How does Old Testament first fruits compare to New Testament first fruits?
Leviticus 23:10-14
Romans 11:16
ESV - 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
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Asked April 13 2018
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Sylvia Owens
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Tim Maas
In my opinion, in the passage from Romans cited in the question, Paul is not speaking of "first fruits" in any sense related to the meaning of that term in connection with the sacrificial system established by God for Israel in the Old Testament. (That is, it is not an offering that Christians are required to make.) Instead, Paul is using the example of the first fruits offering described in Leviticus as an analogy to make the point that, just as an entire lump of dough was consecrated under the Law by the initial offering of a part of it to God, so also God's original selection of the nation of Israel to be His chosen people sanctified the Gentiles who later became part of those people through faith in Christ -- which had been God's original intent for Israel also, but which had not been realized during Christ's earthly ministry.
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