Romans 11:11-23

According to the Apostle Paul, Israel= ’s misstep (their rejection of Christ and their subsequent rejection of the gospel), has become riches for the world (Rom. 11:11-12). If God can cause such blessings to= occur in spite of man’s mistakes, then what kind of great things can occur = when men cooperate with Him?—Something in the order of life from among the dead! (11:11, 15).

Paul’s hope was that t= he Israelites would see their poorer Gentile brethren made so rich in the spiritual treasures in Christ that they would become “jealous” = and desire to have it themselves. (11:14).

The riches are found in God’s olive tree, and the secret of that tree is its root (11:16, 18). This root is the cumulat= ive spiritual experiences of all the patriarchs—Abraham (the Father’= ;s calling), Isaac (the Son’s grace), and Jacob with Joseph (the Spirit’s transformation and glorification).

On the negative side, some of the branches, the Jews, were broken off from this wonderful tree, because t= hey became high-minded and refused to live by faith (11:20). On the positive side, the breaking= off of branches made room in the tree for the Gentile believers, who were then grafted into the tree (11:19).

No one can continue in this olive tree apart from a f= aith relationship with God. If the= y try, then they will experience being broken off. That means not a loss of salvation= , but the loss of a fruitful, lively spiritual condition. Any time a branch decides to resum= e a faith relationship, they can be grafted in again (11:23), meaning that they= can resume a life receiving the flow of “sap” in the tree and beari= ng fruit to God.