ROMANS 11:21

“for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.”

Have you ever been spared a punishment for something you deserved? We probably all have at some point in our lives. But there are also occasions when we are not spared and have to suffer what comes. If you are hanging out with the wrong crowd and do something that is unlawful, you can expect to not be spared by law enforcement. My wife and I see that all the time on our favorite Police reality show. All the talking in the world won’t get you off. You are now facing the consequences.

Paul warns the Gentiles in today’s verse that they can expect to be treated the same way God treats the unbelieving Jews if they turn from Him. He is not going to spare them either. God is just and holy and cannot simply ignore rebellion. Paul has been telling us that the Jews who rejected Jesus would be dealt with by God. But now he tells the Gentiles the same. The old saying “What is good for the goose is good for the gander” definitely applies here.

APPLICATION

Albert Barnes explains this verse well. “If God did not refrain from rejecting the Jews who became unbelievers, assuredly he will not refrain from rejecting you in the same circumstances. It may be supposed that he will be quite as ready to reject the ingrafted branches, as to cast off those which belonged to the parent stock. The situation of the Gentiles is not such as to give them any security over the condition of the rejected Jew.”

In 2 Peter 2:4-5 we see this word for “spare” used twice in a most definitive way. “4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;” Whoa! And you think you should be spared for disobedience? I think not.

We saw the same word used earlier in Romans 8:32 when Paul wrote that God “did not spare His Own Son.” Sin determines God’s response. Because Jesus Who was sinless became as sin for us by taking on all our sins, God could not spare His life. He gave His life as a ransom for us. We were spared judgment because God did not spare Him. Double Whoa! Aren’t you grateful? I sure am. Therefore, live your lives as being worthy of that.

Father God, thank You for sparing me from Your judgment through the blood of Jesus.

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