Romans 11:19–22

The Jews are meant by the natural branches. They had held the promises of old, and so they had the responsible place of witness for God on the earth. That is why they were the original branches of the olive tree, the line of promise and witness on earth which began with Abraham. And here is the warning: "Then you will say, 'Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.'" Has this not been exactly the feeling of Christendom? It has shown contempt for the Jews, shock at their wickedness, and complete unconcern about its own condition.

Unbelief had broken off the natural branches. Faith was the means that brought the foreign shoot in. Faith is the condition of their standing. Just naming it silences the self-congratulating boast he had just warned them against.

Faith makes everything of God. So let the Gentiles beware of pride that makes something of self. They too may fall into unbelief.

The reference to the grafting of trees in Romans 11 shows that the practice existed then. It speaks of Gentiles, the wild olive branches, grafted into the good olive tree. Scripture calls this "contrary to nature." Gentiles have now been grafted into the tree of witness on earth, and of promise. But later the natural branches, Israel, will be grafted again into "their own olive tree." It does not refer to individual salvation.

It is very important not to confuse two things. One is the continuous line of the inheritance of the promise on earth, the olive tree. The other is the mystery of Christ and the church, where everything is new and above nature. No member is ever broken off the body, and the Jew is no more a natural limb of it than the Gentile.

All such stand by faith, or not at all. He did not spare the natural branches, so we cannot expect Him to spare the grafts if they do not value His goodness. So comes the threat in verse 22: "you also will be cut off." This is not a question of individual salvation, which the failure of an age cannot touch. The point is that God will reject Gentile profession as a whole, just as He rejected Israel in an earlier age, if it is not faithful.

Paul anticipates such an attitude in Romans 11:19 and 25. There is the danger of being wise in our own eyes, as if all our resources are in our own hands. That would despise the lessons of Israel's history and failure, which are there to instruct and warn us.

But the Gentile must not boast. He says, "you do not support the root, but the root supports you." And note this: it was because of unbelief they were broken off. It was not because God willed to break them off, but because of their own unbelief. And the Gentile stands by faith.

The place of the Gentile Church as a branch grafted into the olive root has already been stated. Now we are told the only terms on which that place is kept. Unbelief had broken off the natural branches. Faith was the way the foreign shoot came in. Faith is the condition of their standing, and the very mention of it silences the self-congratulating boast he had just warned them against.

We receive the gospel on the basis of faith. The believer's whole life from that moment on rests on faith too. What we receive by faith produces faith. This principle of faith rules out all efforts of the flesh.

Let the Gentile then beware. Israel was cut off because of unbelief. The Gentiles come into blessing only through faith in God. Faith makes everything of God. Let the Gentiles beware of the pride that makes something of self, in case they too fall into unbelief.

Over-confident claims and a self-righteous spirit are no evidence of faith, and where faith is missing we should expect the cutting off. Faith gives the spirit of godly fear — a healthy reverence for God's just rule.

But how simple it all is when we see not the Church, but the privileges of grace. The olive tree is the line of privilege throughout the world's history. It began with Abraham and continued in his successors. They were "broken off" because of their unbelief. The line has now passed on to Christendom, where great numbers of Gentiles enjoy privileges they once had no share in. All is clear. The Church is not touched, but profession and responsibility are.

No doubt those who make up the church, Christ's body, come in as branches standing through faith in the place of the Jewish ones broken off. But so do others who only profess Christ. They do not value God's goodness. They abandon it for religious forms, or scepticism, or open evil. This is no question of saving grace. It is a question of responsibility on earth, according to the testimony given — first to Israel, then to Christendom.

So the Gentile gets a full warning. He is shown the principle of God's dealings — the goodness and severity of God toward those who fell, the Israelite branches cut off. "Toward you goodness, if you continue in His goodness." Otherwise the Gentile branches would be broken off, as the Jewish ones were. Have they so continued? Has Gentile profession continued in the faith and walk once delivered to the saints?

The Greek phrase kata phusin means "according to nature." The name natural branches belongs to the Israelites, branches of the olive tree which God planted on earth. Rom. 11:21, 24.

The Jew came from Abraham, the man first chosen and called out so that the promises would run in his line (though their effects reached everyone else). So the Jew had been the natural trunk, or branches, of the olive tree. The Gentile grew wild outside. But God must have branches that match the root, and because the Jews did not, judgment went out against them. It was clear, then, that the Gentiles had the most reason to fear. If God had dealt with the failure of Abraham's descendants, no one could imagine that He would tolerate Gentile wickedness.

"For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you" — this is most likely how we should read the clause.

The unbelieving Jews were broken off because of unbelief. Now in no sense could anyone say that the Jews were broken off from the church, for they were never in it. The apostle also speaks of breaking off the Gentile branches. That cannot be the church either, because in no sense can anyone say that the church of the living God, in its true sense, is broken off. The whole wording of the chapter proves that the olive tree refers to the line and channel through which God administers His promises on the earth.

Notice another important principle here. Enjoying privileges because of your position makes you responsible for them, though it does not mean the person was born again. The Jewish branch stood in the tree of promise and was broken off; the same holds for the Gentiles. There was nothing living or real in them, but they stood in the place of blessing.

Israel was cut off because of unbelief, and only through faith in God do the Gentiles come into blessing. Faith makes everything of God. So let the Gentiles beware of the pride that makes something of self, in case they too fall into unbelief.

Proud claims and a self-righteous spirit are no evidence of faith. Where faith is missing, expect the cutting off. Faith gives the spirit of godly fear — a healthy reverence for the just government of God.

It is impossible to apply this to the believer as such. The apostle is speaking of the general professing body. This is the danger facing what people commonly call Christendom — everyone baptized to the name of the Trinity. God warns them here that He will cut them off if they do not continue in the goodness He is now displaying.

This does not touch the question of individual salvation, which Christ secures forever. It is a matter of responsibility in God's present dealings on earth. Who will pretend that Christendom has continued in the goodness of God?

Should we not take warning? The time is near when the unfruitful branches will be torn out of the olive tree, and the natural branches, turning back to God at last, will be grafted in again to their own olive tree.

Look at both the goodness and the severity of God. He shows us His unchangeable character as the God of judgment, and with it the riches of His kindness. He cut off those who had fallen in order to maintain His own glory as the righteous avenger of His name. That same line of righteousness applies to the professed people of His name — Gentiles who hold the title of Christ as their own. It would condemn, with equal impartiality, whatever failed to meet the one condition of continuance.

Who is addressed here? It is either one person who professes Christ, or a whole body of people that the apostle pictures as one person and speaks to in that way. The context shows it is not the first, but the second. The grand subject of the chapter is the partial, temporary setting aside of Israel. In their place God brings in the present body that professes His name, mainly Gentile, to carry the responsibilities of God's people on the earth… But what has taken their place? The body that professes His name — Christendom. That is the body the apostle addresses here.

It is very important not to confuse two things. One is the continuous line of the promised inheritance on earth: the olive tree. The other is the mystery of Christ and the church, where everything is new and above nature. Members are never broken off from the body… No doubt those who make up the church, Christ's body, come in as branches. They stand through faith in the place of the broken-off Jewish ones. But so do others who only profess the name of Christ. They do not value God's goodness. They give it up for forms, or scepticism, or open evil… The question here is not saving grace. It is responsibility on earth, according to the testimony entrusted first to Israel and then to Christendom.

The goodness of God now revealed in the gospel is Christ. He is the propitiation for human sin and the display, in grace, of the righteousness of God… Who then continues in the goodness of God? Only those who once received the knowledge of that goodness by faith and have never moved away from Christ, the true and only hope of the gospel. Putting works in the place of grace. Letting justification by faith alone decay into self-righteousness and outward forms. Keeping the name of Christ and the letter of the gospel, while denying or never knowing the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. All of these are departures from the goodness of God, which He expresses and gives in Christ alone.

Romans 11 calls it a fatal presumption to think that the church, as God's present order on earth, cannot fall away. That presumption leads the Gentile Church to its ruin. The Holy Spirit condemns those who think this way as wise in their own eyes. He teaches us instead that God would act toward the present order as He did toward the one before it.

Scripture says nothing about being restored. That will not do: what is needed is to "continue." It is like a man who has broken the law saying, "I will do right from now on." That does not meet the law's claims.

When the true Church has been caught up to be with the Lord, judgment will fall on unfaithful Christendom. Then God will turn back in grace to Israel, if they do not continue in unbelief, and He will graft them back into their own olive tree, according to the power of God.