Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

When we left off yesterday, Paul was explaining that we must talk about the gospel of

Christ because people can't believe in a God whose truth they've never heard. And since God has promised to save people from among every nation, then his people have got to

start spreading the good news. There's been considerable focus on getting the word out to the Gentiles,

so Paul opens Chapter 11 with some details about the future of ethnic Israel. Has God written them off?

Paul says, absolutely not. The elect among ethnic Israel

have been preserved as a remnant, just like God did in Elijah's Day. Those who know God will be

preserved. But as always, the people who know God aren't divided along ethnic lines, but along faith lines.

In verse 2, Paul says God has never rejected his elect in the past,

and that remains true in the present. In verse 5, he says, so too at the present time there is a

remnant, chosen by grace. Salvation has always only come to us by the grace given by God. Some

received it, and sadly, some didn't. And because God wants his kingdom to be full and

diverse, then their rejection is the opportunity to spread the gospel to the Gentiles. But even with

that, God's using it as an opportunity to entice ethnic Israel back to himself. He loves them.

Paul compares this relationship to a branch, which is a familiar image. In John 15, Jesus said

he is the vine and we are the branches, and here Paul continues the metaphor. He says the original

branches are made up of ethnic Israel. But those who rejected Christ and proved to be dead

branches, like Judas, for instance, they got trimmed off. And in the vacancy they left behind on the branch,

God the gardener took some wild branches, the Gentiles, and grafted them into that empty spot,

making the vine lush and full. But Paul warns the Gentiles, don't you dare get boastful about this?

You didn't graft yourself in, you didn't earn this, you were a wild branch. You're only here because of the

gardener's kindness. He says to pay attention to the kindness and the severity of God. His severity

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