Standing Fast through Humble Faith | Romans 11:11-24

Introduction 

In the years leading up to the United States Civil War, tensions and hostility between the Northern and Southern states rose so high that many people wondered whether a nation that was so divided could long endure. 

Some wanted to avoid war and to seek unity through other means, but others thought that war was inevitable and necessary. Looking back on that time in history, secular historian Umberto Eco declared that, "The United States needed a Civil War to unite properly." I don’t know if that claim is true, but I do know that unity is extremely hard to come by. 

In our text this morning, we see Paul dealing with the issue of a disunited world that existed since the time of Babel. And he points us to only thing that can truly unify and humble a broken and sinful world. 

Romans 11:11–24 (ESV)

“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. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

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

“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 root of the olive tree, 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. Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 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. 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. 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.”

In this passage, the failure of the Jews reveals that God’s kind intention has always been to graft believing branches into the Olive Tree. He’s after a righteous and godly seed (cf. Malachi 2:15), he wants circumcised hearts (cf. Jer. 4:4; Deut. 30:4), a people who are fully dependent and fully trusting in him for all things. 

And your living and humble faith in the present—and nothing else—is the evidence that God has grafted you into the Olive Tree. Not your cherished tradition or your tribe. Not your pride or your newly favored condition.

And I want to show you three things through this text: 1) God’s purpose in rejecting the Jews; 2) God’s warning to the Gentiles; and 3) the nature and unity of God’s people as represented by the Olive Tree. So God’s Purpose, God’s Warning, and God’s People.

God’s Purpose to the Jews

The question our text confronted us with last week was this: “Was Israel’s rejection total? And did their failure mean that God had abandoned his people?”

And the answer that verses 1-10 give us is a resounding no! God saved a remnant, chosen by grace, so that his name would be glorified. 

Paul begins verse 11 here by paralleling the structure of verse 1 with a similar type of question and the same emphatic denial for an answer: “So I ask, did they [did Israel] stumble in order that they might fall? By no means!” (Romans 11:11). By no means! It was decidedly not God’s intention to abandon Israel. And how do we know? The elect “remnant” obtained salvation.

But what about “the rest” of Israel—the remainder of them not included in the remnant? And this is the question that Paul turns to in verses 11–15. Was God’s judgment on those Jews who had rejected him final? Would any other Jews be saved? 

This question is certainly perplexing and has produced an assortment of differing interpretations regarding the future of the nation of Israel. And I don’t mean to go into all of those views with our time this morning. But I would like to show you that our text is less concerned with the distant future of one generation of ethnic Israel and more concerned with highlighting the way in which God has always saved his people. 

With that being said, Paul does answer the question about Israel’s future in verses 11 and 14. Look at verse 11: “Rather [it was God’s purpose that], through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, [why?] so as to make Israel jealous.” God was not forgetting the rest of Israel. The “so as” is important here. The ingrafting of the Gentiles had a view toward Israel’s full restoration! It was in order to make Israel jealous. 

In the Old Testament, Isaiah says that it was Israel who was supposed to be “a light to the nations'' in order to draw the Gentiles in (cf. Isaiah 49:6). Other nations were to look at God’s blessings being poured out on Israel and then desired those things themselves, but here the script is flipped. The Gentiles are now experiencing the blessings of God and drawing the Jews back in! 

And notice here, the jealousy of the Jews that Paul references in verses 11 and 14 of our text could result in two outcomes for the Jews. On the one hand, their jealousy could lead negatively to further hardening and resentment and apostasy. But on the other hand, it could lead positively to a desire to return to the Lord and to the blessings that they were now seeing poured out on the Gentiles! 

Many commentators view this jealousy as something that will develop over time and then culminate at the end of redemptive history with a large-scale return of the Jewish nation to Christ before his return. But I’m convinced, and I want to show you, that Paul had a more immediate jealousy in mind. 

When exactly were the Jews stirred to jealousy? The Apostle Luke tells us that at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, in Luke 4, that the Jews in his hometown were filled with wrath at his teachings. The time of fulfillment was at hand, and the Old Covenant (the Jewish Age) was beginning to come to an end. The book of Matthew records that “it was out of envy” that the Jews had delivered Christ up to the Romans to be crucified (cf. Matthew 27:18). Their kingdom and their customs and their authority were being challenged and it filled them with jealousy and rage. 

And then after the death and resurrection of Jesus, as the gospel begins to go forth into the Gentile world, just listen to the reaction that the Jews have to this development. As signs and wonders were regularly being done and more and more believers were being added to the Lord, it says: “But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison” (Acts 5:17-18).

Or in Acts 13, as large crowds were gathered and many who were appointed to eternal life believed, it says, “But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him” (Acts 13:45).

Or in Acts 17, as a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women of the city began to follow Paul and Silas, what do we find? “But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd” (Acts 17:5).

The Jews were jealous as Paul was writing the book of Romans in the early first century. And the remnant of believing Jews, along with the new Gentile converts, was supposed to provoke some of the remaining Jews into returning to the salvation and the inheritance that they had rejected. 

Look closely at what Paul says in verse 14: “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.”

So Paul is speaking here to a primarily Gentile Christian audience.  And he’s telling these Gentiles that one of the reasons that salvation has come to them is to make his fellow Jews jealous. And I take that to mean that the Jews he has in mind here are his contemporaries. He wants the unbelieving Jews of his lifetime to turn and to be brought back to repentance and favor.

So what is to become of the Jews? I mentioned earlier that there are differing views regarding the future of Israel, and I am under the impression that when Paul was speaking of the full inclusion of the Jews in verse 12, he was looking forward to the judgment that would fall on the Jewish nation when the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. So the fulfillment of this promise was in Paul’s future, but it is in our past. 

We often think of the Old Covenant Age ending sharply with the death and resurrection of Christ and the New Covenant Age beginning at that point, and while it’s true that the resurrection of Christ marks the beginning of the New Covenant Age (the church age), in actuality the sacrificial system of the Jews continued for another 40 years after that until the temple was destroyed. So there is this overlap of the ages before God brings his judgment on the house of Israel. 

And it was Paul’s hope that, during this interim period of his day, many of the hardened Jews who were rejecting Christ and were still practicing their old ways and customs would turn to faith and join the remnant of believing Jews before their age was brought to a close.

And Paul had every reason to believe that more of these Jews were going to be saved. In fact, he argues from lesser to greater here. In verse 12 and in verse 24 he uses the phrase “how much more.” If the Gentiles were grafted in, then “how much more” would the Jews be too. If the Gentiles received salvation (v. 11) and riches (v. 12) and reconciliation (v. 15), then, guess what, the Jews would receive “life from the dead.” They would be preserved in the coming judgment and experience vibrant spiritual life in Christ. God was not forgetting his people! God will not forget his people!

Verse 16 assures us: “If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.” Most people agree that “firstfruits” here is a reference to the elect remnant and that “the root” is probably a reference to the Jewish patriarchs. The fact that God had saved a remnant is proof that God could and would and will save more of the rest before the looming judgment. And the fact that salvation began with the Jewish patriarchs means that surely God will be faithful to his promises to Israel and bring their salvation to full fruition. 

God’s purpose in rejecting the Jews was their ultimate restoration and salvation. It served another important and necessary purpose as well; namely, that it revealed God’s warning to the Gentiles. So let’s look at God’s warning. 

God’s Warning to the Gentiles

In verses 17–24, we see Paul turning his attention more specifically to the Gentile believers. Throughout this text, he continually reminds them of the kindness of God. He shows them that the rejection and failure and stumbling of the Jews was for their benefit!

Just look again at what was happening in the book of Acts: 

“And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly [to the Jews], saying, ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

‘“I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”’

“And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.”

—Acts 13:46–49

We see here God displaying his sheer grace and kindness in saving a people, as Romans 10:20 reminds us, who did not seek him and who did not ask for him (cf. Isaiah 65:1). And their initial and fitting response is pure joy. That’s how everyone should respond to God’s grace! 

Look closely at the words that Paul uses in Romans chapter 11 to describe the blessings that are poured out on the Gentiles. In verse 11, “…salvation has come to the Gentiles.” They too can be saved from the curse of sin and death. In verse 12, “…riches for the world.” They too can be pulled out of their spiritual poverty and ruin. And in verse 15, “…reconciliation of the world.” They too can now call the God of Abraham their father. 

God has poured out his kindness to the nations. And Paul continues. In the middle of verse 17, he calls the Gentiles “wild olive shoots.” And in the Mediterranean world, wild olive trees were notoriously unfruitful—they were known for being barren and dry. And though I’m no arborist, and this is simply a metaphor Paul is using, it seems clear that he is pointing out the fact that the Gentiles are receiving undeserved nourishment from the cultivated olive tree. The cultivated tree that represents the heritage and the promises given to Abraham and to his offspring.

God tends this tree. He cultivates not only the natural branches, but he also cultivates the wild branches that were unfruitful and far off. And he lets them share the nourishing root. What a gift this is to these wild branches who were not of Abraham’s natural seed! Not only should this humble the Gentiles of Paul’s day, this should humble us—we are those branches. God is so kind to us. 

And why is Paul stressing this reality? Because the Gentiles had the opposite response. They were getting ideas. They were beginning to boast as though they had merited God’s kindness and favor. Some of them might have even thought that they were replacing Israel as the people of God. Others may have been reveling in Israel’s rejection.

Instead of continuing in the joy of their salvation, they were finding joy in Israel’s failure. Maybe you’re like this. Maybe you’re the person who secretly relishes when a Christian you disagree with fails or is exposed as a fraud. Maybe your pride swells a little bit as the liberal Christian you know slowly slides down the slippery slope into apostasy. 

But Paul sharply confronts this thinking in verses 19 and 20, he says: “Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.”

Notice here, the Gentiles were falling prey to the very same temptations that Israel was prone to in the past! To think that they could control God’s sovereign grace through something in them. To think that they had accomplished something apart from God and his mercy.

They were arrogant and spurning the kindness of God and Paul had to remind them “not [to] be arrogant toward the branches” (cf. v.18). How were they—the Gentiles—grafted in? Only through faith and God’s grace. What did they have to boast about? Nothing. And this is incredible: it should humble us to know that God can even use the sin of others to save us. His ways are so high and beyond our comprehension! 

And you know what, God is so gracious in giving us these warnings. Paul might offer the same rebuke here as he did to another group of Gentile Christians in the book of Galatians! He says:

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit in you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’?”

—Galatians 3:1–6

The obvious answer to these rhetorical questions is that it was always and only faith. The Gentiles needed to be warned about the dangers of their pride and arrogance. They needed to be reminded of what had happened with Israel. 

If they weren’t careful, if we aren’t careful, we too could be cut off like the Jews. And here we see the similarity of these once distinct people. We see that Jew and Gentile alike are attached to the olive tree by faith and cut off by unbelief. 

God’s People

And this reveals to us the glorious mystery of God’s olive tree and reveals to us the true nature and unity of God’s People. God has always been after a people who share in the faith of Abraham and not just in his flesh and blood. And God has always been after a people who are not just circumcised outwardly, but who are circumcised inwardly in their hearts (cf. Romans 2:28-29). Not just those who conform externally to rules and regulations, but those who desire obedience from the heart. This has been his desire from the beginning. 

And our text this morning has in view the final end of the external distinctions between Jew and Gentile, and it unveils that the inward distinction between belief and unbelief is what makes all the difference. 

So no, the Gentiles did not take the place of Israel as the people of God. And no, God did not totally or completely reject the Jews. It wasn’t their race that mattered. What defined God’s people all along was their faith in God and his promises. 

And God’s promises began with Israel and grew to include the nations. Douglas Moo says it like this: “The olive tree, representing the people of God across the span of salvation history, is rooted in God’s promises to the patriarchs. From those roots grow only one tree; there is only one people of God. Gentiles who come to faith in Christ are joined to that tree—they do not constitute a new tree” (Douglas Moo, A Theology of Paul and His Letters, 572).

Elsewhere he says, “Followers of Jesus, and only followers of Jesus, constitute the people of God” (Moo, 573).

Paul expounds on this reality and says it even better in Ephesians 2:

“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

—Ephesians 2:11–22

The mystery of the olive tree in Romans 11 reveals the outworking of what Paul explains in Ephesians 2. And when the Jewish temple was destroyed and the veil was torn, the true church—all who believe in Christ—was unveiled to the world. No longer would the New Covenant church be marked by division and hostility between Jew and Gentile, but all would become one in Christ. 

And how are God’s people united? Not through tradition or tribe or preference, but through faith in Jesus Christ. This is what Paul tells us in verse 20: “You stand fast through faith.” Not pride. Not arrogance. Not hard-heartedness. Not an unwillingness to repent and turn from your sin. But humble and living faith in the present. 

Paul knows that the human temptation is toward arrogance and self-sufficiency. And these things create division. But he tells us our response should be an appropriate fear that leads to dependent faith. This is what binds you to the root. 

And the olive tree of Romans 11 shows us that all Christians are unified by standing fast through faith in the one who, by his life and death, has fully paid for all our sins and has united us all by making peace through his blood at the cross. 

So what about the Jewish question; how will the Jews of the future be saved? They will be saved in the same way that Jews of the past were saved. They will be saved just like the rest of the world is saved.

As Romans 10:11-13 says, “For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” 

This is the hope of God’s People. This is what humbles our pride and this is what unites us with all the saints throughout all the ages. We have one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. 

Conclusion

So consider Paul’s warning in verse 22 of our text: “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.”

Just like the Jews and Gentiles of Paul’s day, we too must consider God’s kindness and severity. And rather than just presuming upon God’s goodness, if we are trusting in Christ, we must make every effort to continue in his kindness—to stay there. Trusting him in all things. 

And if your walk with Christ feels like it is growing cold, and if you feel that God’s promises have lost their sweetness, and if you feel like you are just going through the motions, then let the thought of God’s severity drive you to repentance again. God has the power to graft you onto the olive tree, and he does so through your persevering and continuing faith. So do not grow weary or hardened by sin! 

And if you are not yet trusting in Jesus with your life, then call on him now and turn from your sin and be united to Christ and united to his people.