Romans 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. 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.
God shows both kindness and strict judgment together, with strict judgment falling on those who turned away and kindness resting on those brought in, yet that kindness remains only while they keep trusting Him or they too will be removed. The natural branches are the Jews who were broken off through unbelief and rejection of Christ, while believing Gentiles were grafted in contrary to nature to share the privileges once given to Israel. The good olive tree into which they are grafted is Christ Himself, and those joined to Him must draw life from the root and bear fruit like Him in character and obedience rather than wild bitter fruit. To remain in His kindness is to continue by living faith, humility and full obedience, never boasting against the branches or presuming on connection with God, but fearing because the root supports the branch. The cutting off is not hopeless, for those who leave unbelief and repent can be grafted back into their own tree again, and special work is to be done to gather them in.
Olive Tree Imagery
The natural branches are Israel, the Jews, ancient Israel broken off because of unbelief, disobedience and rejection of Heaven's purpose for her, who as a nation lost connection with God and felt severity. The branches grafted in contrary to nature from a wild olive tree are Gentile believers, who stand only by faith and through goodness are made partakers of the root and fatness, sharing the privileges once given to ancient Israel. Unless they continue in that goodness they also shall be cut off, for if God spared not the natural branches He will not spare them, and therefore they must not boast against the branches nor be high-minded and despising, but fear with humility because they do not bear the root but the root bears them. The cutting off is not final, for God is able to reunite the separated branches with the true stock, and if they abide not still in unbelief the natural branches shall be grafted into their own olive tree again, which is life from the dead.
The good olive tree, the good parent stock, the holy root and true stock, is Christ Jesus Himself, including the faithful remnant true to God as a noble olive tree. All branches center in Him as foundation and chief cornerstone, not Peter nor ministers alone, and many of the seed of Israel may be grafted into Him when they accept Christ and receive Him as Saviour. He is the preserved vine planted beyond reach yet accessible for grafting, the living vine stock into which the cut-away branches are in the last days to be gathered out of the world and engrafted once more, with life invigorated by the life of the Eternal One. This grafting is accomplished through direct labor and special unslackened care for the Jewish people, with the Lord working through men of different nationalities for their fellow countrymen, and Jews so cut off from their people are to be given a refuge home where they learn to work for their own people.
A grafted branch must abide firmly connected in order to receive nourishment from the root and bear fruit exactly like the stock, with words and actions showing what the truth is doing within, in meekness, good works, and the Spirit of Christ, holding the truth in righteousness. That union is preserved only by continual earnest painstaking effort while Christ preserves and guards the tie, and the branch is pruned so it can become more fruitful. Without a living transforming faith the graft bears only wild olives, bitter unpalatable fruit, through harsh speeches, carelessness, a masterful selfish overbearing spirit that provokes wrath, human theories and spiritual error. Toward those who never had light and have not received the mark of the beast, goodness means the Lord still works with them and does not withdraw grace until they are convicted and trample upon the evidence given to enlighten them.
God grafts people as individuals into one parent stock, so that a consecrated life is developed and beautified in its individuality with unity in diversity and abundant room for each to act the part assigned. No person sinks his individuality in that of another, and no two are of the same mold, just as creative power makes no two leaves alike, yet as grafted branches they blend mind with mind in complete harmonious unity. Those who minister in word and doctrine are branches of the same stock, not independent branches standing apart from each other, and are to work together to give to others the light given and prepare the way by heeding and advancing with that light.
Israel and Gentiles
Severity fell on the Jews who fell through unbelief and disobedience, through hardness of heart and blindness of mind, and through bigotry and malice. They rejected Heaven's purpose for them, abused the messengers sent to them, and lifted the Son, the heir, upon the cross. They refused Christ though He worked miracles among them, ascribing His power to the chief of devils. As a nation Israel lost her connection with God, was broken off from the olive tree like natural branches, and was cut off altogether.
Goodness is toward Gentile believers who as a wild olive tree are grafted in among them contrary to nature to partake of the root and fatness, standing only by faith. Whole communities of Gentiles received the gospel gladly with intelligent faith and glorified God for the light, and their unbelief could not turn aside God's purpose, for a new Israel was being joined to the people of God. Christ had prepared for this during His life on earth by seeking to lead the Jews out of their exclusiveness through direct work outside acknowledged Israel, as in the conversion of the centurion and of the Syrophoenician woman. When the synagogues were closed against the apostles, private houses were thrown open for their use and public buildings of the Gentiles were also used to preach the word of God, so that active and continued work among the Gentiles advanced.
The verse belongs to Paul's exposition of the depth of the riches of God's wisdom and knowledge and His unsearchable judgments. From that exposition comes the call to grow in faith and righteousness, to know God's good and acceptable and perfect will, and to do religious duty as church members each fitted for a different class of work blending in a complete whole.
Conditional Goodness and Severity
Behold therefore reveals goodness and severity together as two sides of God's character, severity toward those who fell and goodness toward those grafted in. Severity is felt in separation from Him, while goodness is found in repentance and reconciliation through Christ. At the cross mercy and forgiveness are joined with unwavering justice.
Severity rests on those who fell and goodness rests toward those grafted in, but that goodness lasts only while they continue in His goodness. If God spared not the natural branches He will not spare those grafted in either. Otherwise they also shall be cut off, for connection with God and His work is conditional and not to be presumed upon.
Those who stand only by faith must not boast against the branches, despise the Jews, or be high-minded, but must fear. They are to bear humility because they do not bear the root but the root bears them. He that covers sins shall not prosper but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy, and happy is the man that fears always while he that hardens his heart shall fall into mischief.
Continuing in His goodness means continuing by faith and perfect obedience to His commandments, which gives right to the privileges of the church in every age, secures election to salvation, and proves love to God. It means holding the truth in righteousness, having the Spirit of Christ, and having a living faith working through love to purify the soul. That fruit is seen in words and actions revealing what the truth is doing within, in meekness, good works, and the Spirit of Christ, without harsh speeches, carelessness, or a masterful spirit, and those joined must heed and advance with the light given, partake of the spirit of Jesus with vital godliness and hearts sanctified by truth, keeping close to Jesus. Failing breaks the terms of election, and otherwise the branch will be cut off and purged out.
Restoration and Jewish Work
The breaking off is not final, for if the natural branches do not remain in unbelief they shall be grafted into their own olive tree again, because God is able to do it. Blindness in part has happened to Israel only until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, and then all Israel shall be saved when the Deliverer comes out of Zion to turn ungodliness from Jacob and to take away sins. Though they are enemies concerning the gospel, they are beloved concerning election for the fathers' sakes, and the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. The goodness of God remains open to them, so that if in humility they stand on the right platform they can be grafted into the parent stock again and bear fruit to His glory.
Among the Jews the Lord has strong and mighty men who will come to the light of present truth, be gathered in and converted, and proclaim the truth with power. They will proclaim the immutability of God's law with wonderful power. In the last days special effort is to be made with unslackened care to gather the cut-away branches out of the world and engraft them once more into the true vine stock, which is Christ Jesus Himself, through the power of the gospel. If a man repents and receives Christ as Saviour, Christ has power to engraft him again and invigorate his life with the life of the Eternal One.
Belief in Him works transformation of character, making the fruits of the Spirit manifest in disposition, words and actions as partakers of the divine nature, bearing fruit in good works to the glory of God. Through conversion they are grafted into the living vine stock, receiving peace with God and a sanctified conscience, and Jews and Gentiles thus dwell together in peace and love and unity because of oneness with Christ. God brings this grafting about by working through men of different nationalities to reach their own fellow countrymen. Romans 11 outlines a great work to be done for the Jewish people that must be studied carefully and must not be ignored.
They are to be given every opportunity of coming to the light, and this work must be carried out with special wisdom and righteousness. In all wisdom and righteousness the King's highway must be cleared for them, seizing present openings with good courage and vindicating the power of truth in faithful use of them, rather than binding the work about with many forbiddings. Jews who accept Christ and because of this are cut off from their people are to be given a place of refuge where they have a home and learn how to work for their own people.
Doctrine and Scripture Links
The grafting of the olive is the union with Christ the True Vine and living vine. Severity falls on those separated from Him, and goodness rests on those joined to Him by faith, yet neither condition is final, for unbelieving branches are cut off and others are grafted in. The Jewish nation became the fruitless branch separated from Christ, while Gentiles and others were grafted as living branches into the vine and the true church through the gospel to share its life. Those united to Him by faith receive life from Him and must remain firmly connected and abide in Him to bear fruit, and the branch is pruned that it may become more fruitful. The vine stock is Christ Jesus Himself, not Peter and not ministers alone, and all branches center in Him as foundation and chief cornerstone. Broken branches cut away through unbelief are still to be cared for without slackness, and grafted branches must also be cared for, with special effort in the last days to gather the cut-away branches out of the world and engraft them once more into the true vine stock, for if a man repents and receives Christ as Saviour, Christ has power to engraft him again and invigorate his life with the life of the Eternal One.
Believing Gentiles grafted into the olive tree thereby become the Israel of God. The Sabbath given as a perpetual sign between God and Israel throughout their generations therefore still binds them and must be observed forever as the memorial of God's six-day creation and His rest on the seventh day. God's Israel is His individual, personal Israel brought step by step out of the world onto the platform of Bible truth and grafted into the tame olive tree. The genuine tree is Christ Jesus, and those grafted in will bear fruit of that genuine tree. God keeps this Israel with continual watchcare and providence embracing all their ways, and by looking unto Jesus they become like Him with intelligent faith in the good and perfect government of God.
God's goodness and long-suffering love remain toward those who never had light and have not received the mark of the beast. The Lord works with them and does not leave them or withdraw His grace until they are convicted of truth and trample upon the evidence given to enlighten them. Toward those grafted in as natural branches into the olive tree, goodness continues only if they continue in His goodness by holding the truth in righteousness, at all times partaking of nourishment from the parent stock and bearing fruit exactly like the stock. That fruit is seen in words and actions revealing what the truth is doing for them, in meekness, good works, and the Spirit of Christ, without harsh speeches, carelessness, or a masterful spirit that provokes wrath. Those who minister in word and doctrine are branches grafted into the same parent stock, not independent branches standing apart from each other, and are to work together to give to others the light God has given and to prepare the way for the Lord by heeding that light, rather than working away from the light and counterworking those God has appointed to do a certain work. Believers must heed and advance with the light given and continue in His goodness, otherwise they will be cut off, for connection with God and His work is conditional and not to be presumed upon, and ministers who work against that light risk having the light they already possess become darkness, while falsehood and self-exalting influence endanger the soul.
God's rising people as a whole are rising never to fall again if they continue in His goodness. Individual branches must nevertheless be careful to remain faithful and continue, or they will be cut off and purged out of the camp of Israel. Those who are stubborn and rebellious, wound and tear the hearts of God's people, and become a dead weight will be cut off and purged out. Others will be raised up in their stead who had not heard and rejected the Adventist doctrine but will embrace the truth, bear fruit to God's glory, and take their places. Belonging among God's people does not remove the need to stay close to Jesus and bear fruit for God's glory. Continuing means daily rising and keeping the ascendancy above the powers of darkness by keeping close to Jesus, holding fast to the arm of God by living faith, pressing petitions to the throne and believing they are received, glorifying God with singing and shouting that drives the enemy away, partaking of the spirit of Jesus with vital godliness and hearts sanctified by truth, bearing fruit and working to the glory of God, and fasting and praying for victory over the powers of darkness.
Warnings for Church Life
Gentile believers grafted in as wild branches stand only by faith under God's kindness, while severity fell on Jews who fell through unbelief, and that kindness lasts only while they continue in it, otherwise they also will be cut off as the natural branches were not spared. They must therefore not be high-minded, boast against the branches, or despise the Jews, but fear and remain humble. The cutting off is not final, for Jews who do not remain in unbelief shall be grafted into their own olive tree again, for God is able to do it through the power of the gospel. Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles comes in, when all Israel shall be saved through the Deliverer from Zion who turns ungodliness from Jacob and takes away sins, for though enemies concerning the gospel they are beloved concerning election for the fathers' sakes and the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Among the Jews the Lord has strong and mighty men who will come to the light and proclaim the truth with wonderful power. Had the Jews as a nation accepted the gospel preached to them it would have proved their salvation and made them members of the royal family manifesting the riches of grace, but they rejected Christ and refused mercy and were cut off from the parent vine, yet it remains their privilege to become partakers with the Gentiles of salvation if they receive Christ as Saviour with transformation of character into partakers of the divine nature manifest in disposition, words and actions.
Gentiles so grafted in are therefore responsible to be interested in the salvation of the Jews and to make special efforts for the Jewish race as children of the heavenly birth, preaching the gospel under the Holy Spirit to Jew and Gentile alike. Even though tares are among the wheat and evils are seen in the body of Sabbath-keepers, the church and the agencies and branches God has placed in it are not to be disparaged or demeaned through pride. Those who stand by faith must not become proud or boast against the branches, but fear, for if God spared not the natural branches He will not spare them if they do not continue. Leaders and managers are to take up the work of purification so the church becomes a bright light.
Goodness toward believers lasts only while they continue in personal union with Christ as a branch grafted into a living tree, entering by self-renunciation, faith and obedience into utter dependence with self crucified and Christ living in the heart. The sinner by nature at enmity with Christ, proud and self-willed, must feel need of atonement, choose Christ because He first chose them, renounce own will and chosen objects, war against temptations without and within, gain victory over self with affections and lusts crucified, and become as a dry lifeless branch grafted into the True Vine so that the fruit borne by Christ is borne by followers. Nominal acceptance without His sole rule in the heart, following one's own way and refusing to cherish His Spirit and follow His example, puts Christ away. After that union is formed it is preserved only by continual earnest painstaking effort, standing guard over every avenue of the soul, prayer for divine help with resolute resistance to every inclination to sin, courage, faith and persevering toil, with Christ abiding in the believer and the believer in Christ. Christ exercises power to preserve and guard the tie, but the dependent helpless sinner must act his part with untiring energy or Satan by cruel cunning power will separate him from Christ. Such union maintained by daily hourly communion draws life directly from the parent vine to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit without borrowing sustenance from another branch, and naturally leads to unity of believers one in Christ as Christ is one with the Father.
To continue in His goodness all who claim to be children of God, especially messengers sent with the word of life to save the perishing, must continue in and express God's goodness, mercy, compassion, tenderness and lovingkindness in words, deportment and character. This goodness is the matchless love of Jesus and His atonement to be dwelt upon from the Scriptures and made the theme of conversation, with the tongue speaking of Christ and the all-essential work for this time rather than self, envy and evil speaking, as evidence Christ abides in the heart anchored in atonement and lit by God's Word. It means putting away all that is harsh and coarse and rough in character and being grafted into Christ the living vine to bear the same quality of fruit the vine bears, so that character and works harmonize with divine truth and the branch truly represents the preciousness of the vine. Those who claim to hold advanced truth yet give no such evidence mislead the churches in an age of almost universal apostasy.
Even one born of a wicked father, surrounded by wickedness and temptation with few counselors and no godly parental influence, can refuse to repeat his father's unrighteousness, take warning from the errors of father and grandfather, determine to climb upward instead of descending to sin and degradation, and press on in the upward path without turning aside to the right or to the left. By that course of obedience God can graft him from the wild into the good olive tree, giving him grace to do what is right in the Lord's sight and making him a chosen vessel. Continuing means keeping close to Jesus, holding fast to God's arm by living faith, pressing petitions to the throne and believing they are received, glorifying God with singing and shouting that drives the enemy away, partaking of the spirit of Jesus with vital godliness and hearts sanctified by truth, bearing fruit and working to God's glory, and fasting and praying for victory over the powers of darkness. God's rising people as a whole are rising never to fall again if they continue, but individual branches must be careful to bear fruit and keep the ascendancy above the powers of darkness or they will be cut off and purged out of the camp of Israel. Those who are stubborn and rebellious, wound and tear the hearts of God's people, and become a dead weight will be cut off and purged out, and others will be raised up in their stead who had not heard and rejected the Adventist doctrine but will embrace the truth, bear fruit to God's glory and take their places. Belonging among God's people does not remove the need to remain faithful and stay close to Jesus.