Romans 11:1-10

God deals differently with social groups than He does with individuals. In these verses, Paul is writing about how God dealt with the Israelites. Individual Jews became Christians, but the majority rejected God’s truth. The Israelites believed they were God’s chosen people, and as a result, they thought they were righteous by way of membership as a Jew. Paul is making the case that God has not rejected his people because his offer of righteousness was never a blanket salvation for every member of the group. Salvation from the beginning was a matter of individual faith and obedience. God intended to use the Israelites as a tool for blessing the world, but their effectiveness in this role was always dependent upon a majority of the individuals choosing to be faithful. They had not done so, and God begin to do his work among the gentile population of the world.

I can find nowhere in the bible where it teaches that God hardens any individuals heart against personal faith and salvation.  These verses do not teach that either. The scriptures do teach that God hardens the hearts of the unrighteous to prevent them from carrying out wickedness. These verses are talking about God hardening the Jewish people who were rejecting the gospel. God hardened the Israelites to prevent them from compromising the gospel. If God had allowed them to continue in their obstinate and disobedient fashion, they would have co-opted Christianity and corrupted it into a religion of works.

Righteousness will always be between an individual and God. However, when enough members of a group or nation are righteous, God will use that group or nation to bless the world. There is a tipping point, and when wickedness becomes the norm, people will fall into a spiritual stupor. They will develop eyes that cannot see and ears and cannot hear. Our nation is teetering on the tipping point. Christians have a responsibility to be a righteous influence. Wickedness cannot win when the righteous are tipping the scales.