ROOTS AND BRANCHES
Romans 11

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The Lord’s Genius

• God’s not finished with Israel
• If He can save Israel to save the Gentiles ...
• Then He can save the Gentiles in order to save Israel!

Past, Present, Future

1. Past: Romans 9:6-29 – God Shapes a People
2. Present: Romans 9:30 – 11:6 – Remnant
3. Future: Romans 11:7-36 – God’s Mysterious Plan

Did God Reject Israel?

• Saul/Paul the Benjamite
• Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. – 1 Samuel 8:7

God’s Saving Remnant

• 1 Kings 19 – Elijah and Remnant
• Three texts describing Israel’s inability to see God’s work
  – Deuteronomy 29:4
  – Isaiah 29:10
  – Isaiah 6

The Future of Israel

• God has not rejected Israel forever
• Israel is not without hope
  – Psalm 69:22-23
• Nothing separates us from God’s love (Romans 8)
• God will use it to His purposes

Warning to the Gentiles

• Romans 2:17 – Warning to Jews not to boast in their advantage with the law
• Romans 11:11-16 – Warning to Gentiles not to boast in their advantage in the present

Image #1: The Lump

• Lump of dough, lump of clay
• Numbers 15:19-20 – The first-fruit offering of the grain
• If the portion is consecrated, then so is the rest

Image #2: The Root

• Gentiles were wild branches grafted into the “chosen” nation
• Remember your place
• Don’t despise the root
• Historical reality – Jew first and also Gentile

Chiasm

Kindness – Sterness – Sterness Kindness

X

Israel – Gentile – Gentile Israel

X

Ingrafted Branches

• The Future
• The broken branches can be grafted back into their own root
• Sin and Grace
• Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Evening Sermon, 8 February 2009

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