To whom does “the elect” refer?

Explanation:

Paul explains that Israel did not obtain what it sought but the elect obtained it. Likely, the elect refers to a remnant within Israel. We can detect this because the immediate context has to do with God keeping a remnant within Israel for himself by grace, not works (Romans 11:2–6). Paul then states that Israel failed to obtain what the elect obtained. Given that he just referred to a remnant chosen by God within Israel, the elect refers to this remnant within Israel.

Counterargument:

While the immediate context might suggest that the elect refers to a remnant within Israel, the wider context implies that the elect refers to Jews and Gentiles. For in Romans 10:1–21 Paul explicitly explains that everyone who calls on Jesus’ name will be saved (Romans 10:11), and there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for there is one Lord over all (Romans 10:12). Now in Romans 11:7 Paul explains that Israel did not obtain what the elect obtained. Of course, what the elect obtained is salvation, which is open to both Jews and Gentiles, so the elect includes both Jews and Gentiles.

Response to counterargument:

While it is true that the Gentiles are included in the elect, it is unlikely that the elect Gentiles are in view in Romans 11:7. The immediate context plays a more influential role on the meaning of sentences than the broader context does. And when we continue reading, we find that Paul certainly has the Jews only in mind. For after saying that the elect obtained it, he says the rest were hardened. He then goes on to explain that the rest refers to the rest of Israel aside from the elect. We know that the rest refers to Israel because he explains in Romans 11:11 that the stumbling of the rest is what brings salvation to the Gentiles. That the rest bringing salvation to the Gentiles implies that the rest are the unbelieving Jews.

So, Paul says that Israel did not obtain what it was seeking, clearly referring to the nation of Israel. He then says the elect obtained it but the rest, again clearly referring to Israelites, did not. Given the flow of Paul’s thought and the fact that the nation of Israel minus the elect refers to the rest of Israel, it must be that the elect refers to a remnant in Israel. So while the Gentiles are included in the elect generally speaking, they are not included in the elect in this more immediate context.

The weakness here is that the elect is normally a category that includes all who are saved by God (Ephesians 1:4; Romans 8:33). On the other hand, Paul uses the term remnant for that small group in Israel that are saved. So when Paul uses the term elect, we expect him to refer to all who are saved by God, while remnant refers to Israelites only.

Explanation

Paul writes that Israel did not obtain what the elect obtained. We can determine who Paul refers to by the elect because he refers to the elect earlier in Romans 8:33.³ There he explains that no one can bring a charge against God’s elect. The context suggests that the elect includes all those God predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, which includes Jews and Gentiles. So the elect are all those chosen by God for salvation. Now Paul writes that Israel did not obtain what the elect obtained. Clearly, Israel did not obtain what all those predestined to conform to the image of the Son, including Jews and Gentiles, did obtain. So the elect refers to Jews and Gentiles.

Counterargument

The problem here is that Paul uses two different terms for election in Romans 8:33 and Romans 11:7. In Romans 8:33 he uses the term ἐκλεκτóς, while in Romans 11:7 he uses ἐκλογή. This might not be so important except that Paul also uses ἐκλογή in Romans 11:5 where he writes that God kept a remnant of Israelites chosen by grace. Then, two verses later in Romans 11:7 he says that Israel failed to obtain what the elect obtained. The fact that Paul uses ἐκλογή (elect) in Romans 11:5 to refer to the remnant chosen by God and then in Romans 11:7 to that group that obtained what Israel did not implies that the elect is the same as the remnant.⁴ Of course, the remnant is Jewish Christians. So the fact that Paul refers to the Jews and Gentiles as ἐκλεκτóς in Romans 8:33 is not enough to show that the term ἐκλογή refers to Jews and Gentiles in Romans 11:7.

Explanation:

In Romans 9:30 Paul writes that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it. Then he explains that Israel who sought righteousness did not obtain it (Romans 9:31). Now he writes that Israel who sought it did not obtain it, but the elect did (Romans 11:7). Clearly, Paul is repeating what he wrote in Romans 9:30–31.⁵ If so, then he is saying that Israel as a nation, who pursued righteousness by the law, did not obtain it. But the elect, which includes Jewish Christians and Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness by the law, did obtain it. So the elect includes Jews and Gentiles.

Counterargument:

While it is true that Paul refers to the Gentiles obtaining what the Israelites failed to obtain in Romans 9:30–31, Paul’s focus has narrowed to discuss only Israel in this section. We know that Paul is focused on Israel in this section because he opens Romans 11:1 by asking whether God rejected his people, a reference to the Israelites. He then goes on to explain that God kept a remnant for himself by grace, so that the elect obtained what Israel did not. In other words, a remnant in Israel referred to as the elect obtained what Israel as a whole did not obtain. Thus, given that the immediate context is about a remnant in Israel, and that Romans 9:30–31 falls outside the immediate context, Romans 9:30–31 is not relevant to understanding what is meant by the elect in Romans 11:7.

The one weakness of this view is that in this section, Paul is clearly referring to the Israelites and a remnant kept by God within Israel. So while it is possible for him to refer to the elect, as in Jews and Gentiles, the immediate context favours Paul only referring to a select group from amongst the Jews.