Romans 11

This is the last chapter in the three-chapter arc consisting of Paul's concern for his people-by-birth, physical Israel. 
==Romans 11:1==
1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 
This verse is self-evident. God is not going to destroy all of physical Israel. Paul is the prime example of this, a Jew's Jew, descended physically from Abraham, of the twelve tribes, yet he will not be destroyed when God's wrath is poured out on the nation. In this, Israel echoes Egypt (Isaiah 19; Rev. 11:8). When the wrath came, every house protected by blood was passed over. Every house not protected by blood was subject to God's wrath. 
==Romans 11:2-5==
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying, 3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 
God did not forsake Israel. Israel forsook God. Yet not all as in the days of Elisha, the prophet. In that present time, there is also a remnant (Isa. 1:9; Rom. 9:27), the Jews who obeyed the gospel as Paul had. 
==Romans 11:6==
6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. 
Here is another of those passages the "faith only" folks run to, rip out of context, to proof-text their position. In context, the works here are the works of the law of Moses (please read the earlier chapters). This is not a general anti-work statement by Paul. Paul speaks of the Israelites who were saved according to the election of grace. 
As I have preached numerous times (and should probably post here), Grace is correctly identified as the plan of salvation (Christ + the New Testament). It is contrasted almost continually with the Old Testament. If these Israelites were saved by Grace then it is no more of works. That word "more" is powerful when kept in the context of Paul talking about the Israelites. It shows their transition to Christianity from the Mosaical system. Paul also echoes his thoughts here in Galatians 5:4 (and indeed the whole letter) that if the election is by the works of the law, then it is no more by grace because the law of Moses and the law of Christ are mutually exclusive systems. The last phrase is also interesting because if the preceding conclusion is not true, then it means that the works of the law of Moses are no longer the works of Moses (and therefore by grace anyway). Its just two ways of saying the same conclusion. 
==Romans 11:7-10==
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. 9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: 10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. 
Paul then returns to the concept of the majority of the Jews, the Jewish nation at large. They did not get what they were looking for (a physical king and physical dominance over their enemies). Only the remnant understood and found the Messiah and were saved. The rest were blinded by their faith in their Jewness. Paul again quotes scripture (Deut. 29:4; Isa. 29:10 - do you see a pattern developing here?) speaking of the blinding and deafening of the Israelites in the last days. He quotes David (Psa. 69:22-23 and repeatedly quoted by Jesus as in Acts 1:2). Note that the verse just prior to Paul's quote is a reference to the crucifixion of Christ which Peter convicts many of the Jews for in Acts 2. 
==Romans 11:11==
11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. 
Paul speaks to the good that comes from the foolishness of his people. He says that they did not fall into sin for the purpose of falling into sin. God used that to His purpose to bring salvation to all nations as promised. How was this accomplished? Because the Israelites, in their fall, crucified Christ and fulfilled the purpose of the law of Moses. He then adds that the bringing salvation to the Gentiles was for to provoke the Jews to jealousy. This is going back to what was said in Romans 10:19, the idea that the Israelites had one more chance through the salvation of the Gentiles, to recognize what was going on. The provoking to jealousy here was to get them to want what the Gentiles had and do what was necessary and proper to obtain it, that is, obey the gospel. 
==Romans 11:12==
12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? 
Still speaking with love for his people, Paul points out that if the fall of the Jews brought better things to the world, how much better is it if Israel was then saved despite their fall. Read on to find out more about this question. 
==Romans 11:13==
13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 
Paul claims here as he does in Gal. 2:7-8 that his sending as an apostle was to the Gentiles while Peter's primary focus was the Jews. His statement here is that ultimately what he is trying to do is teach the Christians at Rome, who were primarily Gentiles, through the example of his own people. He wants to warn the Gentile Christians not to do as his own people had done. 
==Romans 11:14==
14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. 
Here is the concept of provoking to jealousy couched in slightly different terms. He wants the Jews to be provoked into conformity with Christ so that they might be saved. Its one of the reasons Paul lifts up his office, his apostleship to the Gentiles. Preaching to the 'filthy' Gentiles is a means by which he, who was the Pharisee's Pharisee, can convince the Jews to be saved. 
==Romans 11:15==
15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? 
Reading through this portion swiftly one will note the parallels of verses 11 and 14 as well as 12 and 15. This is called parallelism and is a form of Hebrew writing that they understood (and is used in a lot of places in the OT). It is used to reinforce an idea by saying the same thing twice in slightly different terms. Israel was cast away as God's people and a new people who were not called God's people were made His people (Romans 9:25-26). 
Their casting away allowed for a great thing to be done. How much more wonderful if Israel repented? It would be as life from the dead (an allusion to Ezekiel 37 and the valley of dry bones). 
==Romans 11:16==
16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 
Paul is going to speak now in the metaphor of a tree. The root (the foundation) is God as the Father of the family. The branches are His children. God is obviously holy and by virtue of that, so should the branches be. Unfortunately, the natural (physical descendants of Abraham) branches (the physical nation of Israel, the children of God under the OT), were not holy and had to be broken off of the tree (cast away, disinherited, cast into the fire, etc.). 
==Romans 11:17==
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 
After breaking off some of the branches (not all of the Israelites were faithless. Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah, Isaiah, Daniel, etc. were all faithful, natural branches that were never broken off) God grafted in wild (not natural or physical descendants of Abraham) branches. The grafting here is analogous to adoption/election according to Grace. The Gentiles were "grafted in" to receive the benefits of being a child of God, primarily eternal life and hope of Heaven. 
==Romans 11:18-21==
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 
Paul here brings out the example he is trying to make to the Gentiles through his people. The Gentile Christians should not grow haughty thinking they were better than the branches that had been broken off. They were not the root but the branches and to say that the Israelites were cast out so that the Gentiles could be brought in (see above) is not sufficient to conclude that the Gentiles were the cause of that breaking off. Paul is stating that the salvation of the Gentiles is not the cause as if they had any power to kick the Jews out of God's family. The Israelites got themselves kicked out of the family because of their lack of faith, their disobedience (Heb. 3). His warning then is for the Gentile Christians to remain faithful because if God broke off those branches that were natural, what effort would it be to break off branches that were artificially grafted into the tree. Once more, I would like to make an aside here concerning the Calvinistic doctrines. The concept of eternal security (once saved always saved) is soundly defeated in this one verse. The doctrine of eternal security teaches that once part of the tree, one cannot be broken off. 
==Romans 11:22==
22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 
The nature of God is revealed fully in these things. His goodness, His severity (which are harmonious aspects, not opposing properties of God). They needed to hold in mind all that had been revealed of God, not just the warm fuzzy parts. For if they did not continue in his goodness they would be cut off. That word continue there is an active verb which, once again, precludes the idea of eternal security. 
==Romans 11:23-24==
23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 
Paul speaks then of how the people of physicl Israel can, through obedience, be grafted back in (adopted - same process as Gentiles). This passage does not declare some great, distinct future position for Israel. It speaks of the opportunity for the individual Jews to obey the gospel and be adopted into the family by the election according to grace, that is, by obedience to the gospel. 
==Romans 11:25==
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 
The concept of mystery as Paul uses it doesn't refer to something revealed that cannot be understood. It is a reference to something that previously was only partially revealed (such as the promise to Abraham that all the nations would be blessed, but not how that would come about) and not fully understood. See Romans 16:25; Colossians 1:26-27; compare 1 Corinthians 15:51; Mark 4:11; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 3:3. Many have speculated about what the last portion means concerning the blindness (actually a better translation is "hardness" - like that of Pharaoh) and the fulness of the Gentiles. The hardness of heart refers to the fact that not all Jews took part in persecuting the church as Pharaoh persecuted the Israelites. A number of the Jews had understood and became Christians themselves. The partial nature of the hardness (persecution) was because the Jews had other things to concern themselves with, namely Rome (the Gentile nation of that time).
That hardness would end when the Gentiles (not the Christians, but the Romans) came in (to bring God's wrath against the disobedient, thus leaving only the remnant of Jews who had obeyed the gospel) and destroyed Jerusalem. 
==Romans 11:26-27==
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 
All Israel shall be saved is a phrase referring to the end of Judaism as stated in Isaiah 27:9-12. It would be by the taking away of the Jewish system, an end to the perpetual sin that could not be taken away by blood of animals. In that passage, Isaiah explicitly says: 
* "By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.10 Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof. 11 When
 the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord
 shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, 
and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel."''
 Physical Israel will be saved by destroying the system that enslaved them to sin and giving them salvation in Jesus Christ.
==Romans 11:28-29==
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 
With regard to the gospel, the disobedient Jews were enemies so that the Gentiles could have salvation, because the disobedient Jews slew Christ. However, God still offers them salvation through Christ. God does not withdraw His gifts or His call to repentance and obedience. I have been a part of an ongoing discussion about the nature of salvation. Is salvation itself the gift that is Grace or is it the means of salvation (the plan - Christ and the gospel)? If salvation is Grace, then salvation has been given to all men (Titus 2:11) and thus all men are saved and furthermore cannot lose that salvation. If Grace is the cause of salvation and salvation itself is just a result (which I believe is the correct understanding) then there is no issue. Its one of the primary reasons I focus so much on correctly identifying Grace. So many get it wrong and so many are lost to denominationalism or just plain old ignorance because of it. 
==Romans 11:30-31==
30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Again the Hebrew parallelism to stress the point. 
== Romans 11:32 ==
32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
 The conclusion then about the whole tree thing is the same as Romans 3, that both Jews and Gentiles were lost without Christ and through Christ, God saved all, not just the Jews and not just the Gentiles. 
==Romans 11:33-36==
33 O 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 hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. 
Paul concludes this arc by giving praise to God and magnifying His attributes. Man by his own devices is incapable of figuring out God (it requires revelation) and because of man's finite perspective cannot pass judgment on God in any meaningful sense (so all the "evil" things God is accused of doing throughout the OT and even in the NT times actually served a purpose and was just and good). The great mystery is one of these and it is here in the revealed NT that we see that brilliance of our Almighty God and the magnificence and unity of His revealed Word.
None is greater than God in wisdom so as to offer counsel to God.None has greater assets than God so that God needed to borrow and thus be in debt to another as we are indebted to Him because of Christ.God is the source and end, the alpha and omega of all without qualification. 
In Truth and Love.Category:Apocalyptic
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