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Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he ° also spare not thee.

Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

23

And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.

24

For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

25

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

26

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

27

For this is my ° covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

28

As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.

Romans 11:21

11:21 God spared not. Note that God “spared not the angels that sinned” (II Peter 2:4), He “spared not the old world” of the antediluvians (II Peter 2:5), and He “spared not the natural branches” (that is, Israel) when they rejected Him. This verse warns us that He will “also spare not thee” if we do the same. In contrast, however, He “spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32).

Romans 11:22

11:22 severity of God. God’s “severity” is a subject studiously avoided by most modern scholars, who prefer to believe in a God who will take everyone to heaven. The Scriptures clearly reveal otherwise. Jesus said only a few are on the road that “leadeth to life,” while many are on the broad “way, that leadeth to destruction” (Matthew 7:13-14). All those that “know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (II Thessalonians 1:8-9). Sadly also, many who profess to know the Lord will be dismayed at the judgment to hear Him say: “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23). God can be severe!

Romans 11:25

11:25 blindness in part. Israel has been judicially blinded (Romans 11:7-8) but only “in part.” Only “some of the branches be broken off” (Romans 11:17). Through every year in this age of the church, there has been “a remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5). Many Christian leaders, beginning with the apostles, have been Jews.

Romans 11:25

11:25 fulness of the Gentiles. God is now “[visiting] the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name” (Acts 15:14). When the full number (known only to God) has been reached, then “the times of the Gentiles” will end (Luke 21:24), and God will begin again to deal with Israel as His elect nation.

Romans 11:26

11:26 Israel shall be saved. The complete restoration of Israel will climax the purging trials of “the day of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7). Paul refers here to Isaiah 59:20. This will take place when Christ returns to earth to establish His millennial kingdom centered in Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:8-10; 13:1; 14:9), following the great tribulation period (Matthew 24:29-31). The surviving and resurrected Jews will all acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Savior in that day.

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