Romans 11:11-36
God Brings Life Despite Rejection
Paul makes three things clear in this passage:
Israel’s rejection of Jesus has led to the Gentiles embracing Jesus;
if ignorant, wayward Gentiles can embrace Jesus, then surely Israel - who received God’s promises directly - will embrace Jesus in fulfillment of God’s promises;
and if the repentance and faith of the Gentiles will one day lead to Jewish faith, then how much more will the repentance and faith of Israel lead others to faith?!
Questions
When you think of the people in your life who have rejected Jesus outright, how does that make you feel? …what’s it make you think? …want to do?
How does this passage speak into that?
Have you ever heard people who are afraid of “ruining their witness?” It’s the idea that Christians can make a shipwreck of their faith in a way that leads to irreparable damage to their spiritual life and the spiritual life of others.
What do you think about that? How does sin impact not just our own life, but the lives of those witnessing who we are and how we live?
But what does this passage (especially in the bigger context of Romans 8-11) teach about who has the final say over anyone’s faith - other people’s and your own? Who brings life: your faithfulness or God’s?
Repentance and belief are the building blocks of daily faith in the lives of ordinary believers.
How does this passage help us keep the sovereign, redemptive, gracious nature of God in view, while also not minimizing the destructive nature of sin?
How can all of this also lead ultimately to worship, as Paul does in v.33-36?
God Has One Family Tree
At the intersection of culture and theology lies a question about Israel: is the country we hear about in the news the same one that we hear about here in Romans? Do people with a certain ethnic background, earthly citizenship, etc. have special claim to God or his kingdom apart from belief in Jesus?
Paul does a great job of giving us a simple picture: God has one family tree. And both Jews and Gentiles can be part of the tree (and cut out of it!) based on faith alone in Christ alone. God doesn’t have two ways of salvation (one with Jesus and one apart from him). God doesn’t have two groups of people who have his promises. And God doesn’t play favorites based on some earthly categories we can’t control.
However, a major reason Paul’s talking about this isn’t to answer our 21st century questions, but to bring humility to the Gentiles. “Don’t get all puffed up because you believed Jesus when the Jews didn’t!” The Gentiles aren’t part of the family tree because they were any better, but because God was all the more gracious.
Questions
How does this passage shape your own beliefs about Israel and the Jewish people?
What is Paul’s hope for and heart towards his fellow Israelites?
More importantly, how does this humble you when you think about your place among God’s people?
What brought you in? What’s keeping you? And do you think anything makes you more qualified or deserving of being “in the family tree” than anyone else?
How can this also produce worship in us?