One of the reasons Paul was intensely pleading for the three things mentioned in verses 1-2, was because of his desire to see the spiritual gifts God has given each believer be maximized in their effectiveness (verses 3-8).

We find that each believer has NOT only been gifted with a spiritual gift of grace, but that they also have been gifted the necessary allotment of faith to rely upon God to exercise that spiritual gift effectively. These gifts are given to believers ONLY and are designed for the purpose of building up Christ’s church.

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Paul is begging or pleading the Roman believers to do two things: (1) Do not be conformed by this age, AND (2) Be transformed by the Lord. These two things, along with presenting our bodies as those alive from the dead are crucial in the successful outworking of the Christian life in spiritual gifts among the body of Christ (verses 3-8), and in conduct among the world (verses 9-21).

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Many have described chapters 12-16 of Romans as the “practical” section of the book, because it deals more directly with the behavior expected of Christians. What we learn is that all Christian behavior is a result of walking in dependence upon God’s resources provided for us in Christ.

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In today’s passage, we look at Paul’s honest and heartfelt declaration regarding God’s salvation plan for Israel and the nations. Summarized, we could say Paul simply said, “Wow!” God truly is amazing, and his wisdom and knowledge are far beyond what anyone could imagine. Praise God that He is not like us! He does things the right way, the best way, and the most perfect way – we cannot even fathom how wonderful He is!

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In this morning’s passage, Paul briefly summarizes his argument for Chapter 11. God has a future for Israel that He will be faithful to accomplish. The ONLY reason that God will do this is because of His mercy and grace. It will not be on the basis of Israel’s faithfulness to God or unfaithfulness to Him. All have been committed to disobedience (including both Jew and Gentile), so that all may be extended mercy and grace.

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This morning, we deal with two phrases that have sparked much debate: (1) What does the “fullness of the Gentiles” mean? AND (2) What does “All Israel shall be saved” mean? Attempting to handle these phrases in context, we will look at both of these and see how they provide additional insight into God’s future plan for the nation of Israel.

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Last week, we began to look at the olive tree illustration that Paul used to communicate that the entire world (Jew and Gentile) are in a position of unprecedented blessing to benefit from the work of Jesus Christ. This was predicted in the Abrahamic Covenant (see Genesis 12:3b with Galatians 3:8), and it came into effect in Paul’s day and continues to our day. This week we see that the ONLY way for someone NOT to benefit from this position of blessing is rejection of Jesus Christ, meaning they have NEVER believed in Him. In contrast, how does anyone remain in this position of blessing? They must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for their sins and rose again.

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This week Paul introduces two illustrations to explain what God is doing with Israel’s rejection and Gentile blessing. Paul uses an Old Testament firstfruits example, and then uses an olive tree example which he will continue to build upon through verse 24. The main point? – The entire world (Jew and Gentile) are in a position of unprecedented blessing to benefit from the work of Jesus Christ. This was predicted in the Abrahamic Covenant (see Genesis 12:3b with Galatians 3:8), and it came into effect in Paul’s day and continues to our day. As we will see next week, the ONLY way for someone NOT to benefit from this position of blessing is rejection of Jesus Christ, meaning they have NEVER believed in Him.

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That there was blessing promised in the Abrahamic Covenant to both Jews and Gentiles is undisputed. “How” that blessing would come about was an issue of confusion in Paul’s day amongst his Jewish brethren. Although a time of unprecedented blessing will come upon Gentiles (i.e. nations) during Christ’s earthly Millennial Kingdom reign, the blessing of faith-righteousness is available now to any Gentile who will put their faith in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ. What was missed in regards to “how” God would accomplish this? What was missed is that God would use Jewish rejection of His Messiah to offer Him to the Gentiles. This explains the mechanics of “how” God is fulfilling this aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant (See Genesis 12:3 with Galatians 3:8).

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Since Israel has rejected God and His provision for righteousness through the gospel, has God written off His people? This is the question before us in Romans chapter 11. What we will find in this chapter is not only the explanation of Israel’s present state, but also God’s future plans of blessing for the nation. The nation of Israel has been set aside as God’s primary vehicle of dispensing truth. However, what we learn from Romans 11 in some detail are two things... And we will learn about those today!

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