John Calvin Commentary Romans 11:16

"And if the firstfruit is holy, so is the lump: and if the root is holy, so are the branches." — Romans 11:16 (ASV)

For if the first-fruits, etc. By comparing the worthiness of the Jews and of the Gentiles, he now takes away pride from the one and pacifies the other, as far as he could. For he shows that the Gentiles, if they claimed any prerogative of honor of their own, did not excel the Jews in any respect; indeed, if they came to a contest, they would be left far behind. Let us remember that in this comparison, man is not compared with man, but nation with nation. If, then, a comparison is made between them, they will be found equal in this respect: that they are both equally the children of Adam. The only difference is that the Jews had been separated from the Gentiles, so that they might be a peculiar people to the Lord.

They were then sanctified by the holy covenant and adorned with peculiar honor, with which God had not at that time favored the Gentiles. But as the efficacy of the covenant seemed rather limited then, he directs us to look back to Abraham and the patriarchs, in whom God’s blessing was certainly not empty or void. He therefore concludes that from them a hereditary holiness had passed to all their posterity. But this conclusion would not have been right if he had been speaking of individuals, or rather, if he had not regarded the promise. For when the father is just, he still cannot transmit his own uprightness to his son. But as the Lord had sanctified Abraham for himself for this purpose, that his seed might also be holy, and as he thus conferred holiness not only on his person but also on his whole race, the Apostle appropriately draws this conclusion, that all the Jews were sanctified in their father Abraham.

Then, to confirm this view, he presents two analogies: one taken from the ceremonies of the law, and the other borrowed from nature. The first-fruits which were offered sanctified the whole lump; in the same way, the goodness of the juice spreads from the root to the branches. And posterity hold the same connection with their parents from whom they come as the lump has with the first-fruits, and the branches with the tree. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Jews were sanctified in their father.

There is no difficulty here if you understand by holiness the spiritual nobility of the nation—a nobility indeed not arising from nature but proceeding from the covenant. I grant that it may truly be said that the Jews were naturally holy, for their adoption was hereditary; but I now speak of our first nature, according to which we are all, as we know, accursed in Adam. Therefore, the dignity of an elect people, properly speaking, is a supernatural privilege.