ROM 11
11
The Remnant of Israel
1 Therefore, I raise the question: God has not rejected His people Israel, has He? Absolutely not! For I myself am living proof to the contrary—I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew or chose in eternity past. Or do you not know what the Scripture records concerning Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel in his despair?
3 "Lord, they have murdered Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left as Your faithful servant, and they are seeking to take my life."*
4 But what was the divine response given to him? "I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee in worship to the false god Baal"—a faithful remnant remained.
5 So in the same way, even at the present time there exists a remnant of believing Jews chosen in accordance with God's grace.
6 But if their selection is by grace—God's unmerited favour—it is no longer based on works or human merit; otherwise grace would cease to be grace and would become wages earned.
Israel's Partial Hardening
7 What then is the conclusion? What Israel as a nation is seeking—righteousness and God's favour—this it did not obtain and achieve. But the elect remnant—those chosen by grace—obtained it, and the rest of the nation were hardened in their unbelief.
8 Just as it stands written in Scripture:
"God gave them a spirit of deep dullness,
eyes that do not see spiritual truth
and ears that do not hear the gospel,
continuing until this present day."
9 And David prophetically says in the Psalms:
"Let their table—their very blessings and provisions—become a snare and a trap,
and a stumbling block and a just retribution upon them for their rejection.
10 Let their eyes be darkened and dimmed
so that they cannot see spiritual reality,
and keep their backs bent continually under the burden of their unbelief."*
The Engrafting of Gentiles
11 I ask then, did they stumble with the purpose that they might fall permanently and irreversibly? Absolutely not! But through their trespass and stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles, with the divine purpose of provoking Israel to jealousy and stirring them to seek what the Gentiles have found.
12 Now if their trespass and failure brings spiritual riches and blessing to the world, and their defeat and diminishment brings riches to the Gentiles, how much more abundant blessing will their fullness and restoration bring when they turn to Christ!
13 Now I am speaking directly to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am specifically commissioned as an apostle to the Gentiles, I highly value, honour and magnify my ministry to you,
14 If somehow, through this ministry, I may provoke my own kinsmen according to the flesh to jealousy and thus save some of them by bringing them to faith in Christ.
15 For if their rejection and setting aside brings reconciliation and restoration for the world—the inclusion of Gentiles—what will their acceptance and restoration be, but life from the dead?
16 And if the firstfruits of the harvest are holy and consecrated to God, so is the entire batch of dough; and if the root of the tree is holy, so are the branches that grow from it.
Warning to Gentile Believers
17 Now if some of the natural branches—unbelieving Jews—were broken off from the olive tree, and you, being from a wild olive tree by nature—a Gentile—were grafted in among the remaining branches and became a sharer of the rich nourishment that flows from the root of the cultivated olive tree,
18 Do not boast arrogantly against the natural branches that were broken off. But if you do boast against them, remember and consider this fact: You do not support and sustain the root, but rather the root supports and sustains you.
19 You will then object and say, "Branches were broken off for the specific purpose that I might be grafted in."
20 That is correct and true. They were broken off because of their unbelief and rejection of Christ, but you stand firmly only by your faith in Him. Do not become proud, but rather maintain a healthy fear and reverence.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches—the Jewish people who had every advantage—He certainly will not spare you either if you fall into unbelief.
22 Consider and observe, then, both the kindness and the severity of God: Severity and sternness towards those who have fallen into unbelief; but towards you, the kindness and goodness of God, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off from the tree.
23 And even those natural branches—unbelieving Jews—if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted back in, for God is fully able to graft them in again.
24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted onto a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily and naturally will these natural branches be grafted back onto their own olive tree to which they originally belonged?
Israel's Future Salvation
25 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of this mystery—this truth previously hidden but now revealed—lest you become conceited in your own estimation—that a partial hardening of heart has happened to Israel, and will continue until the full number of the Gentiles has come in to salvation,
26 And in this manner, all Israel—the full number of elect Israel—will be saved and delivered, just as it stands written in the prophets:
"The Deliverer and Redeemer will come out of Zion;
He will turn away and remove ungodliness and sin from Jacob.
27 And this is My covenant promise to them
when I take away and forgive their sins."*
28 With reference to their current response to the gospel, they are enemies of God and opposed to the gospel for your benefit—so that salvation might come to you Gentiles—but with regard to God's electing choice, they are still beloved and cherished for the sake of the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable—He does not revoke His promises or change His mind about those He has called.
30 For just as you Gentiles once lived in disobedience to God, but now have been shown mercy and received salvation because of Israel's disobedience and rejection,
31 So also these Jewish people have now been disobedient to the gospel, so that through the mercy shown to you Gentiles, they also may now receive mercy and be saved—provoked to jealousy by what you have received.
32 For God has consigned and imprisoned all people—both Jews and Gentiles—under disobedience and sin, so that He may show mercy and extend grace to all without distinction, that no one may boast.
Doxology
33 Oh, the depth—the unfathomable profundity—of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable and inscrutable are His judgements and decisions,
and how untraceable and beyond discovery are His ways and methods!
34 "For who has known and understood the mind of the Lord,
or who has served as His counsellor and adviser?"
35 "Or who has first given something to God,
so that God is obligated to repay him as an equivalent debt?"*
36 For from Him as the source, and through Him as the sustaining power, and to Him as the ultimate goal are all things in existence. To Him alone be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Notes
3 Quoted from 1 Kings 19:10, 14
4 Quoted from 1 Kings 19:18
8 Quoted from Deut. 29:4; Is. 29:10
9-10 Quoted from Ps. 69:22-23
26-27 Quoted from Is. 59:20-21; cf. Is. 27:9; Jer. 31:33-34
34 Quoted from Is. 40:13
35 Quoted from Job 41:11
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ROM 11: AFINT
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ROM 11
11
The Remnant of Israel
1 Therefore, I raise the question: God has not rejected His people Israel, has He? Absolutely not! For I myself am living proof to the contrary—I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew or chose in eternity past. Or do you not know what the Scripture records concerning Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel in his despair?
3 "Lord, they have murdered Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left as Your faithful servant, and they are seeking to take my life."*
4 But what was the divine response given to him? "I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee in worship to the false god Baal"—a faithful remnant remained.
5 So in the same way, even at the present time there exists a remnant of believing Jews chosen in accordance with God's grace.
6 But if their selection is by grace—God's unmerited favour—it is no longer based on works or human merit; otherwise grace would cease to be grace and would become wages earned.
Israel's Partial Hardening
7 What then is the conclusion? What Israel as a nation is seeking—righteousness and God's favour—this it did not obtain and achieve. But the elect remnant—those chosen by grace—obtained it, and the rest of the nation were hardened in their unbelief.
8 Just as it stands written in Scripture:
"God gave them a spirit of deep dullness,
eyes that do not see spiritual truth
and ears that do not hear the gospel,
continuing until this present day."
9 And David prophetically says in the Psalms:
"Let their table—their very blessings and provisions—become a snare and a trap,
and a stumbling block and a just retribution upon them for their rejection.
10 Let their eyes be darkened and dimmed
so that they cannot see spiritual reality,
and keep their backs bent continually under the burden of their unbelief."*
The Engrafting of Gentiles
11 I ask then, did they stumble with the purpose that they might fall permanently and irreversibly? Absolutely not! But through their trespass and stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles, with the divine purpose of provoking Israel to jealousy and stirring them to seek what the Gentiles have found.
12 Now if their trespass and failure brings spiritual riches and blessing to the world, and their defeat and diminishment brings riches to the Gentiles, how much more abundant blessing will their fullness and restoration bring when they turn to Christ!
13 Now I am speaking directly to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am specifically commissioned as an apostle to the Gentiles, I highly value, honour and magnify my ministry to you,
14 If somehow, through this ministry, I may provoke my own kinsmen according to the flesh to jealousy and thus save some of them by bringing them to faith in Christ.
15 For if their rejection and setting aside brings reconciliation and restoration for the world—the inclusion of Gentiles—what will their acceptance and restoration be, but life from the dead?
16 And if the firstfruits of the harvest are holy and consecrated to God, so is the entire batch of dough; and if the root of the tree is holy, so are the branches that grow from it.
Warning to Gentile Believers
17 Now if some of the natural branches—unbelieving Jews—were broken off from the olive tree, and you, being from a wild olive tree by nature—a Gentile—were grafted in among the remaining branches and became a sharer of the rich nourishment that flows from the root of the cultivated olive tree,
18 Do not boast arrogantly against the natural branches that were broken off. But if you do boast against them, remember and consider this fact: You do not support and sustain the root, but rather the root supports and sustains you.
19 You will then object and say, "Branches were broken off for the specific purpose that I might be grafted in."
20 That is correct and true. They were broken off because of their unbelief and rejection of Christ, but you stand firmly only by your faith in Him. Do not become proud, but rather maintain a healthy fear and reverence.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches—the Jewish people who had every advantage—He certainly will not spare you either if you fall into unbelief.
22 Consider and observe, then, both the kindness and the severity of God: Severity and sternness towards those who have fallen into unbelief; but towards you, the kindness and goodness of God, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off from the tree.
23 And even those natural branches—unbelieving Jews—if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted back in, for God is fully able to graft them in again.
24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted onto a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily and naturally will these natural branches be grafted back onto their own olive tree to which they originally belonged?
Israel's Future Salvation
25 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of this mystery—this truth previously hidden but now revealed—lest you become conceited in your own estimation—that a partial hardening of heart has happened to Israel, and will continue until the full number of the Gentiles has come in to salvation,
26 And in this manner, all Israel—the full number of elect Israel—will be saved and delivered, just as it stands written in the prophets:
"The Deliverer and Redeemer will come out of Zion;
He will turn away and remove ungodliness and sin from Jacob.
27 And this is My covenant promise to them
when I take away and forgive their sins."*
28 With reference to their current response to the gospel, they are enemies of God and opposed to the gospel for your benefit—so that salvation might come to you Gentiles—but with regard to God's electing choice, they are still beloved and cherished for the sake of the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable—He does not revoke His promises or change His mind about those He has called.
30 For just as you Gentiles once lived in disobedience to God, but now have been shown mercy and received salvation because of Israel's disobedience and rejection,
31 So also these Jewish people have now been disobedient to the gospel, so that through the mercy shown to you Gentiles, they also may now receive mercy and be saved—provoked to jealousy by what you have received.
32 For God has consigned and imprisoned all people—both Jews and Gentiles—under disobedience and sin, so that He may show mercy and extend grace to all without distinction, that no one may boast.
Doxology
33 Oh, the depth—the unfathomable profundity—of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable and inscrutable are His judgements and decisions,
and how untraceable and beyond discovery are His ways and methods!
34 "For who has known and understood the mind of the Lord,
or who has served as His counsellor and adviser?"
35 "Or who has first given something to God,
so that God is obligated to repay him as an equivalent debt?"*
36 For from Him as the source, and through Him as the sustaining power, and to Him as the ultimate goal are all things in existence. To Him alone be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Notes
3 Quoted from 1 Kings 19:10, 14
4 Quoted from 1 Kings 19:18
8 Quoted from Deut. 29:4; Is. 29:10
9-10 Quoted from Ps. 69:22-23
26-27 Quoted from Is. 59:20-21; cf. Is. 27:9; Jer. 31:33-34
34 Quoted from Is. 40:13
35 Quoted from Job 41:11
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).