What does Paul mean when he says, “so all Israel will be saved?” There is a great deal of disagreement and controversy over the correct interpretation of that statement in Romans 11:26. In order to understand Paul’s teaching in Romans 11, we need to answer 2 questions: 1) who is “all Israel”?; and 2) when will “all Israel” be saved?
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All Israel Will Be Saved
Romans 11:11-32
Romans 11, like Romans 7, has been a chapter of great controversy over the centuries. Today, there are three major interpretations. The controversy comes to a head in verse 26 where Paul says, “and so all Israel will be saved.” All of these three interpretation have competent and godly bible scholars who hold to it, and all of them have been held for several centuries. Thus, deciding which interpretation is most likely to be correct is not going to be easy. It’s not going to be a slam dunk. As we seek to understand Paul’s teaching here in Romans 11, there are two questions that we all need to ask when seeking to interpret Paul’s flow of thought in this chapter. 1) Who is “all Israel”; and 2) When will all Israel “be saved”?
Here are the three major views on how to interpret Romans 11:26:
View #1 – All Jews Saved Will Be Saved Right Before Christ’s 2nd Coming: “All Israel” is all, or nearly all Jews in a future generation. They will be saved right before the second coming of Christ.
View #2 – All Believing Jews & Gentiles will Be Saved Throughout Redemptive History: “All Israel” is spiritual Israel, the Church, all Jews and Gentiles who have believed on Christ. They will be saved over the course of human history.
View #3 – All Elect Israelites Will Be Saved Throughout History: “All Israel” is all the elect Jews. They will be saved over the course of redemptive history.
Let me try to illustrate these three views on the white board. As you can see, Interpretation 2 and 3 both believe the timing of all Israel being saved is nearly the same – Interpretation #2 stems from creation to Christ’s second coming. Interpretation #3 stems from the call of Abraham to Christ’s second coming. These 2 interpretations differ as to who “all Israel” is. One view believes it is all elect Israelites, and the other, all true believers, whether Jew or Gentile.
Interpretation 1 differs from both, in that this position holds that this salvation of all Israel is reserved for a future date, right before the second coming of Christ. If I were a betting man, I would bet that you have been primarily exposed to Interpretation #1, since it seems to be the most popular view of Romans 11 today. I grew up as a young Christian being taught this view. I have since discarded it, and hold to Interpretation #3.
This morning we are going to study through a larger chunk of Scripture than we normally do. We are going to do this, so that we can see the Big Picture. Sometimes, when we go very slowly through Scripture, we can miss the forest for the trees. I don’t want to do that. So, in this message, I’m going to try to help you see Paul’s flow of thought, and what he is seeking to communicate to the church in Rome.
So, here’s my plan for this morning. We are going to seek to answer two questions:
1) Who is “all Israel”?
2) When will “all Israel” be saved?
After answering those two questions, we will seek to show Paul’s general flow of thought throughout this large section of Scripture.
1. Who Is “All Israel”?
Is Paul talking about ethnic Israel or spiritual Israel?
1) How is Israel used in chapters 9-11? The word appears 10 times in these three chapters. In the first 9 times, the word “Israel” refers to ethnic Israel, in other words the Jews as distinct from Gentiles. Let me show you a few examples of this.
Romans 9:4-5, “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.” Now, let me ask you who Paul meant here by “Israelites”? It is obvious. He is talking about ethnic Israelites. They are the only ones who inherited all these privileges. They are the ones who proceeded from the fathers, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are the ones from whom came the Christ according to the flesh.
Romans 9:6, “for they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel…” In this verse, Paul uses the identical expression “all Israel.” But what does he mean by it? He is not talking about the Gentiles who were saved, but rather the Jews whom God saved and added to His kingdom. We know that, because Paul goes on to give various examples of Jews that God added to His kingdom, like Isaac and not Ishmael, like Jacob, and not Esau.
Romans 9:30-32, “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.” Here it is obvious that Paul uses “Israel” for those physical descendants of Abraham, in distinction from Gentiles.
Romans 11:1, “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelites, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” Here, the word “Israelite” undoubtedly refers to a physical descendant of Abraham, in contrast to the Gentiles.
Romans 11:25-26, “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery – so that you will not be wise in your own estimation – that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved…” This is the most conclusive of all the references to Israel in Romans 9-11. We want to know what Paul meant by “Israel” in 11:26, but the verse that directly precedes it, tells us that Israel is distinct from the Gentiles.
My Conclusion. After looking at how Paul used the word “Israel” in these three chapters, there is no doubt in my mind that Paul was thinking of Israel as the physical descendants of Abraham, not as the elect among the Jews and the Gentiles. If we are correct at this point, then Interpretation #2 cannot be correct. I do not believe Paul was saying that all the elect, Jews and Gentiles will be saved.
2. When Will “All Israel” Be Saved?
Is Paul talking about all Jews at the second coming of Christ, or all elect Jews throughout redemptive history?
If we can answer this question, we will know whether Interpretation #1 or #3 is more likely to be correct.
How Do Those Who Hold View #1 Understand Romans 11:25-26?
They believe Paul is saying that the Jews are under a partial hardening until the full number of elect Gentiles have come into God’s kingdom, and then all Israel will be saved. So, they interpret what Paul is saying to be, first God saves the full number of the Gentiles, and after that, He saves and brings into His kingdom a massive number of Jews, right before Christ returns. They understand Romans 11:26-27, where Paul quotes Isaiah 59:20-21, to refer Christ’s second coming, when Jesus will come from heaven, and take away the Jews’ sins.
Difficulties With This View
There are some serious problems with this view.
First, remember how Paul begins the chapter – “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He?” Those who believe Paul is talking about the future salvation of an entire generation of Jews at Christ’s second coming believe Paul is saying, “God has not rejected His people forever, has He? They believe Paul is asking whether God has finally rejected His people, so there is no future salvation for Israel. The problem with this is the answer that Paul gives. He says, “May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” Now, if Paul were asking whether there is going to be a great ingathering of Jews into the kingdom right before Christ comes back, Paul’s answer is very strange! Why would he point to his own conversion, if the question he is asking refers to something at the end of human history? But if Paul is asking, “God has not rejected His people totally, has He?” it makes perfect sense. No, God has not rejected His people totally. I can prove it. I am a Jew, and He has not rejected me. Therefore, God has not rejected all ethnic Israelites.
Second, Romans 11:26 does not say, “and then all Israel will be saved.” It says, “and so all Israel will be saved.” It is the Greek word “houtos”. It is the same word that we have in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Now, we all understand that Jesus was not saying, “For God then loved the world.” He was saying that God loved the world in this way – that He gave His only Son. Jesus used this word Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” The word “houtos” means “in this way” or “in this manner.” It occurs 203 times in the New Testament, and it never means “then”. Romans 11:26 should be understood then, “and in this way all Israel will be saved.” There is no place in the Bible where this Greek word has the meaning of “then” or “after that.” Therefore, it is a mistake to give it that meaning here. So, what is Paul saying? He is saying “in this way”, by God granting salvation to a great number of Gentiles, some Jews will be made jealous of these blessings, and so will come to Christ.
Third, all through this chapter, Paul is speaking of things taking place in his own day, not of a future day at the end of history. Notice these texts:
11:5, “In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.” Paul is not thinking of the future salvation of Israel, but of salvation in his own day.
11:14, “if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.” In Romans 11:26 Paul says “so all Israel will be saved”, and here in verse 14 he speaks of his own ministry having the intended effect to move them to jealousy so that some of them will be saved. Again, Paul is thinking of what God is doing in his own day.
11:30, “For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy.” Twice Paul speaks of what is happening now. He is not thinking of something 2,000 or more years later, but something that is happening in his own day, as a result of his own ministry.
Summary
If we are right in our answers to these two questions, then we understand Paul’s thought in this chapter. Paul is not speaking about saved Jews and Gentiles. He is talking about the salvation of all of the elect Jews from Abraham to Christ’s second coming. He is not predicting what will happen at the end of human history, but describing the process that God is going to use through history to bring in all the elect Israelites.
Now, with that basic understanding, let’s go back to verse 11, and do our best to see the point Paul is making through this chapter.
Romans 11:11-16
In this section Paul is emphasizing how God is going to gather in the elect Jews into His kingdom. Through the Jews’ transgression and rejection, God will bring salvation to the Gentiles on a mass world-wide scale. When some of the Israelites see how God has blessed the Gentiles, they will respond and come to Christ, because they are jealous of them. Paul brings that truth out in verse 11 and 14. He also speaks of this truth in 10:19, “I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation.”
Paul’s point seems to be that if God can overrule the rejection of the Jews to bring such blessing to the world, just think of what great blessings He can bring through their salvation.
In verse 12 he says, “Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!” The word “fulfillment” is connected to “fullness of the Gentiles” in verse 25. When Paul speaks about Israel’s fulfillment, I believe he is talking about the full number of elect Israelites coming to salvation. God is going to save a remnant of ethnic Israelites in each generation. When He returns, they will have reached their fulfillment, the full number that He planned to save.
Romans 11:17-24
Having shown the Romans how God is going to save the full number of Israelites – through jealousy – he now illustrates God’s plan through the figure of an olive tree. Interestingly, Paul doesn’t say there are two olive trees – a Jewish olive tree, and a Gentile olive tree. No, there is one tree that all of God’s people are a part of. The portion of Israel that did not believe in Christ has been lopped off of this tree, and the Gentiles who did believe in Christ have been grafted in. Now, nothing substantially new is happening here. Even in the Old Testament, the people of God consisted of saved Jews and Gentiles. It just so happens that in the Old Testament, the Jews vastly outnumbered the Gentiles. And in the New Testament, the Gentiles vastly outnumber the Jews. But it is the same tree, made up of God’s people, Jews and Gentiles throughout redemptive history.
One of Paul’s main points in this section is that saved Gentiles should not be arrogant. He brings this up in verse 18, 20, and 25. He says, “Do not be arrogant”; “do not be conceited”; “do not be wise in your own estimation”. Evidently these Gentile Christians had become puffed up and were thinking that they were somehow better than their Jewish brethren. Perhaps they thought that the Jewish brethren were worse than them because they had crucified Jesus Christ. They were becoming cocky and proud and conceited.
Romans 11:25-32
The “mystery” of verse 25, I believe, is the way God is going to bring about the salvation of the Jews throughout history. It is going to be through their rejection, the Gentiles’ salvation, provoking them to jealousy. I believe the “mystery” that Paul is writing about is this interdependence of Jews and Gentiles in God’s sovereign plan of salvation.
The “partial hardening” Paul spoke of here refers to the fact that a part of the Jews were hardened, just as Paul had already told us in 11:7-10. He said in verse 7, “those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened.” The entire nation wasn’t hardened. It wasn’t a total hardening, but a partial hardening. The remnant out of each generation would believe and come to Christ to be saved.
The “fullness of the Gentiles has come in” refers to the full number of all elect Gentiles. This partial hardening of Israelites is going to last until the very last elect Gentile is saved. Paul is speaking of the fullness of the Gentiles, and the fullness of the Jews. He calls the fullness of the Jews “all Israel.” And he is saying that God is working in both groups side by side throughout history. At some point all elect Gentiles and Jews will be saved, and Christ will return.
What about 11:26-27, where Paul quotes Isaiah 59:20-21? Some believe these verses refer to the second coming of Christ. I believe they fit much better with Christ’s first coming. It was when Christ came the first time that He removed ungodliness from Jacob and took away their sins by His substitutionary death on the cross. When Christ returns, He won’t be coming from Zion, another word for Jerusalem, but He will come from heaven.
In verse 28-29, Paul speaks about these Jews that would be saved throughout history. On the one hand, at one time, they were enemies for the Gentiles’ sake. In other words, God had a purpose in their rejection of Christ. It was so that the door of salvation would be thrown open widely to the Gentiles. But these Jews who previously were enemies for the sake of the Gentiles, now because of God’s choice were beloved for the sake of the fathers. They had been saved, were beloved of God, and in it all God was making good on His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He would be God to them and to their descendants.
In verses 30-32, Paul is again emphasizing God’s plan that the rejection of the Jews would lead to the salvation of the Gentiles, which would provoke the Jews to jealousy, and bring in the elect Jews into the kingdom. God’s plan was that all, Jews and Gentiles, would be disobedient, so that if any are saved, it is of His mercy, not of merit.
Conclusion
- Beware of Spiritual Arrogance. Paul tells us that the Gentiles who were saved in the first century, had a tendency to become arrogant and conceited, and look down on the Jews who did not believe in Christ. Now, our temptation is not to be arrogant towards unsaved Jews, but perhaps it is to be arrogant toward unsaved religious liberals. The Gentiles in Paul’s day who were added to the kingdom, were grafted into the rich Jewish root of the olive tree, and that root supported them. Likewise, evangelical churches today stand on the shoulders of the mainline denominations like the Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches. Many of these denominations today have become liberal. Some no longer believe in the virgin birth, and substitutionary atonement, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some now believe that homosexual relations are not sin but just an alternate lifestyle, and will ordain gay pastors. We conclude that they have been cut off because of unbelief, and in many cases we are probably right. However, we must be careful that we do not become arrogant towards these fallen churches. It is a terrible thing when we begin to think that we, and our church, are a notch above all the rest. We can conclude that we are just a bit more spiritual, committed, and faithful than all the rest of the churches. Brothers and sisters, that is spiritual pride! It will lead to our downfall if we do not repent of it. Yes, maybe some of the mainline denominations have rejected the Biblical gospel. However, we need to remember that God used them mightily in their early days, and evangelical Christians today stand on their shoulders. God used men like Martin Luther, John Wesley, George Whitefield, John Calvin, J. C. Ryle, and many others in a powerful way in their day. Be grateful for the rich spiritual legacy these men of faith have given to us through their lives. When you are tempted to look down on liberal believers and churches, instead pray for them, that God would grant them a true and living faith in the Christ of the Bible, and do a work of Revival again in our own day. Remember, that ultimately only God knows the heart of a man, and He will be their judge, not us. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”
- Be Afraid of Not Continuing in God’s Kindness. Paul has taught the eternal security of regenerated believers in this letter, in Romans 8:29-30; 35-39; 11:4. It is also taught in Romans 11:29, when Paul wrote, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” But he also teaches that every professing Christian must persevere to the end in order to receive final salvation, and that if a professing Christian does not persevere to the end, he will not be saved. You ask, “why would Paul write that if they do not continue in God’s kindness they also will be cut off?” I believe it is because Paul did not know if they had been regenerated or not. He had never been to this church, and did not know their spiritual state. He knew they professed to trust Christ. But if they stopped trusting Christ, on Judgment Day they would find that they had been lopped off the Olive Tree, as one who was only externally and superficially attached. There are many people who belong to the church, have been baptized, receive the Lord’s Supper, go through the motions of Christianity, but are not part of the true invisible church. All of these branches will have been lopped off by the time the Final Judgment takes place, and only the true church will remain.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, although it is true that you should rest in Christ as to your final salvation, you never want to take it for granted. You always need to press on and persevere in faith, knowing that if you do not, you will not be on that tree when Jesus returns. Therefore, fear! This is exactly what the author of the book of Hebrews was speaking about in Hebrews 4:1 when he wrote, “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.” It is the same truth taught in Hebrews 3:12-14, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.” Did you hear that? We are only partakers of Christ if we hold fast our assurance firm until the end. If we do not hold fast our assurance firm until the end, we are not partakers of Christ. So, brothers and sisters, persevere! Whatever Satan is throwing at you, whatever trials God has ordained you go through, whatever temptations you are facing, look to Christ! Persevere! Trust Him. He will be your strength, and finish the good work He has begun! Let’s pray.
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