From Him, Through Him, To Him

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Scripture • World English Bible

Romans 11:25–36

WEB

²⁵For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,

²⁶and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written,

²⁷This is my covenant with them,

²⁸Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake.

²⁹For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

³⁰For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,

³¹even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy.

³²For God has bound all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all.

³³Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!

³⁴“For who has known the mind of the Lord?

³⁵“Or who has first given to him,

³⁶For of him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.

World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain

Reflection

Paul closes his long argument in Romans by unfolding a panorama of God’s sovereign purpose and mercy. He wants his readers to understand a mystery: God’s timing and ways are not the product of human pride or simple logic. A partial hardening has occurred so that the gospel would go to the Gentiles, and in God’s wise plan the nations’ coming in will not cancel God’s promises to Israel. The surprising truth is that God’s ways are not threats to his promises but the means by which his promises are accomplished.

That whole passage points us to a simple but profound working focus: everything begins with God (from him), moves through Christ and the channels he establishes (through him), and arrives at the end for God’s glory (to him). This is not abstract theology; it shapes how we live as followers of Jesus. When we remember that we originate in God’s mercy, we lose the arrogance that pushes people away. When we see that God works through people and ministries, we recognize our role as instruments—called, equipped, and sent—to participate in his work rather than to claim ownership of it. And when we fix our eyes on the ultimate goal—the praise of God—we resist the temptations to measure success by numbers, fame, or comfort.

Paul also stresses that God’s gifts and calling are irrevocable. Promises stand even when human response falters. That truth gives us hope for those who seem far from God: no one is outside the reach of divine mercy, and God’s long view can include surprising restoration. We must hold firm to evangelistic zeal without despair, offering the gospel boldly and patiently, trusting that God’s wisdom and timing are greater than ours.

Finally, Paul’s doxology about the depth of God’s wisdom humbles and comforts. There are times when we won’t understand why God allows setbacks, apparent failures, or delays. Instead of despairing or declaring God unjust, we bow before his unsearchable judgments and commit again to follow Jesus in action—serving, sharing, and stewarding the gifts we’ve been given, knowing that every faithful act is part of a larger story that begins with God, moves through God’s people, and aims to glorify God alone.

Putting Faith Into Action

Practice humility: This week, write down three ways God has gifted you (spiritual, practical, or relational). Start or end each day thanking God for one of those gifts and ask him to use it through you for someone else.
Share patiently: Identify one person in your circle who doesn’t know Jesus or has drifted from the faith. Pray for them daily, look for natural ways to serve them, and invite them—without pressure—to hear the gospel or join a church activity.
Serve with purpose: Volunteer in a ministry that uses your strengths (teaching, hospitality, care). Treat your service as partnership with God—offer it ‘through him’ and aim your motives ‘to him’ by asking that your work point others to Jesus rather than to yourself.

Prayer

Father, we praise you as the source of every good thing. Keep us from pride and self-reliance. Use us through Christ to show your mercy to others, and shape our motives so that everything we do points back to you. Give us patience for your timing and boldness to share the hope we have. To you be the glory now and always. Amen.

Memory Verse

Romans 11:36 — For of him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen. (WEB)

“For of him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.”

Keep Going Continue to Part 30 A Living Sacrifice: Worship that Changes Us and the World Romans · Romans 12:1–8 Read the next devotional →

Bible Context

Read all of Romans 11

Romans 11

World English Bible • WEB

¹I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

²God didn’t reject his people, whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel:

³“Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have broken down your altars. I am left alone, and they seek my life.”

⁴But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

⁵Even so too at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

⁶And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

⁷What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened.

⁸According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”

⁹David says,

¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see.

¹¹I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.

¹²Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

¹³For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry,

¹⁴if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them.

¹⁵For if the rejection of them is the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be, but life from the dead?

¹⁶If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷But 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 root and of the richness of the olive tree,

¹⁸don’t boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you.

¹⁹You will say then, “Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.”

²⁰True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith. Don’t be conceited, but fear;

²¹for if God didn’t spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

²²See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

²³They also, if they don’t continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

²⁴For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?