Romans 11:6 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And if by grace— Here the Apostle has his eye upon the remnant of the Jews who had embraced the Gospel, mentioned in the foregoingverse; and he throws in this verse to shew them, that their standing in the Christian church had no relation to or dependence upon their past or present observance of the law of Moses. Their standing in the church and covenant of God was according to the election of grace; grace, received by faith, was the only ground upon which they stood, and had a title to the privileges of God's people. The election of grace is not a particular act of sovereign grace, which singled out some few of the Jews, who deserved to have been cast off as well as the rest; but it is that general scheme of grace, according to which God purposed to take into his church and kingdom any, among either Jews or Gentiles, who believed in Christ; and the remnant of the Jews were taken in, not because God singledthem out from the rest of their countrymen, by such a special act of favour as might have taken in all the Jews, had he so pleased; but because they believed, and so came into the scheme of election which God had appointed: out of which election they, as well as others, would have been excluded, had they, like the rest, remained in unbelief, and into which election all the Jews, to a man, notwithstanding they were all sinners, would have been taken, had they all believed in Christ. This, and the preceding verse, may be paraphrased thus:"So it is at this very time: there is a remnant of the Jews, a considerable number, who have accepted of the grace of the Gospel, and are the people of God, after the only true way of choosing his people, which is by grace; and here, by the way, (Romans 11:6.) let me put this remnant of the Jews, who have embraced the Gospel, in mind, that if their standing in the church is of grace and favour, it is wholly so, and in no part or respect dependent upon their observance of the law of Moses; for if it were, grace would lose its proper nature and cease to be what it is; a free undeserved gift. On the other hand, were it true that they are invested in the privileges of the kingdom of Christ by the observance of the law of Moses, then grace would be quite set aside; for if it were not, work, or the merit of obedience, would lose its proper nature, which excludes favour and free gift." See Locke and Doddridge.