I have a rose bush out back that was grafted. For years I got single-petaled white roses. It's in a container (which makes it more susceptible to harsh temperatures.) Three winters ago, we had a particularly harsh winter, and half the bush died. The other half went back to producing the single-petaled white roses.
Two winters ago, we had a repeat, and the plant died to its roots. Or, so I thought. Now it has one branch of single-petaled white roses and a branch of multi-petaled magenta roses. (Or it did. We had a a mild winter, but we had a short bout of colder-than-usual temperatures, so I have yet to see if the bush lived.) That's the true bush, pre grafting.
The true bush is Jesus. Israel was grafted in, but many of those branches died long ago. The true bush is huge, so there's plenty of space to graft in other branches. The branches aren't the bush because they're grafted in. They're nourished by the true bush.
The magenta branches and the white branches do not contribute to the strength of the original bush. We're parasites living off it. I had no problems cutting off useless branches. I no longer mistaken original stock with grafts.
I wouldn't accept bad theology just because someone copy/pastes from writers and calls it an essay though.
