REMNANT: A STUDY OF ROMANS 11

By Phil Harris

Prolog

In this blog I will show that Adventist teaching has highjacked the biblical identification of “remnant”. In the context of Scripture, “remnant” identifies a certain portion of God’s chosen people—otherwise known as the nation and race of Israel—who believe by faith in the promises given to Abraham apart from their failed keeping of “the works of the law”.

In fact, in reading through the book of Romans, I noticed that the Apostle Paul had much to say about just who God’s remnant people are.

Adventists teach

Adventists teach that, in the book of Revelation, the phrase “the testimony of Jesus” simply means “the testimony about Jesus”, and they assume that Ellen G. White is that testimony in this verse of Scripture:

Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea (Rev. 12:17).

According to Adventist teaching, only Seventh-day Adventists keep all the commandments of God (identified as the Ten Commandments), and only they have Ellen G. White who, they believe, gives “true” testimony about Jesus. Therefore, only they are the true remnant church—the “rest of [the woman’s] offspring”. 

The authorship of the book of Revelation is ignored, as is the opening statement of the book. In fact, the whole of Revelation, not just this one verse, is the “testimony of Jesus” given to and recorded by the Apostle John:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw (Rev. 1:1-2).

The whole book of Revelation is composed of the very words of Jesus, and Jesus Himself identified “the testimony of Jesus” as His words given to John. God’s word is the testimony of Jesus, not merely the testimony “about” Jesus. Ellen G. White lacks the authority to change the meaning of the inspired text, not even by the seemingly “small”, arbitrary interpretation of Revelation 12:17 from the plain meaning of “the testimony of Jesus” to “the testimony about Jesus”. On the contrary, the Lord spoke His “testimony of Jesus” to the apostle John the Revelator, not to a nineteenth-century prophetess named Ellen White!

With that one little interpretive change in the meaning of “the testimony of Jesus”, Adventism has altered the meaning of the book of Revelation to falsely identify Adventism instead of Israel as God’s remnant people. The Apostle Paul in the book of Romans, however, teaches something much different.

III. Inspiration

Adventism holds a view of inspiration that they call “thought inspiration”. This view teaches that God inspires prophets with His ideas, but the prophets must then convert those thoughts into human language corresponding to what the prophets think God meant to say. In other words, since Ellen G. White is considered to be one of God’s prophets, she has the self-assumed authority to tell you what the text really means in spite of what it seems to mean.

Scripture, however, explains true revelation. The apostle Peter, who was given “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” by the Savior Jesus Christ (Mt. 16:17-19) says this about how the Bible was inspired and written:

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:16-21).

To paraphrase the Apostle Peter, Ellen G. White is guilty of teaching “cleverly devised myths”.

IV. The context leading to a study of Romans 11

The Epistle of Romans was originally addressed to the saints in the city of Rome (Rom. 1:7). In other words, he is addressing those who have received salvation, both Jew and Gentile, who therefore know the gospel of Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of their salvation. This gospel is defined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 as the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world (1 Jn. 2:2).

In Romans chapter seven Paul directs his attention to “brothers…those who know the law”—fellow Jewish Christians. The point he then develops is that the new covenant has totally replaced the old Mosaic Covenant. Furthermore, it is spiritual adultery to mix any of an obsolete covenant with the new. 

After Paul defines the illegitimacy of attempting to honor the old and the new covenants at the same time, chapter eight then focuses on what it means to be led by the indwelling Holy Spirit culminating in the assurance that nothing can ever separate a saint of God from the love of God.

We must not ignore the fact that both the old obsolete Mosaic Covenant and the eternal New Covenant were given to the Hebrew people as prophesied by Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ’Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:31-34). 

In chapters nine and ten of Romans, Paul speaks of God’s sovereign choice and of Paul’s own sorrow that his fellow Jewish brothers have largely rejected the gospel message of Jesus’ salvation completed at Calvary.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom. 10:1-4).

Chapter 10 stresses that salvation for both the “Jew and Greek” is the same.

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:10-13).

Then Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah who records the words of God concerning the Hebrew people:

But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” (Rom. 10:21)

As we will see as we study chapter eleven, even though they are a “disobedient and contrary people”, God has not rejected his covenant people.

V. Commentary on Romans 11

1. The biblical meaning of “remnant”

We will quote each verse and summarize the meaning of each.

Verse 1: I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

God has not rejected Israel.

Verse 2a: God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.

To make his point Paul repeats himself when he says God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.

Verses 2b-4: God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

Paul now gives the example of Elijah (found in 1 Kings 19:9–18) after he ran from Jezebel and hid at Mt. Horeb. Elijah claimed to be the only one in Israel who was faithful to God, but God responded by saying; “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

This example reminds Paul’s readers that God kept a faithful remnant of Israelites in the time of Elijah and of great national apostasy. Moreover, their existence was the result of God’s faithfulness to keep them, not a result of their own superior discipline.

Verse 5: So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

Just as in the time of Elijah, Paul declares that God foreknew that there would always will be a remnant of Israel set apart by the grace of God.

Verse 6: But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. 

The remnant of Israel has been set apart by God’s grace, and their status as God’s remnant is not founded on the basis of their works. God alone sets them apart by His own grace.

Verses 7-10: What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.’

And David says, ‘Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.’”

Here Paul explains that the elect remnant of Israel have obtained rest that only comes through faith in God’s grace. The rest of Israel were hardened and failed to obtain rest. Again Paul quotes from the Old Testament, referring to Isaiah 29:10 and Psalm 69:22-23 to demonstrate that there is a believing remnant of Israel, a remnant whom God foreknew. Moreover, God described those of Israel who would refuse to believe.

2. Gospel extended to gentiles

Now Paul explains the mystery of God’s inclusion of the gentiles in His plan and purpose.

Verses 11-12: So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

From the perspective of the Jews, God’s inclusion of Gentiles serves His purpose of making Israel jealous. God intention is to bring unbelieving Israel to repent of their hardened hearts.

Verses 13-16: Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

The perspective of Gentiles should be that since salvation has come to all the world through the Lord Jesus, how much more wonderful it will be when the whole of the Hebrew people accept Jesus as their Messiah! 

The “dough offered as firstfruits” and the “root” that is holy refers to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom God declared His covenant promises. If they are holy, the “whole lump” and the “branches” are holy as well—the Hebrew people. 

In other words, God’s inclusion of the Gentiles does not negate His promises to the patriarchs. Their natural descendants are still God’s people. The Gentiles must realize that their inclusion in the promises God gave the patriarchs is supposed to create jealousy in the Jews because their acceptance will be “life from the dead” and a blessing to all people. 

As Gentiles, however, we must remember that we are all are declared holy by God only because God in the person of Jesus is holy. Our inclusion, whether we are Gentile or Jew, is only by Him.

Verses 17-18: But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.

Gentile believers must remember that they are not the natural branches of God’s olive tree. Sometimes Gentile believers have a tendency to think that the church supports the root of God’s purposes, but Paul reminds us that the root, the patriarchs to whom God made unconditional promises, are the ones who support the church. 

In other words, God’s promises to the patriarchs are the foundation of His purposes and blessings both to Israel and to the church. We are grafted into God’s olive tree as unnatural branches, and now we, too, share the nourishment of those eternal promises.

The arrogance of Adventism in calling itself the “remnant church” is strongly condemned in this passage. Adventists forget that the “root” nourishes the “branches” (both the natural Jewish and wild Gentile branches), and not the other way around.

Adventism sees itself as the inheritor of God’s promises, replacing Israel and even the church that worships on Sunday. Yet this passage reminds us that modern branches do not support the root established by God’s promises or replace the natural branches. God’s promises, rather, support all true believers, and He establishes the branches.

Verses 19-21: “Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

As Gentiles we are not to become proud (in our works) because the same God who did not spare the natural branches who have hardened hearts will not spare Gentiles with hardened hearts, either.

Verses 22-23: Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.

It makes no difference, whether one is Jew or Gentile, if one falls away with a hardened heart, that person will be cut off from the promises of God. Remember, God has the power to graft in the Jews who do not continue in their unbelief.

Verse 24: For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

We who are  branches of a “wild olive tree” should remember that it is far easier for God to graft back  a natural branch into the “natural tree” of our salvation—the people of Israel who were the first inheritors of God’s covenant promises to the patriarchs.

3. The partial hardening of Israel

Verse 25: Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 

The partial hardening of Israel will end when “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”. This statement also shows that Israel is still God’s remnant people, and it seems to parallel the account of Israel given to us beginning in Revelation chapter seven where the 144,000 are sealed from every tribe of Israel.

Verses 26-27: And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

When “The Deliverer” comes (and again Paul quotes from Isaiah), ungodliness will be banished from Israel, and at that time all Israel will be saved.

This statement does not mean every Jew will be saved, but Jews who believe in Jesus will be saved. These believing Jews are the true Israelites.

Verses 28-32: As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

While those of Israel with hardened hearts are enemies of the gospel for the sake of Gentiles, they remain beloved by God for the sake of their forefathers the patriarchs. We Gentiles must humbly remember that we also were once disobedient to God, yet God has mercy on all.

God will save both Jews and Gentiles in the same way: we all are disobedient unbelievers until we receive God’s mercy. When we we receive His mercy, we receive saving faith and recognize our need for a Savior, trusting in the finished work of Jesus for our reconciliation and eternal life. 

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!“For who has known the mind of the Lord,or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to himthat he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

VI. Summary

The book of Romans chapters nine, ten, and eleven make it clear that God has not abandoned his covenant people, the people and nation of Israel. Ultimately God’s promises (his covenants) rest first and foremost upon the unconditional promises he gave to Abraham. However, in the history of Israel only a few had the faith—the same faith as Abraham—to believe God’s promises. For example, from the earliest years of the nation, beginning when Moses sent the twelve spies to reconnoiter the Promised Land, only Caleb and Joshua returned with a good report. By their faithfulness and trust in God, however, they became members of the remnant of Israel.

In Scripture, as illustrated in the apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman church, only those of Israel without hardened hearts are ever called the remnant. From the time Jesus ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father, however, believing Gentiles with unhardened hearts have been grafted in with the remnant of Israel. 

Salvation is the same for everyone: belief in the Lord Jesus and His finished work.

There is no justification for Adventists to believe that they are unique members of “God’s remnant church” because God has not abandoned his chosen people. Both the old Mosaic covenant that Jesus fulfilled at Calvary and the new covenant that replaced it were given to the Hebrew people. This fact is an important point and has been the reason for our short study of Romans chapter eleven.

Christian doctrine must be founded solely and only upon Scripture…all of Scripture. The gentile founders of Adventism lied by altering the meaning of Scripture and thereby proclaiming themselves to be “the remnant church”.

As for the true universal church, the body of Christ, it is a creation of God. It includes all—Jews and Gentiles alike—who receive salvation through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

As born again believers in the Lord Jesus, we can joyfully run the race described by the author of Hebrews:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:1-2).

(All scripture quoted from the ESV)

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Phillip Harris

Phil Harris and his wife Janeane have been married 57 years and have three children, six grandchildren and 6 great grand children. Phil dropped out of Adventism at age 16 and didn't learned the biblical gospel until 10 years later. After 3 years in the Marine Corps he spent 25 years as a Shipfitter followed by another 23 years in a local food processing plant. He and Janeane now live quietly on two-and-a-half wooded acres on Puget Sound, Washington, where Phil gardens and writes for Proclamation! and for BibleStudiesforAdventists.com.

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