Romans 11:16 : And if the firstfruit is holy, so is the lump: and if the root is holy, so are the branches. The word holy does not here mean free from sin. The law of Moses said,. "The first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God” (Exodus 23:19). "And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are come into the land which I give un-to you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then shall ye bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest un-to the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, to be accepted for you. . . . And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor parched ears, until this selfsame day, until ye have brought the oblation of your God" (Leviticus 23:9-14). When the first-fruits were brought to the priest, then the whole harvest became holy to the people, that is, devoted to their use. When God accepted the first Jewish converts, the first-fruits of the gospel harvest, then the whole nation was holy, that is acceptable to God on the terms of the gospel. Only in that sense was the whole Jewish race holy.