms of the proclamation of its details (some get the "witness" of the heat of the sun on their skin -- Psalm 19:6 -- and others get a detailed explanation of the "witness" of the Gospel -- Romans 1:16), revert to the premise that content is not crucial but "sincerity" is. But the bottom line is this: at the "sincerity" level, and all the way upward from that foundation, man's inability to overcome Sin is coupled to his lack of desire to overcome so that he is a failure all along the path from "sincerity" to "obedience to some qualifying act". Thus, if God does not simply act in a unilateral way -- before there is any "good" or "bad" accomplished or taken into consideration -- no one will be preserved from the apostasy/idolatry swamp.