THE TERRIBLE DOCTRINE OF THE REMNANT by A.W.Tozer

By A.W.Tozer. From a previously unpublished essay and now in “Reclaiming Christianity.” It can also be heard here. http://www.box.net/shared/oe47j3glqb

Rom 9:27 Isaiah also cries concerning Israel, “though the numbers of the sons of Israel is as the sands of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.’

I want to articulate a doctrine in the Bible that is very troubling and alarming. I am very much afraid that the Bible is a more alarming book than we know .Before I explain what I mean, I would like to read the words of a hymn. I love this hymn from Edwin Hodder (1837-1904) about the Word.

The Word is like a garden , Lord
With flowers bright and fair;
And everyone who seeks may pluck
A lovely cluster there.
Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine;
And jewels rich and rare
Are hidden in its mighty depths
For every searcher there.

Thy Word is like a starry host;
A thousand rays of light
Are seen to guide the traveler
And make his pathway bright.
Thy Word is like an armory
Where soldiers may repair.
And find, for life’s long battle day
All needful weapons there.

All of that is true. I enjoy hearing that song and I enjoy singing it. However, I am a little bit afraid that that is the attitude we take toward the Scriptures-that it is a beautiful jewel to wear on or around our neck or our finger, or corsage to wear at some dress up occasion where the star shines on it; that it is fragrant. It is all that. But it is something more than that, and in our simple elegance, I am afraid we are not letting the Word of God mean to us what it ought to mean. Whatever the educators may be saying, whatever the current religious vogue may be, here is doctrine clearly taught in the Scripture,, which cultists have mis-read and have wrested to their own destruction. For every cultist says ” We are the people.” But I refuse to reject the doctrine because somebody else has wrested the doctrine to his of her own destruction. I have neither starry hopes for you to admire nor posies for you to smell; but what I do have is a terrible doctrine that hurt and bothers and makes me sorrow in spirit. It is the doctrine of the Remnant.

Only a Fragment

What is the doctrine of the Remnant? It is simply this; that in our blind, fallen, sinful world of mankind, at any given time, the vast overwhelming majority is lost. And by lost, I do not mean they have missed their way or come short of the mark or are less that they wanted to be or fail to fulfill their dreams. By lost I mean, alienated from God and an enemy to Him, without pardon, without life, without hope. What does the doctrine of the Remnant mean? “Remnant,’ means a small fragment, a surviving trace. It means that some-thing yet remains when the larger body is somewhere else. The Romans 9:27 text deals with Israel, but it sets forth clearly the doctrine as applying to the entire human race as well as the Church. This was true among the nations before Abraham; it was true of Israel after Abraham; and it is true of the Church since Pentecost. I am alarmed because it has been true since Pentecost that such a vast number of people who call themselves Christians-the overwhelming majority-are nominal, and only a remnant is saved.

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