Romans 11:5

Verse 5. At this present time. In the time when the apostle wrote. Though the mass of the nation was to be rejected, yet it did not follow that all were to be excluded from the favour of God. As in the time of Elijah, when all appeared to be dark, and all the nation, except one, seemed to have become apostate, yet there was a considerable number of the true friends of God; so in the time of Paul, though the nation had rejected their Messiah,--though, as a consequence, they were to be rejected as a people; and though they were eminently wicked and corrupt,--yet it did not follow that all were cast off, or that any were excluded on whom God had purposed to bestow salvation. A remnant.