Grafted In (Romans 11:1-24)

Romans 11, verses 1 through 24.

Romans 11:1–24

I ask then, has God rejected his people?

Absolutely not.

For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.

God has not rejected his people, whom he foreknew.

Or don't you know what the scriptures says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars.

I'm the only one left.

And they're trying to take my life.

But what was God's answer to him?

I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal.

In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.

Now, if by grace, then it is not by works.

Otherwise, grace ceases to be grace.

What then?

Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it.

The rest were hardened.

As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that cannot see, and ears that cannot hear, to this day.

And David says, Let their table become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution to them.

Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and their backs be bent continually.

I ask then, have they stumbled so as to fall?

Absolutely not.

On the contrary, by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous.

Now, if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring?

Now I am speaking to you, Gentiles, insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles.

I magnify my ministry, if I might somehow make my own people jealous and save some of them.

For if their rejection brings reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

Now, if the first fruits are holy, so is the whole branch, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Now, if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them, and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree, do not boast that you are better than those branches.

But if you do boast, you do not sustain the root.

But the root sustains you.

Then you will say, Branches were broken off, so that I might be grafted in.

True enough, they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith.

Do not be arrogant, but beware.

Because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Therefore consider God's kindness and severity.

Severity towards those who have fallen, but God's kindness towards you, if you remain in his kindness.

Otherwise you too will be cut off.

And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again.

For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree, and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

Let's pray.

I thank you for Romans and just the richness of this book and the theology to be gained from it, and just all the things that you want us to learn from it.

Lord, give us the eyes to see, the ears to hear, soften hearts, Lord, that are willing to be molded and shaped by your word here this morning.

I pray that you would help me to rightly divide your word, that it would be your spirit, uh, using me as your mouthpiece here this morning.

Lord, anything that's of me, I pray that it would be forgotten.

And everything that's of you, Lord, would would sink deep down into each heart, we pray.

In Jesus' name, amen.

You may be seated.

Told you, it's a long one this morning.

So before we jump into our texts, I want to remind us a little bit of some history that we actually covered as we're going through the book of Mark as a church.

And I think that history would be helpful to be reminded of here this morning before we jump in.

So in 70 AD, Rome took over and destroyed Jerusalem.

And for almost 1900 years, Israel was not a nation.

But the people of Israel, the Jews, survived.

And in a lot of ways, they survived miraculously, in ways that only God could.

And then in 1948, Israel miraculously became a nation once again.

And during that 1900-year period, people had to wrestle with passages like we're going through here in Romans 9 through 11, those three chapters specifically.

And they had to try and come to grips with how do you interpret passages like this with Israel no longer being a nation, with Israel no longer being around.

And then in 1948, Israel miraculously becomes this nation again.

And what it did is it really helped clear up passages like we're going through here in Romans.

You know, but some have held on to those interpretations that were pre-1948.

Some of those theologies saying things like, God is done with Israel, that his redemptive focus is forever off of them.

The extreme version of this is called replacement theology.

And it says that the church has replaced Israel as God's chosen people, and that Israel plays no part as God's chosen people anymore since Jesus arrived.

That's what replacement theology is in a nutshell.

But as we read through Revelation and as we read through other passages regarding end times events, and as we go over passages like we're going over here today in Romans 11, it is so clear that God has not rejected Israel.

And I want us to keep that in mind as we go through this passage and we and we see how Paul confirms this.

He confirms that God is not done with Israel.

And this is admittedly a very technical passage that we're going through here today.

So if you need a second cup of coffee, now's the time to go.

You need to get up and do some jumping jacks or something like that.

But really pay attention because I think God has a lot for us in here, but it is a little bit long, it's a little more technical than we typically jump into.

But with all that said, verse 11, I mean, uh chapter 11, verse 1 says, I ask then, has God rejected his people?

Absolutely not.

So this is really the climax of chapters 9 through 11.

Paul's argument for the last two chapters has all been leading up to this question that he poses right here in verse 1.

Meaning, if so many Israelites didn't place their faith in God and they totally missed the Messiah when he was right in front of them, the question is, has God rejected Israel?

Is this why the Gentiles now have access to God?

Because God's done with Israel.

You know, kind of I picture Paul, you know, thinking that the question might be, you know, because God has become so fed up with them for all these years, is he now done with them?

And Paul says so clearly right here, absolutely not.

He is not done with them.

And since this is the climax of chapters 9 through 11, it's going to be so important that we keep chapter 11 in the context of chapters 9 and 10.

It's just one flowing thought from Paul.

Because I think it's when we take some of these passages out of context of these chapters that we can start to get into some really interesting thoughts and theologies that might be born out of this when they're taken out of context.

So remember, when we're studying the Bible, the first goal that we're always looking for is what did the original author try to communicate to the original audience.

So, first, this is about what Paul wanted to communicate to the church in Rome.

And remember, I think we did this the second or third week when we started in Romans, but this side of the room we need to picture, this is the Jewish audience in Rome that Paul's writing to.

And then this side of the room is the Gentile audience that Paul's writing to.

He's writing to two different people groups.

So keep that in mind.

Two groups is what he's talking about, who he's communicating to, not to individuals, but to these two groups in Rome.

And here's a spoiler alert.

Paul wants this side of the room to know that it's not too late for them.

The Israelites.

God is not done with you.

And he wants this side of the room to know don't be arrogant about your salvation.

Don't be arrogant that you've been grafted in with the Israelites.

So let's look at verse 1 again.

Keeping all that in mind.

I asked then, has God rejected his people?

Absolutely not.

For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.

If Paul can be saved, so can his fellow Jews, so can the fellow Israelites.

If Paul wasn't too far gone to be saved, then no one is.

You know, he was hunting down Christians before he came to Jesus.

He was persecuting them and he was helping in their executions.

And God still forgave him, saved him, and then called him to be an apostle.

Paul calls himself in Philippians a Hebrew among Hebrews.

I mean, he was a Pharisee for crying out loud.

And if he could be saved, his point is here, then anyone can be saved.

If he's not too far gone, then none of the Israelites are too far gone.

Verse 2.

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.

Or don't you know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah?

How he pleads with God against Israel.

So Paul's pointing to this specific time in the prophet Elijah's ministry.

And this story comes from 1 Kings chapters 18 and 19.

1 Kings 18 · chapter mention

I encourage you to go read that on your own time.

It's one of my favorite stories in all of Scripture.

But I want to give you a summary here this morning.

So Israel has this wicked king in the time of Elijah, and his name's Ahab.

And then he marries somebody that's even more wicked than him, and her name is Jezebel.

And the majority of the nation was worshiping an idol called Baal at this time.

And there were 450 priests in Israel at the time to help with the worship of Baal.

So Elijah challenges these 450 priests to see who is worshiping the one true God.

He says to these priests, he says, We'll each get a bull, we'll each build an altar on Mount Carmel, and we'll each call on our God.

And whichever God comes down and consumes their sacrifice will show who the one true God is.

So the priests agree on this.

And, you know, the story actually would be comical if it wasn't so tragic.

Because Elijah gives these priests every advantage that he possibly can.

He stacks the deck against himself with these priests.

They get to pick the bull, they get to build their own altar, and he gives these 450 priests all day long to call upon Baal to come and consume their sacrifice.

And they start dancing, they start calling on him, and then at noon, Elijah starts mocking them.

He says, you know, hey, shout loudly.

Maybe your God's thinking it over.

Or maybe your God's busy.

Some of you know what that actually means.

Or you know, maybe your God wandered away.

Or maybe your God is sleeping.

So he's sitting there mocking these priests, saying, hey, why don't you just, you gotta up your game a little bit here.

So they start shouting loudly.

They start actually cutting themselves to the point it says where blood gushed all over them.

And they did this all day long.

And surprise, surprise, nothing happened.

And then Elijah calls Israel and the priests over to his altar with the bull that he has and proceeds to continue to stack the deck in the priest's favor.

He has the Israelites douse the whole sacrifice and the whole altar with water, digs a trench around it, fills that up with water as well.

So everything's absolutely soaking wet.

And then Elijah prayed, and then immediately it says, The Lord's fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench as well.

And the Israelites, when they saw this happen, they fell face down, proclaiming, The Lord He is God.

The Lord He is God.

I mean, imagine seeing that firsthand.

But soon after this, Ahab the king and Jezebel his wife set out to kill Elijah.

Elijah runs off, hides in this cave, and he has a little bit of a pity party.

And God meets him there and he ministers to him.

But what Elijah tells God is what we have right in our passage here, verse 3.

So look at verse 3 in Romans 11.

This is what Elijah says.

Lord, they, meaning Abraham, Jezebel, Israel, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars.

I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life.

But what was God's answer to him?

I have left 7,000 for myself, who have not bowed down to Baal.

You know, Elijah thought there was nobody left.

They'd all been given over to Baal.

And in this pity party that Elijah's having, after God just did this miraculous thing on Mount Carmel, he's telling the Lord, I'm the only one left.

God, I'm the only faithful one.

And now they want to kill me.

In essence, you know, Lord, if only you were big enough to take care of me.

That's what's coming across from Elijah to the Lord.

But God tells him, I have left 7,000 for myself who have not bowed down to the all.

And you know, I think it was probably in a much more gracious way, but I think God's telling him, you know what?

Stop your pity party.

There's a remnant of Jews that are still faithful.

You're not alone.

Now, eat some food, drink some water, take a nap, and then we'll get back to work.

That's what God tells them to do.

Because, you know, it's amazing what food and hydration and nap can do for our attitude to gain perspective sometimes.

I actually have a pastor friend who keeps granola bars and bottled water in his office specifically for counseling sessions.

Just for those hangry people that come in and he's like, here, eat something and have a little bit of water, go home, take a nap, and it helps a ton.

But the point of Paul bringing this up to the Roman church is that God always has a remnant.

And that remnant, if you remember from Romans chapter 9, verse 6, is who God considered to be truly Israel.

Romans 9:6

Remember, he said, all of Israel is not Israel.

It's the ones that truly have faith in God that he considers to be Israel.

Now, in Israel's history, you'd be hard pressed to find a more wicked time in Israel than Elijah's time.

So Paul is saying, even though the culturally Jewish community is largely rejecting Jesus as their Messiah and persecuting me, Paul, harshly, there's still a remnant that is faithful.

And Paul is one of those remnant.

And his ministry is to try and make that remnant bigger and bigger and bigger.

Sharing the gospel as far and as wide as he possibly could.

Look at verse 5.

In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.

You see, Paul didn't make the same mistake that Elijah made.

He recognizes that even though he is being persecuted in so many ways at this point, he knew there was always a remnant that God kept for himself.

Because God is never done with Israel.

Ever.

And it says here in verse 5 that the remnant is chosen by grace.

It's chosen by God's unmerited, undeserved favor toward them that can never be earned.

And it's through God's grace that there is this remnant in Paul's time as well.

That God has chosen to remain faithful to him.

Look at verse 6.

Now, if by grace, then it is not by works.

Otherwise, grace ceases to be grace.

You know, grace done by works is an oxymoron.

Does everybody know what an oxymoron means?

Give you an example of a Mark Twain oxymoron.

He said, It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.

It makes no sense, does it?

And grace through works should make just as much sense as that Mark Twain quote.

See, grace and works cannot be associated with one another.

They can't be correlated with one another.

Grace is over here.

Works is over here at the opposite end of the spectrum, and they can never meet.

Earning grace is like saying you're gonna take an herbal supplement to be born into a different earthly family.

It's like I don't think you understand how supplements work, right?

Grace earned through works is the same thing.

It just shouldn't make sense.

We shouldn't be able to wrap our head around that.

You know, it's not a concept that we should be able to uh to even make sense of, so to speak.

Grace being earned.

You see, as soon as we try to earn God's grace, as Paul says here, it's no longer grace.

You see, we have the ability to ruin grace by thinking that we have something to do with it.

Automatically, that grace is no longer grace.

So please keep that in mind, especially when we start talking about the branches being broken off as we continue on in our passage.

But look at verse 7 first.

Paul goes on, what then?

Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it.

The rest were hardened.

Those that trusted in God with the faith of Abraham, which we've talked so much about already, did recognize the Messiah.

That remnant that was still there when Jesus came, they did recognize the Messiah.

And there's a great example in the story of Simeon.

Um, I'll read that story to you.

It's from Luke chapter 2, verse 25.

Luke 2:25

And it says, There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.

This man was righteous and devout, looking forward to Israel's consolation.

And the Holy Spirit was on him.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he saw the Lord's Messiah.

Guided by the Spirit, he entered the temple.

When the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him up in his arms, praised God, and said, Now, Master, you can dismiss your servant in peace as you promised.

For my eyes have seen your salvation.

You have prepared it in the presence of all peoples.

A light for revelation to the Gentiles.

Think about how much Simeon knew.

And glory to your people, Israel.

His father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.

Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary, indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed, and a sword will pierce your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

You see, Simeon understood the Old Testament.

He understood the concept of the Messiah, and he knew what to expect in the Messiah.

And it says that he was guided by the Holy Spirit and recognized the Messiah at first glance.

He knew the Gentiles would be saved.

It said that right there.

He knew that the Messiah would not be accepted by all of Israel.

A lot of Israel was going to reject him, some were going to accept him.

See, Simeon was part of that remnant.

He knew.

Knew what to expect.

He knew the Messiah at first glance.

God still had that remnant.

Now look at verse 8 with me.

Paul goes on.

As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that cannot see, and ears that cannot hear, to this day.

So this is quoting from the Old Testament.

It's quoting Deuteronomy 29.4 and also Isaiah 29.10, if you want to look that up later.

But just like Ben mentioned a few weeks ago when he was teaching and he was talking about the hardness of Pharaoh's heart, God doesn't take people that are passionately following him in faith, people like Simeon, and then harden their hearts and then cast them off.

What God does is he allows those who are hard-hearted, who are blind, who are deaf, to continue on in that path.

And what happened is that Israel as a nation stopped listening to God, so God stopped speaking to Israel.

You know, there was a 400-year gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament where there was silence from God, where God stopped sending prophets to speak for him.

That period was filled with people not listening, so God just decided to stop speaking.

And think about that, 400 years.

Sometimes we read the Bible and we're like, oh yeah, uh-huh.

We're like, oh, that's like 1600s for us to go back that far.

That's a long period of time of God not speaking to Israel.

And as we talked about last week, he allows the prodigals to have the desires of their heart.

He allows the prodigals to wallow in those desires.

And he sits there continually, as we talked about last week, with his hands reached out.

He's like, when you're ready, when you want to repent, when you want to come back, I will be waiting for that prodigal.

But regarding those hard-hearted people, look at verse 9.

And David says, King David, let their table, think, let what they feast on, let their table become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution to them.

Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and their backs be bent continually.

This is from Psalm 69, verses 22 and 23, that Paul's quoting here.

Psalms 69:22

You see, these people are already feasting on the things that make them deaf and blind and spiritually hard-hearted.

And God says, You're already feasting and you have no desire for what I have for you.

So go for it.

Just continue on.

It's kind of like, you know, God's saying, you know, you have high cholesterol, yet you eat a double bacon cheeseburger for lunch every single day.

It's like God saying, Would you like fries with that?

Like, if that's what you really want, then just go for it.

The heart of this verse here is if you insist on those harmful things, then just keep feasting.

Gorge yourself to death, or until you come to a place where you're so sick of those things, or you come to the end of your rope, like the prodigal son, that you actually turn back to God.

Because God in his mercy is always waiting for anybody that wants to return to him.

That's the love that God loves Israel with, and that's the love that he loves you and I with as well.

Paul goes on in verse 11.

I asked them, have they stumbled so as to fall?

Meaning like beyond salvation.

Absolutely not.

On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.

You know, chapter 11 started off with, has God rejected his people?

Now Paul's asking the question, are they too far gone to be reconciled?

And Paul answers here, absolutely not.

Because of their rebellion, God actually extended salvation to the Gentiles.

And we see this play out practically through the book of Acts and in Paul's ministry.

You know, so many times in Paul's missionary journeys and other missionary journeys as well, they first go to the Jews in the synagogue, they get rejected, and then they go to the Gentiles.

The Jews' rejection of the gospel ends up giving the Gentiles more opportunity to interact and hear the gospel from the apostles.

And through the Gentiles' acceptance of the gospel, Israel can now see what they've forfeited and now become jealous that they actually have this opportunity.

And we see that in the Roman church.

This side of the room is jealous, like, these people shouldn't be here.

I've been walking this way for so long, and these are a bunch of pagan people that just came to Christ.

We're better.

That's kind of the attitude that's been coming from the church so far.

But the interesting thing here is even through this jealousy, God can even work that together for good.

To bring more of this side to Christ, and then this side becomes jealous, and then more of this side will come to Christ as well.

Verse 12.

Now, if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring?

You know, if even their rejection of God can bring about good, can enrich the world, think of what their obedience could do.

Think of what this nation could do if they came back to God.

You know, throughout Israel's history, when Israel was obedient, and we do see short periods of that through the Old Testament, it was incredible to watch how God would show himself, not only to the nation of Israel, but to the nations that surrounded them as well.

You know, if you're following along with the yearly Bible plan that we're reading together as a church, you've just recently read how God miraculously guided Israel out of Egypt and all the miraculous things that he did for them while they were wandering in the desert.

You know, and multiple times it's mentioned how the whole Middle East heard about it and feared God and feared Israel because of all of those miraculous things that God was doing for that nation.

And so I think Paul's saying here, think of the testimony of God that Israel could be if there was a revival and a mass turning back to God in that nation.

Which we actually do see happening in the tribulation as you read through Revelation.

I think that's why he's saying in verse 12, if their failure brings people to God, think of what their obedience could bring about.

Not only for themselves, but for everyone else as well.

Verse 13.

Now I'm speaking to you, Gentiles.

So we have a little switch in focus here in our passage.

Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry.

If I might somehow make my own people jealous and save some of them.

Paul's telling the Gentiles that if my ministry to you brings salvation to the Gentiles, and the result of that salvation is jealousy of the Jews, and that brings them to salvation.

This is a win-win-win situation for everyone.

Verse 15.

For if there, still speaking about Israel here, so if their rejection brings reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

Again, speaking of the testimony, they can be for God when the nation comes to obedience in Christ, and how that would lead to even more salvation.

You know, some believe that this is referring to Israel being woken up from their stupor in the second half of the tribulation.

Because a great revival will take place among the Jews, and God's going to supernaturally protect that remnant from Satan and the Antichrist.

But no matter how we look at it, when Israel is obedient to God, it is something that God can use, and it has a great effect both on the Jews and on the Gentiles.

Now, here in verse 16, Paul's going to introduce a concept that we've not seen in Romans yet.

And that is the concept of Israel as an olive tree.

And when you see Israel in Scripture referred to as an olive tree, it is in regard to their religious privilege as God's chosen people.

And Jeremiah chapter 11, verses 16 and 17 is an example of that.

Jeremiah 11:16

And this passage may have actually been what Paul was thinking of when he wrote this in Romans.

We don't know for sure, but I want to read you that passage.

It says, The Lord named you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit.

He has set fire to it, and its branches are consumed, your translation may say, or broken, with the sound of a mighty tumult.

The Lord of armies who planted you has decreed disaster against you, because of the disaster the house of Israel and the house of Judah brought on themselves when they angered me by burning incense to Baal.

So this is speaking of Israel's judgment for worshiping idols, for worshiping Baal.

Branches being consumed and broken off of this olive tree that God has planted.

And what we should be picturing is this tree with a bunch of gaps where branches used to be.

And the only branches that are left are holy branches.

That remnant that we've been talking about, of those people that truly have faith in God.

But there are some branches left, that remnant, remember that, which is a great picture of what Israel looked like before Jesus came.

I want to give you one more verse regarding the olive tree, and it comes from Isaiah 11:1.

Isaiah 11:1

It's a passage you always hear around Christmas time.

But it's a prophecy of the Messiah coming from that stump of that olive tree.

It says, Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, that's David's father, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

The spirit of the Lord will rest on him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

So you start need to see this picture.

We've got to really start imagining what this olive tree looks like.

Israel is this olive tree.

Most of the branches are consumed and broken off.

But there is a remnant.

There are still branches on this tree.

And then from this stump, there's this shoot.

There's this sign of life that comes forth, and it's Jesus the Messiah.

From the line of David.

So let's picture that tree on this side of the podium for now, okay?

Now Paul's going to talk about a second tree.

So the first tree is this holy cultivated tree that is Israel.

And on the other side over here, we have a wild olive tree.

A wild olive tree that's symbolic of all Gentiles.

Symbolic of the chaos chaos that takes place when we're left to ourselves.

You know, and wild olive trees, they can bear fruit, but they're either flavorless or they produce small fruit with large pits that nobody really desires to harvest.

So verses 16 and 17, he's going to talk about these two trees.

And I'll be the first to admit that minds much sharper than mine disagree on some of the interpretation of how the symbolism of this olive tree plays out.

So I'm going to give you what I see.

And I'm going to try and keep this all in the context of Roman, the whole book of Romans, but specifically chapters 9 through 11.

But I want to remind us that this is a non-salvific topic.

It doesn't have to do with whether we're saved or not, depending on what we believe.

We can disagree and we can still be friends.

We can disagree and still worship Jesus together for all of eternity.

So verse 16, remember this is directed to the Gentile audience.

Verse 16.

Now, if the first fruits are holy, so is the whole batch.

And if the root is holy, so are the branches.

So this is the holy olive tree on this side.

Now, if some of the branches were broken off, and you, Gentiles, though a wild olive tree over here, or olive branch, were grafted in among them, and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree.

Do not boast that you are better than those branches.

The Gentiles, even though that they were born a branch of this wild olive tree, producing worthless wild fruit, you can still, the branch from this wild tree can still be grafted into this cultivated holy tree that's on this side.

You know, the picture we should be drawing our head is that all the branches on this holy tree over here, they have something in common.

Their faith is completely in God.

And that new shoot from that stump, his son Jesus Christ.

Now, if you're a follower of Christ, whether Jew or Gentile by descent, you can be a part of this rich Jewish history by abiding in Christ.

And I feel like at this point we need to point out that this tree that we just read about in Jeremiah, it says it was planted by God.

So this tree is still Israel.

The stump, the roots, the genealogy in which Jesus came from.

It's still Israel.

I think what Paul is trying to communicate to the Roman Gentiles, to this side of the church, for the sake, he's doing this for the sake of their own humility.

He's telling them that Israel can exist without you.

But you, as Gentile believers, you could not exist without Israel.

Because Jesus came through the genealogy of Israel.

And he's the reason that the Gentiles in the Roman church are here today.

You know, Paul already alluded to this in Romans chapter 9, verses 4 and 5.

Romans 9:4

When he said, They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.

The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever.

Amen.

So Paul's just continuing on with that theme that we started to see way back in chapter 9.

Look at verse 18 of me.

Do not boast that you are better than those branches.

So grafted in Gentiles are not better than the branches that were already natural branches of Israel.

You know, think of Simeon, as we already talked about him.

A true Israelite by faith in God that immediately placed his faith in Jesus.

You know, I have this picture in my head of these branches going from this original holy tree and then immediately being transferred into the shoot, that is Jesus Christ.

Like Simeon, he never had to be broken off.

God had this remnant like him that seamlessly went from the old covenant to the new covenant with no hiccup.

So Paul's telling the Gentiles, you know, don't think you are better than this remnant because you were grafted in.

Nobody's better, and no one can boast because it's not about the branches, and it's not about how you got there.

It's always been about the planter of that tree and the sustainer of that tree, which is God.

Look at the second half of verse 18.

But if you do boast, you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.

You know, the branch just on any tree.

You know, forget the holy tree.

Think of any tree.

A branch cannot exist.

It cannot boast without the roots and without the trunk.

It would just shrivel up and die.

Verse 19.

Then you will say, so this is still in the context of boasting, branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.

True enough, they were broken off because of unbelief.

But you stand by faith.

Do not be arrogant, but beware.

Because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

So the Gentiles over here on the right that he's writing to should not boast that branches were broken off and that they were grafted in.

As if you're better in some way.

In any way, thinking that you're better than this side because of how you became a part of that tree.

So he's saying, don't be arrogant, but beware.

Don't boast in how you got there.

Just be thankful that you got there.

Now, referring to verses 20 and 21, most of Israel in Paul's time was found in works and not in faith.

And they were broken off because their dependence was upon their origin and their dependence was upon their own works.

Their dependence was not in Jesus.

And I think this is where it's important to remember that Paul is talking to two people groups, to each side of the sanctuary.

If God's willing to break off the left side of the room, Paul is saying he's also going to be willing to break off the right side of the room.

You know, it says, if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

And I think this is a warning to this church.

Stop looking at each other.

Stop boasting in your own self-righteousness on both sides of this aisle.

Don't get caught up in the idea that you're better than other branches in any way by elevating yourself or boasting in your own self-righteousness.

You know, that plays out like, wow, that branch next to me sure looks a lot different.

That person on the other side of the aisle looks a lot different than I do.

And did you see what they just did?

I mean, I just can't believe what they just did.

I'm not even sure if they're saved.

You know, if they were more like me, then I would know if they were saved or not.

Because when we start doing that, what are we doing?

We're basing our salvation on our own works.

We're basing our salvation on who we are and not on who Christ is.

Which puts us in the same exact position as the branches that God broke off of that holy cultivated olive tree.

This is a warning that we can fall into the same trap of religiosity that the Jews did.

And if God broke off those branches, he'll break off Gentile branches as well.

We're not better than anyone, including the natural branches, including the remnant that is a part of that tree.

And no one is above being broken off.

That's what Paul's trying to communicate.

Don't get arrogant, don't get boastful.

If you base your relationship with God on works, then it's no longer about grace.

You know, as soon as that type of self-righteousness sneaks in, as Paul just said, grace is no longer grace.

It disappears.

I think what Paul's main message that he's trying to get across here is abide in grace.

Keep your eyes on Jesus.

Stop looking at each other.

Stop boasting, don't be arrogant.

Instead, remain eternally humble that you somehow were drafted in.

That's the attitude that we need to have.

Look at verse 22.

Therefore, consider God's kindness and severity.

Severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness towards you, if you remain in his kindness.

Otherwise, you too will be cut off.

Now, in a way, Paul's asking, which would you prefer?

God's kindness or severity?

I'll ask you the same question here this morning.

Which would you prefer?

God's kindness or severity?

I don't ever picture anybody saying, I want the severity.

God has both.

And it's up to us which we would like to experience.

And if we'd like to receive his kindness, it goes back to that conditional statement that we just read.

You will receive his kindness towards you if you remain in his kindness.

If you want his kindness, cling to God and abide in Jesus.

That is the The answer.

And all of this really goes along with this theme that we've seen throughout the whole book of Romans.

It doesn't matter who you are, it always comes back to faith in the end.

Verse 23.

And even they, referring to Israel here, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in.

Because God has the power to graft them in again.

Paul's talking about those that were born Israelites and have been broken off of that tree due to their unbelief.

And this is God's willingness to welcome them back, as we saw last week, with hands that are outstretched to them.

That is, if they don't remain in unbelief, and they come back to the Lord in faith.

He'll be waiting with hands stretched out to receive whoever that prodigal might be.

Verse 24.

For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree, and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

As unnatural as it would be to graft a wild olive branch into a cultivated holy tree, it is much more natural to graft a natural branch back into the tree that it came from.

God is not done with Israel.

This has been Paul's long answer to how chapter 11 started.

When he said, I asked then, has God rejected his people?

And he says, Absolutely not.

So, we've read all of this in the context of these two people groups and what the original author was trying to tell the original audience.

But I don't ever want us to walk out of here with what can we take away from this?

What is our take away from this passage?

You know, I think our takeaway is be humble.

Don't be arrogant, don't boast.

Because none of us are better than anybody else that's a follower of Jesus Christ.

I think we need to be grateful that we've been grafted in.

Eternally grateful, and not think that it's anything that we did.

Just thankful that by the grace of God that we as believers have been grafted into that tree.

Realizing that all the branches on this holy olive tree are only there by grace.

And they're only holding on by faith.

Not one branch is there by works.

Not one branch of this tree is sustained by works.

It's all through grace.

And I think the last thing that's our takeaway is stop looking around, judging the other branches.

Because that's when grace stops being grace.

And lastly, if you've not been grafted in, if you do not see yourself as a follower of Jesus Christ, there's room on the tree.

God wants to graft you in today.

And if that is you, and you want your dependence to be fully found in Jesus Christ.

You want him to forgive you of your sins and your wrongdoing.

Today is the day.

Put your full trust and hope in him.

And if that is you, would you pray with me?

Lord, I realize that I can do nothing without you.

I realize that it's not by my works or how hard that I try that gets me into heaven, but it's only by your grace and your grace alone.

Lord, today, would you graft me in?

I want to be a part of your family.

I want you to be on the throne of my life.

And I want you to be involved with every aspect of it.

And Lord, for the rest of us, God, we thank you.

I pray that we can humbly come and thank you that you've chosen us to be grafted into this tree.

We thank you so much that it's not by our works, that we're not sustained on that tree by our works.

Lord, but it's by faith.

So we cling to you.

We cling to Jesus.

We want to abide in you in every way.

Lord, help us to be humble, to stop looking at others, but to examine ourselves and to just be humbled by your grace, we pray.

Lord, we love you so much.

Be glorified and honored in all that we do.

Sustain us in every way because we realize that we can do nothing without you.

In Jesus' name.