Romans 11:11-36

All Israel Saved

In chps. 9-11, Paul has been defending the faithfulness of God to Israel.  Has God ceased to be faithful to Israel, by casting them aside?  No.  But the answer to this question revolves around a redefinition of who Israel is. 

Israel is no longer to be thought of as ethnic Israel.  With the coming of Jesus Christ, the whole definition has changed.  No longer is it the typological theocratic Kingdom clearly defined under the Mosaic Covenant.  That type or nation has finally served its purpose and with the coming of Jesus Christ, it is no longer necessary.  The whole Mosaic economy has forever ended with the coming of Christ, and now God's people have been redefined as the true Israel, made up of true Jews who are saved through faith alone on account of Christ alone.

Even as the sun rises and the shadows on the earth disappear, so the shadow of the Mosaic economy forever is removed as the Son of God rises to be seated upon His Heavenly throne within the Kingdom of God.

True Israel is now made up of the elect remnant of Jews and along with them, the elect Gentiles who have come to faith by God's grace.

As Paul says elsewhere, "if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal. 3:29).  Now that Christ has come, "there is neither Jew nor Gentile . . . for we are all one in Christ." (Gal. 3:28).

It is now Paul's purpose to summarize this redefinition of Israel.  He does so by first explaining what has happened to Israel.  cf. 11:7 -- Israel is defined as:

1.  remnant/elect who are coming to faith in Christ

2.  the rest -- hardened/reprobated unto eternal condemnation

Paul has gone to great lengths to argue that Israel has not been rejected because the very ones to whom the promises were originally given, the elect, are coming to faith in Christ.  God has chosen them for the express purpose of saving them in Christ.

But why has God hardened the rest unto condemnation?  What purpose does this serve?

Paul has already argued in 9:21-22 that God has hardened part of Israel in order to make His wrath and power known.  But what purpose does this serve in relation to the elect Gentiles and more fully, in relation to the elect remnant?

11-24 -- Purpose of God's Hardening of a Part of Israel

He provides his twofold answer in v. 11:

1.  To provoke the remnant/elect Jews to come to jealousy in order that they might come to faith in Christ.

2.  To make room for the elect Gentiles to become part of the true Israel through faith in Christ.

12-16 -- Provoke the remnant/elect Israel to Faith in Christ.

v. 12-14 -- it is through Israel's fall or transgression in rejecting Christ (hardening of a part of Israel) that God is bringing in the Gentiles.

But there is a grander purpose in doing this:  in Paul's day, there were Jews who were a part of this elect remnant who had not yet placed their faith in Christ.  As they watched the stream of Gentiles entering into the true Israel that were provoked to jealousy and because of this jealousy they were moved to faith in Christ.

God was using the salvation of the Gentiles to bring in all of His elect Jewish remnant so that the "fullness" of the remnant would be saved.

vv. 15-16 -- the hardening of a part of Israel brings about room for the elect Gentiles.  But this serves a greater purpose in bringing in the fullness of the elect remnant of Jews.

If the firstfruits and roots of the promises to Abraham were holy, then the remnant of Israel is holy as well.

God longs that all of His elect within Israel come to faith in Christ.  Paul was even willing to give up his own salvation that the whole remnant would be saved.

17-24 -- Some of the Gentiles who had now come to faith in Christ thought that their inclusion into the TRUE ISRAEL, meant that God was completely finished with Israel altogether, and that no remnant of Israel would be saved.

It is Paul's point in the following vvs. to stress that God will bring about the salvation of the whole remnant of elect Jews who necessarily belong because the whole family tree is rooted in Jewish soil.

Paul rebukes these Gentiles because they have not reckoned with the fact that now they are the ones who have become Jews.  It is not that the people of God are now exclusively Gentiles, but that the Gentiles, through the new birth in Christ, have become TRUE JEWS.

And if God's plan is to include the elect Gentiles into TRUE ISRAEL, then surely He will not forget His promises to the elect remnant of Israel.

Paul reminds the Gentiles that they have come into the TRUE ISRAEL through faith, and it is only through faith that they stand.  They are not TRUE ISRAELITES because of anything in them, but only through faith alone.  Therefore they have nothing to boast about.  They are saved only by grace and they ought to remember that God is free to show mercy to whom He wants to show mercy.

Therefore, they have no right to question God's righteousness in bringing in the fullness of the elect remnant of Israel, because that is where the promises began and God is faithful to keep those promises.

25-32 -- God Is Faithful To Israel

v. 25 -- THE MYSTERY

Here Paul summarizes his entire argument in order to prove that God is indeed faithful to His promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

"hardening in part" -- a part of Israel has been hardened unto condemnation

Why?

"so that" the fullness of the elect Gentiles might come in to join the elect remnant of the Jews -- the one people of God.

And so "all Israel" -- all elect Jews and Gentiles will be saved. (cf. Eph. 3).

Paul has completed his redefinition of "Israel" -- we now know that God is faithful in His promises to Abraham in that all the remnant, elect Jews along with all the elect Gentiles have now been brought to faith in Christ.

28-32 -- Though the Gentiles consider the Jews to be enemies, in fact they ought to be greatly loved because it is through them that salvation has come to the Gentiles.  And just as God has been gracious to the Gentiles who were once disobedient, so He will be gracious in bringing in all the elect remnant of Israel. 

With this revelation of this indescribable mystery, Paul simply has to stand back and proclaim in awe:  vv. 33-36  -- reminding us all that in the end, God alone deserves all the glory. 

Amen!  +SDG+