“For if God did not spare the natural branches, he may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but towards you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off ” (Rom 11:21-22).

The words “he spare not you either” and “otherwise you also will be cut away” in Romans 11:20–22 have caused many children of God to feel insecure. ‘Will I perhaps also be cut out of the olive tree if I do not persevere in my faith?’ some have anxiously asked themselves. But again with these words the context must be taken into account. In Romans 9–11, God gives us a glimpse of the history and future of the people of Israel in their relationship to Christianity. Chapter 11 is about whether or not Israel has been rejected by God forever because of its rejection of ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More. The olive tree in verses 16–24 represents a group of people who receive special favour (and responsibilities) from God on earth, the root of which is the patriarch Abraham (v. 16; cf. Gen. 12:2, 3). Abraham received far-reaching promises from God and is not only the physical ancestor of Israel, but also the spiritual father of all believers of the present time (cf. ch. 4:16). The original branches of this olive tree were therefore the descendants of Abraham, the children of Israel, but only up to the time when they rejected the Lord Jesus as their MessiahMessiah is a Hebrew word (Maschíach) meaning “the Anointed One.” In the New Testament, the Greek form “the Christ” is used and applied to the Lord Jesus alone. The Jews,... More. Then they were broken out and the nations converted to Christianity were grafted in in their place (the “wild olive tree”). In the present time, therefore, Christendom is the bearer of blessings.

But after the raptureThe rapture of the believers is one of the great mysteries that was unknown in the OT and is only described in the NT (1 Cor 15:51). It describes the... More of the believers, when that which professes to be Christian but does not remain in the goodness of God falls away from Him (2 Thess. 2:3), He will re-establish His relations with Israel. Then the wild branches (the nominal Christians) will be cut out because of their unbelief, and the natural branches (the believing Jews) will be grafted back into their own olive tree. The pronouns “you” and “they” here are not to be understood individually, but collectively. By “they” the people of Israel is meant, and by “you” the whole of Christendom. The focus here is not on any individual person, but on the history and future of Christianity and the people of Israel, in each case seen as a whole. The nominal Christians who will fall away from God are no more believers than the Jews who have rejected the Lord Jesus. So, only unbelievers are cut out, never believers.