"wondering,
Hello Wondering,
I am enjoying our interaction, and discussing these great verses.
[Did you ever stop to consider that perhaps the elect means the Jews or Israelites?
I'm sure you've heard of the SEED OF ABRAHAM.]
Yes indeed. Deut7:
5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7 The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Amos
3 Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
Sometimes I notice that when God choose one nation....no one objects and says this is not fair.
Why did God single out only one nation to elect some of those in that nation to become saved!
[The remnant are those Israelites that were not destroyed by another nation,
or instance the Babylonians or the Assyrians.
Isaiah 1:9 speaks to the King of Judah, probably Jotham, and tries to warn them of the coming attack of Assyria.
8The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard,
Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.
9Unless the LORD of hosts
Had left us a few survivors,
We would be like Sodom,
We would be like Gomorrah.
The above is about the nation of Judah and Israel. (kingdoms).
It is not about personal salvation.]
While one nation was chosen, indeed not all Israelites in that nation were chosen to salvation.
We see that in Romans 9:6-8
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Romans 9:27-30
27Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED;
28FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY.”
29And just as Isaiah foretold,
“UNLESS THE LORD OF SABAOTH HAD LEFT TO US A POSTERITY,
WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE RESEMBLED GOMORRAH.”
[30What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith;
31but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
The above is also about nations.
It's about how God is keeping His promise to allow the Gentiles into the fold,
and not only the Jews.
Paul is comparing the Gentiles way to righteousness to the Jews way to righteousness.
He is saying there is only one way of righteousness
