5aEven so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
6 And aif by grace, then itis no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.1 But if itis of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
7 What then? aIsrael has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were bblinded.
8 Just as it is written: a“God has given them a spirit of stupor, bEyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day.”
9 And David says: a“Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, And bow down their back always.”
Israel’s Rejection Not Final
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But athrough their fall, to provoke them to bjealousy, salvation hascome to the Gentiles.
12 Now if their1 fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as aI am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy thosewhoare my flesh and asave some of them.
15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance beabut life from the dead?
16 For if athe firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 And if asome of the branches were broken off, band you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and1 fatness of the olive tree,
18ado not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, rememberthat you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”
20 Well said. Because of aunbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.
22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you,1 goodness, aif you continue in His goodness. Otherwise byou also will be cut off.
23 And they also, aif they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be awise in your own opinion, that bblindness in part has happened to Israel cuntil the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And so all Israel will be1 saved, as it is written: a“The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For athis is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”
What then? - What is the real state of the case before us? Israel - the body of the Jewish people, have not obtained that which they so earnestly desire, i.e. to be continued, as they have been hitherto, the peculiar people of God; but the election hath obtained it - as many of them as have believed in Jesus Christ, and accepted salvation through him: this is the grand scheme of the election by grace; God chooses to make those his peculiar people who believe in his Son, and none other shall enjoy the blessings of his kingdom. Those who would not receive him are blinded; they have shut their eyes against the light, and are in the very circumstances of those mentioned by the Prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 29:10.
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