The Children Of The Covenant
Vine and graft
The True Children Of Abraham
The children of Abraham are those who obey the Law of Moses out of heartfelt faith and obedience, not from mere observance of external rituals and the performance of good works. Jesus' recurrent complaint against the Pharisees was that they were so busy observing the last jot and tittle of the Law of Moses they forgot their love for the God of Moses and his commands to show his love to others, including the poor and the dispossessed living among them. Hence God's complaint in ISAIAH Chapter 5 about their oppression and violence.
Fathful Israel & Believers In Christ
Paul goes on to emphasise in ROMANS Chapter 11 that both believing and faithful Israel and believing and faithful followers of Jesus Christ are part of the same stock.
I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning.
So this is the situation: most of the people of Israel have not found the favour of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have—the ones God has chosen—but the hearts of the rest were hardened. As the Scriptures say, “God has put them into a deep sleep. To this day he has shut their eyes so they do not see, and closed their ears so they do not hear....”
"You Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root."
“Well,” you may say, “those branches were broken off to make room for me.”
Yes, but remember — those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either.
Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.
