“Esaias
also crieth concerning
(Romans
“Even so
then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the
election of grace.”
(Romans
11:5 KJV)
“If by any
means I may provoke to emulation (jealousy or envy) them which are my flesh, and might
save some of them.”
(Romans
There is much confusion among the Christian Faith concerning the theology of the Olive Tree. Romans Chapter 11 has been misunderstood and misinterpreted by many believers in general. Sadly enough, this misunderstanding and misinterpretation infiltrated the leadership, and led to the blind acceptance of many false teachings by churches as their traditions.
It is especially true concerning the many Pastors, Ministers, and Organizations that have been influenced by a damnable heresy known as ‘Dispensational Teaching.’ Dispensationalism, a system of prophetic interpretation, gives some very twisted and perverted interpretations of Romans 11.
They
interpret that Romans 11 proves God has not cast away unbelieving national
They furthermore assert that God has promises which He has
yet to fulfill concerning unbelieving national
They teach the
doctrine that unbelieving national
Are these prophecy teachings of Dispensationalism to be accepted as the very Truth of God, or are these doctrines actually lies from the mouth of the Serpent? The Apostle Paul’s olive tree lesson in Romans Chapter 11 deals with the conversion of the Gentiles into the Church and the relationship between this and the Jews that accepted Christ as well as those Jews that rejected Christ. The Scripture will tell us whether the dispensationalists are right or dead wrong. The Scripture will declare who is on the Lord’s side.
In
order to gain an accurate understanding of what this Romans Chapter 11
Scripture is teaching, you must examine the surrounding context, especially the
concept of the REMNANT in Romans 9:27 and Romans 11:5.
A
remnant means something that
is left over; a remainder. It is like a piece
of fabric remaining after the rest has been used or sold. It is a small surviving group of a people. In that case, it is a small number when
compared to the number of the whole. It
is a term used by the Apostle Paul to describe
Matthew
Matthew
Obviously,
Jesus taught the Jews that most of them would go into destruction, and only a
few of them would find life. This no
doubt greatly offended their enormous spiritual egos, religious arrogance, and
national pride. Yes the Pharisees had
all three of the above, according to the Bible.
I
do realize that we normally apply Matthew 7:13-14 in the general sense when we
expound on those Scriptures, but Jesus spoke those words to the Jews of His day
and the Scripture says so. No one can
erase that testimony.
So
Jesus Christ taught this ‘remnant concept’ to
The
Apostle Paul in Romans 9:27 and Romans 11:5 taught that a REMNANT
of national Israel would be saved, implying that most of them would be lost, and
this thought is based upon Old Testament Prophecy. In Romans 9:27, the Apostle here quotes the
prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 10:21-22 and begins to teach that a REMNANT
of national
“The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto
the mighty God. For though thy people
(Isaiah
10:21-22 KJV)
Now
the ‘election of grace’ here means that these Jews of national Israel are saved
through the New Covenant of Jesus Christ by hearing and obeying the Gospel of
Grace and entering into the Church (John
1:17, Acts 20:24, Romans 3:24, Romans 11:6, Galatians 2:21, Ephesians 2:8). Remember that the Gospel is to the Jew first (Romans
This
means that this ‘Righteous Remnant’ of national
Only
the Jews in the Church are the true Jews!
Those Jews in that ‘Righteous
Remnant’ of
The
rest of them ‘claim to be Jews,’ and according to Romans 2:28-29 are not, so
they do lie. Those ‘Jews’ who are not in
the Body of Christ Jesus are false Jews, deceivers, liars, and imposters, as it
is written in Revelation 2:9 and Revelation 3:9. The Bible is right, despite their claims to
the contrary.
This
‘Righteous Remnant’ of national
The dispensationalists erroneously place the 144,000 in the end time, therefore making them ‘last-fruits’ instead of ‘first-fruits’ like the Bible says.
The
Apostle Peter preached to the WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL in one
day (Acts
Out of all the nation of Israel that heard
that message on that day, only about a mere 3,000 obeyed the Gospel as in Acts
2:38 and joined the Church of Christ by being born again (Acts 2:36-41).
This
scene gives you a great illustration of the REMNANT
concept. The whole nation hears the
message, but only a remnant of about 3,000 obey the message. 3,000 is a number that we today perceive to
be large, and it truly is. However,
3,000 is a small number when compared to the number of the whole audience then
present in
From
this point on for several years, the Church consisted completely of righteous
Israelites. There was not a Gentile
among them. The Gospel during this time
was exclusively to the Jew (Romans
This
means that the Church was a ‘Jewish Bride,’ NOT a ‘Gentile Bride.’ Those
Christians who have been influenced by ‘Dispensational Teaching’ that the
Church is a ‘Gentile Bride,’ will teach the lie that the Church is a ‘Gentile
Bride.’ By in fact being a ‘Jewish
Bride,’ consisting of ONLY Christian
Israelites from the twelve tribes of national
WHO
IS THE
Galatians
At
this point I will ask you a question, dear reader. This question is directly related to Acts
Chapter 2 and entrance into the Body of Jesus, His Church.
‘Which was the Israel of God, those
Israelites who entered the New Covenant and believed in Jesus by obeying Acts
2:38, or those Israelites who rejected the New Covenant and rejected Jesus,
ignoring Acts 2:38?’
The answer should be easy for anyone claiming to be a Christian. The Israel of God was those Israelites who obeyed Acts 2:38 and entered into their promised New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 8:6-13), believing in Jesus as the Christ. These only were His Church, His Body, and His Israel.
Thus,
the Church was NOT a ‘Gentile
Bride,’ but the Church was in fact a ‘Jewish Bride’ when Jesus built her in
Acts 2. This Body consisted of ONLY
the REMNANT of the twelve tribes of national
THE GENTILES ARE GRAFFED INTO THE
When the Gentiles were graffed into this Church, the Israel of God, they were graffed into something Jewish, not something Gentile. The Church already existed as the Israel of God before the Gentiles were even graffed in, and the Gentiles began to be graffed into that Israel of God in Acts Chapter 10 with the conversion of the house of Cornelius of the Italian band at the preaching of the Apostle Peter (Acts 10:44-48).
Notice that Peter proclaimed this same message we see him
proclaiming to the Gentiles that he proclaimed to the whole house of
These
Gentiles, now graffed into the Good Olive Tree according to Acts Chapter
10:44-48, became fellow citizens in the Israel of God with the saints that were already the Israel
of God. Yes these who were formerly
strangers and foreigners, became fellow citizens with the saints!
Ephesians 2:19 - Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellowcitizens with the saints,
and of the household of God;
By
faith these Gentiles also, who had no bloodline and lineage to Abraham at all
in the physical, became the seed of Abraham by being Christ’s.
Galatians 3:29 - And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
There
was now one
sheepfold (John
1 Corinthians 12:13,
Ephesians 4:4, and others), one
new man (Ephesians
The one sheepfold, one body, one new man, and one good olive tree are composed of the believers in Jesus Christ who have obeyed the Gospel of Grace.
These are saved by grace through faith, and
not of the works of the law, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This
Body of Believers is the Church of Jesus Christ, which is the one Kingdom of God
that Jesus said was about to come to the Jews, and that He would build Himself
(Mark 1:15, Matthew 16:15-19). Jews first and also Gentiles must be born
again of water and of the Spirit to enter that
For there is but one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism (Ephesians 4:5), all under the New
and Everlasting Covenant of Hebrews
The
Seed of Abraham, or Isaac, would not be counted as those that were of the flesh
of Abraham, but instead as those that were of promise made to Abraham. These are justified by the righteousness of
faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 9:8 - That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these
are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Galatians 4:28 - Now we, brethren, as
Isaac was, are the children of promise.
It is a fact in horticulture (the science and art of plant life) that the seed and fruit of any graffed branch have direct life and relationship to the root. It is yet another fact that the root gives life to the branch, and not the branch to the root.
The Apostle Paul understood this in his
teaching of Romans
In
other words, seeing that God cut the unbelieving Jew off and they were the
natural branches, he can also cut you off if you abide in sin like they did.
These
graffed olive branches are no longer attached to the wild olive tree, and thus
that tree’s root no longer bears them.
These graffed olive branches are now attached to the Jewish olive tree,
the Israel of God (good olive tree), and thus this tree’s root now bears them
and gives them life. The fruit they bear
has direct life and relationship to this root, which is holy, and to the branches
which are also holy (Romans
The Gentiles now have a direct relationship
to the root of the tree, the blessed Patriarchs.
In
times past these grafted branches were Gentiles and aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants and the promises, having
no hope and being without God in the world but are now brought near by the
blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians
2:11-13).
Now
these grafted branches are no more strangers (Gentiles) and foreigners, but
fellow citizens WITH the Saints (Ephesians
ROMANS 11:1 AND THE DISPENSATIONALIST
DOCTRINE
Romans 11:1 - I say
then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of
the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
This Scripture has long been
the dispensational defense. They think
that this text actually says that NONE
of national
The pre-tribs and
dispensationalists preach that national
Is any of the above true? Is there really a such thing as unconditional eternal
security? Are Israelites eternally
secure as 'His People?' Is this eternal
security unconditional? Your answers to
these questions will determine whether any of you really believe in
unconditional eternal security!
Some pre-trib dispensationalist preachers claim not to preach unconditional
eternal security, but then to prove their doctrine about Israel they will run
right to Romans 11:1 and then preach unconditional eternal security for Jews in
the prophetic plan of God! You will say
you don't preach a thing and then turn right around and preach it from Romans
11:1, just in a different perspective.
Oh consistency, what a rare jewel thou art!
Well the above beliefs of the pre-trib dispensationalists concerning
For in Deuteronomy 28 it is revealed that
ARE
SOME ISRAELITES CAST OUT?
The answer to the above is YES! Read
Galatians 4:30. You will see that Paul
says that those who keep the law are CAST
OUT. In Paul's parable here, those
under the Old Covenant are actually called 'Ishmael' in allegory! This is in contrast to the
Do unbelieving Jews who deny
Christ count themselves as keepers of Moses' law and therefore consider
themselves Moses' disciples? I will let
them answer this question the same way that they answered the man who Jesus
healed who was born blind!
John 9:28 - Then they reviled him, and
said, Thou art his (Jesus') disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.
There you have it. So
according to Galatians 4:30, every law keeping Jew, denying Christ, IS
CAST OUT! So unless you believe
Paul is teaching contradiction, Romans 11:1 cannot mean that no Jew is cast
out. Unbelieving Jews ARE
CAST OUT, according to Galatians 4:30!
Now that you see that unbelieving Jews are cast out according to Galatians
4:30, let us see exactly who these 'His People' are among
WHO
ARE 'HIS PEOPLE' IN ROMANS 11:1
The dispensationalists would like you to believe that the 'His People' in
Romans 11:1 is a reference to ALL ISRAELITES, believing and unbelieving. This is not true. Don't take my word for it though, let us
continue reading and let Paul explain his own question and statement!
Paul does not leave this question out there without explanation. Doing so could give the dispensationalists the
window of opportunity that they need to make their heresy look like it might be
true. Nope, Paul gives many examples of
what he means when he says 'His People.'
The 'His People' reference identifies those in
Let us allow Paul take over and teach us here. Look at Paul's examples in explaining the 'His
People' question and statement in Romans 11:1-2, VERY CAREFULLY and free from all preconceived ideas you may believe.
EXAMPLE
#1 IS PAUL HIMSELF
Romans 11:1 - I say
then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of
Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Paul uses himself as an
example of the 'His People' who are not cast away. Now is Paul a believing Jew or an unbelieving
Jew? That is a no-brainer! Paul is a believer! Thus Paul is an example of this 'His People'
reference who are not cast away. God
foreknew these Jews, them that believe.
EXAMPLE
#2 - 7,000 ARE THE MEN IN ELIJAH'S DAY
In the days of the prophet Elijah, Elijah was on the run for his life. He sought the Lord to die, because he felt
that he was the only man left who was on the Lord's side in
EXAMPLE
#7,001 - UNKNOWN NUMBER
These individuals are the remnant of
Romans 9:27 - Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though
the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall
be saved:
Romans 11:5 - Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according
to the election of grace.
Paul is teaching, for starters, that Isaiah prophesied that only a remnant of
the Jews would even be saved. If only a
remnant of Jews would be saved, then what would happen to the rest? The rest would be the opposite of saved, of
course, which is being damned!
Romans 11:5 reinforces this teaching. At
Paul's present time, God was saving a remnant from
A remnant is a small number when compared to the whole, as expounded upon
earlier in this Bible Study. This
remnant is clearly referring to Jews who believe in Jesus as the Christ and
obey the Gospel through Acts 2:38.
The promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for EVERY SINGLE JEW. Was Spirit
Baptism for the entire nation of
John the Baptist
talking to
Mark 1:8 - I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost.
Jesus Christ talking to Israel
Acts 1:4, 5 - And,
being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart
from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye
have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized
with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
The Apostle Peter talking to Israel
Acts 2:39 - For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that
are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.
So there you have it, dear
reader. Paul has given you over 7,000
examples to explain the 'His People' question and the 'not cast away' comment
in Romans 11:1-2. What individual among
you who reads this message could stumble and fail to understand correctly
Paul's question and statement in Romans 11:1-2 when he gives you over 7,000
examples to explain his question and statement?
Over 7,000 examples that the 'His People' which are not 'cast away' are
the believers in
Is that enough evidence for you? Can I
offer you more? Sure I can, but if you
were not persuaded by over 7,000 examples, likely you will not be persuaded by
reading any further examples. That’s tragic
if it describes you.
THEY
ARE NOT ALL
Paul also taught that not every physical
Israelite is really
Romans 9
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For THEY ARE NOT ALL
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In
Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, THESE ARE NOT THE CHILDREN
OF GOD: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Paul also taught that not
every physical Jew is really a Jew.
Romans 2
28 For HE IS NOT A JEW, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh:
29 But HE IS A JEW, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of
God.
Jesus also taught that physical Israelites according to their flesh who are
unbelievers, are of their father the devil. Jesus told them that Abraham was not their
father, and God was not their father, but the devil was their father!
John 8
39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto
them, IF YE WERE ABRAHAM'S CHILDREN, ye would do the works of Abraham.
40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have
heard of God: this did not Abraham.
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of
fornication; we have one Father, even God.
42 Jesus said unto them, IF GOD WERE YOUR FATHER, ye would love me: for I
proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
44 YE ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it.
Therefore if any Israelite
believes not, if they are not Christians, then they are not 'His People'
Unrighteous
Jews were cut off for many reasons, as illustrated in the following Scriptures;
Exodus 12:15-19, 30:33-38, 31:14, Leviticus 7:20-27, 17:1-4, 18:29, 20:17-18,
22:3, 23:26-30, Numbers 15:31, and many, many more Scriptures. These all deal with disobedience to the Word
of the Lord.
John
the Baptist confronted unbelieving national
The Lord
demanded obedience to His Word and a righteous lifestyle. John taught that if Jews didn’t receive Jesus
and enter the Kingdom of God, then they would not see life, but the wrath of
God would abide upon them (John 3:36).
Jesus also confronted National Israel about these same beliefs. Jesus taught Nicodemus (A teacher of the Jews) that his natural birth alone as a Jew was not enough to grant him pleasing to God, but that he and all Jews had to be born again, of water and of the Spirit (John 3:3-5) to enter the Kingdom of God.
Jesus also taught that
although they were descendants of Abraham after the flesh (John
Jesus taught that they were counted as the
Devil’s children, because they didn’t do the works of Abraham but instead they
did the lusts of the devil (John
The
Apostle Peter quoted Moses and told National Israel that unless they received
Jesus, they would be destroyed (cut-off) from among the people
Yes
indeed, these natural branches that rejected Jesus as the Christ are liars and
antichrists (1 John
They never have, even under the Old Covenant (the Law of Moses) if they lived unrighteous they were cut-off, so how much more if they commit the ultimate sin of disobedience in rejecting Jesus as their Christ-King?
These natural branches in unbelief were cut-off, and as the Apostle Paul teaches in Romans 11:23, IF they abide still not in unbelief (meaning that IF they obey the Gospel of Grace and get saved), then they will be grafted in again. God is able to graft them in again, they are not eternally deserted, neither are any of the Gentiles eternally deserted.
Only
they who blaspheme the Holy Spirit are eternally deserted because according to
Jesus they cannot find forgiveness for that sin, and John says that we should
not even pray for someone is such a situation (Matthew 12:31, 1 John 5:16).
CONCLUSION ON THE
ROMANS 11 OLIVE TREE TRUTH
When the fullness of the nations
(Gentiles) is graffed in or added to this Olive Tree, then 'all'
Romans
'All'
Once the fullness of the Gentiles is come in,
then 'all' of
Right now the Gentiles ('nations') are being
saved and Paul's effort is that the evangelism of the Gentiles may provoke the
Jews to jealousy, and save some of them. The remnant of
Dispensationalism then, as you should be able to clearly see, is through and
through a false doctrine.
Once all the Gentile evangelism is done, then
the time for provoking the Jews to jealously and therefore saving some of them
will come to an end. The Jewish remnant will then have been saved (Romans
Jesus Himself said this in relationship to the
fullness of the nations (Gentiles) coming into the Kingdom by receiving its
gospel of the Kingdom, and no dispensational false teacher can overturn these
words.
Notice that Jesus did NOT say...'and this gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached unto all the world for a witness to the nations,
then shall GOD TURN BACK TO THE JEWS.' Nope. Jesus said that
after the gospel of the kingdom has gone throughout the world for a witness
unto the Gentiles (nations), THEN SHALL
THE END COME!
Matthew 24:14 - And this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
As for Romans 11:26-27, the Deliverer has
already come out of Zion, so this is referring to the first coming of Christ
when he turned all transgression from Jacob. Jacob's cleansing from
ungodliness happened at
Compare these Scriptures...
Romans
What 'covenant' is this? The New Covenant in Jesus' blood! This New Covenant taught in the Gospel of the
Kingdom is to the Jew first, as it is written in Romans 1:16! I for one am not ashamed of the Gospel of
Christ.
Matthew 26:28 - For
this is my blood of the new testament (covenant), which is shed for many for
the remission of sins.
Hebrews 12:24 - And to Jesus the mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that
of Abel.
Hebrews 13:20 - Now
the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
John 1:29 - The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him,
and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
1 John 3:5 - And ye know that he was manifested to take away
our sins; and in him is no sin.
The covenant made to take
away Jacob's sins then, was made by Jesus at
This reveals that the plan of
Salvation for
All must come this way or no way at all!
That is the plain Apostolic Doctrine. We should then discard and reject
the false doctrine called Dispensationalism which teaches that unbelieving Jews
will have 'another plan' during the 'great tribulation' after the 'church is
gone.' The Church will be here all the way to the end.
The elect of
Jesus is His Church and only His Church, are we not gathered at the great sound
of a trumpet until the Lord's Coming, immediately AFTER the great
tribulation (Matthew 24:29-31).
The remnant, again, is the 'all'
The unbelievers will be damned, BECAUSE
THEY ARE BLIND. The Christ-King of the Jews taught us that the
Jewish leadership was blind, and those that follow them. These 'blind
guides' led the Jewish unbelievers right away from Jesus and into the 'ditch.'
For if the blind lead the blind, both shall go
into the 'ditch.' What is this 'ditch' that Jesus said the 'blinded'
portion of the Jewish nation was on their way to? What is your judgment here, and what is the
Spirit telling you?
Was it likened unto the path
of life, the narrow path and strait gate? Or was it likened unto the path
of destruction, the broad path and wide gate?
For more on
Do we have a responsibility to the Jews? YES!
Our responsibility to the Jews is the SAME
as that of Jesus Christ and His Apostles. Share the Gospel of the King of
the Jews and His Kingdom, and entrance into this Kingdom-Church by the New
Birth of John 3:3-5! What Jesus told Nicodemus here applies to every
single Jew to all generations, and Peter confirms this in Acts 2:39!
Walk in the Olive Tree Truth today!