Romans 11:22

Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God's goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Preeminent among all of the attributes God has revealed concerning himself, the quality of his everlasting goodness stands out, not in the sense of being more than other qualities of God, but in the sense of being most frequently stressed and emphasized in the word of God. God's attribute of invariable righteousness undergirds the blunt warning here; and that warning is: all of the Father's promises to sinners saved by grace are conditioned upon their continuation in his loving service. When even an angel sins, God will not ignore it. The possibility of Christians' defecting from the divine favor is tersely stated here. The fact of it is proved by the history of Israel, by God's dispossession of the fallen angels, by the spectacular warnings of the scriptures, and the ultimate impossibility of any sin's being able to stand in God's presence.

Thou shalt be cut off ... These words were addressed to people who had just been encouraged with the marvelous sentiments of Paul's 8th chapter, hence, the conclusion that these words are addressed to Christians, Spirit-filled, bona fide sons of the Highest; but this verse thunders a condition, "if thou continue in his goodness"! As the eloquent words of Trench have it:

Nor may we leave out of sight that ALL FORGIVENESS, short of that crowning and last act, which will find place on the day of judgment, and will be followed by a blessed impossibility of sinning any more, is CONDITIONAL - in the very nature of things, so conditional, that the condition in every case must be assumed, whether stated or no; that condition being that the forgiven man CONTINUES in faith and obedience.[25]

Severity of God ... is another of the divine attributes, but the minds of men are reluctant to dwell upon it. It was the loving and faithful God who swept the whole earth of the antediluvian race, and it has already been noted extensively in this chapter that when sin and rebellion reach their point of no return, God hardens and destroys. The current love-cult has, to some degree, perverted man's conception of the divine goodness by leaving out of view the aspect of God's character which Paul here commanded men to behold. The severity here mentioned derives from the righteousness and justice of him who is angry with the wicked every day, who abhors evil, and who must punish all who deserve it.

God's goodness ... is beyond the capacity of man to understand it. It is a goodness that loved people, even in their sins, gave the Beloved for their rescue, and waits in longsuffering patience upon man's repentance, not willing that any should perish, but desiring the salvation of all. The divine goodness is not a weak and vacillating namby-pambyism, which is as revolting and disgusting as it is untrue of that divinity which gave us birth.