Romans 11:17-21 "The Glory of Grafting"

Introduction

I have a friend in Utah that has a fruit tree in his yard that has different types of fruit on it.

I was taken back first time I saw it because I saw the different types of fruit on it and when I inquired about it he told me that it had branches that were grafted onto it from a different kind of tree.

Now however it had a variety of fruit on it of different types. There is an Art Professor from Syracuse, NY that has a tree that has 40 different types of fruit on it. He simply has grafted the buds into the original tree.

In our text this morning the Apostle Paul describes the Church in a similar way. He argues that God has broken off branches and grafted in branches to the olive tree of His covenant people.

And by using this illustration he reminds believing Gentiles of the Support that they have because they benefit from Israel’s historical past. Look back at verse 17-18:

I. The Support (17-18).

Notice that he says some branches were broken off. These are those who were ethnic Jews but were in denial of the covenant reality of God’s redemptive work. They were broken off and now branches from a wild olive shoot have been grafted into God’s tree.

Now Gentile believers share in the nourishing aspects of the root of Israels covenant history and identity (17).

The contrast is interesting to say the least. It is the picture of a cultivated olive tree having branches broken off by the olive grower; only to have him take some of the wild saplings growing on the ditch bank and graft them in to the cultivated tree.

Once they are grafted in they are there among the remnant and are being supported by the root system of the tree.

This is the work that God has done among the Gentile Nations of the world. And this is an ongoing work as the gospel is being proclaimed and disciples are being made among all the Nations of the world.

Though this is a reason for us to be very happy and full of great joy there is no basis for this truth to cause us to be prideful and arrogant (18).

Paul warns us against being arrogant toward those branches that were broken off. This is a warning against spiritual pride. And Paul knew something about spiritual pride because as a Pharisee in training he had a lot of it to deal with.

This is what pursuing salvation by good works does for you. It causes you to be confident in your work instead of Christ. It relies on the performance of the self in the place of Christ.

Christian you did not graft yourself into God’s tree. The divine Olive growers pulled you from among the thorns and grafted you in by grace alone.

If the doctrine of unconditional election causes you to be prideful towards unbelievers you need to ponder the unconditional nature of the doctrine.

Christian the very fact that Paul has this concern for the gentile believers at Rome tells us that we are no different from ethnic Israel when it comes to pride.

This comes out when I deal with married couples when there is marriage conflict. The undergirding issue of pride is always driving the strife and conflict between couples.

It always amazes me how easily a wife can see the pride in her husband or the husband can so easily see it in his wife but it is so hard to see it in the self.

I can tell you a great way to tell if you are blinded by your own pride. If you believe that the primary issue in your marriage conflict is the way and manner that your spouse’s prideful actions offend you then you are blind to your own pride issues.

I know this because your marriage is not primarily about you. Your spouse’s pride is primarily and offense against God, not you. You are pridefully asserting yourself in the place of God in your marriage.

This is how the gospel of grace works confronting the deeply rooted biases of how we look at others. The gospel is confronting the motives that drive our actions in our relationships, not just our actions. Only the gospel can challenge our attitude or what I am calling our sentiment. Look at verses 19-21:

II. The Sentiment (19-21).

Notice the reflecting nature of our words (19).

“Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” This denotes a recognition of our understanding.

We know God did it. He didn’t have to but He did. He knew all about us and it was always part of His plan to bring our salvation to pass as Gentiles.

That truth should cultivate humility in us and confront our pride at the deepest levels of our sanctification. The grace of God and the mercy of God and the expression of the love of God towards us in the gospel should humble us.

Especially when we ponder were we would be without Him and when the reality of our sin has given Him every reason not to love us. Yet He still does.

I am talking about the reflecting nature of your heart, and how that humility is cultivated in you by the goodness and grace of God (20).

Contrast this with the unbelief of most of the Jews in the Old Testament and in Paul’s day in the first century. Their unbelief was lived out in blatant rejection of God’s covenant promises.

And even in the Christ event of His coming they rejected the Messiah of God. And they lived it out by their actions. A prideful heart always thinks it knows better than God does. And it entertains skeptical thoughts that cultivate unbelief.

Like your favorite chair at the end of the day. Where you just want to set and rest, reclined back with your feet up for just a little while. Skepticism in the face of God’s promises settles unbelief into the comfortable cushions of a prideful heart.

In such cases we are at home with our sin nature and we don’t have to embrace the challenge of standing fast through faith.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The reality of God’s existence and the reality of His covenant promises challenge us to stand fast through Christ in humility before God.

Paul warns us that God can do the same thing to Gentiles as He did to the Jews (21).

God didn’t send Christ so that we could coast into eternity. If you are a truly a branch in God’s olive tree then the fruit of humility to some degree should be reflected in your motives and actions towards God and others for His glory.

So is verse 21 telling us that we can loose our salvation? It seems to me this would be in contradiction with chapter 8 if it is.

What Scripture warns us against in several places is the presumption of salvation without the transformation of salvation. Like ethnic Israel, they believed they were secure in their salvation because of their heritage as physical descendants of Abraham.

They were circumcised on the outside but their hearts needed to be circumcised. Christianity as a physical heritage alone will not save you. You are not saved because your Mom and Dad were.

This is where tradition can be a hindrance to the salvation of your eternal soul. Nothing wrong with traditions that are biblical in nature but you must be born again.

To presume upon anything other than Christ and the Holy Spirit’s regenerating power is to miss the mark.

You may know it in your head and believe your branch is in the olive tree but if it is not alive in your heart and producing the fruit of humility in your life it will be a branch to be broken off (John 15:2).

You had the form but in reality you were not truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion:

Unbeliever your must be born again. You must be. The Lord asks a question through the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 13:23-- “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.”

You see the point is, is that the Ethiopian can’t change his color and the Leopard can’t change his spots. Nor can you or I do that which is good before God when we are accustomed to do evil due to our fallen nature.

That is why we must be born again. Believe the gospel for salvation.

Christian we have much to celebrate today at this table. God has been good to us and the fountain of His grace nourishes us through His work through Christ.

Self examine. Let’s Pray!

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