John Calvin Commentary Romans 11:15

"For if the casting away of them [is] the reconciling of the world, what [shall] the receiving [of them be], but life from the dead?" — Romans 11:15 (ASV)

For if their rejections, etc. This passage, which many consider obscure and some severely distort, should, in my view, be understood as another argument derived from a comparison of the lesser with the greater. Its meaning is this: “Since the rejection of the Jews has been so effective as to cause the reconciling of the Gentiles, how much more effective will their resumption be?”

Will it not be to raise them even from the dead?” For Paul always insists on this: that the Gentiles have no cause for envy, as if the restoration of the Jews to favor would render their condition worse. Therefore, since God has wonderfully brought forth life from death and light from darkness, how much more should we hope, he reasons, that the resurrection of a people, as it were, wholly dead, will bring life to the Gentiles.

It is no objection when some allege that reconciliation does not differ from resurrection, as we indeed understand resurrection in this case—that is, as that by which we are transferred from the kingdom of death to the kingdom of life. For though the underlying reality is the same, there is nevertheless more force in the expression, and this is a sufficient answer.