Romans 11 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Romans 11

The Remnant of Israel

11:1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,¹ a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,

  “God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that would not see
    and ears that would not hear,
  down to this very day.”

9 And David says,

  “Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10   let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and bend their backs forever.”

Gentiles Grafted In

11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion² mean!

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root³ of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation

25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers:⁴ a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

  “The Deliverer will come from Zion,
    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27   “and this will be my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.”

28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now⁵ receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34   “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
    or who has been his counselor?”
35   “Or who has given a gift to him
    that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Footnotes

[1] 11:1 Or one of the offspring of Abraham
[2] 11:12 Greek their fullness
[3] 11:17 Greek root of richness; some manuscripts richness
[4] 11:25 Or brothers and sisters
[5] 11:31 Some manuscripts omit now

Commentary

v1-6: God's sovereignty in grace; our part is to accept His will, being subject to Him.

v1: Paul writes as a Jew, saved by the grace of God, sharing the faith of Abraham. He is himself testimony that the Jewish people are not cast off in their entirety.

v2-3: God foreknew His people, and therefore cannot cast them away. We may feel few and isolated, like Elijah, "I alone am left." Or others might think that only Gentiles are being saved.

v4-5: The faithful remnant; in Elijah's day, 7,000 reserved for God. The remnant is according to grace; for each one has found faith in Christ. Even when things are at a low ebb, God is faithful to Himself, and maintains a faithful testimony on earth.

v6: Election is of grace, not of works, it is not earned.

v7-10: Unbelieving Jews were hardened; God used many experiences to do this; famines and droughts, military defeats, exile in Assyria and Babylon; those who did not want God could not have Him.

Israel did not obtain salvation; as a nation they did not seek it on God's terms. Their refusal to submit is a rejection of God. Their rejection is rewarded by a "spirit of stupor," and judgment.

v11-12: Jealousy; the salvation of Gentiles through the church is itself a sign to the Jews. Notice that riches for the Gentiles is a direct consequence of Jewish unbelief.

God's plan is that the Jews see the blessing of God upon Gentiles, and therefore seek God's blessings for themselves. Wonderful things lie ahead for the Jews and, indeed, for the world.

Paul uses the concept of wealth to describe the blessings of salvation, as in 2 Cor 8.9.

v13-14: Although Paul is called specifically to the Gentiles (Acts 9.15; 22.21) he maintains a deep concern for the Jewish people. He realises that his ministry can bring blessing to them also.

v15: Today they are cast away, but one day they will be accepted again.

v16: The first fruits are holy, and the root is holy; therefore all is holy. Since believers are grafted into the Holy One, then we too are holy.

v17: A wild olive is grafted into a fruitless tree to make it bear fruit; the picture is of Gentiles being joined to Christ. The Jews have rejected Him, and, being the natural branches, are broken off. This refers to the nation, rather than to every individual within it, as in v5.

We are partakers of the root, which gives us security. There is "nourishing sap," which is the abundance of the Holy Spirit from the root, which is Christ.

v18-19: No ground for boasting, for we rely upon the root.

v20: We do not boast, for we stand by faith; we cannot be proud of any achievement of ours. We are grateful that God has enabled us to believe.

v21: There is no room for an anti-Jewish attitude, for the Jewish people are the natural branches, see also v25.

v22: The on-going choice; receive either God's goodness or His severity; John 15.6. We are not to be complacent, nor presumptuous. Rather we must maintain a close relationship with God.

v23-24: There is a logic that the Jewish people will be grafted in again; this is truth, not just Paul's wishful thinking. Natural branches are grafted in again to enjoy renewed fruitfulness, and to encourage further fruitfulness.

v25: Israel is hardened; in part, not totally; until ... , not forever. The position in Paul's day, he insists, is not the whole story. Thus the Jewish people do have a future in the plans of God.

There is a full number of the Gentiles; a great multitude of every people, nation, tribe and tongue.

v26-27: One day all Israel will be saved, when Christ the deliverer comes, being revealed from Zion. He will take away their sins, in accordance with His promise, and he new covenant with them.

v28-29: Whilst Paul witnesses Jewish opposition to the gospel, there remains God's calling which is irrevocable.

v30-32: The marvellous truth of God's mercy, which falls on the disobedient. In contrast, His wrath falls on the unbelieving. See also 4.5; He justifies the ungodly. This is a reminder that none deserve the great blessings of God in Christ.

v33-36: Paul's conclusion; we cannot fully understand God's ways. We may be tempted to reduce Gods' word to a future timetable of human speculation concerning Israel, the church, and the world; the proper response is to worship Him and to trust Him. We are confident that the glory of God will be manifest in the gospel being proclaimed, and changing many lives. Where the purposes of God eclipse human reason, we rest in His perfect justice.

Paul, as elsewhere, uses a series of OT verses to enforce his teaching. These words are God's, spoken through Isaiah and Job; but here they are a doxology of praise to God.