Studying His Word and His Works

Listen to the study here: Romans 11:11-24

Read here: Romans 11

Review

• Calvin on the theme of Romans: “Man’s only righteousness is the mercy of God in Christ, when it is offered by the Gospel and received by faith.” Romans 1:17 and elsewhere.
• IMPORTANT: Paul wrote the letter to the saints (1:7), and the letter is about the gospel, which is a reminder we need to preach the gospel to ourselves daily. 
• Luther: Simul iustus et peccator = At the same time, righteous and a sinner! Romans 3:23-25
• In Ch. 1-3 Paul shows us our unrighteousness, and God’s wrath against that, and then switches to Christ’s righteousness as our covering, the propitiation of our sins (Romans 3:25) as the final sacrifice for sin, fulfilling the promise to Abraham, who had faith before any works
• Faith being “counted” or “credited to our account” as righteousness is mentioned 11 times in Chapter 4! If “none are righteous” as Paul wrote in Romans 3:10, then this saving faith must be a gift from God.
• Ch. 5, We now have peace with God, access to God, and hope, because of what Christ did for us while we were weak(v. 6), sinners (v. 8), and enemies (v. 10). Christ did this “at the right time,” (v. 6), connecting Christ’s work on the cross and God’s plan of redemption to real history (not just a myth or legend).
• Atonement(5:6-11): Jesus satisfying God’s wrath for us through His sacrificial death on the cross.
• Ch. 5 and 6 describe federalism, this idea of one man making a difference, for righteousness (Jesus) or wickedness (Adam). 
• Ch 6 ended with lots of words pointing to the new road we are now on with Christ, the sanctification road.
  • Service is the key word, “slaves” used 8 times
  • “Present yourselves”(5), “Leads to”(5)
• Sproul: “our regeneration, our rebirth was the work of one Person, God. It was not a joint venture; but from the moment we take our first breath of regenerated spiritual life, it  becomes a joint effort.” the work of one Person is what salvation is about. The joint venture is what sanctification is about. Ch.6 ends and we continue into Ch.7 describing what this “sanctification road” looks like to walk down. We were on the sin road that leads to death, but now we are on the grace road that leads to eternal life.
• Chapter 8 is describing the assurance we have as Christians in salvation. Deus pro nobis – God for us. It is a reminder of God’s sovereignty over our salvation, and God’s infinite wisdom, in the creation, fall, redemption plan he has for not just us, but the whole world. Ultimately, God, not us, foreknows, predestines, calls, justifies and glorifies. There are many verses (Romans 2:4, John 3:16, etc) that point to God’s patience with everyone, His love for everyone, that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9), so I believe there is some free will in there somewhere, perhaps an ability to answer the call, or not. But, even if we answer the call, it is God who initiated. Even if we are crying out for God, “feeling our way to Him” like Acts 17:27 says, we are only doing this because He has already called. We are MORE THAN CONQUERORS, not on our own of course, but “through Him who loved us” from before time began. 
• Chapter 9 continues on the point of election, which, if you think about it, Paul has been discussing since Romans 1:1 when he said he was “set apart”. Paul continues to hammer the point that it is God’s free will, not ours, that matters most. It’s good to keep in mind the complexity of God, as he is not just electing, but he is doing a bunch of things simultaneously and eternally. He is electing, foreknowing, predestining, calling, justifying, glorifying, answering prayer, “giving them over to a debased mind” (Romans 1:28-32) while also being kind as a means to lead people to repentance (Romans 2:4), showing mercy to some and hardening others (9:18). It’s like God is working on an eternal and therefore infinite scale, but also an instantaneous and therefore infinitesimal scale. Pastor John Macarthur, who went home to Jesus recently, described this as a parallelism, God’s sovereign election running alongside the “whoever believes in Him will have eternal life” of John 3:16. It is Euler’s “every instant,” of God initiating, so the saved are always indebted to Him. And it’s also Paul’s “unceasing anguish” for the lost in 9:2, something we should ask God to give us, too. And something that clearly shows that God predestines us to a team, His team, and we are working with Him to save sinners. He’s just team captain and MVP. He gets all the glory!
  • Also remember that Paul references almost 50 OT verses in Chapter 9 alone. He is retelling Israel’s story in many places to serve as a reminder of God’s sovereign will over nations, but also individuals like Pharoah, Moses, Jacob and Esau, etc. Some want to say election is only about nations, or only individuals, but this is another both/and. 
• Chapter 10 also discusses election, as well as Macarthur’s “parallelism”, or even the “3 strands are not easily broken” analogy in Ecclisiastes 4:12. That’s also what some of Chapter 10 is describing. Think about it, God could just yell the gospel down from heaven if wanted, but he chooses to use us, weak on our own but strong in Him. Ch. 10 describes a deep, personal bond God has with believers. Paul also describes Israel’s history of disobedience, how they did not hear the gospel, but in Ch. 11 again reminds that God preserves a remnant.

Intro

• Key words: branches (6); olive, grafted (5); means, Gentiles (4). This is about Gentiles being grafted in to the tree of covenants, which will ultimately be one tree of only believers. Gentiles have always been able to be grafted in (think about the book of Ruth), so this seems to be more about BIG movements, like big waves of people, using Jews for Gentiles sake and now vice-versa. Think about the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20, making disciples of all nations. Or Luke 24:47, repentance and forgiveness of sins being proclaimed to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem. Or John 11:52, not for one nation only. Or Acts 10:28, Jews weren’t allowed to visit or associate with any non-Jews, but God had shown Peter not to call anyone common or unclean, and goes on to say in every nation there are believers basically. Or Acts 17:26-31, God made the boundaries for the nations and gave them ample opportunity to know Him, to “feel their way to him” although the Jews were his chosen nation, but not anymore. Now He commands all nations to repentance. Or Galatians 3:8, Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. God preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying “in you the nations shall be blessed.” Or Rev. 5:9, by your (Christ’s) blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Or Rev. 7:9, John’s vision, he saw an uncountable number of people from every nation, every tribe and people and language, standing before Christ’s throne.
  • the Bible is VERY clear that God is, and always has been, for the faithful of all nations.  The tree is believers, of which the Jews definitely had a special place, but God’s covenants, anchored in Christ, is the support system, the root, and since He is the root, the tree is ultimately for all believers. Over time, the tree grew, and unbelieving branches were cut off to make room for the wave of Gentiles now grafting in. But just like Jews can be cut off, so can Gentiles. It’s almost like the tree is all the people who have at least heard the gospel, but not all the saved, otherwise why would they get cut off? And eventually it will just be the saved, a tree of only true believers. 
• In the previous study, we mentioned this quote by Sproul: “How we understand eschatology(study of last things) is, to a large degree, connected to how we understand Romans 11.” Israel is still special to God, but in what way? 
• Reviewing the previous study, Paul again emphasizes salvation is by grace of God and not our works. He again brings up election, saying “the elect obtained it” in v. 7, “it” being salvation. Paul also shows how God has not completely rejected the Jews, since God saved him and he is Jewish.
  • I watched a couple of pastors discuss Romans 11 on Youtube, and they described an idea of God moving through nations like a tide or wave. Salvation rising in the Jews then ebbing, if ebbing in the Jews then rising elsewhere, in the Gentiles now. Or maybe tsunami waves, which affect one nation but not the other, and in the end, salvation will be like one giant tsunami overwhelming everyone.
  • I’m not saying this is exactly what Paul is explaining here, but it is worth thinking about, how God moves through people, nations, the world. Like a salmon run! A season where a flood of souls is moving against the flow, headed towards Him.
  • Last time, we discussed how it seems, there is always “something” going on both instantaneously and eternally. God predestining, electing some and hardening others. But, as we will see, there is a purpose behind this, that God did not cause this “stumbling” in the Jewish nation so that every one of them would fall. The stumbling was done in part to cause the Gentiles to come to Christ. 
• Verses 11-14
  • In a way, Paul is saying here that the prophecy to make Israel jealous is now being fulfilled. The prophecy is what Paul referred to back in 10:19, about what Moses said in Deut. 32:21. This is one of those “somethings,” where there is this simultaneous “instant, yet eternal” going on. God declaring he would make Israel jealous way back when, but also Paul saying how he personally hoped to make Israel jealous with his ministry to the Gentiles, and thus save some of them.
  • This reminds me of how God hardened Pharoah’s heart, but at the same time, and even before it says this, the Bible says Pharoah hardened his own heart. In John 12:40, Jesus refers to hardening Israel, and he references Isaiah 6:10, and if you read that, you see that God used Isaiah to harden Israel, telling Isaiah “make the heart of this people dull.”
  • What we are reading here is another instance where 1) God hardens people, 2) people harden their own hearts, and 3) God uses prophets to speak words that harden people. Nevertheless, all are born unrighteous, we are all destined to hell from the beginning. So, whatever way this hardening comes, it is ultimately God’s sovereign decree. Maybe some of this is about the spiritual battle that we are mostly unaware of. Maybe this is why there is an eternal but also instantaneous aspect to God’s work. God predestining, but God also there in the instants, electing prophets like Isaiah to speak words at the right moment that harden people who obviously weren’t hardened before that, who had some chance of salvation.
  • But through Israel’s stumbling, through their rejection of Christ, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 
    • Their trespass and failure results in riches for the non-Jews. Amidst all this talk about Jews and Gentiles, let’s keep in mind that it was never ultimately about one or the other group. It’s always been about the faithful, the elect. The elect are the believers and the believers are the elect. Paul talks about Jews a lot because he was a Jew and because they DID have a special role in pre-Christian history, distinct from other nations, but it’s always been ultimately about the faithful.
    • Sproul writes: “God has worked through the disobedience of one group to bring a larger group into the household of faith.”
    • Also note how Paul mentions God has appointed him to be an apostle to the Gentiles, yet here again (like in 9:2 and 10:1), Paul shows his deep concern for his fellow Jews. Remember too that it wasn’t long before this letter that Paul was violently anti-Christian. As bad as Satan and his demons are, if you are God’s chosen, nothing can “snatch you” from God, and Paul is a perfect example of this. Jesus said this in John 10:25-30, telling Jews the reason they didn’t believe was because they weren’t his sheep. They weren’t chosen in other words. These verses again emphasize election, and help make sense out of how Paul got saved, or how Henry O got saved out of Hawaii, or countless others that God preserved amidst Satan trying to steal them, and that includes us. We are His sheep, that’s why. What this does mean though is that Satan does destroy, including the non-elect, who even like the 2025 Catholic school shooter, “Robin” Westman, are not as evil as they could possibly be. Robin could have done worse, but somehow, in the spiritual realms, Satan and his minions were thwarted. They didn’t get everything they wanted. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6 that our real battle is spiritual. 
• Verses 15-24
  • The olive tree. Some of what Paul writes here may make more sense if we remember circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant promise with Abraham. All Jewish men were circumcised, and so when we get into the olive tree imagery and what it says about some being broken off because of their unbelief, we might ask, “well how did they get into the tree in the first place?” And the answer is because they were part of the covenant community, but they got cut off due to unbelief. This is actually part of the reason why some denominations do infant baptism, and, while they don’t believe baptism saves, just like I don’t, they do believe it is a replacement of circumcision and its connection with the old covenant (where infants were circumcised on the 8th day). Like circumcision was a sign of belonging to the Jewish covenant community, baptism is a sign of being in the new covenant.
    • Romans 2-4 said a lot about circumcision, but most importantly, how Abraham believed before circumcision to show it was faith, not works through which God declared him righteous. Paul said a lot in those chapters about how it was faith, a “circumcision of the heart,” that really mattered, not the outward sign.
    • Col 2:11-12 alludes to baptism replacing circumcision, which “can” be a reason for infant baptism, but doesn’t say that specifically. The Bible does say that communion is about remembering the new covenant in Christ (I Cor 11:25), but it doesn’t say that as clearly about baptism. 
    • This whole time in Romans, Paul has been trying to show us that ultimately, it is faith that saves, not works, and we can trace this all the way back to Abraham, who believed before he was circumcised. So if we connect back to that, it seems like the pattern is for belief to precede baptism, too. But, God also calls families to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38-39, etc.), with parents trusting God with the salvation of their children and baptism therefore, preceding a public profession of faith. Entire denominations have been founded based on the timing of baptism. Ultimately though, it is God who saves, that’s Paul’s main point in all of Romans. We are righteous in Christ alone!
    • After Abraham, Jewish males all got circumcised, but all didn’t believe. That is why Paul writes that some branches get broken off because of their unbelief. And then he warns the same thing can happen to the Gentiles. You can go through the motions of repentance and baptism, but never really have a heart change, the Holy Spirit never invading you to be born again. You can get baptized, do communion to “show” you are in the new covenant, but can get pruned for unbelief just as unbelieving Jews did. 
    • It’s like the olive tree is for all who participate in the covenant community, but don’t necessarily believe. And Paul is warning here, again, that outward signs don’t save you. They are there to remind you to come to Jesus daily, repent daily, trust Him more day by day, moment by moment.
    • In I Cor. 11, Paul writes about communion, about participating in covenant community, to do so in a “worthy manner.” There are different interpretations of what “worthy manner” means here. At my current church, we say that communion is for believers, that you have made a personal confession and repentance and are walking the sanctification road. And so if children haven’t made a profession of faith, then we ask parents to withhold communion from them. That’s how we define “worthy manner.” 
      • But, what is Paul warning the Gentiles about in these verses? He’s basically saying faith is what matters, not you and your definition of “worthy manner.” Yes, strive for excellence in understanding God’s word, but don’t let your interpretation, your outward expression, trump faithfulness. Don’t be arrogant, don’t be proud, that’s what Paul is warning about here, because ultimately God knows who the true believers are. Our “worthy manner” interpretations are not the ultimate filter on the righteous and wicked. God is. Nevertheless, all churches and church leaders should strive to have their idea of “worthy manner” match reality. 
      • Paul is warning us here to stay humble. What are we saved from? God’s wrath, here described as severity towards unbelieving Jews. Kindness in v. 22 is used to describe God’s grace and mercy. Salvation, in other words. God is sovereign, He alone is the one who has the right to make from the same material vessels of wrath prepared for destruction and vessels of mercy prepared for glory(9:21). He alone has foreknowledge of this.
      • Paul is also reminding believers in v. 22 of sanctification, this “joint venture” we are involved in now that we are saved, of holding fast as Hebrews 3:6 describes. Of not having a fake salvation, deceived by Satan into thinking we are actually Christians, just going through motions to not rock the boat. We want our ideas of “worthy manner” to match God’s reality 100%. 100% of people we baptize, we are going to see again in heaven. 100% of people who participate in communion, we are going to see again in heaven. We don’t want this to be 10%, or 20%. 100%. We are never going to get this perfect, but we can get closer than farther if we are active in great commission work.
• Up next, Romans 11:25-36, Part 1 of 2.