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A warning to the Gentile Christians:
v. 16. For if the first-fruit be holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
v. 17. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive-tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakes of the root and fatness of the olive-tree,
v. 18. boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
v. 19. Thou wilt say, then, The branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.
v. 20. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear;
v. 21. for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.
v. 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.
v. 23. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again.
v. 24. For if thou wert cut out of the olive-tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive-tree, how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive-tree!
The apostle here guards against a danger, namely, that of misunderstanding his previous exposition. For what he had written regarding the fall and the consequent rejection of the Jews might cause such Gentile Christians as were easily guided by their flesh to be filled with pride and over weeningness and to give way to boasting at the expense of the Jews. Paul first of all, by way of introduction, states a general truth: If the first of the dough is holy, then also the entire mass; and if the root is holy, then also the branches. The apostle alludes, in the first half of the sentence, to the fact that the first of the dough, the first dough made out of the flour of every new harvest, had to be given unto the Lord, Num_15:19-21. This first part of the dough and the entire offering became holy by being consecrated to the Lord. The picture in the second part of the sentence has the same meaning: the root being consecrated to God and accepted by Him, the branches will also be acceptable to Him. The root of the true Israel, of the body which is and always will be consecrated to the Lord, are the patriarchs, and the branches are the true spiritual children of the patriarchs, together with some that had the appearance of true branches, but whose deceptive. nature was discovered in time, with the result that they were removed. The olive-tree therefore represents the entire mass of the true spiritual children of Abraham, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, of all times. Every person that accepts the Messiah by faith is a branch of this trunk or body, becomes a partaker of the divine promise and blessings.
Keeping well within this picture, the apostle brings out an earnest admonition to every overweening Christian from among the Gentiles: If some of the branches are broken off, and thou, as a wild olive-tree, wert grafted in among them and didst become a joint partaker of the root of the fatness of the olive-tree, then do not boast against the branches. The breaking off of the branches took place at the same time that the twigs of the wild olive-tree were grafted in. The advent of Christ into the world brought on a crisis for all the Jews. A great number of them took offense at the crucified Christ and at the preaching of the Cross, and the result was that they were broken off the tree of the Church and removed. For with the coming of the Messiah the Church of believers had become the Church of Jesus Christ, and every one that did not accept Jesus as the promised Messiah excluded himself from the communion of saints, for the touchstone of faith consisted in applying the Messianic prophecies to Jesus of Nazareth. In the place of such branches, however, that had lost their character and therefore been removed, the Lord grafted in some branches from a wild olive-tree; He called some Gentiles to the fellowship of the saints. They were taken from the midst of the lost and condemned heathen world, they mere received into the communion of the Lord and thus became living members of His congregation. And at the same time they became partakers of all the benefits of salvation, of reconciliation with the Father, of remission of sins, of full and complete justification, of victory over death, and of eternal bliss. The thought which the apostle brings out is this, that the Jews were the original children of God, that they were the first possessors of these advantages and privileges, that to them as to the first the blessings of God in Jesus were revealed, Mat_8:11; Joh_10:16; Eph_2:11 ff. And therefore the Gentile Christian should guard very carefully against boasting at the expense of the Jews, against the very ones that had foolishly neglected to accept the Messiah in the fullness of time, To boast of possessions which have not been merited, but are the gift of free grace, instead of giving all glory to God alone, is always foolish and reprehensible, but to do so at the expense of those that have been rejected because they, in their blindness, excluded themselves from the blessings of the Kingdom, is the very height of blamable behavior.
The apostle, therefore, follows up his warning with an explanation: But if thou should boast (if you cannot resist the temptation to exhibit vainglory), then remember, not thou bearest the root, but the root thee. The root consists of the patriarchs of Israel, they having been made so by God's Word and promise. And this same strength is keeping the branches alive. The Jews were the channel of blessings to the Gentiles; salvation was from the Jews. Therefore all ungenerous and self-confident boasting on the part of the Gentile Christians and of the Christians of all times should be excluded. And if one of them should want to object in a spirit of the same ungenerous self-complacency: The branches were broken out in order that I might be grafted in; then Paul has the answer: Very well, let that stand, it is true enough that the rejection of the Jews after their repudiation of Christ resulted in the conversion of the Gentiles; but this was not because the heathen were better by nature than the Jews or because the Lord took special pleasure in the Gentiles. Such an inference would be altogether wrong. Not because they were Jews had the Lord rejected them, but through their unbelief, because of their unbelief they were broken off; because they refused to accept the Savior the Lord had rejected them, since faith is the only means by which the relation with God may be maintained. The Gentiles were in a condition of grace and salvation only by faith, the gift of God's mercy. Instead, then, of boasting, of being proud in their own conceit, of forming an unwarranted estimate of their own importance in the eyes of God, they should fear, Php_2:12-13. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He might not spare thee either. Since the Gentile Christian is in a state of grace only by faith, and since faith excludes boasting, he had better beware lest in his pride he fall away from faith and share the very fate of those whom he was tempted to despise. As a matter of fact, the Jews were more likely to be spared than the Gentiles, all things being equal, since they had so long been connected with Him in a most intimate manner.
The apostle now draws a conclusion from the facts just presented: Behold, therefore, the kindness and the severity of God; upon those that have fallen severity, but upon thee the kindness of God, if thou hold closely to His kindness, since, in the opposite case, thou, too, shalt be cast off, v. 22. In the case of those that have fallen, whose unbelief has excluded them from the grace and the fellowship of God and the saints, the severity of God has been manifested. In His holiness and justice God is obliged to show His displeasure to those that leave the fellowship in which they enjoyed His grace and kindness, by withdrawing from them all His mercy and love. But in the case of the Gentile Christian, God has shown His goodness and kindness in taking him out of the midst of godlessness and enmity toward God and accepting him as a member of His Church. For such a person, therefore, it is a matter of working out his salvation with fear and trembling, of holding fast to the goodness of God, lest he also be cast off by God, Joh_15:1-6. If Christians forget that they owe their state of grace, their membership in the congregation of the Lord, to the kindness and mercy of God only and presume to elevate themselves over others, especially by despising the rejected ones, then they, in turn, deny the kindness of God, lose their faith, and are cast off. In their case they challenge the goodness of God to be turned into severity.
And there is another point which must not be overlooked by the Gentile Christian if he feels presumptive thoughts rising in his heart: But they also, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in again, for God is fully able to graft them in again, v. 23. Those that are standing today may very easily and quickly fall, especially if thoughts of pride and self-complacency fill their hearts. On the other hand, the mercy of God will quickly turn to those that have fallen if they do not remain in their unbelief, if they have not hardened their hearts to the point of final rejection at the hands of God. If they but heed His call and turn to Jesus as their Savior, God will gladly receive them again as members of His Church and grant them all the rights and privileges of the other believers. And what is more, this event, if considered by itself, is more probable than the calling of the Gentiles. For if thou, cut out of thy natural tree, the wild olive-tree, wert, contrary to thy nature, grafted into the good olive-tree, how much more will those that are branches by nature be grafted into their own olive-tree!
v. 24. The Gentile Christians were the branches from the wild olive-tree, having no natural connection with the good olive tree into which they were grafted; the Jews were the natural branches. Now what is in accordance with nature will happen far more easily than that which is against nature. Therefore the reunion of the Jews with the body of the Church of God, which they have foolishly left, could be accomplished far more easily, according to all probability, than the union of the Gentile Christians with a community with which they never did have anything in common. Not that the Jews, as a race, were more susceptible to the Gospel than the Gentiles; for Jews and Gentiles are alike unfit and unable to save themselves or to perform the slightest meritorious work for their own salvation, a truth which is valid and should be heeded for all times.