The Remnant Chosen by Grace
Lesson Aim: To study Paul’s analogy of the batch of dough and the olive tree in order to identify the citizens of God’s kingdom on earth and to understand Jesus Christ’s present evangelism program for both Jew and Gentile.
Scripture: Romans 11:11-36.
Lesson
“For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all.” 11:32
This lesson brings us to the close of our study of the second portion of Paul’s letter. If he wrote this letter to heal the “clash of civilizations” in the churches, it should have worked wonders. It is valuable for all kinds of ethnic and caste problems that have always been an obstacle to the fellowship of the church. However, it has not solved the clash between the Jews and other societies outside the church. There has always been a clash on this level. It has deepened in the last century. The nation of Israel has been at odds with her neighbors from the time they raised their flag once again in Jerusalem in the late 1940s.
Many people who identify themselves with Christianity support the nation of Israel in their claim to the land God gave to Abraham. God did indeed support Joshua in the conquest of the land for the Israelites after their freedom from Egyptian slavery. Now, in our time the Jews lay claim to the same land. We can understand why the Jews, those who did not accept Jesus as the Christ, still claim this strip of land between the Jordan River and the Sea. The question is; “Why do people who believe Jesus is the Christ support Israel in their claim?” These people need to study chapters nine through eleven.
The irony is many have formed their belief about Israel’s right to occupy this land from a passage of scripture in these very same chapters – the chapter we studied in this lesson:
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Romans 11:26, 27
According to Paul, all Israel will be saved if we, the church, continue to live by faith. It all depends on how we identify Israel. God’s word did not fail! Why could Paul say this? God’s word did not fail because, through the gospel of His Son, both the Jews and Gentiles are the elect. Christians are the children of promise. We are the remnant; the church of God in Christ. The three chapters we have studied in Part IV have revealed the “mind of God” about the identity of His people.
Please read Paul’s expression of praise to God in verses thirty three through thirty six.
Questions for Discussion
- What did the Jews have going for themselves as a nation before Jesus Christ came to earth and did His work?
- What did the Gentiles have going for themselves before Jesus Christ returned to heaven?
- What did Paul want the Gentile Christians to do for his countrymen?
- What did Paul not want the Gentile Christians to do in their relationship with the Jews?
- List the points Paul made to the Gentiles about their benefits because Israel transgressed.
- What is suggested by the term “the nourishing sap from the olive root?”
- What did Paul mean by “their own olive tree” in verse twenty-four?
- Show why Paul did not appear to believe in “once in grace, always in grace.”
- Some Jews had been removed from fellowship with God in Christ. What did they need to do to become the true Israel of God?
