Romans 11:11–15

So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

• The nation of Israel was chosen as God’s people. However, through their disobedience and lack of repentance, their relationship with the Lord grew distant, leading to discipline. Yet, this does not mean they are eternally rejected. When they repent and return to the Lord, the path to salvation is opened once again.

• The Lord uses various methods to bring them back to Him. One such way is preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, allowing them to experience the abundance of God’s grace and love.

• Watching this, the descendants of Israel, seeing Gentiles—who were not originally God’s people—receive the Lord’s grace, are stirred in their hearts, gaining an opportunity to repent and return to the Lord themselves.

• The stumbling of Israel became, in effect, a channel for Gentiles to believe in God and receive blessings. However, it is stated that if the people of Israel who had left the Lord return to believe and obey God again, God’s grace will flow even more abundantly throughout the whole world.

• What does this mean?

• Even today, there are Christians who, after believing in Jesus, have drifted from their faith and fallen into corruption. They may sometimes receive the Lord’s discipline and appear as if they are completely abandoned. However, when they repent, obey the Lord’s word, and return, they can once again experience the Lord’s grace, love, and salvation.

• As long as one is alive on this earth, an opportunity to return to the Lord is given. However, after departing this world, no further opportunity for repentance is granted. Therefore, we must turn our hearts to the Lord today, repent, and live a life of obedience, keeping the faith until the end.

Romans 11:17–21

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in!” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

• A portion of the olive tree is broken off, and in its place, a wild olive branch is grafted in, receiving nourishment from the root of the true olive tree and bearing good fruit.

• However, the grafted wild olive branch becomes arrogant. The reason the true olive branch was broken off is that it failed to bear proper fruit.

• Furthermore, if the grafted wild olive branch bears good fruit at first but later bears evil fruit, it will likewise be cut off by the owner.

• The true olive tree refers to the people of Israel chosen by God. Initially, they obeyed the Lord’s word and received the abundance of God’s grace and love. They bore good fruit.

• However, as time passed, God’s people became arrogant. They served idols, disobeyed the Lord’s word, and did not repent of their sins. On the outside, they still appeared to believe in God. But their hearts had drifted far from the Lord.

• As a result, they received the Lord’s discipline. Various tribulations and difficulties came, and when they did not repent, they suffered invasions by Gentile nations and lost many things. Whenever they reached desperate situations and cried out in repentance, the Lord showed compassion and restored them to a certain extent.

• But after some time had passed, they would again forget the Lord’s grace, become arrogant, and return to a life of disobedience and lack of repentance. God sent many prophets to urge them to repent, but they refused to hear the Lord’s word and persecuted those prophets. And when Jesus came and urged them to repent, they even nailed Jesus to the cross and killed Him.

• What we must realize through this word is that living a life of obedience to the Lord’s word is more important than the act of being chosen as God’s people.

• Anyone who believes in and accepts Jesus Christ as Savior becomes a child of God. But after that, one must continue to live a life of obeying the Lord’s word and repenting of sins.

• Going to church is not an end in itself; living within God’s word is what is important. If one lives a life of faith but remains disobedient to the Word and unrepentant, they are walking the path of destruction again.

• Gentiles are compared to a wild olive branch. The true olive tree is the nation of Israel.

• Because they were disobedient, they were cut off. In their place, Gentiles were grafted in to participate in God’s grace. This was achieved solely by the grace of the Lord’s cross.

• Therefore, we must not be arrogant but bear beautiful fruit. That beautiful fruit is a life lived in obedience to the Lord’s word and daily repentance. Human misconceptions and various temptations weaken obedience and repentance.

• We must overcome the temptations of the world and keep the faith until the end. We must follow the Lord’s will. Only those who keep the faith until the end and remain in the Lord will enter the kingdom of God.

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Romans 11:22–24

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

• The presence of God includes both kindness and severity. Those who remain in God’s kindness receive the Lord’s grace, but those who stay outside that kindness are placed under the Lord’s judgment.

• God is love. Those who strive to love and follow God’s will remain in the Lord’s love, but those who reject love and leave the Lord’s will cannot fully enjoy that grace.

• In short, those who strive to repent of sin and obey the Lord’s word remain under the Lord’s protection and grace, whereas those who are disobedient and do not repent distance themselves from God’s grace.

• Due to the grace of Jesus’ cross, Gentiles also become God’s people if they believe in Jesus as Savior. Also, fallen people of Israel or Christians who have left the Lord can be grafted back into the Lord if they repent and obey again.

• The word means that if Gentiles, who were like wild olive trees, were grafted in by God’s grace, then the people of Israel, who were originally branches of the true olive tree but were cut off, can be grafted back in even more easily when they repent.

• Therefore, those who believed in Jesus but have fallen away or have fallen into human doctrines must quickly return to the Lord’s word. As long as a person is alive on this earth, there is always an opportunity to return to the Lord.

• The Lord is patiently waiting for all unbelievers and Christians who have left the Lord to return to Him.

• All humans are sinners and deficient beings. Therefore, everyone must strive to believe in Jesus, repent, and obey. When they do, the Lord will have compassion on us, wash away our sins with the blood of Jesus, and lead us on the path of salvation.

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Romans 11:25

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

• God has determined the number of people to be saved. Until that number is fully met, God governs the history of this earth and continues the history of salvation through the gospel. In this process, when Israel—who were chosen first—distanced themselves from the path of salvation through rebellion, God widened the door of salvation to include Gentiles, filling the "full number" He had planned. Finally, when all the heavenly citizens predestined by God are filled, the history of this earth will be completed with the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Romans 9:28

"For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay."

• God is the One who inevitably fulfills the work He has begun. The Lord wants all people to be saved, but when those who believed first are disobedient, stubborn, and do not turn back, God leaves them for a while and continues the work of salvation through others. However, this is not eternal abandonment, but holds the deep intent of God, waiting for the fallen to realize their sins and return to the Word.

Romans 11:29–32

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable... For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

• God’s calling has no regret. We are all essentially sinners, but anyone who comes to the Lord and repents is saved. There is not a single person in the world who can be saved by their own righteousness by perfectly keeping the law.

• We are all simply deficient sinners. That is why the Lord has compassion on those who strive to repent and obey, forgives them through the blood of Jesus Christ, and saves them.

• Whether Jew or Gentile, all people can be saved only by God’s mercy. Therefore, no one can boast of their own merit. The reason humans cannot escape the shackles of sin is that they cannot discard their own greed and pride.

• Nevertheless, the Lord pours out the fullness of the Holy Spirit on those who earnestly long to repent and obey, and leads them to keep the faith until the end and reach the completion of salvation.

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Romans 11:33–36

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

• The deep wisdom and knowledge of God cannot be measured by humans, and no one fully knows the ways of God. Who can know the mind of God, and who can teach God? Who can give to God first and receive repayment from Him?

• With a finite and narrow human mind, one cannot fathom the infinitely great and wide will and plan of God. Since all things belong to God, who can say they gave something to God first and demand compensation for it? God leads various people in different ways. Who can fully understand those deep and mysterious ways?

• All things and humans came from God, and eventually, return to God. God created man upright, but humans devise many schemes and commit sins to fulfill their own greed.

Ecclesiastes 7:29

See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

• God leads each person delicately according to their circumstances and situation. Those who follow the Lord’s leading, repent of their sins, and obey attain salvation, but those who follow their own greed and reject the Lord’s leading until the end reach destruction.

• All people must receive God’s teaching and achieve the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness. True happiness and peace can only be enjoyed within the order of God’s love. Sin destroys the order of God’s kingdom and plunges people into suffering.

• Even after becoming God’s people, humans commit sins because they are weak. But every time that happens, they must realize their sin, repent, and return to the order of God’s love. This is the faith that leads one to salvation, and it is the true life of faith.

• Jesus Christ alone is the Savior of humanity. Only the blood of Jesus has the power to wash away and forgive human sin. Humans cannot reach salvation through their own good deeds or merits, but receive salvation only through faith in the grace of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God who came to this earth in human form, opened the way of salvation by dying on the cross and resurrecting.

• Therefore, we must not rely on our own righteousness but believe in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins daily, and live a life of obedience to the Lord’s word. That path is the path of life, the path that leads to the kingdom of God.

• All glory, praise, and honor belong solely to God, who created and governs all things with love and grace.

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Romans 12:1–5

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

• Offering our bodies as a holy living sacrifice to God means entrusting our entire lives to the Lord’s will and living according to the Lord’s word. A life that obeys God’s will rather than following the desires and thoughts of the flesh is the true spiritual worship that God desires.

• Conversely, living according to the values of the world and attending worship only on Sundays cannot be the complete worship that God desires. God wants not only our lips but our entire lives to be offered to the Lord.

• Do not be conformed to the appearance of the fallen world. Renew your mind with the word of Christ. Live a transformed life. Learn what the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God is through the Bible, and practice His good will in our lives.

• God’s will is to repent of sin, forgive one another, help one another, and love one another. Abandon excessive greed, and strive for harmony with your neighbor while sacrificing yourself.

• Discard a proud heart and serve your neighbor with a humble heart. This is the new life that God desires.

• God’s will is always good and perfect. God desires to establish the kingdom and righteousness of God on this earth and give people true peace and harmony.

• However, human greed tainted by sin is self-centered and causes strife and division. If something does not align with their own thoughts, they easily choose to complain, hate, and become enemies.

• Human doctrines defend human desires rather than God’s will, leading people away from God’s will. Human doctrines say that because God is love, repentance and obedience are not important.

• However, the Bible says that because God is love, we must necessarily learn to forgive and love one another.

• Therefore, there are always mixed among the church people who bear the fruit of love and those who do not. True faith is changing one’s life for the better through repentance and obedience.

• People who repent and live a new life following the Lord’s word live while looking toward the kingdom of God. However, there are many church members who cling to the greed of the world until the end and prioritize their fleshly thoughts over God’s word.

• Everyone is living in a fallen world. All Christians must live by holding onto God’s word and repenting every day. They must always check the state of their hearts and protect their souls from Satan and sin.

• Humble yourself before the word of God. One must train to renew oneself until entering heaven.