Romans chapter 11

God has not rejected Israel. Rather, the Gentiles are grafted onto them. His mercy is for everyone. God is doing an amazing thing!

 


 

GOD HAS NOT REJECTED ISRAEL

 

VERSE 1. I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

Psalm 78:59. When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel;

 

VERSE 2. God didn’t reject his people, which he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel:

Psalm 78:59. When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel;

 

VERSE 3. “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have broken down your altars. I am left alone, and they seek my life.”

 

VERSE 4. But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

 

VERSE 5. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

a remnant. The Bible describes a uniquely faithful group of believers called “the remnant.” Are they Jewish or Christians? Now or in the future? Who are they really? Read more »

according to the election of grace. They are a remnant because of the election of grace. That is, God has called them to be the remnant. Being included in the remnant has nothing to do with one’s own resolve or achievements.

 

VERSE 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.

if it is of works, it is no longer grace. Being included in the remnant is 100% by God’s grace. It has nothing to do with ourselves.

 

VERSE 7. What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened.

 

VERSE 8. According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”

 

VERSE 9. David says, “Let their table be made a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them.

 

VERSE 10. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Always keep their backs bent.”

 

THE GENTILES ARE GRAFTED ONTO GOD’S PEOPLE

 

VERSE 11. I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.

 

VERSE 12. Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?

 

VERSE 13. For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry;

 

VERSE 14. if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them.

 

VERSE 15. For if the rejection of them is the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be, but life from the dead?

 

VERSE 16. If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches.

 

VERSE 17. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree,

We Christians have great admiration for the Jewish people. Yet we have a proven history of treating them terribly. What is the right way forward? Read more »

 

VERSE 18. don’t boast over the branches. But if you boast, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you.

We Christians have great admiration for the Jewish people. Yet we have a proven history of treating them terribly. What is the right way forward? Read more »

 

VERSE 19. You will say then, “Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.”

We Christians have great admiration for the Jewish people. Yet we have a proven history of treating them terribly. What is the right way forward? Read more »

 

VERSE 20. True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith. Don’t be conceited, but fear;

We Christians have great admiration for the Jewish people. Yet we have a proven history of treating them terribly. What is the right way forward? Read more »

 

VERSE 21. for if God didn’t spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

We Christians have great admiration for the Jewish people. Yet we have a proven history of treating them terribly. What is the right way forward? Read more »

 

VERSE 22. See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

otherwise you also will be cut off. Here Paul seems to be saying that it is possible to loose one’s eternal salvation. Contrast this with verse 29 below.

We Christians have great admiration for the Jewish people. Yet we have a proven history of treating them terribly. What is the right way forward? Read more »

 

VERSE 23. They also, if they don’t continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

will be grafted in. God first chose the Jewish people. We billions of Gentile believers are grafted onto them.

We Christians have great admiration for the Jewish people. Yet we have a proven history of treating them terribly. What is the right way forward? Read more »

 

VERSE 24. For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

We Christians have great admiration for the Jewish people. Yet we have a proven history of treating them terribly. What is the right way forward? Read more »

 

GOD’S MERCY IS FOR EVERYONE

 

VERSE 25. For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,

 

VERSE 26. and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written, “There will come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

 

VERSE 27. This is my covenant with them, when I will take away their sins.”

 

VERSE 28. Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake.

We Christians have great admiration for the Jewish people. Yet we have a proven history of treating them terribly. What is the right way forward? Read more »

 

VERSE 29. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

irrevocable. Paul seems to be saying that it is impossible to loose one”s eternal salvation. Contrast this with verse 22 above.

We Christians have great admiration for the Jewish people. Yet we have a proven history of treating them terribly. What is the right way forward? Read more »

 

VERSE 30. For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,

 

VERSE 31. even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy.

 

VERSE 32. For God has bound all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all.

 

GOD IS DOING AN AMAZING THING

 

VERSE 33. Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!

This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Letter to the Romans and from the entire Bible.

the depth of the riches. Knowing the LORD God isn’t boring. It’s exciting. A relationship with the creator of the universe has a depth to it that we can never plummet. In God, there’s an infinite richness. There’s an unlimited wisdom. There’s a knowledge that never disappoints.

The LORD God is so beyond us that he’s infinitely fascinating. He’s so far beyond us that we will never “get” him, and yet he still invites us in. Read more »

his ways past tracing out! If your relationship with God seems boring to you, it probably means that God is calling you to go deeper, to come closer, that there’s room for you to grow in your relationship with him.

 

VERSE 34. “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”

This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Letter to the Romans and from the entire Bible.

who has known the mind of the Lord? Does God need our advice on how to run the universe?

Some people seem to live their lives that way. They live and talk as if they have godlike power. Yet one day, they’ll discover that whatever they had wasn’t that much.

Let’s say we try to put 100% of God’s mind and knowledge into our human mind. It will not happen.

That would be like trying to take all the information on all the computers and servers and hard drives in the entire world and copy it all into our own mobile phone.

Today’s smartphones are awesome. But they cannot store everything on all the computers and server farms in the world.

Nor we can be the master of the knowledge of God.

 

VERSE 35. “Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?”

This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Letter to the Romans and from the entire Bible.

who has first given to him. God didn’t need us to help hom create the universe. When it came time for the salvation of the human race, did he call upon us?

No. God loved us so much that he himself chose to come here. He walked our earth, breathed our air, helped people in need, and let us put him to death.

The creation of the universe did not get delegated. And the greatest act of love, Jesus dying for our sins, did not get delegated.

It isn’t that we “do” for God. No, it’s that God “does” for us. When we see all that God has done for us, we can be filled with gratitude. We can live our lives in gratitude.

Job 41:11. Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.

 

VERSE 36. For of him, and through him, and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.

This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Letter to the Romans and from the entire Bible.

to him are all things. Paul wants to live his life in gratitude to God. Paul wants to glorify not himself but God Almighty. After all, ultimately, everything is from God. To our all-powerful, all-knowing God be the glory.

To him be the glory for ever! This infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing God is in love with you. He longs to know you. He wishes for you to know him. He desires a living relationship with you. How can you grow in your relationship with God, day-by-day?

 


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ROMANS

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

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Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.