At JC Studies, our Testament-connecting approach arises from a desire to know the Father as Jesus did and to know the Son as his disciples did. Dwight Pryor called it Olive Tree Theology, based on Paul’s analogy in Romans 11. Come, explore how covenant’s holy root nourishes Spirit-fruit in and through you.

Each tree is known by its own fruit. – Luke 6:44

I want to share some thoughts with you about how a holy root produces good spiritual fruit. More specifically, using Paul’s metaphor in Romans 11, I want to explore what I call “olive tree theology,” and how it nurtures the faith of those who follow Jesus: If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches (11:16).

In classic Protestant theological analysis, Romans 9, 10, and 11 are considered a parenthesis in Paul’s train of thought.

In fact, some great scholars of the past have even questioned why Paul included this section. It doesn’t seem to fit what they believe to be the principal theme of Romans, which is justification by faith—that which has to do with how you and I are saved.

The distinguished scholar C.E.B. Cranfield went so far as suggesting that this must have been an old synagogue sermon the apostle Paul had given, and, for some inexplicable reason, he decided to add it at this point in his letter. A godly Presbyterian minister who attended one of our discipleship schools told me he had preached through the book of Romans six times in his life as a pastor. In every instance, he said, he had understood it and treated it as a parenthesis, an afterthought that didn’t relate to chapters 1 through 8.

This mentality, this approach, effectively relegates chapters 9-11 to a lower level of importance. In other words, you have to pay some attention to it, but not a lot, because the real story goes from 1 through 8, and then it picks up again with chapter 12.

Let us ask an honest and crucial question: Is that true?

More recent analysis of Paul’s thinking and theological complexity has shown that, to the contrary, 9, 10, and 11 actually serve as the climax of his thought in Romans. It is God’s good news that Paul is talking about in Romans. It is, therefore, far more than just how an individual gets saved. In his own words, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God (1:1).

[…] the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ (1:2-6).

This good news is for the nations and has much to say to those who are saved out of the nations—people like you and me, who are, most likely, Gentiles (non-Jews). We have been joined to God’s redemptive story with Israel. As Peter says, once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people (1 Pet 2:10).

Ours is a story that began long ago and continues to this day.

The Gospel is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob keeping his promise to a family he chose as his representatives on earth. In Jesus, the mystery is revealed: we have been joined to that redemptive story.

So in Romans 11:13, Paul says, Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles. What he has to say in the following verses is directed to the Gentile believers in the assembly at Rome. We know from earlier in his letter that there are also Jewish believers in this diverse kingdom community. But in what follows, he has something he wants Gentiles to hear and understand.

Before continuing in Romans 11, I want to set the context of Paul’s thinking. To do so, try to imagine the dilemma Gentiles presented to his uniquely Jewish worldview. We find that expressed powerfully in his letter to the church at Ephesus: Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh […] remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (2:11-12).

By at one time, he means in your former state, before you believed and experienced regeneration. Notice that Paul is still calling the believers in Yeshua who are of non-Jewish birth, Gentiles. This can be a little tricky because the word Gentile has two meanings, two applications. The first is simply non-Jews. “Ethne,” in Greek (“goyim” in Hebrew), literally means “nations.” The second meaning, taken on by the time of Paul’s writing, carries the connotation of pagan or heathen.

This is a pivotal distinction to grasp.

When the word Gentile is used in the New Testament, it can simply denote non-Jewish ethnicity, or it can carry a negative moral dimension. When Gentiles come to faith in Jesus as Israel’s Messiah and humanity’s Savior, they are grafted into the olive tree.

I’ll speak more about that olive tree in a moment. For now, my point is that even after being born again, you continue to be, ethnically speaking, a Gentile. You do not become a Jew. However, you must not continue living like a pagan. You have the Spirit of God and the Word of God to guide and empower you. Hallelujah!

This unique contextual dilemma created problems for Paul wherever he brought the good news. And it creates problems for us 2000 years later as we read these texts.

In order to be sanctified, separated unto God for his glory, the Jewish people maintained distinctions from Gentiles and their pagan ways. Paul maintains the distinction while removing the division. He takes away the moral disparagement between Jew and Gentile.

Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law [Torah] by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law (Rom 3:29-31).

This is an incredibly important point. Paul maintains the distinction while removing the division.

There is no longer an advantage covenantally for the circumcised or a disadvantage for the uncircumcised. Messiah Jesus, says Paul in Ephesians 2:14, has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

As we move forward with our study, this clarification will become increasingly meaningful.