“17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree, 18 do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast — you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but beware, 21 because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
“…do not boast that you are better than those branches.” (v. 18a) Paul wants to communicate a warning to the Gentiles: While, yes, you have been brought into the family of God through the disobedience and failures of Israel, the Gentiles ought still to remain humble. It was not, and is not, because of anything that any Gentile did or any Jew did not do that brought salvation to the Gentiles. Rather, it was because of the grace and mercy of God, orchestrated through what He had planned and ordained, that salvation has been brought to the Gentiles. This is a great reminder that we cannot do anything to bring about our own salvation. We have no credit to take in our own redemption. This picture highlights God’s mercy and kindness towards sinners. It also shows how seriously God takes sin, so much so that He removed the tree’s original branches and He will do the same to all of those who remain in unbelief.
Paul cautions that the Gentiles ought not to have an overconfidence in their status: Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but beware, because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. (v. 19-21) Paul is not indicating that those Gentiles who are saved in Christ Jesus have any threat of losing their salvation. Paul spoke back in chapter 8 about the confidence that believers have in their salvation and that it is secured in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. What Paul is telling the Gentiles is this: Do not assume, like Israel, that because God has chosen you and has chosen to give you the opportunity to be saved through faith in Jesus, that you are better than anyone else, most of all the Jews. Do not think, like the Jews, that your inclusion in the community of God is what saves you. This is the same mistake that Israel has made, trusting more in the laws, the rituals, and the covenants than in Jesus the Messiah. These things cannot save, and that is why their branches were removed. The same will happen to any Gentile who befalls the same trap.
When observing Paul’s beautiful illustration, one cannot help but be reminded of the words of Jesus, who is the true vine!
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.” — John 15:1-8
Jesus reveals that the true substance that nourishes and keeps alive the roots of the olive tree is God Himself! God provides the life that is necessary for the believing branches to produce good fruit, and He cuts off those unbelieving branches who strip the tree of its nutrients and produce no good fruit. Truly there is no salvation, and there is no sanctification at any stage without God. In light of this truth, we must be both eternally grateful and humble.