Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 207
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turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing
the world will share when they finally accept it.
I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as
the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this, for I want somehow to make the
people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some
of them. For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the
rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be
life for those who were dead! And since Abraham and the other patriarchs
were holy, their descendants will also be holy—just as the entire batch of
dough is holy because the portion given as an offering is holy. For if the
roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.
But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people
of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches
from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the
blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich
nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. But you must not
brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off.
You are just a branch, not the root.
“Well,” you may say, “those branches were broken off to make room for
me.” Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they
didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t
think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. For if God did not
spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either.
Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who
disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if
you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. And if the people of Israel turn
from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power
to graft them back into the tree. You, by nature, were a branch cut from a
wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature
by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft
the original branches back into the tree where they belong.
I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that
you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have
hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes
to Christ. And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say,
“The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem,
and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness.
And this is my covenant with them,
that I will take away their sins.”
Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and
this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he
