ARE YOU AMONG THE FAITHFUL REMNANT OF GOD?
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Who is a God like You, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. – Micah 7:18
The Most High God, Creator of all, has promised that a remnant of His people would forever survive. Whatever transpires… calamity, war, destruction, idolatry, apostasy, rebellion, exile… His covenant assurance is that a chosen portion will be saved. He will protect and preserve those resolutely faithful to Him. For His divine judgment is always balanced by His endless mercy.
God’s covenantal remnant comprises of His loyal followers throughout history, committed to Him even when the majority abandons. The word remnant in Greek is “loipos”, translated as “remaining ones”. It is defined as “a small surviving group”. Biblically, God has proven His sovereignty and enduring faithfulness by saving a dedicated remnant to rebuild and restore… to keep His promises alive… and to carry on His eternal redemptive plan.
Old Testament Times:
God’s promise of an enduring remnant weaves through the Bible… a remnant saved by grace through faith. In the Old Testament, Jews believed in God, looking ahead to His promise of salvation through the coming Messiah.
God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water. – 1 Peter 3:20
† Noah – Noah was a man who walked with God, righteous and favored in His eyes. The world at that time had become treacherously evil. People had settled into moral depravity. The heart of man had turned sinful and wicked. God lamented having created mankind… and resolved to blot all people from the face of the earth. Yet He remembered Noah and his family. He saved from the devastating flood this loyal remnant of eight to repopulate the earth.
God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. – Genesis 45:7
† Joseph – God was always with Joseph, orchestrating people and events to fulfill His eternal purpose. He granted His favored one wisdom, success and divine revelation through times of betrayal, enslavement, disloyalty and imprisonment. Joseph rose to second in power in Pharaoh’s kingdom. When his estranged family sought his help during a famine, he offered them land in Egypt where they could settle. This patriarchal remnant was preserved to become God’s covenant nation of Israel.
I will bring my people Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. – Amos 9:14
† Babylonian Exiles – The people of Judah faced God’s judgment for their continued idolatry, disobedience and rebellion. Their enemies seized their land and carried them captive to Babylon. Yet a faithful remnant, true to Jehovah, valiantly resisted the pressures of a pagan society. Their belief in His promise to return them to their homeland gave them hope. God protected these exiles to insure the survival of the Jewish identity and faith in a foreign land.
New Testament Times:
The promised remnant, saved by grace through faith, came to have new meaning in the New Testament. Belief was now in the finished work of Christ and His redemption.
At the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. – Romans 11:5
† Jesus Christ – Jesus came to draw people into the kingdom by His grace. Faith could now be in the Son of God for salvation. For He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Believers today are a part of the remnant chosen by grace… the ones who withstand the pressures and prevailing unbelief of the world… the ones who stand strong for Christ.
Jesus is the Gate for true believers to enter God’s kingdom. All people of every nation are welcome. He invites all to enter through this Gate for salvation and eternal life. Yet He warns that only a few, a remnant, will find it (Matthew 7:13-14). Are you among this promised remnant?
As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land. – Isaiah 6:13
† Holy Seed – Throughout history, God preserved and protected a remnant of His treasured people, set apart for His kingdom purposes. His “holy seed” carries on in faith despite the apostasy surrounding them. They are His life in a seemingly dead land… His light in the darkness of the times… His seed for renewal and restoration.
The prophet Isaiah here looks ahead to the prophesied “Holy Seed”, the Messiah Jesus Christ, the righteous Branch from the lineage or stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). He is the Life of all mankind… the One who brings new life to the dead. He is the eternal Light of salvation for a dark and fallen world.
Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. – Romans 9:27
† Israel – God always keeps His eternal covenants. His chosen nation of Israel faced His judgment throughout their history due to their unfaithfulness. Yet He mercifully and unfailingly spared a loyal remnant. In the time of Christ, when the majority of Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah, a minority remnant believed.
Only belief in Christ will save… not heritage or obedience to the law, as many Jews assumed. The apostle Paul here states that God will not forget His chosen people. Yet there needs to be a spiritual awakening. They must come to believe in the true Messiah to inherit salvation.
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. – Titus 2:11
Everyone is equal in the eyes of God. All are created in His image. All are loved by Him. Out of this boundless love, He sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. Jew and Gentile alike who place their faith in Christ gain entrance into God’s eternal kingdom. These are His righteous ones, His chosen remnant of faithful believers, saved by His grace for all eternity.
† Eternal Takeaway – God’s promise of salvation for the remnant is by grace through faith †
