Hello there! How are you? <\/p>\n
Does Romans 11:19 mean that God makes some lose faith or be blinded so that others gain faith? Doesn’t that contradict His desire to save all? Why cannot both believe? <\/p>\n
Thanks.<\/p>\n\t
“But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again<\/em>” (Romans 11:17-23 NAS95).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Where in this passage does it say that God makes people lose faith? Paul only states that God removes the branches that die because of their unbelief. It is the person who chooses not to believe, and God decides based on that decision-notice also that it is not necessarily a permanent removal. If a person decides to have faith again, they will be returned.<\/p>\n
Nothing in this passage says that all Jews were broken off, only some, and that was due to their unbelief. Where in a real tree, there is a limited number of places for grafts and branches. With God, there is no limit. That is why Paul warns the Gentiles not to become arrogant and think the Jews were removed to make room for the Gentiles. There was already room for the Gentiles. They were broken off because of their unbelief.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello there! How are you? Does Romans 11:19 mean that God makes some lose faith or be blinded so that others gain faith? Doesn’t that contradict His desire to save all? Why cannot both believe? Thanks. Answer: “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1644,426,90],"class_list":["post-70862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-choice","tag-free-will","tag-god"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10252,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-you-know-israel-will-be-saved-after-the-fullness-of-the-gentiles-is-reached\/","url_meta":{"origin":70862,"position":0},"title":"Don’t you know Israel will be saved after the fullness of the Gentiles is reached?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Argh! I just read your nonsense about Israel! You even mixed in man's flawed concept of 'forever' with God's - how could you be so deceptive to your flock? How can you explain what is happening in Israel today...is not Jerusalem, as God said it would be, become a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8714,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-cant-be-saved-unless-you-become-an-israelite\/","url_meta":{"origin":70862,"position":1},"title":"You can’t be saved unless you become an Israelite","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You refer to Jeremiah 31:31 as a proof text to prove that it is no longer necessary to keep the Sabbath. Have you noticed who the New Covenant is made with? It is with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Paul cites this in Hebrew 8:8\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17763,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-the-passage-about-homosexuality-in-romans-1-and-the-one-about-the-jews-and-gentiles-in-romans-11-be-compared-since-they-both-talk-about-what-is-natural-or-contrary-to-nature\/","url_meta":{"origin":70862,"position":2},"title":"Can the passage about homosexuality in Romans 1 and the one about the Jews and Gentiles in Romans 11 be compared since they both talk about what is natural or contrary to nature?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about homosexuality. I have been thinking about something, analyzing it, and wondering if you could make an argument out of something I noticed. In Romans 1:26-27: For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82435,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-ten-commandments-the-first-covenant\/","url_meta":{"origin":70862,"position":3},"title":"Are the Ten Commandments the first covenant?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The Bible directly states that the Ten Commandments are the first covenant. Do you disagree? Answer: If the Bible\u00a0directly\u00a0states that the Ten Commandments are the first covenant, you could cite where it is found, but you did not. You made an assertion without proof and challenged me to decide\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88382,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/true-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":70862,"position":4},"title":"True Israel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof\" (Matthew 21:43). Here, Jesus was speaking to physical Israelites, people who claimed physical lineage to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, that physical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17459,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-saving-of-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":70862,"position":5},"title":"The Saving of Israel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 2:17-29 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In these days of troubled times in the middle East, those who believe that physical Israel is central to God\u2019s plans for the future have come to the forefront. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cReaders of the Bible know that the Book of Revelation tells of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}