Romans 11:19-21 : Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well; by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Be not high-minded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee. From what was said in Romans 11:11-12, the Gentile Christian might conclude that the Jews were rejected for the definite purpose of granting salvation to the Gentiles. The rejection of the Jews, which resulted from their sins, did hasten the preaching of the gospel to the Gen-tiles; they were not arbitrarily rejected for the special benefit of Gentiles. The term "unbelief" here stands for all their sin and rebellion. In reality they cut them-selves loose from all relations with God. By their faith the Gentile Christians stood in God's favor. They did not obtain God's favor through God's partiality to them, nor through any merit of their own, but by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jews could obtain that favor in the same way. There was therefore no grounds nor occasion for their glorying over the Jews. Besides, these Gentile Christians might also be broken off from God's favor, as a result of unbelief. By a natural birth all Jews had been God's people they had been born into covenant relationship with God; but that covenant ended at the cross, and that left the Jews in the same condition as the Gentiles. "For they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord" (Hebrews 8:9). This should be a warning to Gentile Christians in fact to all members of the New Covenant, whether Jews or Gentiles "for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee." This shows conclusively that Christians may conduct themselves in such way as to sever themselves from God's favor.