Verse 22
Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
Kindness refers to the fact that Gentile believers have heard the Gospel, believed it and have been grafted into the body of Christ as a result. Severity refers to divine discipline. In the case of Israel’s rejection of Jesus Christ as their Messiah, God removed them as His client nation and transferred that privilege to Gentile nations. The cycles of discipline for a nation who rejects Jesus Christ are found in Leviticus 26. The final or fifth cycle of discipline from God is the removal of a nation as His representative (client nation status).
Verse 23-24
And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more shall these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
The broken branches, representing the Jewish unbelievers, have hope of being grafted back into the olive tree by following the pattern of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in believing in Jesus Christ as Savior. As long as a person is alive, there is hope; whether they are Jews or Gentiles. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the means by which we enter into union with Christ. The Gentiles are pictured as branches of a wild olive tree which are brought to a cultivated olive tree and grafted in. The broken branches (Jewish unbelievers) have denied their spiritual heritage. The cultivated olive tree of the Old Testament was Israel with its spiritual heritage, the Law and the prophets.
If God does the most for the Gentiles at the point of salvation, He cannot withhold less from the Jews at the moment that they believe in Christ. So, Jews and Gentiles become one in Christ. God will graft in the natural branches [the racial Jews] whose spiritual heritage is salvation by grace through faith in Jehovah (Jesus Christ as He was revealed in the Old Testament).
Verse 25-27
For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come, and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” “And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
Mystery is a technical word here, referring to the Church Age. To be wise in your own estimation is to be arrogant from ignorance. Rejecting Bible doctrine produces arrogance. Ignorance of doctrine is tantamount to rejection of doctrine. The reason so many Christians are ignorant of Bible doctrine is that they do not have the personal discipline to study and learn it consistently over the course of their lives. Perception and proper application of accurate Bible doctrine destroys the potential of arrogance through ignorance.
Each rejection of Bible doctrine adds a layer of scar tissue to the soul so that the brilliant IQ of many is neutralized by arrogance and blackout of the soul. Therefore, the Jewish unbeliever, because of scar tissue on the soul, comes to believe a lie – that Christ is not the Messiah, that Christ is not the God of Israel and that He is not the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. The partial hardening means that all Jews do not follow the pattern of rejection of Christ as Savior, some of them believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Pleroma” is the Greek word Paul used for fulness, which means a completion, a finish, the full content of some container, a great mass or the whole sum of something, a totality or a full measure of. It is a reference to the dispensation of the Church, from the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to the Rapture of the Church. The resurrection of the Church (Rapture) terminates the Church Age and/or the fullness of the Gentiles so that the Jewish Age can be continued and concluded (Tribulation). During the Millennium, Israel is restored as a client nation and the nation generally speaking will turn back to God, as Jesus Christ rules on the earth.
As it stands written introduced documentation from the Old Testament Scriptures, in Isaiah 27:9 and 59:20. Paul quoted from these two verses and put together something to indicate that even though the Jews are now out as the client nation under the fifth cycle of discipline, and scattered throughout the world until the Second Coming of Christ, God still has a purpose for them. Jacob refers to the nation and it means here that the unbelievers will be removed. The concept of the restoration of Israel is found in a number of passages. (Isaiah 5:26-27; 10:20-23; 11:11-16; Joel 2:18-19; Zechariah 10:6-12)
The New Covenant to Israel is fulfilled at the Second Coming with the restoration of Israel as a client nation to God. It is given to Jewish believers who form the nucleus of the restored client nation of the Millennium. These Jewish believers will have survived the Tribulation. Taking away their sin actually refers to the fifth cycle of discipline being lifted during the Millennium. In other words, He is not going to remove sins, He is going to remove the punishment for their sin which is the 5th cycle of discipline.
Verse 28-29
From the standpoint of the Gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
The New Covenant authorizes the election of the Royal Family of God during the times of the Gentiles to replace the Jews as God’s people in this dispensation only. God’s people in the Church Age are all Jews and Gentiles who believe in Christ. The moment they do they are so signified as God’s people through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The scripture for the new contract is found in Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; II Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 7:22; 9:15-20; 10:29; 12:24. These are one-sentence citations authorizing a new contract during the time when the Jews, as a client nation and as God’s people, are temporarily being disciplined under the fifth cycle of discipline.
The key to the new contract to the Church is the function of the royal priesthood of believers inside any Gentile client nation. In effect, the New Covenant to the Church voids temporarily the covenant promises to Israel. Distinction therefore must be made between the New Covenant to the Church, which pertains to the dispensation of the Church and the New Covenant to Israel, which pertains to the Millennial reign of Christ.
The New Covenant to the Church has a universal priesthood of all believers while the New Covenant to Israel in the Millennium has a specialized priesthood in client nation Israel during the reign of Christ. The New Covenant to the Church establishes a royal family of God forever while the New Covenant to Israel establishes Israel as a client nation in the Millennium. This distinction becomes one of the fundamental differences between Israel and the Church, and between the Age of Israel and the dispensation of the Church. Client nation function of Israel was discontinued in AD 70, and the only client nations that will function from AD 70 until the Rapture are Gentile client nations who have received the spiritual heritage which once belonged to Israel.
Why is Israel regarded as God’s enemy? The Jewish unbelievers are excluded from the family of God therefore they are regarded by God in terms of the anthropopathism, enemies. This is the divine viewpoint. God regards and treats as enemies Jewish unbelievers of the Church Age for the sake of Gentile believers who possess the righteousness of God through faith in Christ.
The word fathers emphasizes the Jewish believers of the dispensation of Israel. Jewish believers in the Church Age have no Jewish covenant but they are still under a contract from God, they are under the New Covenant to the Church. The election of their fathers was related to client nation Israel. There is no client nation Israel during the Church Age, therefore the Jews can fit into the picture only by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and becoming a member of the Royal Family of God. Therefore, there is a true Israel in every generation of the Church Age, which is composed of any Jew who personally receives Christ as His Savior. The term fathers has a special reference to the origin of the Jewish race through regeneration.
The Greek word for gifts is “charisma,” which refers to what is freely and graciously given. So the correct translation is “for the grace benefits.” The Greek word for calling is “klesis,” which means election to privilege. Grace benefits entail two principles of doctrine: 1) the justice of God imputes to the believer the righteousness of God 2) establishing the grace pipeline for blessing in time. Grace benefits are what come from the justice of God down the grace pipeline to the righteousness of God, which was imputed to us at our salvation. So the grace benefits are twofold: 1) logistical grace blessings and 2) special grace blessings. These blessings from God, once given, cannot be revoked.
Election to privilege, which is based on faith in Christ, means that God has a plan, purpose and will for the life of each believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, it is up to the individual believer to discover that plan and fulfill it. In each dispensation God provides for the believer in Christ irrevocable election from God and irrevocable grace benefits from God. Can the Jew get along in a dispensation where Israel is not a client nation? Of course he can. Paul is the perfect illustration. God has not cast off His people. Therefore the issue for the Jews is to believe in Christ whether Israel is a client nation or not. Blessing for the nation of Israel has always been based on God’s blessing to the remnant of believers within the nation; all others have been blessed by association with the remnant.