Romans 11:5

Even so then. As in Elijah’s time the apostasy of Israel was not so universal as it seemed to be, and as the prophet in his despondency believed it to be, so now the rejection of Christ by the Jews was not so complete in extent as some might suppose. There was now, as there was then, a faithful remnant. God was still dealing with His people upon the same principles.

Remnant. Gr. leimma, from the verb leipd, “to leave.” Leimma occurs nowhere else in the NT; “remnant” is from kataleimma (Rom. 9:27), and from loipos (Rev. 11:13; 12:17; 19:21). However, the meaning is not substantially different.

Election of grace. God chooses those to constitute His remnant who accept His provisions of grace. They have not earned their membership by their works, but they have accepted freely the grace proffered them (v. 6). The reason why there was only a remnant of faithful ones left in Israel is that the mass of the Jews obstinately trusted to their own works instead of relying on God’s grace. Therefore, God withdrew His rejected Spirit of grace and left the unrepentant to the hardness of their hearts (vs. 7-10). The faithful remnant in Paul’s day was constituted of those who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and who became members of the Christian church (see AA 376, 377).