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It would seem that, after writing nearly 11 chapters of divinely inspired exposition of the gospel of God, the apostle Paul might have assumed that he had done enough to help his readers see that salvation is all of God and nothing of man. But not Paul. He knew the stygian blackness of the human heart all too well. Thus, even as he spread before the Romans new vistas of divine grace, he warned, cautioned, and admonished them.
Consider the truths we have considered as we have peered over the shoulder of the Roman Christians to read this great letter. Through the apostle, we have received good news upon good news. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, God has provided a way by which we can be made righteous in His sight and by which His justice may be upheld. This transformation is accomplished in us by faith, a faith God Himself gives us. When He justifies us, we are set free from the condemnation of the law, come to peace with God, and gain the hope of glory. In the process, God actually adopts us as His own sons and daughters, giving us the privilege of thinking of and relating to Him as a small child relates to a “daddy.” We come to understand that, in the Father’s providence, all things are working together for our good, and that nothing can separate us from His love for us.
All of this glorious news is summed up in Paul’s memorable metaphor of the olive tree in chapter 11. The Jews’ rejection of the gospel, he writes, “is riches for the world” (v. 12). According to His perfect plan, God has allowed the message of salvation to go forth beyond the narrow arena of the Israelite nation. Because that is so, we “who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13). We wild olive branches have been grafted into the good olive tree, the family of God.
Oh, the depths of God’s love and mercy. Oh, the glories of our salvation. Oh, the blessings we have received.
Oh, the dangers we face!
Wild olive branches have no “right” to a place in the good tree. And they certainly can do nothing to detach themselves from one tree and graft themselves to another. That’s what Paul has been telling us throughout Romans—but we’re ever so slow to hear it, and Paul knows that. Thus he writes: “You will say to me then, ‘Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.’ Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (Rom. 11:19–22).
This is a stern—and necessary—warning against presumption, against the foolish idea that something in us has earned God’s favor, that our security in Christ rests in some attribute that sets us apart from others. We must not think this way; we must not be “haughty.” Instead, we should fear. Yes, we who claim the name of Christ should fear. It is true that if our faith is in Christ, we are secure indeed. But if we are trusting in ourselves, we face the awful prospect of one day discovering that our confidence was all a foolish deception. Therefore, we must labor to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10).
It should not surprise us that Paul finds it necessary to warn against such presumption. People behave this way constantly. In fact, every sin represents presumption. We may presume that God will not see when we violate His law. More likely, we may presume that He will exercise a certain tolerance, for even though we may be in direct violation of one of His express commands, we can always think of someone who seems worse. We may even go so far as to presume that He simply will pass off our sins, that He will pardon freely, for that is, after all, His “job.” We blithely think that since we are secure in Christ, we can sin as we please and grace will abound.
This sort of presumption is the height of haughtiness. It is recklessness. It is foolishness.
And not only that, it is antinomian to the core. When we presume to think that there is any acceptable reason to violate the clear commands of God, we toss His law on the scrap heap.
Hear once more Paul’s admonition to the Roman gentiles who had been brought into the church thanks to the hard-heartedness of the Jews: “Consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness.” Ah, how good is our God, pouring out blessing upon blessing to those He claims as His own. But how severe He is toward those who fail to continue in His goodness, that is, who fail to walk as He has directed. As Scripture makes clear, no one who is truly regenerate will be cut off. But no one who is truly regenerate can live a life of habitual sin. The truth will manifest itself; those who do not love God will presume upon His grace and reject His law. And so they will be revealed for what they are and will experience His rejection.
Sinful presumption is, quite simply, unbelief. For the believer, the only way is obedience, walking in the goodness of God. Let us see the law as the great blessing it truly is and commit to live by it with gladness, as becomes believers.