READ: Rom. 11:7–12: … Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. … Through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.
Throughout the Old Testament we see that God’s election has worked as a separation among the children of Abraham and the people of Israel. Only the elect, who shared the faith of Abraham, obtained what they sought: righteousness before God. As the Lord accounted Abraham’s faith to him for righteousness (Rom. 4:22), so He did and does for believing Israelites.
This also applies to us as believers (Rom. 4:23–24). To impute means a gracious reckoning on God’s part in the form of righteousness: deliverance from sin and guilt. Ultimately it is the reward of His own work in us,for faith itself is granted to us.
In Phil. 2:12–13 Paul writes: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
The Jews who expected it from their own works without true faith, and who devoted themselves to keeping the law in order to earn righteousness before God, are disappointed. They are even hardened in their unbelief.
That hardening is God’s response to unbelief, yet it is also connected with His election and rejection (cf. 10:18–19). This remains something for us to accept, even if we cannot comprehend it. The unfaithful Jews, who seek redemption in themselves, become blinded; they no longer see the way the Lord points out. Thus He renders them guilty and they miss righteousness and salvation (vv.8–10).
Thus the majority of Israel stumble, though this does not mean that all Israel is now lost (v.11; cf. vv.1–7). The consequence of their stumbling is that the gospel now goes to the Gentiles to bring people there to faith. Believers from the Gentiles may thus provoke the Jews to jealousy, so that also among the Jews the Lord may bring in the full number of the elect (v.26).
Is what is written in Phil. 2:12–13 not a contradiction?
Sing: Ps. 147:6