Today, we find ourselves in the book of Romans.
Let's examine the verses that are used to say we can lose our salvation.
Romans 11:17-23
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.
Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
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.
And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
Those who reject the idea that God keeps us say that Paul is saying that some of Israel had their salvation taken from them (they were broken off) due to their unbelief, and we were given salvation.
If we walk in unbelief (disobedience), we too will lose our salvation.
Is this what these verses say? Let's find out.
First, as always, when in doubt, we should turn to God to find out what the reality of the situation is.
The Rock of our salvation tells us that all those whom the Father gives Him, will come to Him. He will give them eternal life. They will never perish and He will lose none of them.
This is the truth, the very words of God, that we should stand on when we examine all verses that may be dealing with the security of God.
From this perspective, we automatically know that these verses aren't saying that anybody has lost their salvation.
Secondly, now that we know what these verses can't possibly be saying, we have to find out what they do say.
To do this, we look to the context these verses are in. This, however, doesn't start from the beginning of this chapter, but chapter 9.
When we start from Romans 9, by the time we reach Romans 11, our understanding of what Paul is saying in these verses becomes clear.
In Romans 9, Paul tells us that he has great sorrow for his fellow israelites.
He also gives us insight into the spiritual reality of the israelites.
Romans 9:6-8
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 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.
To a lot of us, this is a shocking revelation.
There are actually two sets of Israels... as it were. Those who are called Israel due to blood lineage, and those who are called Israel by blood and faith lineage.
Those in the former group are not really Israel even though they are related to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by blood.
You see, it was never God's intention to raise up a people for Himself that were only His people by virtue of Him causing them to be a people. If that was the case, He would have never called Abraham in the first place, as God created all people everywhere and there would be no differencw between doing that and creating Israel.
The purpose was the have a people who were His by virtue of having a relationship with Him.
This is why we also read the following in Romans 9.
Romans 9:27, 29
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:
And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
He then goes on to say...
Romans 9:30-32
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Paul continues to reveal to us his heart as well as the the state of Israel in chapter 10.
Romans 10:1-3
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
When we get into chapter 11, Paul tells us that God has not given up on Israel, but based on what he previously told us about not everyone that is of Israel are really of Israel, that we can clearly see God's constant securing of those who were saved in the old testament.
Romans 11:1-5
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.
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Paul continues this distinction between the two Israels by saying...
Romans 11:7
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
Now, since we've seen what Paul has said in the build up to the verses that are being used, let's look at them again.
In our verses Paul mentions that the natural branches have been broken off (v. 17)
If the branches being broken off means that some of Israel lost their salvation, we definitely have a problem.
But clearly, from all that we saw before, that is not the case.
The imagery we have here are branches. We know that the branches represent the people of Israel, so going by the previous information, the root would be Abraham (his faith or the blessings due to his faith).
We must not forget though, that Paul told us that there are two Israels.
So which Israel is being represented by these broken branches? Is it only those of the physical Israel, the spiritual Israel or a bit of both?
Well, this talk about branches and roots should bring to mind the words of Jesus.
John 15:1-2, 6
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
According to Jesus, the only branches that are ever broken off, are those that don't bear fruit. And we know from the parable of the 4 soils, that only those who are saved bear fruit.
So the branches that are broken off, are those of physical Israel. In other words, these broken branches aren't those who once had salvation and lost it, but those of whom it's become manifest that they are not of the real... spiritual... Israel.
Remember, if the root is Abraham... or Abraham's faith, the natural branches would be the children of Israel, as it's through Abraham's lineage that God brought the children of Israel into being. This is why they're the natural branches. But, seeing as how righteousness (salvation) isn't hereditary, being the natural branches means nothing if their faith isn't the same as Abraham's.
Continuing on, Paul tells us that we shouldn't boast in the fact that God broke off some of the natural branches. We should remember that we don't have salvation because we were found worthier than those who were of the house of Israel by lineage.
We are told that the branches were broken off due to unbelief. We were grafted in because we believed. Our belief wasn't of our own at all, but was of God. It was nothing but mercy and grace towards us. It's because of this that he tells us that we should be fearful because if God didn't spare the natural branches, those who were direct descendants of Abraham... those who were literally set apart by God as a unique people onto Himself... why do we think God would spare us, who were never so priviledged by God?
But here's the issue, people take this as a passage about us being able to lose our salvation. Is that right?
Remember, only those who don't bear fruit will be broken off. Those who are saved, will bear fruit. So who is it, among the gentiles, that will be cut off?
Paul is making a comparison here. Some of the natural branches, because they didn't believe, were cut off. They didn't have salvation because they weren't seeking it by faith, which is why they didn't believe. Likewise, those gentiles who are in the church, but also don't believe, will be cut off just the same.
With the same severity God dealt with those natural branches, He will deal with the grafted branches as well.
And just like He's able to cut them off due to their unbelief, He's able to graft them back in again when they believe.
If we were to read these verses outside of their intended context, it's easy to see how people can make the mistake that it's talking about people being able to lose their salvation. But when we examine the context, take into consideration the imagery presented, and remember the words of our Lord, we see that it's not talking about people losing their salvation at all.
Instead it primarily deals with how the children of Israel, as the people of God, has unbelievers among their ranks. These have been revealed.
God used their unbelief to usher in a new covenant, grafting gentiles into the root of Abraham. We, who are Gentiles, shouldn't be boastful, because just like Israel, we too have unbelievers in our ranks, who will also be revealed and cut off.
It's truly a shame how those who deny the security of God, make every attempt to deny and contradict, not only the words He inspired His people to write down, but the very words He Himself has spoken. They are content to cut and twist scriptures that were given in order to grow us in perfection, ministry, and edification, in order to prove Christ Jesus wrong.
Join us next time as we take a look at more verses used to deny the words of the Lord, Christ Jesus.
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