Romans 11:16-22 interpretation (eternal security)

A question that often comes up concerning Romans 11:16-22 is: "Does that mean we lose our salvation?"
I do not believe that a church-age believer can lose his salvation, nor that that passage teaches that.
Here is my interpretation of the passage.
Please provide helpful feedback, I don't care if it's pro or con eternal security, as long as it's helpful. Thanks.

Rom 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
Rom 11:14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
Rom 11:15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Rom 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22 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.
Rom 11:23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
Rom 11:24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?
Rom 11:25 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.
Rom 11:26 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:
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Rom 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

First, let’s identify the elements, then, the context.

We have: firstfruit > lump & root > branches.

Ø The root (v.16) of the tree is Jesus Christ: Isa. 11:10 And in that day there shall be a

root of Jesse & Rom.15:12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse & Isa. 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground & Rev.5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. & Rev. 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. The imagery applies to Abraham as well for God invokes Israel to look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him [from being firstfruits] (Isa.51:1-2). Jesse’s root goes back to Abraham the father of the Jews, but in whom not only are the Jews blessed, but even all nations, as it is written: in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen.12:3) – Abraham being a figure of Christ.

Ø The olive tree arising from the root (v.17) is the commonwealth of Israel (Eph.2:12):

Jer 11:16 The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.

Jer 11:17 For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.

Ø The branches arising from the tree (vs.16-17) are shown to be, broadly speaking, the tribes of Israel. Jer 11:16 The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. Jer 11:17 For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal. That God mentions a single olive tree (Jer.11:16) but two houses, Israel and Judah (Jer.11:17), helps identify the branches (Ro.11:16-17) as the tribes of Israel. Indeed, as far as Jeremiah’s day, God first broke off Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh (refs), then rest of the northern tribes of the kingdom of Israel, Simeon (?), Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, and half the tribe of Manasseh (refs), and then the tribes of the southern kingdom of Judah, Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. Moreover, Joseph, patriarch of the eponymous tribe, is spoken of as a vine’s bough (Gen.49:22), and his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, also heads of their respective tribes, as branches (Gen.49:22). The branches are therefore tribes as well as individuals. The branches that are not broken off in the NT – for he says, very generously, that only some were broken off – matches the blindness which is only in part (v.25) which is happened unto Israel, since some Jews believed on Christ from the beginning and were thus never broken off, even the election of grace (v.5), who are thus the true Israel of God (Gal.6:16).

· The firstfruit (v.16) is again Israel : Jer 2:3 Israel [according to v.2, the historical reference is to the tribes that experienced the exodus and the covenant of the law in Sinai] was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase. The term is also applied to the first believing Jews of the NT: Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us [members of the 12 tribes of Israel (1:1)] with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.[1] Jeremiah says that then Israel was holiness unto the LORD (Jer.2:3), for it was then that God took them unto himself as an holy nation (Ex.19:6).

· The lump (v.16) therefore is the nation of Israel as formed and increased from those original firstfruits of the exodus. That the lump is, yet again, Israel, had been communicated by Paul two chapters earlier when he argued: Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump [Israel[2]] to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? The identification with Israel is confirmed by the fact that Paul references Jeremiah 18:1-6’s illustration which God addresses to the house of Israel (Jer.18:6).

 

If the firstfruit (v.16) is to be applied to Abraham – which cannot be thought wrong, for of him the Jews were formed (and that is how God presents it in Isa.51:1-2[1]) – then the corresponding imagery is the firstfruits being used to form a lump – and not rather that of the firstfruits being taken out of the lump, which is the other way around. The idea that the firstfruit produces the lump (not vice-versa) is also confirmed by the parallel imagery and word order of the root and the branches. As the root produces the branches, so the firstfruit produces the lump. Moreover, the supposedly source passage of Numbers 15:17-21[2] does not say nor imply that the lump of dough whereof the firstfruit-cake is offered to the Lord is thereby made holy. The commentators who see the lump as producing the firstfruit, perceive this, and thus reframe holy to mean “lawful to eat” (or worse “consecrated” or “hallowed”) which is the opposite notion of the scriptural one, for indeed it was common bread which was lawful for the people to eat (1Sa.21:5/Mt.12:4) whereas holy bread was only for the priests (Lev.22:10-11; Nu.18:12-13/Mt.12:4)[3]. Now, the Israelites were required to offer to God the firstfruits of the earth: both in their raw state, in a sheaf of newly reaped grain (Lev.23:10-11); and in their prepared state, made into cakes of dough (Num. 15:17-21) – but neither does the offering of the sheaf of the firstfruits nor of the two wave loaves seven weeks later, quite match the process of forming a lump from the firstfruits (Lev.23:9-19)[4].

[1] Isa 51:1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Isa 51:2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

[2] Num 15:17 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Num 15:18 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you, Num 15:19 Then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the LORD. Num 15:20 Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it. Num 15:21 Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the LORD an heave offering in your generations.

[3] 1Sa 21:5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

Mat 12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

Lev 22:10 There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. Lev 22:11 But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.

Num 18:12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee. Num 18:13 And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.

[4] Lev 23:9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Lev 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Lev 23:12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. Lev 23:13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. Lev 23:14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Lev 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Lev 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. Lev 23:18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD. Lev 23:19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. Lev 23:20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.

 

Paul is therefore understood as generically referencing the idea that whatever lump is made by the priests, of the firstfruits brought unto them (Ex.23:19, 34:26; Lev.2:12; Deu.18:4, 26:2, 10; Eze.44:30)[1] – which are holy (Lev.27:30)[2] – that the said lump must also be holy; which is confirmed by the fact that they alone could eat thereof, as earlier mentioned.

Indeed the same deduction concerning derived holiness (in the strict sense of being set apart by God[3] [4]) applies to the definitions we have scripturally established. If Christ the root is holy, then so are the Jewish tribes, for the conduit of God’s blessings upon the Jews was not merely in Abraham, but in view of the promised seed Jesus Christ as well. And if the firstfruit/nascent nation of Israel was sanctified of God in the wilderness of Sinai, then so was the lump of the nation arising therefrom. Paul’s argument thus being that the physical nation of Israel maintained, even in its unbelief, a derived holiness from the initial root and firstfruits (Abraham and the fathers): a downstream holiness which foreshadows their ultimate restoration.

That this is just so, is certified by observing that it’s the holy branches of v.16 that are broken off in v.17 because of unbelief (v.20). Paul thus posits unbelieving branches as holy[5] yet broken off. He moreover describes rejected Israel as still natural branches (v.24), arguing that their re-grafting is much more (v.24) natural and easy than the grafting of the heathen – the olive tree still being their [the Jew’s] own (v.24)! That Paul relates the communicated holiness to the Jews is confirmed by the fact that he calls them natural in relation to the holy root, and what can be natural to that which is holy save that which is holy? Paul goes on to describe them, in their rejected state, as beloved (v.28), and that, for the fathers' sakes [hence the derivation] (v.28), and as yet being, nationally, the election (v.28) (whereas saved Jews are the election of grace (v.5)).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges comments: “The word [For (v.16)] marks transition to a new fact in connexion with the “receiving” of Israel; the fact of the peculiar position of Jews with regard to the Divine Promise. The main effect of the following passage, to Romans 11:24, is to prove that the restoration of Jews […] so far from being unlikely, is in the nature of the case likely. Their peculiar connexion, by lineal descent, with the Fathers, makes it certain that their return will be as abundantly welcome to their God as the admission of the Gentiles. We might say more welcome, but for the fact that no welcome can be fuller than that which awaits the true believer of whatever nation. But St Paul wishes to meet the rising prejudice (so strong and stubborn in after ages) of Gentile against Jewish believers, by emphasizing the grand fact that the whole Church springs, so to speak, from a Jewish root; and that thus nothing could be, in a certain sense, more natural than the restoration of Jews […][6]” Adam Clarke likewise: “As the consecrating of the first fruits to God was the means of drawing down his blessing upon the rest, so the conversion of Abraham to the true faith, and the several Jews who have now embraced Christianity, are pledges that God will, in process of time, admit the whole Jewish nation into his favor again […]”[7]. Gill also applies the term firstfruit to the early Jewish converts, contending that Paul presented them as “pledges and presages of a larger number of souls among that people, to be converted in the latter day” […] ‘when holiness shall be upon the horses’ bells, and every pot in Judah and Jerusalem shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts’ (Zech.14:20) […] that holiness should be common to the whole nation, and all the inhabitants of it, of which the call of some few among them was a pledge and presage.”[8]

[1] Exo 23:19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

Exo 34:26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

Lev 2:12 As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour.

Deu 18:4 The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.

Deu 26:2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there. […] Deu 26:10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:

Eze 44:30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.

[2] Lev 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD.

[3] The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges: “The Patriarchs were, by the Divine purpose, separated to be special recipients of Divine light, in trust for their descendants and the world. In a sense somewhat similar their descendants, viewed as a nation, are still separated in the Divine purpose to a special work connected with Divine mercy. The reference is not, of course, to a supposed superior personal sanctity of individual Jews as such, (which would be to contradict the whole reasoning of chps. 2, 3, 4,) but to the special purpose towards Israel as a nation, in view of which they are reserved (scattered but never vanishing) for a time of grace.”

[4] Adam Clarke: “The word holy in this verse is to be taken in that sense which it has so frequently in the Old and New Testaments, viz. consecrated, set apart to sacred uses. It must not be forgotten that the first converts to Christ were from among the Jews; these formed the root of the Christian Church: these were holy, ἁγιοι, consecrated to God, and those who among the Gentiles were converted by their means were also ἁγιοι, consecrated; but the chief reference is to the ancestors of the Jewish people, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and, as these were devoted to God and received into his covenant, all their posterity, the branches which proceeded from this root, became entitled to the same privileges: and as the root still remains, and the branches also, the descendants from that root still remain: they still have a certain title to the blessings of the covenant; though, because of their obstinate unbelief, these blessings are suspended, as they cannot, even on the ground of the old covenant, enjoy these blessings but through faith: for it was when Abraham believed God that it was accounted to him for righteousness; and thus he became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

[5] Again, only in the strict sense of being set apart by God – not “saved”, just “holy”, as the children of a spiritually mixed couple are holy but not “saved” in 1Corinthians 7:14.

[6] The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges – Romans 11:16

[7] Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible – Romans 11:16

[8] John Gill's Exposition of the Bible – Romans 11:16

 

Now, Romans 11:17-24 is taken by many as teaching that a church-age believer can lose his salvation if he ceases to believe (v.20) and to continue in God’s goodness (v.22). The passage is associated with John 15:1-6 to seal the deal: Joh 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Joh 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

Go through all that follows and highlight in point form the arguments that it’s national.

Such an interpretation of Romans 11:17-24 is only possible by ignoring the mainly national sense of Paul’s argument, the individual application notwithstanding. Examples of Paul’s emphasis follow:

He says that Israel [nationally] hath not obtained that which he seeketh for (v.7) despite granting that some individual Jews did obtain righteousness in the same verse.

He describes them as cast away (v.15) as a whole, though he grants that only some (v.17), not all, of them are so. That he indented the nation as a whole in v.15 and not only the unbelieving Jewish individuals is manifest by the corresponding comparison with the world. Just as the world is viewed as reconciled as a whole, though not in all its individuals, so the nation of Israel is cast away as a whole, yet not in all its individuals.

He says that blindness in part is happened to Israel [nationally] (v.25), qualifying it as in part only because some individuals Jews did see the light.

He describes rejected Jews as the election (v.28)[1].

He had earlier quoted God describing Israel as a disobedient and gainsaying people (10:21), again, despite acknowledging that some individuals Jews did obey the gospel.

Earlier yet he had stated that Israel [nationally]…hath not attained to the law of righteousness (9:31), yet again, despite the fact that some Jews did attain it through Christ.

The Lord himself spake of the national rejection of Israel when he prophesied to the elders of the people (Mt.21:23) that The kingdom of God shall be taken from you [nationally], and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Mt.21:43). That nation is the general nation of the Gentiles. All the Gentiles are spoken of as one nation in Romans 10:19-20. Romans 11:11 matches the latter passage and renames the singular nation as the plural Gentiles.[2] That explains the singular thou. It’s not the individual Gentile believer, it’s the Gentile Nation.

Paul himself defines the two groups he has in mind, in v.25, and they are groups: Israel and the Gentiles, for he writes: blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles [not church] be come in. He says Gentiles, not “Christians”. True, lost Gentiles who believe the gospel become Christians and are baptized into the body of the church, but the mass whence God is taking branches is a Gentile mass. This is a Gentile (not so much Christian) age:

Acts 11:18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. & Act 14:27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.

Act 13:42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. […] Act 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Act 13:47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. Act 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

Act 18:6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

Acts28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

Any ethnic or geo-political nation that embraces the gospel in the church-age is graffed in of God into his tree of Jewish blessings, in accordance to: Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people (Pro.14:34). That is just the main context of Paul’s discourse in chapter 11, not individual salvation, but national salvation (v.11 salvation) and blessing (v.12 riches…riches) in the spiritual aspect of the kingdom of God. Paul writes in chapter 15 that the Gentiles have been made partakers of their [the Jews’] spiritual things (15:27), matching and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree (v.17). Paul had earlier listed the blessings of Israel as: the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came (9:4-5). Though the Replacement Theologian utterly dispossesses Israel and steals all her promises, yet it is true that God graffs in nations that embrace the gospel and uses them to make himself and word known and blesses them for it. If a nation ceases to be “Christian” then he breaks it off from the Jewish blessings. You see that in the world around you. So-called Christian nations benefit from what they themselves describe as their “Judeo (the root)-Christian (the branch)” heritage. As a man once said: “Christianity is the flower that budded on the stalk of Judaism”. Once that nation moves away from the Bible, God cuts it off. But if it repents, he can graff it back in. The span of Paul’s context applies to all Gentile nations as one nation. Once the Gentile Nation, as a whole, rejects the word of God, then God will cut off that Gentile Nation and resume dealing with Israel. We see just that illustrated in the story of Vashti (who picture the Gentile Nation, not the church) and Esther. Gentile Vashti, after her disobedience, is replaced of the king by Jewish Esther.

By the way, the potential regrafting is another element pointing at the national aspect of Paul’s point. If you make that individual loss of salvation, then Hebrews 6:4-6 says their re-salvation is impossible. But it is possible for nations. Also, what if they cease believing once more? Do they get re-ungraffed? Who’s the they (v.23) who can be graffed in? The individuals Jews in the church age? No, Paul tells us when they can re-graffed: when the fulness of the Gentiles be come in (v.25). Well that’s the restoration of the Jews after the rapture. This is dealing with national histories through the dispensations. The thee of v.21 is the single Gentile as representative of the one Gentile Nation.

Nor is the individual church-age believer exhorted to continue in God’s goodness under penalty of perdition for Paul himself describes such a set-up as the legal set-up from which Christ died to redeem us (Gal.3:10)[1]!

Now look at v.19. What individual Jew’s place had to be vacated for you to replace? None. This isn’t individual, it is national.

Moreover, the individual Christian is not a branch in an olive tree but a member of Christ’s body, of his flesh and his bones (Eph.5), and those cannot be cut off!

Moreover, the wild branches were not cut off while still in their tree. Cut off branches die, but branches on a wild olive tree live. The branches were not graffed in to obtain life, they were graffed into enjoy fatness and produce fruit. Old Testament Gentiles were not part of the Jewish olive tree yet they could still be saved; they just did not enjoy Israel’s blessings.

[1] Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

[1] See comments on v.28 which I haven’t written yet.

[2] The church is also spoken of as a nation (1Pe.2:9-10) but replacement theologians miss that the scriptures speaks of all the Gentile nations as one nation.

 

I was hoping for an analysis of the interpretation posted.