“As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.” -Romans 11:28 For clarity’s sake, Paul’s categories are as follows: Gentiles, which represent the believers, the church; broader Israel which includes both the elect remnant and the unbelieving ethnic Jews; the elect […]
All Israel Will Be Saved
“And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”” -Romans 11:26–27 God will save all Israel in the way he just described (and is about […]
Take Heed Lest You Fall
“Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” -Romans 11:25 This statement is a summary, an expansion, and a warning. It is a summary explanation of what […]
One Olive Tree
“And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the […]
Continue in His Kindness
“For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.” -Romans 11:21–22 As Paul has already noted in […]
The Connection Between Faith and Fear
“Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.” -Romans 11:19–20 Paul now issues a more direct warning to the Gentiles against any kind of […]
The Humility of Grace
“do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.” -Romans 11:18 The root is the heritage the natural branches have in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Gentiles were grafted in and they derive their support from the roots; it’s […]
Grafted in by Faith
“But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,” -Romans 11:17 Picking up from his second illustration, Paul begins a longer discourse directed primarily at the Gentiles, warning them not to […]
Firstfruits and Tree Roots
“For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.” -Romans 11:15–16 The logic of this passage has been lost on some […]
Toward the Reconciliation of the World
“Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the […]