Rom. 11:1-36 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 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? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 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.” And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.” 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. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 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”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
It is vital to a right hermeneutic of Romans 11 to consider the central metaphor that the Apostle utilizes is the singular cultivated olive tree. If Paul held to a dispensationalist doctrine, then he missed the perfect opportunity to teach it, for in fact he references two trees. If he had such a mindset as Scofield, Chaffer, & Ryrie, he then should have pictured something to the effect of God turning His attention to the the cultivation of the "wild" olive tree to raise it up it for a time, then later after "the fullness" of the wild tree would appear, He would turn His attention back to the "natural" tree. In stating His work among the Gentiles in such manner, the idea of a separate "plan B", an entirely new dispensation, a wholly separate program of salvation- this would be manifestly clear, & we would all be dispensational. The Church & Israel would be explicitly displayed as separate from one another.
But the Apostle chose the utterly opposite metaphor- the wild olive tree is virtually ignored, & only its branches are accorded any worth; that only comes as He grafts them into His one cultivated tree, for as Jesus said to the woman at the well, "salvation is of the Jews". In essence, Paul not only missed this supposed opportunity to teach dispensationalism, he in fact contradicted it! It is highly ironic that dispensationals reference this chapter more than any other to support their didactic of separation, for the clear message of the one tree is that we Gentiles are to be identified as essentially one with the remnant of Israel. Once again- distinctly separate branches- agreed! But concomitantly- these branches are fed by one root, through one trunk, to produce one manner of fruit; they are only separate in their distinctive origins, which are obviously to be only regarded as the former realities. God is not a respecter of persons, so former things play no role in His ministry to His one Bride in the future.
There remains one part of the tree discussed apart from the branches- the root. The root is not explicitly identified by Paul; most dispensationalists identify as it as Abraham. Clearly, by such titles as "the father of us all" (Rom. 4), this primary patriarch, & the covenant of unilateral grace God made with him, must be seen as the means to the root's common ministry of mercy & grace to the branches. But should Abraham be pictured as the root or source of the grace that saves? I say no! To do so disparages the ultimate Source of not only the mercy & grace that nurtures us, but our fruit as well. We call as our witness the words of John 15...
John 15:1-12 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
We understand & agree that it the individual parables of the New Testament cannot be always synthesized into one narrative. Nevertheless, we press that if the root of the olive tree is to be declared, it must be essentially Christ, who is placed & ministered to in His central role by "the Vinedresser", towards the purpose of each branch producing fruit- to the glory of both the Vine & the Vinedresser. Abraham & his covenant of grace are present & they are central, but only in Christ.
We fear pride is afoot here whenever man is put in the place of God. Such is the central apostasy of the church in Rome- with all the mediation of Popes, parishes, & dead saints- the glory of Christ is greatly obscured. It is not with their Christology that we dispute, it is with all the mediation that the Romans put between the sinner & the Savior that is the problem. It is subtraction by means of addition.
We fear viewing Abraham as the root is a likewise concern, that there may raise up a proud spirit in the Jew, a spirit akin to the Pharisee that declares “Abraham is our father” (John 8:39). If so, then the irony is deep, for Paul's desire with the metaphor of the root is to humble the Gentile, not exalt the Jew. Such a person would do well to revisit & ponder the previous chapters that state there is no essential difference between Jew & Gentile- that the previous distinctions are meaningless in the present & future kingdom of God.
