Unbelief & It’s Consequences
God has blessed me with a study to help us understand how important it is for us to believe, and walk the word of God. This study is a lot and it’s important that you read it its entirety for clarity. I pray that Christ makes it plain for understanding, edification, and growth! Lets get into it…
To start we must understand who Christ is for us.
John 15: 1- 6 says:
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
This scripture tells us that Christ is the vine that gives us (the branches) life, and God is the husbandman. When you look up husbandman, it is the cultivator of the land, or the farmer. Without the vine giving us life… we are dead.
Now, we are going to look at Romans 11: 17-21
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
We are going to break this scripture down by first defining a key term.
The term is “grafted”. The root of this is Graft.
To Graft is to implant surgically; to cause to unite with a stock (a stock being the breed of a plant).
In horticulture, Grafting is a technique that joins two plants into one. In general, a wound is created on one of the plants, and the other is inserted into that wound so each plant's tissues can grow together. The wound needs to be protected until it heals.
Isaiah 53:5 says “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Now that we have a better understanding of grafted, we can look back at the scripture.
In Romans, verse 17 starts out by stating branches were broken off… Here he is referring to the Jews who were separated from God. (we will go into this more a little later).
It then explains that we (the Gentiles) were of a wild olive tree, and our nature was not of Christ.
“thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree”
We were surgically implanted and united to the righteous olive tree, now able to partake in the goodness of God.
Moving into verse 18, the scripture warns us to not boast against the branches that were broken off. He says that if we boast… it should be in the vine. We could not graft ourselves. We were branches that had to be picked up by the husbandman (God the father) and grafted in.
Verse 19 and 20 says that because the natural branches (the Jews) were broken off, we (the Gentiles) were given the opportunity to come into Christ. Then it explains why the natural branches were broken off… Unbelief.
We were, we are able to partake in Jesus because of our faith! Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
Romans 10:17 says “so then Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
When you read the bible, and you learn of Christ…your behaviors and actions reflect your belief. So when you walk contrary to the word, it shows God that you don’t believe, and when you don’t believe, you are cut off.
The ending of verse 20 says to be not high-minded, but fear…
Verse 21: “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.”
Remember that John 15:2 says “every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away”
You bear fruit through living a life through Christ, and obedience through his word.
If you need a reminder of what bearing fruit looks like…Read Galatians 5: 22-26
Remember to earnestly contend for the Faith
With love,
SOS