Romans 9:27

Romans 9:27 says, Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:  Paul is referring to Isaiah 10:22-23 in this statement. I believe Paul was telling the Jews that even though in the time during which Isaiah spoke, the physical number of the Israelites, or Jews, was great, only a small remnant actually followed God.  Today, there may be many who profess to be followers of Christ, but there may be only a small number, a remnant, who truly follow His will.  This is not a call for us to judge the validity of the salvation of others, but to make sure that we remain true to the word of God concerning salvation.  We can know that if anyone professes themself to be a follower of Christ but claims to come to Him through any other way than through accepting His sacrifice on the cross, they cannot truly be His followers.  We must always present the gospel alone as the only way to salvation.  Just as not all who called themselves Jews, God's people, in Isaiah's and Paul's day were really His people in faith, not all who call themselves Christians today are truly His in faith.  Verse twenty-eight adds, For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.  The Jews had attempted to find a right standing with God for a very long time and had made many rules and regulations concerning how to be one of God's people.  Only a remnant had remained true to what being one of God's people really meant.  Through Christ, God finished the work of salvation.  He cut short the rules and regulations and made clear the one requirement.  That is that we cannot be saved by any way other than through faith in Christ.  Verse twenty-nine continues, And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrha. Paul was referring to Isaiah 1:9.  These should not be unfamiliar verses to the Jews.  They may have considered the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah as a good thing, but Paul was reminding them that if a remnant of the Jews had not remained faithful to God, then all, even those who called themselves God's people, would have been destroyed.  That is why we as followers of Christ today must be His not only in word but in deed as well.  As long as there is a true remnant, there is hope for others to be saved. Verse thirty states, What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.  I believe Paul was asking if the Gentiles could find righteousness simply through faith.  We must understand that this is the only way to attain righteousness. We cannot decide to find righteousness by our own merits, as the Jews felt they had, but can only come by faith in Christ, which the Gentiles were doing.  Verse thirty-one adds, But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.  This was simply the reverse of the question in verse thirty.  As I stated earlier, Paul was asking if the Jews had attained righteousness by the law, without faith in Christ, and the answer was no.  Verse thirty-two continues, Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;  Paul explains why the Jews who were relying on the law to save them were not righteous in the eyes of God.  They stumbled on the only way to salvation, which is through faith in Christ alone. Verse thirty-three concludes, As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.  Paul again referred to the scriptures to emphasize his point.  He was not telling them something new, but something that they should have known themselves if they were familiar with the scriptures. We today need to make sure that no one attempts to proclaim anything as God's word if it contradicts the scriptures.