Romans 11 is about the problem of Israel’s salvation. The Israelites originally were God’s chosen people. They were a people that experienced many spiritual privileges that other Gentiles could not experience. Even so, God has not rejected Israel. God has a plan to save the Israelites through the remnant. As a result salvation spread to the Gentiles. God’s plan was so great and awesome. Today’s passage deals with how the Gentiles who are saved should be.
I. To make envious (vs. 11-16)
First let’s look at verses 11 to 16. I talked about verses 11 and 12 last week too. Israel did not stumble “as to fall beyond recovery” (11), but so that “Because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles.” (11) If Israel would have accepted the Gospel, Peter and Paul wouldn’t have thought of going to the Gentiles to evangelize. Because the Israelites didn’t accept the Gospel, they went to the Gentiles. If the Israelites all accepted the Gospel, then Christianity probably would have become only the religion for the Jews. Because the Israelites stumbled, the Gospel spread to the Gentiles.
However, it wasn’t just for the Gentiles. “Salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.” (11) Thus salvation will come to some Jews.
There was pastor who took a position as a youth pastor in an American church. There was a group of college students that wouldn’t listen to what he was saying. They had grown up in the church and they took the attitude that they knew everything about the Bible there was to know. However their Christian life was lacking in many aspects and they didn’t share their faith at all. The Pastor didn’t know what to do. Finally he decided not to spend time with them because it was useless. Instead he gathered together the students that had recently accepted Christ and began working among them. Soon their lives changed into Christians who were excited about the Lord and they were enthusiastically sharing their faith. Then the students that had grown up in the church became “envious” (11) and began joining in with the new Christians. Within 2 years every one was changed and faithfully following the Lord.
Israel will become envious and some of them will be saved.
Now revival is occurring among our neighbors, in China and Korea. The Church is moving forward with great momentum. These revivals are taking place for us Japanese. It is so that when we hear about the revivals in China and Korea that we Japanese will be roused and believe that revival will come to this country and earnestly follow Christ.
There are some people that think that comparing things is not good. This is true. In fact, even though they heard about the revivals, they live within their own world and don’t open up their heart even a little so this is abnormal. A heart that is not moved by anything is not a mature heart, but a heart that has already gotten old. Young people are moved by everything, and without reservation their hearts are moved. In our Christian life our hearts need to be moved to obedience, and this is what pleases God. Salvation was spread to the Gentiles so that the Israelites would become envious.
Even though Paul was called to be an evangelist to the Gentiles, he desired the salvation of his people, the Jews. Also he had confidence that the Israelites had not been rejected. “If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.” (16)
This is saying that Israel is holy. “If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy;”(16) “The part of the dough offered as first fruits” refers to Israel’s ancestor, Abraham. Abraham was consecrated by God and belonged to God, the descendants, Israel were consecrated, and will surely be saved. “If the root is holy, so are the branches.” (16) This is the same as the first part of the verse. “The root” of Israel is Abraham who was consecrated. Israel has not been rejected. By God’s election Israel is loved by God. Even if temporarily they lack faith and they reject Christ, in the end, they will return to Christ, and will show their original nature. God’s gifts and calling never change. This is really a miracle. Like Paul said in verse 15, “what will their acceptance be but life from the dead.” It will be like someone being raised from the dead. God has such a plan for the salvation of Israel.
II. Don’t consider yourself to be superior (vs. 17-21)
The second point is that the Gentiles who were saved this way should not consider themselves superior. Let’s look at verses 17 to 21.
Paul is explaining the reality that the Israelites stumbled and the Gentiles will be saved by the example of a grafted tree. In other words, he says the Israelites who don’t believe are “broken off” (17) so that the Gentiles, “a wild olive shoot” (17) are “grafted in” (17). The Israelites that didn’t believe were broken off from the tree and where they were broken off, the Gentiles were grafted in, and as God’s people. They were saved. This is God’s method of salvation. In other words, by the disobedience of the Israelites, the Gentiles were saved.
Grafting is a method that is used to grow fruit. In Japan there is a miracle apple, the “tamura” apple that Westerners love. This was made by grafting an apple into a Japanese pear. The outside looks like an apple, but it has the strong sweetness of a Japanese pear. If you search the whole word over the only place you will find this apple is in Nanaechou, Hokkaido. It is an extremely rare apple.
God broke off the branch of the disobedient Israel, and in place of the branch, grafted in the branch of the wild Gentiles. By doing that, the Gentiles became the descendants of Abraham, God’s people of salvation. This was decided by God’s wisdom before the foundation of the world was laid. How great a wisdom this is! When we think about God’s wisdom, we should sing praises like verse 33.
God salvation reached to the Gentiles by the surprising method that we had never even thought about.
Because of this we need to learn from God’s knowledge. If we, the Gentiles, have been grafted in, we must not consider ourselves to be superior to others. As verse 17 and 18 say, the branch, the Gentiles, “do not support the root, but the root supports” the branch.
We must not overlook the fact that we are being supported. We are what we are today because of the support of many people, not because of our own strength. Even more so is that we have faith because of the many prayers and sacrifices of many people that stood behind our backs. It doesn’t seem like anything special that every week we can worship here, but this is also a miracle. A lot of people’s support made this possible. There is nothing that you can do by yourself. God supports such people and by that support you have the life that you have now, you have the Christian life that you have now. Therefore, everything is by the grace of God. Even so, we immediately become proud and forget this fact and have the illusion that we have matured all by ourselves. We fall into pride that there is nothing that we can’t do by ourselves. When we really realize that because everyone supported us, we have become what we are, because God supported us we are what we are, then complaining and dissatisfaction should not come out of us. With thankfulness and joy we can humbly move towards God.
Our salvation is the same. Our salvation came because we were grafted into the place where Israel was broken off of. It is because of the support of Israel that we are saved so we can’t be proud. Verse 19 gives an example of words that come from such prideful thinking. “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” In other words, it is the thinking that God broke the branches of the unbelieving Israel so that the Gentiles might be saved. It is true that Israel’s rejection was so that the Gentiles might be saved. However, that was not so that the Gentiles would be proud, but it was for no other reason except that they be thankful. We who deserved to be destroyed were by the one way mercy of God, and by the support of the prayers and sacrifices of many people were saved. We can only be thankful. If we make such declarations as “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” (19), it is because we have lost sight of the position that we are in and have become prideful. This type of person must be prepared to be cut off like the Israelites. God desires that we not consider ourselves as superior, but live being thankful to God. We need to live humbly realizing that it is by the support of many people that we are who we are.
III. The kindness and sternness of God
The third point is to abide in God’s grace. Let’s look at verses 22 to 24.
A person that considers himself superior before God and is prideful, whether he is an Israelite or a Gentile, he will be cut off. Israel who refused God’s grace and renounced the faith right after the time of Paul faced the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. They had no country and became scattered throughout the whole world. In 1948 from throughout the world the Jews returned to their homeland in Palestine and formed the country of Israel. Until today they have continued to shed blood over and over again. This is the “sternness of God.” (22) The “sternness of God.” (22) comes upon those who don’t believe in God’s salvation and live by their own way of living. However, those who “continue in his kindness” (22) are different. God’s kindness is upon them. To continue in the faith, to “continue in his kindness” (22) God’s kindness and grace will continue to be poured out upon you.
This can also be said about Israel who formerly by unbelief refused the Christian faith. If they don’t continue in unbelief, and by God’s mercy, return to God, God will forgive. They will be saved. Paul says this in verses 23 and 24.
“And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive trees!”
In this passage is the hope of Israel. If they made a mistake one time that is not the end “for God is able to graft them in again.” (23) However, there is one prerequisite for that. That is “if they don’t continue in unbelief,” (23) “If they don’t continue in unbelief…God is able to graft them in again.” (23) Another way of saying it is to repent and return to God. If they repent and return to God, and not by their own righteousness, but by the salvation which God prepared through Jesus Christ, even a branch that has been cut off, God will graft it in again. What a hope!
II Cor. 5:17
If any one who believes Christ, “he is a new person.” (II Cor. 5:17) This is “if they don’t continue in unbelief,” (23) Please believe in God’s Christ. Believe and continue in that grace. If so we too can be grafted in again. We stumble many times, but we repent and return to God. This is the only road to God. There is no power without Christ’s blood on the cross. is type of person must be prepared to be cut off like the Israelites. God desires that we not cone the branches.