Romans 11

n this section, Paul addresses a serious question. Many Jews did not believe in Jesus. If God had promised salvation to Israel, how could Jesus truly fulfill God’s plan when so few Jews believed (9:1–5)? In response, Paul uses the Old Testament to show that God always planned to save only a remnant, that is, a smaller group within Israel (9:6–29). Paul also explains that many Jews did not accept Christ because they refused to trust in him (9:30–10:21).

Paul then makes clear that God has not rejected Israel. Some Jews have already believed in Christ (11:1–10). Many more will trust in Christ in the future (11:12–26).

• whom He foreknew: Before the people of Israel could do anything to earn their place, God chose them to be his people. He did this because of his grace alone.

• Elijah: In 1 Kings 19:1–18, King Ahab had killed many of the Lord’s prophets, and his wife Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah as well. Elijah ran into the wilderness and expressed his deep discouragement. God answered him by saying that many faithful people still remained.

  Paul saw a similar situation in his own time. Many Jews did not believe, and some were even hostile to the message about Christ. Even so, God was still at work. He was, and is, preserving a remnant, a smaller group of people who believe.

a remnant: Paul refers back to the Old Testament idea of the remnant that he used in 9:27–29. A remnant refers to a small group of people who remain faithful when many others do not.

This faithful group of Israelites shows that God continues to keep his promises. It also shows that God remains faithful to his people.

The others were hardened: Scripture describes this hardening as something God allows or brings about as part of his judgment. God permits people to remain unresponsive when they persist in rejecting his message. See Acts 13:46–48; 18:6.

• salvation has come to the Gentiles: The offer of salvation to the Gentiles was not only the result of Israel’s disobedience. It was also part of God’s purpose. Paul stresses that God had the salvation of the Gentiles in view from the beginning. In the end, God also intends to bring salvation to many Jews.

• make Israel jealous: The idea of jealousy comes from Deuteronomy 32:21, which Paul quoted in Romans 10:19. When Gentiles received the blessings of salvation that God had promised to Israel, this was meant to encourage a desire among Jews. Seeing these blessings would move them to seek salvation so they could share in them.

• You Gentiles: Paul speaks directly to the gentile believers in Rome. His purpose is to correct them for thinking too highly of themselves, especially when comparing themselves to their Jewish brothers and sisters (11:20). Paul reminds them that they enjoy salvation only because of God’s kindness, not because of their own merit (11:22). He also explains that God’s goal is not to reject the Jews. Instead, God intends to lead them to repentance and renewed faith (11:23).

• I magnify my ministry: Paul explains why he focused his work on the Gentiles. He believed that when Gentiles came to faith, this would help lead Jews to salvation as well. In this way, Paul saw his ministry to the Gentiles as part of God’s larger plan to save both groups.

• The context emphasizes God's role in allowing many Jews to continue in their rejection of Christ (11:7–10). So the phrase their rejection likely refers to God’s rejection of Jews who do not believe.

• their acceptance: This then refers to God’s acceptance of Jews into his kingdom. Paul uses similar language elsewhere to describe God’s welcoming action (see also 14:3 and 15:7).

• The phrase life from the dead could describe the new spiritual life Jews receive when they turn to Christ (see 6:13). However, the wording more naturally points to the bodily resurrection of the dead. This resurrection will take place when Christ returns in glory (see, for example, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).

The whole batch … is holy: This is because the first part given as an offering is holy. This imagery comes from Numbers 15:17–21. In that passage, God told the Israelites to take part of their first batch of dough and set it apart as an offering to him.

Paul uses this image to explain God’s faithfulness to Israel. God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were like a first portion given to God. Because of these promises, God’s work with his people will continue until it is complete.

In Paul’s extended metaphor, God’s special olive tree represents the people of God. This image would have been familiar to his readers. The olive tree was the most common fruit tree in the Mediterranean region. It was also already used as a symbol for Israel in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 11:16; Hosea 14:5–6).

Paul describes non-Jewish (gentile) Christians as branches from a wild olive tree because they were not originally part of God's people.

You do not support the root, but the root supports you: When Paul wrote to the church in Rome, most of its members were not Jewish. This was common in many early Christian communities.

Because Gentiles had become the majority, some began to boast about their place in God’s people. Some also looked down on Jews and on Israel’s religious heritage. Paul corrects this attitude. He reminds Gentile believers that they share in God’s blessings only because they have been joined to God’s people. That people is rooted in God’s promises to Israel.

be afraid: In Scripture, fear often means deep respect and reverence for God. This kind of fear includes the awareness that all people will one day stand before God for judgment (see 2 Corinthians 5:11; 7:1, 11, 15; Philippians 2:12; Colossians 3:22).

if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off: Scripture often teaches that those who remain faithful to the end will be saved. Paul’s warning here has led to different views about what he means.

Some understand Paul to be saying that true believers can stop trusting God and therefore fail to be saved in the end. Others think Paul is using the image as a warning and should not be understood in a strict or literal way. From this view, Paul is speaking about people who appear to believe for a time, but whose lack of genuine faith later becomes clear.

contrary to nature: Farmers usually increased olive production by grafting a branch from a cultivated olive tree onto a wild olive tree. This allowed the cultivated branch to benefit from the strength of the wild tree.

Paul reverses this practice in his picture. God grafted branches from a wild olive tree (Gentiles) into a cultivated olive tree (the people of God). By doing this, God acted in a way that is opposite to normal farming practice.

Paul often uses the word mystery to describe an event at the end of history that God has already decided. This mystery exists in heaven and God reveals it to his people during the Christian era (see 16:25; 1 Corinthians 2:1, 7; 4:1; 15:51; Ephesians 1:9; 3:3, 4, 9; 6:19; Colossians 1:26, 27; 2:2; 4:3; 1 Timothy 3:9, 16). Here, the mystery is the relationship of Jews and Gentiles in the plan of salvation, which is central to this passage (Romans 11:11–32).

• The phrase all Israel can be understood in more than one way. It may refer to all believers, both Jews and Gentiles. With this meaning, it describes how God brings salvation to all his people.

  Another view is that all Israel refers to all Jews who will believe during the Christian era, or to a large number of Jews who turn to Christ in the last days. With this meaning, the word and so has a sequence. After the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ, then a large number of Jews will be saved. This phrase does not mean that every Jewish person will be saved(see 2:17–29).

• In the Old Testament, the one who rescues (or delivers) is the Lord. Paul is almost certainly speaking about Jesus Christ here (see 1 Thessalonians 1:10).

• from Zion: The Hebrew text of Isaiah 59:20 says, "The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem." Paul may have adjusted the wording to point to the first coming of Jesus from among the people of Israel. He may also be pointing to the future return of Jesus from the heavenly Jerusalem (see Hebrews 12:22).

may have mercy on everyone: Everyone refers to all kinds of people. In Paul's letter to the Romans, especially this chapter, it includes both Gentiles and Jews.

from Him and through Him and to Him are all things: This statement is similar to ideas found among Greek Stoic philosophers when they spoke about God. Paul sometimes used language and ideas from the Greco-Roman world to explain and clarify the truth about God and what God is doing.

Paul does this in other places as well, such as in his speech in Acts 17:24–29.