Romans 11
Rejection
So the question remains
“I ask then: Did God reject his people?”
And the answer is “By no means!”
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience
so that he may have mercy on them all. Romans 11:32
And
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God Romans 3:23
Yes, God is stern to those who fall
And has bound everyone over to disobedience
But God is also kind, because He has mercy on them all
No one is rejected provided that you continue in his kindness
And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in Romans 11:23
The key word is belief because without faith it is impossible to please God
This is how Abraham pleased God and received the promise
God rejects fear and doubt, the center of unbelief
But He rewards faith, trust and confidence in Him
Those of us who have been grafted in should not be conceited
And reject others without faith because they are offered mercy just like you
Although God rejects unbelief His arms are always open with mercy
To receive those who turn to Him in faith
God does not reject people, but by mercy redirects everyone to their destiny
Rejection
To be rejected is an unpleasant feeling.
Rejection increases anger, anxiety, depression,
jealousy and sadness.
All of us have suffered rejection…
Maybe from a parent, a girlfriend or boyfriend, a spouse.
Rejection comes from people we know and don’t know.
Rejection comes in little almost silent ways…
As well as huge and loud expressions.
I think we all hate rejection.
There are many reasons for rejection…
And many ways to deal with it.
Paul asked a question in Romans 11, verse 1…
“I ask then: Did God reject his people?”
Paul answers his question with…
“By no means!”
This question needs some explaining
and that is what the rest of the chapter is all about.
Paul first points out…
He is from the descendants of Abraham,
a current day example that God
has not rejected his people.
Secondly, Paul takes us back to the time of Elijah,
who felt he was all alone,
because God rejected his people.
God deals with Elijah’s feeling of rejection
by letting him know there are 7000
who have not bowed their knee to Baal.
Paul’s answer so far leaves us with
some question about God rejecting his people
because we have to ask what about the others?
Paul in verse 5 makes the point…
God’s grace, His favor, is not merited by works.
Paul, Elijah, and the 7000 who did not bow to Baal
were not accepted because of what they did…
Paul persecuted God’s people.
Elijah rejected the life God gave him.
And 7000 were not visible as people of God.
It was by God’s grace they were chosen.
God’s ultimate desire is that all be saved,
and all come to the knowledge of who God is…
Our Creator, made in His image, full of love for us.
To help us understand the other things
Paul is about to say concerning
God not rejecting people,
we must remember…
God gave us all a free will
and He will not violate it.
Paul in verses 11 - 24 gives us a horticulture lesson…
Paul gives us the example of two olive trees.
One is natural, the other is wild.
The natural olive tree is the picture of God.
The roots and the trunk are a picture of God.
The branches are people.
There is a natural production
of branches from the trunk.
The branches are fed and supported
by the trunk and roots.
The natural branches are the descendants of Abraham because,
by faith Abraham pleased God
and “without faith it is impossible to please God”.
Hebrews 11:6
Paul has already established that Abraham’s
seed falls into two categories…
The natural (the ones with his genes)
and the spiritual offspring
(the ones you live by faith like Abraham did).
Romans 9
Paul says some of the branches have been broken off.
Verse 17
In the place of the broken branches,
those who are not Abraham natural seed,
but have the seed of his faith are grafted in.
We need to remember the Book of Romans
is Paul addressing two groups of people…
The Jews and the Gentiles.
In Chapter 11, Paul is addressing the Gentiles…
I am talking to you Gentiles.
Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles.
Romans 11:13
He wants the Gentiles to know
God has not rejected the Jews
even though it may look like it.
So back up to verse 11 of Romans 11,
Paul asked another question…
Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?
And here is Paul’s answer…
Not at all!
The Jews sought for a place with God,
but many did not obtain it.
What then? What the people of Israel
sought so earnestly they did not obtain.
Romans 11:7
Why not?
The short answer is…
They did not seek favor with God like Abraham,
they sought favor by works, not faith.
Look at what Paul says in the second half of Romans 11:7…
The elect among them did, but the others were hardened.
To “elect” is to choose.
How does God choose?
Galatians 3:28 tells us…
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave7 nor free,
there is no male and female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
God chooses not on the bases
of race, social status, or gender.
The choice is not made by things you
cannot control because of your birth.
The choice is not because of your
works to establish social status.
The “election” is not based on these things.
As we look at the word “reject”
we also need to look at the word “accept”.
Paul wants the Gentiles to know that their
being accepted by God is not a rejection of Israel.
I am talking to you Gentiles.
Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles,
I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope
that I may somehow arouse my own people
to envy and save some of them.
For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world,
what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
Romans 11:13-15
Paul is saying the Gospel to the Gentiles
is not a rejection of the Jews, but…
It is to provoke them
so they might receive the gift of salvation.
In verse 16, Paul reminds us of the
main point of his horticulture lesson…
If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy,
then the whole batch is holy;
if the root is holy, so are the branches.
It is the trunk and the roots that
make the branches of the tree,
the branches do not make the tree.
A branch cannot live without the tree.
But the tree can live without the branches.
This is what verses 17 – 21 are all about.
These verses are all about where
the branches get their nourishment.
Where is the strength,
the inspiration,
the source of life coming from?
No wonder the Scriptures say…
“By their fruit you will know them.”
What is produced by the branches
must be from the tree or else
it is not part of the tree.
I have a woods in my backyard
and there are trees with vines growing up
and around some of the trees.
In the summer when you look at the tree from a distance
you see green leaves, but not all the leaves come from the tree.
There is ivy that grows very close
and even connected to the surface of the tree
but it is not part of the tree.
The ivy may look like it is part of the tree…
But it has its own life source
hanging onto the tree.
When I see ivy and some of it is poison ivy,
I remove it but I do not remove the branches
because the branches are part of the tree.
If I find there are branches that are dead or do not produce,
I remove them, because the only thing that matters is the tree.
This removal of growth or branches that
do not produce the life from the tree…
May seem harsh.
And to engraft a branch from another tree
into the place where a dead or unproductive branch was
may seem harsh or kind depending on how you look at it.
This is the point of verses 22-24…
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off 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 tree!
So the question remains…
“I ask then: Did God reject his people?”
And the answer is “By no means!”
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience
so that he may have mercy on them all.
Romans 11:32
And…
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God
Romans 3:23
Yes, God is stern…
Stern to those who fall
And…
Has bound everyone over to disobedience.
But God is also kind,
because He has mercy on them all.
No one is rejected…
Provided that you continue in his kindness.
And if they do not persist in unbelief,
they will be grafted in.
Romans 11:23
The key word is belief…
Because without faith it is impossible to please God
This is how Abraham pleased God
and received the promise.
God rejects fear and doubt,
the center of unbelief.
But He rewards faith, trust and confidence in Him.
Those of us who have been grafted in…
Should not be conceited and reject others without faith
because they are offered mercy just like you.
Although God rejects unbelief…
His arms are always open with mercy
to receive those who turn to Him in faith.
God does not reject people but…
By mercy redirects everyone to their destiny.
Scripture Reading
11 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”[a]? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”[b] 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, 8 as it is written:
“God gave
them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that could not see
and ears that could not hear,
to this very day.”[c]
9 And David says:
“May their
table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.”[d]
Engrafted Branches
11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 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 tree!
All Israel Will Be Saved
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way[e] all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
“The
deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is[f] my covenant
with them
when I take away their sins.”[g]
28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now[h] receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
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