11:17,18
Now Paul turns to the Gentile believers. As stated in the previous verse, they are holy, fully accepted by the Lord. They need to realise this, whatever some Jews might say. They had no need to feel inferior, but neither did that have any grounds for feeling superior. Some of the branches (i.e. unbelieving Israel)were broken off, and believing Gentiles were grafted in, but the Gentiles must not become proud. Pride was part of the Jewish problem. The Gentile believers were feeding off the root of the Olive tree, and the roots were Jewish. To put it another way, the New Testament is built upon the Old Testament. Neither makes any sense without the other.
11:19,20
“The branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in”. Maybe, but they were broken off because of their unbelief. Any Jews who believed were kept in, such Peter and Paul and the other apostles. If the Gentile believers wanted to remain in the kingdom they needed to “stand fast through faith”. They must not become arrogant or proud, but should have a holy fear. And this applies to all of us.
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