Therefore consider the kindness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, kindness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Truth to Learn
God demonstrates both His goodness and His severity!
Behind the Words
“Kindness” is translated from the Greek word chrēstotēs, which is based on the noun chrēstos, meaning “employed” or “useful.” Chrēstotēs refers to “goodness, kindness, usefulness, or moral excellence.” It is part of the natural character of God’s being.
In light of the metaphor that Paul has been using, that of an olive tree with branches being cut-off and others being grafted in, his use of the word “severity” here is quite intriguing. This is translated from the Greek word apotomia, which is made up of apo, meaning “from” or “away from” and a form of temnō, meaning “to cut.” So, you see, even though it is commonly translated as “severity” it literally means “cut-off-ness.” This is also part of God’s character and an apt description of Him, given the metaphor of olive branch cutting and engrafting.
Meaning Explained
Paul has just issued a warning to us Gentiles not to be arrogant regarding the fact that God cut-off the Jews as a people and grafted us in. He is now showing two of the qualities of God; on the one hand, kindness, and on the other hand, severity. We all want to think of God’s kindness and the fact that “God is love,” but we tend to overlook His severity and the fact that He is holy (perfectly righteous and without sin). His holiness also means that He must judge sin and separate the sinner from Himself. That’s very severe!
Keep in mind that Paul is portraying God as the holy gardener. A good gardener knows that useless and dying branches must be cut off and other branches engrafted if the tree is going to continue to flourish. In a typical olive grove, trees are often hundreds of years old due to proper cutting (severity) and careful in-grafting (goodness).
Let me pause to clarify who Paul is talking to in these verses. Beginning back in verse seventeen, the use of the second person personal pronoun “you” is “you singular,” not “you plural.” In the King James Version you will notice the use of “thee” or “thou,” not “you.” Therefore, some might interpret this part of Romans eleven as a warning that a person can lose his or her salvation if he or she stops believing. However, notice that throughout this passage Paul is contrasting Jews and Gentiles, not believers and unbelievers. In the Bible, individual nations are often referred to in the second person singular. Therefore, these warnings are to individual Gentiles or individual Gentile nations, not individual believers.
Paul is telling us that God has shown severity (cut-off-ness) to those who have fallen (Jews, plural, who refused to believe), but He has shown kindness to individual Gentiles or Gentile nations. This goodness is in the form of “the fatness of the root” as he told us in verse seventeen. Paul now restates his warning to the Gentile nations that if we don’t continue in His goodness, we as a people or a nation, will also be cut-off.
Application
There are many nations today that receive the blessing of God’s goodness, but there is coming a day when the church will be removed and the Gentile nations will receive God’s severity (cut-off-ness) because of their lack of belief. They will be cut-off, and God will once again engraft the Jewish people.
In God's service, for His glory,
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