Knowing God is kind and severe, make your boast in Jesus

11 I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring!

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if I might somehow make my own people jealous and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brings reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 Now if the firstfruits are holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree, 18 do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast—you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but beware, 21 because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. 22 Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness toward you—if you remain in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these—the natural branches—be grafted into their own olive tree?

Romans 11:11-24

Morning boys and girls. I have a question this morning. Have you ever seen a fruit tree? Of course you have. An orange tree. Or a lemon tree.

Now, imagine a gardener. She takes a branch from a wild, sour orange tree… and she carefully grafts it, she connects it, onto a strong, sweet lemon tree. She joins them together. That wild orange branch gets to drink the rich sap from the strong lemon tree. What do you think happens? Does the orange tree start growing lemons? No. It starts growing sweet oranges! Better oranges than it ever could on its own. The branch is still an orange branch. But now it draws life from the lemon tree’s root. Its fruit comes from a strength not its own.

Isn’t that amazing?

You see, that is a picture of us and God. It is the picture the Apostle Paul paints for us today in Romans chapter 11. The church in Rome had forgotten this. They were like a boasting branch. Gentile believers, grafted by God’s grace into the rich root of His promises, began to look down on others. They grew proud. They forgot their life, their fruit, their very sap came from a root they did not plant.

So Paul writes. He confronts this pride with divine logic. And he gives a severe warning. One that echoes into this room today.

This morning our argument is this: Make your boast in Jesus, knowing God is kind to the faithful and severe on the unbelieving.

We will see this in four parts. First, God’s purpose. Salvation and restoration. Second, God’s plan. To provoke and to secure. Third, God’s warning. Be humble and persevere. Finally, God’s power. To judge and to save.

Let us hear the Word of the Lord.

The purpose

Israel’s sin is not final, but brought salvation to the Gentiles. And, by provoking their jealousy, will ultimately bring restoration for Israel. And even greater blessing.

11 I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Paul asks, Is God finished with Israel? Has Israel’s national rejection of the Messiah finally exhausted His divine patience. Is God done?

The answer comes with abrupt force. Absolutely not! Israel remains the apple of God’s eye. Yes, they’ve messed up big time. They’ve stumbled. They’ve sinned. They’ve rejected their Messiah. Instead of embracing Jesus, they crucified Him. And after He’d risen from the grave, and ascended into heaven, when the apostle Paul preached the good news in Jewish synagogues from Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, instead of repentance for forgiveness of sins, they rejected the message. And shunned the messenger. But, God’s still not finished with Israel.
On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Israel’s loss has been for our gain. Their rejection opened the door for our reception. Behold the sovereign tables turn. Paul, who went to the Jews, was driven from their synagogues, and turned his efforts to Gentiles. And became the means by which the good news of the gospel went out to the whole world.

And it turns out, that was no accident. Rather, God intended it to make Israel jealous. This is the divine strategy. God plans to use the salvation of outsiders to provoke His own people. He will use the intimate fellowship we enjoy with God to one day stir up a holy envy in the hearts of His people Israel. Gentile faith will provoke Jewish faith in a divine turnaround. Consider what this means for us. If our salvation is a means to another end, the restoration of God’s people, then it cannot be a source of pride. We are part of His story, not the other way around.

12 Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring! If their sin resulted in such global blessing. Their future restoration will unleash immeasurably greater glory. Their fullness will be a spiritual tsunami. A world enriched by sin will be a world overwhelmed by grace displayed in Israel’s salvation.

God transformed Israel’s failure into Gentile salvation. And He will use that salvation to provoke Israel’s ultimate restoration. This divine strategy eliminates all ground for pride. And establishes the necessity of faith.

Having seen God’s purpose, we now consider His plan through the apostle Paul.

The plan

Paul magnifies his Gentile ministry as the means to provoke Israel’s jealousy. Thereby securing their future salvation. Which as pictured by the holy root flowing to its branches is guaranteed.

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Paul turns from his theological argument to direct pastoral address. He is targeting the Gentile majority of the church in Rome. This is no theoretical discussion. This is a warning against their ethnic pride.

Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry. Jesus appointed Paul to this great work. He does not minimise his calling. He glorifies it. He amplifies it. He goes big. His strategic mission to the nations is his primary focus.

Why? 14 if I might somehow make my own people jealous and save some of them. This is the divine strategy. Paul’s Gentile ministry has a Jewish purpose. Paul labours so that his fellow Jews would see our salvation… and want it. He aims to provoke a holy envy for the grace they have rejected. Paul hopes that some may be saved through his provocation.

15 For if their rejection brings reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? Paul argues from the lesser to the greater. Israel’s rejection brought global blessing. Their future acceptance will bring a spiritual tsunami of life. If God brought such good from their failure, imagine the glory He will bring from their restoration.

16 Now if the first fruits are holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. Romans 11:16 and following likely alludes to Jeremiah 11:16-19. In Jeremiah 11, the green olive tree represents Israel. God burns the olive tree because of her idolatry. It’s a picture of severity. Paul uses the image of the olive tree, with a twist. He reveals that the tree is not completely consumed. Some branches were broken off, but the tree itself remains alive and healthy because of its holy root. This holy root, Gods covenant towards the patriachs, is the source of all His blessings. Gentile believers are beneficiaries of a covenant they did not establish. And so we have no boast.

Paul plans to leverages Gentile faith to provoke Jewish faith. Secured by God’s covenant faithfulness.

God’s plan leaves no room for Gentile pride. Only for persevering faith in His covenant-keeping kindness.

The warning

Therefore, wild Gentile branches, grafted in, mustn’t boast, since the promises flow to them, not from them, but continue in faith, for God will not spare those who fall into unbelief.

17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree, 18 do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast—you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.

Do not boast. Don’t boast that you are better off than this branch or that. Especially don’t boast that Gentile faith is better than Jewish faith. Because the truth is, Gentiles are late to the party. The root of salvation flows through Israel.

The cultivated tree is God’s covenant people. A symbol of His intentional planting. His faithful care. We’re wild branches. Grafted in. Contrary to nature. You draw life from a root you did not plant. A history you did not build. Promises that flow to you. Not from you. The branch depends utterly on the root. Not the root on the branch. Thus boasting is not just error. It is insanity. Insanity for a dependent branch to boast against the very root that gives it life.
19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. This is everything. Your position rests on one reality. Faith. Not pedigree. Not performance. Faith. Alone. So, Do not be arrogant, but beware, 21 because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. This is an unveiled threat. A severe warning from a kind God. His kindness brought you in. His severity will cut you off. If you fall into the same unbelief. The same pride. The only way to heed the warning against unbelief is to keep standing by faith.

You are a dependent branch, sustained only by faith in God’s covenant faithfulness. So, abandon all boasting and beware. For the same God who grafted you in for faith will not spare you for unbelief.

Having heard the warning, we now behold the power of the God who judges and saves.

The power

In light of God who is, consider that He who is able to graft in wild Gentile branches, contrary to nature, is more than able to graft natural Israelite branches back to their own olive tree

22 Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: Behold these twin perfections of God. Kindness. And severity. His kindness is His generous heart. His covenant love. His tender mercy to sinners. His severity is His holy justice. His righteous wrath. His utter intolerance for sin. You see both in the flood. Absolution annihilation. Severity on the every living creature. But bringing Noah and his family through the waters to safety. Kindness to Noah. You see both in the Red Sea. Sweeping Pharaoh and the army of Egypt away. Severity to Pharaoh. But bringing Moses and Israel out of bondage with strong arm. Kindness to Israel. You see both at the cross. Kindness to the believing thief. Severity to the sin-bearing Son.

Here in Romans 11 severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness toward you. But mark this well. It is a conditional kindness. If you remain in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. This is a severe mercy. A warning that proves His love. It means your standing is sustained by faith. The same faith that first received His kindness must now remain in it. This is the perseverance of the saints. Evidence of genuine life.

23 And even they. The broken branches. The natural ones. If they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again. Behold the power of God. The power to judge. And the power to save.

24 For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these—the natural branches—be grafted into their own olive tree? This is the final argument. The ultimate logic. If God could do the harder thing, grafting a wild branch into a cultivated tree, He can certainly do the easier thing, restoring a natural branch to its own tree. His power is the guarantee. His power to judge unbelief. His power to save through faith. Therefore, our only possible posture is one of humble faith. We have no boast, but in the power of the God who holds us. And we cannot look down on Israel, but must stand in awe of the God who can save them too.

God’s power, displayed in both His severe judgment and His kind salvation, is the final guarantee that He will restore all who believe, both Jew and Gentile. Therefore, our only safe response is to remain in His kindness entered by faith.

This power demands a response, both for the believer and the unbeliever.

Connect to the gospel

So we have heard Paul’s argument. Gentile believers cannot boast, but must continue in faith, trusting God’s kindness to those who believe but severity to those who fall into unbelief. This is true. And weighty.

But this truth begs a question. How? How do we not boast? How do we continue in faith? How do we remain in this kindness? Our record is not good. We are prone to wander. Prone to pride. Is the sum of this passage merely a command? Try harder? Do better? Be less arrogant?

The bridge from Paul’s argument to our lives is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This passage establishes that salvation is received and sustained through faith in God’s covenant promises. Paul points us to the holy root. He identifies that root with the patriarchs. Abraham. Isaac. Jacob. Men of faith. But the entire Scripture reveals their story points forward. Their promises find their ultimate Yes in Jesus. He is the final and faithful yes of God. He is the true root.

Therefore, the command to continue in faith is not a call to white-knuckled determination. It is a call to persevere in trusting a Person. Jesus. He is the true source of spiritual life. Altogether beautiful. Altogether amazing. He is the one through whom God’s kindness securely holds all who believe.

Application for believers

Believer, hear this. Actively reject the pride of your race. Your history. Your religious performance. You must train yourself. Day by day. In conscious reliance. Not on your grip, but on His. Make your life a single boast. Not in your branch, but in the Root. Boast in Jesus. He is your only righteousness. Your only ground. Your only hope.

Application for unbelievers

Unbeliever, this is your moment. You see, the kindness and severity of God met at the cross. There, God’s severity fell. It fell fully. It fell finally. It fell on His sin-bearing Son. He was cut off for us. The natural branch was broken so that wild branches could be grafted in. And there, God’s kindness was displayed. For in that severe justice, He made a way to show mercy to sinners.

You stand warned. Abandon your trust. Abandon your good works. Your moral record. Your religious sentiment. It cannot sustain you. You are a branch awaiting the fire. Place your faith in Jesus Christ today. This day. To remain in unbelief is to ignore God’s severity. Do not ignore Him.

Conclusion

Remember our gardener. Who took a branch from a wild, sour orange tree… and carefully grafts it onto a strong, sweet lemon tree. That branch drew life from the lemon tree’s root. Its fruit comes from a strength not its own.

Is that not a picture of your soul?

You see, this is the end of all Paul’s arguing. The purpose. The plan. The warning. The power. It all leads here. To a single, sobering truth. You have no ground for pride. Only a posture for faith. Your life, your fruit, your very standing before God flows from a root you did not establish.

Therefore, our argument stands. Make your boast in Jesus, knowing God is kind to the faithful and severe on the unbelieving.

We have seen God’s purpose in Israel’s story. Salvation and restoration. We have beheld God’s plan through Paul’s ministry. To provoke and to secure. We have heeded God’s warning to the grafted branch. Be humble and persevere.

And we have stood in awe of God’s power over the tree. To judge and to save.

So believer, boast in your Root. Unbeliever, flee to your only Hope. For the kindness and severity of God are real. They are here. And in Jesus Christ alone do they meet for your salvation.

Amen.