How to Miss God While Looking for Him - Romans 11:1-10

Romans 11:1-10 Teaching Outline

"How to Miss God While Looking for Him"

Segment One: God Has Not Rejected His People

Romans 11:1-6

• 1. The Question: Has God Rejected Israel? (v. 1)
  • Paul's immediate answer: "By no means!"
  • Paul himself is evidence.
  • Israelite, descendant of Abraham, tribe of Benjamin.
  • If God is completely finished with Israel, explain Paul.
  • Never declare someone unreachable when God reached Saul of Tarsus.
• 2. God's Faithfulness Has Not Failed (v. 2)
  • "God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew."
  • Connect to Romans 8:29.
  • Israel's unbelief did not surprise God.
  • There is no "Plan B" with God.
  • Interpret circumstances through God's character, not God's character through circumstances.
• 3. Elijah's Crisis of Perspective (vv. 2-3)
  • Elijah believed he was the only faithful one left.
  • Discouragement loves absolute language:
    • "Nobody cares."
    • "Everybody has left."
    • "Nothing is working."
    • "I'm the only one."
  • Exhausted people make terrible statisticians.
  • Elijah accurately saw the darkness, but mistakenly believed darkness was the whole story.
• 4. God's 7,000 (v. 4)
  • Elijah counted one, God knew 7,000.
  • "I have kept for myself..."
  • God preserves His people.
  • What you can see is not the totality of what God is doing.
  • God's hidden work is still God's real work.
• 5. The Remnant (v. 5)
  • "So too at the present time there is a remnant..."
  • God continually preserves a people for Himself.
  • The remnant exists because of God's faithfulness, not human superiority.
  • "Chosen by grace."
• 6. Grace Means Grace (v. 6)
  • Grace and works cannot be the basis of salvation at the same time.
  • If you earn it, it isn't grace.
  • Grace is not a discount.
  • Grace is not God meeting us halfway.
  • Grace is not God's reward for religious performance.
  • Christ accomplished what we could never accomplish.
  • Properly understood, the gospel destroys spiritual arrogance.
• 7. Segment One Application
  • Where have I confused God's silence with God's absence?
  • What have I declared dead that God may still be working in?
  • Who have I declared unreachable?
  • What prayer have I stopped praying?
  • Where am I taking credit for something grace produced?
  • Don't despair: God is still working.
  • Don't boast: it is still grace.

Segment Two: Grace Received, Hearts Hardened

Romans 11:7-10

• 8. Israel Sought but Did Not Obtain (v. 7)
  • Israel was genuinely seeking righteousness.
  • Connect Romans 9:30-32.
  • Connect Romans 10:2-4.
  • They pursued the right thing in the wrong way.
  • Zeal does not equal truth.
  • Sincerity cannot save us.
  • Religious activity is not the same as faith.
• 9. The Danger of Familiarity
  • Israel possessed Scripture, worship, tradition and covenant history.
  • They were waiting for Messiah and many missed Him when He came.
  • You can know the Scriptures and resist the God revealed in them.
  • Familiarity with Christianity can produce complacency.
  • Knowing Christian language is not the same as knowing Christ.
• 10. "The Rest Were Hardened" (v. 7)
  • Take the language of hardening seriously.
  • Hold together human responsibility and divine sovereignty.
  • Connect to Romans 1:24, 26, 28: "God gave them up."
  • Judicial hardening can involve God allowing persistent rejection to bear its consequences.
  • Repeated resistance shapes the heart.
• 11. The Slow Process of Hardening
  • One compromise.
  • One ignored conviction.
  • One justification.
  • One delayed act of obedience.
  • One more "I know what Scripture says, but..."
  • Eventually what once convicted us may stop bothering us.
  • The absence of conviction should not automatically be interpreted as God's approval.
• 12. Eyes That Don't See, Ears That Don't Hear (v. 8)
  • Paul draws from Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:10.
  • Physical exposure to revelation does not guarantee spiritual perception.
  • Connect to Jesus: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
  • Connect to John 5:39.
  • Scripture is not merely information, it confronts and transforms.
  • The question is not only, "Do I understand Scripture?"
  • The deeper question: "Does Scripture have permission to correct me?"
• 13. When the Table Becomes a Trap (vv. 9-10)
  • Paul quotes Psalm 69.
  • The table represents blessing, provision, fellowship and security.
  • Something intended as a blessing can become a snare.
  • Religious privilege can produce false security.
  • Knowledge can become arrogance.
  • Success can become self-sufficiency.
  • Morality can become self-righteousness.
  • Ministry can become identity.
  • The gift becomes dangerous when it causes us to forget the Giver.
• 14. Segment Two Application
  • What truth have I heard so often that it no longer moves me?
  • When was the last time Scripture changed my mind?
  • Where have I become resistant to conviction?
  • What have I repeatedly postponed obeying?
  • Has one of God's blessings become a substitute for dependence upon God?
  • Am I more impressed by what I know about God than overwhelmed by how much I need Him?
• 15. Bring Both Segments Together
  • Romans 11:1-6: Don't despair. God is faithful.
  • Romans 11:7-10: Don't presume. Hearts can become hard.
  • The remnant destroys despair.
  • Grace destroys pride.
  • Hardening destroys presumption.
  • God's faithfulness produces hope.
  • Our dependence upon grace produces humility.
• 16. Set Up Romans 11:11
  • "Did they stumble in order that they might fall?"
  • Is Israel's stumbling final?
  • Is hardening the end of the story?
  • Paul's answer: "By no means!"
  • God is not finished.
  • Take the warning seriously without mistaking a dark chapter for the end of God's story.