Unlimited: You Stand by Faith
May 31, 2023 704
You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith (Romans 11:19–20a).
The branches that were broken off were those Jews who rejected Christ and did not believe. The branches that were grafted in are the Gentile believers. Notice that not all branches were broken off.
The point the apostle is making is that the Gentile believers have no reason to look down upon the Jews, because if their rejection of Christ was based on unbelief, it is equally true that the Gentiles stand in the family of God by faith. If it is by faith, it isn’t by works. The Gentiles have nothing about which to boast.
Our salvation from beginning to end is by the grace of God, through faith. We stand by faith.
There is an important principle in what Paul is telling us here. Israel was “broken off because of unbelief” and the Gentiles “stand by faith”. Some people think that they are saved by believing in Jesus and that then they keep their salvation by being obedient to God. However, our salvation from beginning to end is by the grace of God, through faith. We stand by faith.
Correspondingly, we can be lost the same way that we are saved. Just as we were saved by believing in Christ, so too, once saved, the only way that we will be lost is by ceasing to believe in him.
Spiritual Application
Christians of different churches, confessions, and denominations have been considering themselves superior to other believers, and looking down on them, since the beginning of Christianity. How have you overcome this wrong type of thinking?
By trusting in Jesus Christ as MY ONLY HOPE!!!
Okurut Martin
Jun 1, 2023
Good theology. Faith is a ground level to all blessings and miracles. 90% of Christians today rely on the shadow of belief forgetting the real context of faith and some undertake belief as faith which is not true. Faith quickens the spirit to do the needful.