Romans 11

I was thinking about Romans 11 and what true Israel is in regard to this topic of what the church is. I want to diagram the olive trees and see what they options are for "all Israel". It seems to me that there are two olive trees in Paul's metaphor. A wild one (the world or gentiles) and a cultivated one (God's tree or Israel) and to be a part of God's tree is to be saved. In the end gentiles and Israelite olive branches that have been cut of are treated the same. They are lost and the only solution is for them to be grafted into the one Israelite olive tree and so in that tree, "all Israel" will be saved. I e-mailed Rob Pierce about this and he had some good things to say. Maybe I'll share it some time. Romans 11 also sheds light on Romans 12:1-2 as we see sap running into us to renew us and conform us to Christ as we grow on his tree.

-Micah