Due to a visit to San Antonio, Texas and Bethany Primitive Baptist Church, pastor Elder Mike Rodgers, last weekend, this edition of Gospel Gleanings is late. The church there is active, warm, and spiritual. It was a truly edifying experience for me.

God bless,
Joe Holder

Of Wild and Tame Olive Trees

"For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. (Romans 11:15-18) "

     Scripture often uses analogies of things in nature to illustrate spiritual principles. In this case Paul found no natural example, so he illustrated his point by contrast with a natural occurrence, one that was common in first century Judah. Olive trees grew in abundance in the region.

     In this analogy Paul equates the Jews with the natural olive branches and Gentiles with a grafted branch. The trunk and root structure of the tree are the same, but in one case the branch is the natural branch, and in the other case the branch was grafted into the trunk of the tree. I grew up on a small farm that included a small orchard. One of the apple trees illustrated the principle of grafting. Over half of the tree produced June apples, quite large and very tart. One major branch that had been grafted into the stock of the tree produced a domesticated form of crab apples. The natural principle of grafting is that the grafted branch produces the fruit of its native tree, not the fruit of the present stock tree. Notice in Verse twenty-four that Paul refers to the present analogy as being “…contrary to nature.” It is contrary to nature to graft wild stock into a tame or hybrid tree. It is also contrary to nature for the wild grafted branch to produce tame fruit. The fruit that God expects from His believing children is the work of faith, be they Jew or Gentile. It would have been natural to expect that first century Jews, well versed in their holy writings, our Old Testament, would have readily recognized Jesus as their Messiah, God Incarnate, but pride blinded their minds. Logically one would not have expected first century Gentiles to recognize Jesus and believe in Him. However, a majority of first century Jews rejected Jesus as the prophesied Messiah, and significant numbers of Gentiles embraced Him upon hearing the gospel.

     For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? What is the significance of the word “world” in this sentence? Does Paul intend to teach us that the Jews’ rejection of Jesus prompted God to implement universal salvation of all non-Jews? Clearly the consistent testimony of Scripture rejects such a notion. Strong’s electronic dictionary of New Testament words provides eight basic definitions of the Greek word here translated “world.”

…8A the Gentiles as contrasted to the Jews (Rom. 11:12 etc). 8A of believers only….(1)

     Rather than referring to all Gentiles, Paul’s intent more logically appears to be to some Gentiles “…as contrasted to the Jews….” It is likely in this context that Paul specifically used the term “world” to refer to believing Gentiles as contrasted to unbelieving Jews.

     Paul does not predict the certain restoration of the Jews to gospel blessings in this sentence. Instead he reasons along two parallel lines. If God cast them away because of their unbelief, what might happen if they turned in large numbers to faithful belief in Christ? It would be as if the dead Jewish culture was in fact resurrected.

     For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. In this sentence Paul first draws an analogy from the firstfruit law of Israel. A sample of the crop was gathered and offered to God long before the final harvest was ready. If God accepted the firstfruit offering, the farmer had assurance that He would also bless the final harvest. Paul then applies this principle to the root and branch analogy that he is using to compare Jewish believers and Gentile believers. We should first acknowledge that both branches have a relationship with the root. And only by a firm attachment to the root through the trunk of the tree can either natural or wild branch hope to be fruitful. We are holy through our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, but we may be either fruitful or unfruitful based on our active faith in Him. If we hold—as I firmly do—that no elect of God can or shall ever lose his/her eternal salvation, then we should not take Paul’s pruning and grafting analogy so far as to create a contradiction in Scripture between Paul’s teaching here and his teaching on eternal security in other places. To preserve balance and Biblical harmony, we should distinguish life from fruitfulness. We have life in Christ and only through His finished work—nothing added by us before or after, mental or physical, to further secure what Jesus fully secured for all His elect through His substitutionary sacrifice. However, we may become fruitless suckers, branches that draw sap and life from the root, but produce little or no fruit. Because of their failure to produce fruit, the Jews were “cut off” from the blessings of the gospel. As Gentile believers, we need to be ever mindful of our source of life—Christ and Him alone—but we need also to apply that life to activities that produce fruit that glorifies our God, the true trunk and root of our life.

     And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. This thought perfectly agrees with the state of the Christian faith of the first century. Many Jews in fact did believe in Jesus and followed Him faithfully, not the least of whom was Paul himself. However, at the time of Paul’s writing to the Romans many Gentiles also had embraced the faith and were enjoying the same blessings as believing Jews. God’s blessings on his children as they walk the walk of faith shows no partiality based on race or culture. It is based exclusively on the walk of faith. The major problem in the Roman church, a primary reason for Paul’s letter to them, appears to have been a major schism between Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles, both members of the same church. First, in the earlier chapters, Paul levels the playing field and reminds the whole church, Jew and Gentile alike, that one of them needs a Savior fully as much as the other. The shadow cast by the work of the cross holds no partiality for Jews over Gentiles—or for that matter for Gentiles over Jews. The same Lord is over both and is rich toward all who call upon His name, regardless of their race or culture (Romans 10:12). Paul deals with the underlying problem of our human inclination to compare ourselves with other people. We strongly lean toward comparing ourselves with specific individuals who, in our minds at least, are inferior to us. Thus we selfishly attempt to boost our personal position over them by such a comparison. Notice Paul’s emphatic rejection of such a foolish and prideful comparison.

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. (2 Corinthians 10:12)

     Categorically Paul affirms that such a comparison is not wise. Paul prohibits this prideful comparison. Boast not against the branches. Both Jewish “branches” and Gentile “branches” live and bear fruit solely through their connection to the same stock, the same plant. It is the plant, not other individual branches, that accounts for fruit.

     But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Each branch should maintain focus on its connection to the root of the tree, not draw superficial comparisons between itself and other branches, or between its fruit and the fruit of other branches.

     The practical lesson for us should be quite clear. As we live our Christian life, do we measure or personal obedience against the conduct of other believers in our church or in our circle of acquaintances? Do we seek merely to excel over them and their “performance”? If this is the case, does it not become obvious to us that “performance,” not faithful obedience to God, becomes the measure of our conduct? Have we forgotten Jesus’ grave warnings in the Sermon on the Mount? How often in that message (Matthew chapters five through seven) did Jesus criticize the attitude of conduct that is engaged “…to be seen of men…”? The words in our King James Bible, “to be seen,” were translated from the Greek root for our English word “theatrical.” Jesus specifically condemned performance-based obedience. Notice the rather cryptic response that Jesus gives after each “to be seen” comment. “…they have their reward….” In other words if we obey God with the motive of giving a performance before other people and of gaining their applause, Jesus assures us that we shall indeed succeed. Others will see our theatrical deeds and clap their hands. However, according to Jesus in that context, human applause is the only reward forthcoming from such an attitude. God will not reward such conduct!

You know Lord how I serve You
With great emotional fervor
In the limelight.
You know how eagerly I speak for You
At a women's club.
You know how I effervesce when I promote
A fellowship group.
You know my genuine enthusiasm
At a Bible study.
But how would I react, I wonder,
If you pointed to a basin of water
And asked me to wash the calloused feet
Of a bent and wrinkled old woman
Day after day, month after month
In a room where nobody saw
And nobody knew.

Ruth Harms Calkin

     How much are we willing to invest in our Christian service outside the limelight of human applause? How much are we willing to serve Christ sacrificially and wholly when there is no one around to see or to commend our sacrifice? The answer to this question, my friend, is the true litmus test of our authentic Christian conduct.

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Elder Joseph R Holder
Gospel Gleanings

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(1) James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order., electronic ed. (Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996), G2889.