Thursday, 9 April 2026

Romans part 160 - One in Messiah 49

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Romans 11:18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, it is not you who support the root but the root supports you.

The purpose of all of these pieces is to add clarity and perspective to the Scriptures. This one needs all that and context. It is easy to get lost in all the descriptive language. Boasting means what? And while we're getting into the details, what is the meaning of, "the root supports you?"

The Greek word translated as "boast" is katakauchaomai meaning "to exult over." I got this from a source on the internet ... "Exalting one thing at the expense of another which results in wrong conclusions - i.e. that unjustifiably downgrade by boasting with a sense of false superiority." The other place it is used is Jacob 3:14 in which it is tied to lying, jealousy and selfish ambition.

Jacob 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth.

Whoever we are, whatever we accomplish, we must remember it is not us, but God in us ... Philippians 2:13 For the One working in you is God - both to will and to work for His good pleasure. The "root" of which we are speaking is God! Yeshua gives life, the same way a root gives life to branches.

Rabbi Trail: We are all like cut flowers in the world. We look good and smell good, and don't even know we are dying. That is, until something happens. When we come to faith in Yeshua, we become grafted in again so we can be nourished by the root. Psalm 100:3 Know that Adonai, He is God. It is He who has made us, and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. End RT.

We are rooted in Yeshua ... Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore as you received Messiah Yeshua as Lord, so continue to walk in Him - rooted and built up in Him and established in your faith just as you were taught, overflowing with thankfulness.

Then we are warned against false ideologies ... Colossians 2:8-10 See that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men and the basic principles of the world rather than Messiah. For all the fullness of Deity lives bodily in Him, and in Him you have been filled to fullness. He is the head over every ruler and authority.

There is another circumcision that takes place, but it is of a different kind, "it's a heart thang" that applies to both men and women. Colossians 2:11 In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision done not by hand, in the stripping away of the body of the flesh through the circumcision of Messiah.

The grafting in is done through of the heart. Romans 2:29b circumcision is of the heart ... We don't boast about this because we didn't do it, God did! Shalom shalom.