Paul gives us the beautiful illustration of an olive tree in Romans 11 in attempts to help the church see how they are all one, but also different. And being different is okay—in fact, it’s the point! Apples aren’t meant to become oranges, but rather, they are meant to remain themselves while being grafted into the same trunk and foundation.

And this is why Paul gets so frustrated with his Jewish brothers and sisters for trying to circumcise the Gentiles that were being grafted into the tree of God’s family: The nations are not to become Jewish—they are to remain their own nationality and be brought into the family of God nonetheless. If all the nations become Jewish, then multi-national Bride of Christ wouldn’t happen at all. We talk about this, it’s implications, and more in today’s message on Romans.