Rom 9:27-29 Only a Remnant

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Only a Remnant

Rom 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." (Is 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." (Is 1:9)

Much as in the Old Testament prosperity was measured by quantity, as for example it says, "I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted." Gen 32:12 and likewise institutional Christianity has often measured its prosperity by numbers, yet one can infer a New Testament principle that popularity is not a measure of prosperity. For we see an emphasis on the value of individuals. Thus it speaks of the salvation not of the majority, but rather "at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace." Rom 11:5 And in response to the question, "Lord, are there few who are saved?" He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able." Luke 13:23,24 and "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Mt 7:13,14

It's individuals that matter. And often individuals will impact the fate of the majority. In Genesis 18 Abraham, an individual, and the Lord, haggled with God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. And it was revealed that God so highly valued the righteous that Sodom and Gomorrah would have been spare had there been but 10 righteous men therein. But there were not found that many. Nonetheless before obliterating the cities, he first delivered the few righteous who lived there. God highly values righteous individuals as He does His own Son. But it's written that "Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire." Jude 1:7 So "he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly" 2Peter 2:6

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