Romans 11
1 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,
3 “LORD, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS AND TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY SEEK MY LIFE”?
4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I HAVE RESERVED FOR MYSELF SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.”
5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
8 Just as it is written: “GOD HAS GIVEN THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES THAT THEY SHOULD NOT SEE AND EARS THAT THEY SHOULD NOT HEAR, TO THIS VERY DAY.”
9 And David says: “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RECOMPENSE TO THEM.
10 LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED, SO THAT THEY DO NOT SEE, AND BOW DOWN THEIR BACK ALWAYS.”
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.
12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.
15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree,
18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”
20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.
22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “THE DELIVERER WILL COME OUT OF ZION, AND HE WILL TURN AWAY UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB;
27 FOR THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”
28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,
31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.
32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34 “FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD? OR WHO HAS BECOME HIS COUNSELOR?”
35 “OR WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM AND IT SHALL BE REPAID TO HIM?”
36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
I am so overwhelmed at the love and patience of God! It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or how your whole lineage has lived, if you only believe and call out to God He grafts you into His family! (V23)
I did a study once on the grafting process and there cannot be a graft without first a wounding. On Gods side it’s obvious, He sent His only Son to be beaten and put to death for us, but on our side, we have these worldly hurts that have opened up a space to be grafted to Jesus. Our pain, trials and struggles do not have to remain a negative factor in our life, but in Christ, they can become a beautiful testimony of grace, love, peace and restoration.
When Paul tells us in Romans 11:6, grace and Works are opposing to one another, they cannot fellowship together, or have anything to do with each other. Another way to say it is grace and works of the flesh are mutually exclusive. Where one exists, the other cannot exist. If you and I are into our own works, then we are out of grace. If we are in grace, then we are out of works. Any time we get into works, the grace of God ceases to operate on our behalf. God has no choice but to back off and wait until we have finished trying to handle things ourselves. It’s encouraging to note that we can take her hands off of our situation, circumstances, and relationships that are of concern to us, and let God’s grace go to work for us!
To be gifted with eternal life quite apart from anything other than the grace and mercy of God is to experience the His wisdom that is still moving quite apart from our involvement. How great it is to experience the wonder of His love as His glory washes over us, but to in any way determine that we are somehow exclusive in this experience is to endanger our own connection to Him as the Source of this life. Though people are not choosing to be joined with Him, this does not alter His promised position of favor toward them and His desire for and provision of mercy in restoration. In Israel’s case, the Father’s heart is revealed in that He does not relinquish His embrace and commitment toward them even after their rejection and crucifixion of Christ. Anti-semitism casts blame on Jews for having crucified Jesus as if this somehow places the persecutor in a higher position before the One who forever established them as His own. This stance against God’s chosen ones only severs any connection to that same heart of loving grace. For those who truly graphed into the Father in Christ, there can only be hope found in a God who will never draw back from His gifts and callings, no matter how much we may fail. Rather than somehow taking a judgmental position that is only His to take, we can simply stand in awe at His love-driven Wisdom and allow our thoughts and movements to more and more fall in line with it. His heart is never to disallow a single branch but for all to be flourishing together in producing life in all who will only turn to Him and His unfailing promise, unhindered by what we may think.