From the Editors: Please read Part 1 first if you haven't.
Refresher of Part 1 - God never promised to save every Israelite in the messianic era. This highlights both God's grace (in that salvation relies on his initiative and not race) and human freedom (in that salvation is by faith and not family right).
We hope that the never-ending pour of water and the rainbow in this essay's artwork serve as a reminder for you along with us of the never-ending faithfulness of God.
Answer #2: God did promise to save all Israel in the messianic era.
Paul begins Romans 11 with the same question that he began with in Romans 9. “I ask, then, has God rejected his people?” (Romans 11:1; see Romans 9:6a). What does Israel’s unbelief mean? Does it mean God’s promise to Israel failed? Does it mean—to say the same thing—that God rejected his people? When Paul answers this question in Romans 9–10, Paul says “Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel (Romans 9:6b). That is, not every Israelite will be saved. And, now, when he asks it again, he once more says, “No!” But, this time he adds, “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).
In fact, those two verses—Romans 9:6 and 11:26—summarize Paul’s argument in Romans 9–11. God never promised to save every Israelite in the messianic era (Romans 9–10), but he did promise to save all Israel in the messianic era (Romans 11). Like his first, Paul’s second answer in Romans 11 comes in two parts.
Israel’s Judgment & Romans 11a
If we think Israel’s unbelief means that God has rejected his people and failed to keep his word, then we’ve missed something right in front of our noses. After all, we must not forget who is writing Romans 9–11. It’s a Jewish Christian. A Christian from Abraham’s family. A Christian who can trace his lineage all the way back to Benjamin (see Romans 11:1). If we think Israel’s unbelief means that God has rejected his people, then we’ve missed the saved remnant within Israel.[1] “[A]t the present time there is a remnant” (Romans 11:5). At the present time there is a remnant, within God’s “elect” (Romans 11:28) and “foreknown” people (Romans 11:2), “chosen by grace” (Romans 11:5).
Paul has already told us about this remnant in Romans 9. There he used the remnant to show us how God highlights his dazzling mercy in the messianic era. He displays his mercy to both Jews and Gentiles against the backdrop of Israel’s large-scale unbelief. If Paul has already told us about the remnant, then why does he bring it up again here? It is not because he wants us to see that God’s faithfulness to Israel is proven by the salvation of the remnant alone. That is, Paul doesn’t mention the remnant here to prove that God has fulfilled his word. He mentions the remnant, rather, to prove that God will fulfill his word.
That’s why Paul begins by comparing his own day to Elijah’s. In Elijah’s day God “kept for [himself] seven thousand” faithful Israelites, while the rest of Israel “killed [his] prophets…demolished [his] altars” and “bowed the knee to Baal” (Romans 11:3–4). It was that hardened, idolatrous Israel in Elijah’s day that God judged by making them just like the idols they served.[2] He promised to “g[i]ve them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear (Romans 11:8; citing Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaiah 29:10). He would “let their eyes be darkened so that they [could] not see” (Romans 11:9–10; citing Psalm 69:22–23).
Paul is here telling us that the promised judgment that began in Israel’s past continued “to the present time” (Romans 11:5; see also, e.g., “to this very day,” Romans 11:8; “continually” [not eternally], Romans 11:9–10). God’s judgment on Israel—his preservation of a mere remnant and judicial-hardening of a majority—continued into the messianic era![3]And for careful readers of the Bible, attuned to God’s promises to Israel, this means that God’s promise to reverse Israel’s judgment and save Israel had yet to be fulfilled. After all, in the very place where God promised that he would harden Israel’s hearts, he also promised that he would one day reverse that hardening. He would “circumcise” Israel’s hearts (Deuteronomy 30:6). In the very place where he promised to close Israel’s eyes, he promised that one day he would open Israel’s eyes (Isaiah 29:18). Each judgment quote goes on to promise salvation (Psalm 69:35). Each promise of judgment is followed by a promise of reversal.
Has God rejected his people? Has God failed to keep his word? No, Paul says, don’t forget that his judgment on Israel actually fulfills his word. And those very promises of judgment, now fulfilled, are followed by promises of salvation. If God fulfills the one, surely he’ll fulfill the other. And, Paul insists, the proof for that future salvation is found in the present remnant. The remnant reminds us—it reassures us—that God’s judgment on Israel has yet to be reversed.
Promises of judgment won’t be the last promises God fulfills for Israel. That’s where Paul’s answer in Romans 11 begins. God has saved a remnant now, which means he will save all Israel in the future. But how and when will God do this? That is what Paul tells us next. And it’s a plot-twist in God’s story that nobody saw coming.
Israel’s Salvation & Romans 11b
Paul begins the final part of his argument with a question. “So I ask, did they [i.e., Israel; Romans 11:7] stumble in order that they might fall?” (Romans 11:11a). “No,” says Paul. They did stumble. Israel did continue to stumble in the messianic era. But the purpose of that stumbling was not “in order that they might fall.”
Why did Israel stumble? Paul answers: “[T]hrough their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles”(Romans 11:11b). And in case we missed it, Paul gives the same answer eight more times! Why did Israel stumble?
· Romans 11:12a: “Their trespass means riches for the world.”
· Romans 11:12b: “Their failure means riches for the Gentiles.”
· Romans 11:15: “Their rejection means the reconciliation of the world.”
· Romans 11:17: “Some of the branches were broken off, and you [i.e., Gentiles]… were grafted in.”
· Romans 11:19: “Branches were broken off so that I [a Gentile] might be grafted in.”
· Romans 11:25: “[A] partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
· Romans 11:28: “[T]hey are enemies for your sake.”
· Romans 11:30: “[Y]ou [Gentiles] were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience.” [4]
Why did Israel stumble in unbelief and reject their messiah? That seems so out of keeping with what we expected. Is it out of keeping with God’s salvation plan? No, amazingly, it’s not. Israel has stumbled even in the messianic era because that’s how God is able to show his dazzling mercy to Gentiles! Or, to use the language of Romans 11:32, “God…bound [Israel] over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on [the Gentiles].” If God is going to have mercy on Gentiles—and he promised he would—and if his mercy must sparkle—and he’s told us it must—then Gentile salvation requires the backdrop of Israel’s unbelief. It had to be this way. How else could God show his promised mercy to Gentiles?
But that’s not all. At the end of Romans 11:11, Paul says, “So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.” Israel’s unbelief has a purpose. God’s judgment on Israel has a purpose. And it wasn’t so that Israel would fall or so that God could find a way to demonstrate his unfaithfulness. Israel’s unbelief instead makes room for the Gentile salvation God promised. But now, Paul adds, Gentile belief also has a purpose. It’s meant to “make Israel jealous.” Or, as Paul says in Romans 10:19, quoting God’s promise to Israel in Deuteronomy 32. “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”
Paul then clarifies what he means by “jealous” and “angry.” He tells us that he tirelessly preaches the gospel to Gentiles—he “magnif[ies] his ministry [to the Gentiles]—“in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them” (Romans 11:13–14). Israel’s unbelief has a purpose—Gentile salvation. And Gentile salvation also has a purpose—to provoke Israel to salvation. Paul says the same thing in Romans 11:30–31.
“For just as you [Gentiles] were at one time disobedient to God [i.e., before the messianic era] but now have received mercy because of their [Israel’s] disobedience 31 so they [Israel] too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you [Gentiles] they [Israel] also may now receive mercy.
And again in Romans 11:25–26, Paul says,
“Lest you [Gentiles] be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers [i.e., uninformed about the surprising unfolding of God’s salvation plan]: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way [i.e., by this means] all Israel will be saved.
How will God’s judgment on Israel be reversed? How will “all Israel be saved” like God promised? All Israel will be saved by the salvation of the Gentiles. God will use Gentile salvation to provoke Israel to salvation.
The first step in God’s messianic saving plan may tempt Gentiles to boast. After all, Israel was cut off so that the Gentiles could be grafted in. But this second step should humble them—us. God plans to use our salvation to save Israel. Instead of swelling with pride, we should respond like God calls us to in Deuteronomy 32. After predicting how he would use Gentiles to provoke his people (Deuteronomy 32:21, cited in Romans 10:19), God exhorts Gentiles: “Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people” (Deuteronomy 32:43 NIV; quoted in Romans 15:10).
In God’s surprising salvation plan, Israel’s judgment leads to Gentile salvation, which then leads to Israel’s judgment being lifted. Gentile salvation leads to Israel’s salvation. That’s how all Israel will be saved and God will fulfill his promises.
That is how God will do it. But Paul also tells us when God will do it. Paul tells us about the final step in God’s amazing plan of salvation. After all, using Gentiles to reverse Israel’s judgment isn’t the end of the story. Even Israel’s full and final salvation serves a greater purpose.
We find the final step in Romans 11:12 (NIV): “But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!” Israel’s unbelief leads to Gentile salvation. Then Gentile salvation leads to Israel’s salvation. And, finally, Israel’s salvation leads to something Paul calls “greater riches” for the world and for the Gentiles.
Paul tells us what this means in Romans 11:15. “For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” In Romans 11:12, Paul says that Israel’s salvation leads to—is the instrument or means that brings—“greater riches” for the world and for Gentiles. Then in Romans 11:15 Paul describes these greater riches as “life from the dead.”[5] Paul tells us that Israel’s full and final salvation will lead to the “greater riches” of the final resurrection or, as Paul calls this in Romans 8:23, “the redemption of our bodies.”[6]
Paul elsewhere associates the resurrection of believers with Jesus’ return. In 1 Corinthians 15:21–23, Paul says,
“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (see also, e.g., 1 Thess 4:13–18).[7]
And in Romans 11:26–27 he associates the event that triggers the resurrection—Israel’s salvation—with Jesus’ return. In fact, he finds the association already in Isaiah. “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins” (see Isaiah 59:20–21; 27:9). In other words, Paul tells us that Israel will be saved just like he was—with a heavenly vision of the Lord Jesus—and, more surprising still, that all this was anticipated in the Old Testament.
Herein lies God’s surprising faithfulness. People were right to question God’s faithfulness to Israel in the messianic era. After all, God had promised to save Israel when the messiah came. But here’s the twist Paul now sees in Isaiah, God had promised to save Israel when messiah came back! God promised to save Israel when messiah returned. And nobody saw that coming.
Conclusion
Can God be trusted? Yes. Will he fulfill every promise he’s made? Absolutely. But God will do it—he will prove his faithfulness—in a way no one could have guessed. That’s the story of Romans 9–11. Only an infinitively wise story-teller could craft a story that fulfills every expectation his story creates but, at the same time, fulfills those expectations in surprising ways. With a story and God like that, what else is there to say than to sing the doxology, which is precisely what Paul does right at the close of these three incredible chapters.
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:33–36).
This is an interview from the Orthodoxy podcast in which Andy Schmitt talks to Dr. Jared Compton about the very topics written about in this essay. Please listen to and share this interview with someone who may be interested.
[1]Paul answers the question of whether God has rejected his people by pointing not to Jesus as the true Israel (on this, see, e.g., Galatians 3:16) nor to the Jewish and Gentile church as the “Israel of God” (see, perhaps, Galatians 6:16) but to the Jewish Christian remnant in the church. Paul suggests, in fact, that had God not saved a Jewish Christian remnant, then God’s faithfulness to his promises, specifically to the “patriarchs” (i.e., Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; see Romans 11:28–29), could be impugned.
[2]NB: For this judgement, see, esp., 2 Kings 17 and 25.
[3]On “majority,” see, e.g., “only” in Rom 9:27 and “seven thousand” in Rom 11:4. (Some estimate that Israel’s population in the 9th century BC was between 500,000 to 1,000,000).
[4]In fact, we see an earlier hint of this purpose in Romans 10:20–21. Paul, quoting Isaiah, says, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me [Gentiles].” 21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
[5]In this way, Israel’s role as a “light to the nations” (see Exodus 19:5–6; see also Gen 12:1–3) is fulfilled in three-ways during the present era of God’s story: (1) Remnant. The early Jewish Christian remnant, founded upon the 12 apostles, were Christianity’s first missionaries (see, e.g., Acts 1:8); (2) Unbelieving Majority. The unbelief of the majority of Israel leads to—makes room for—Gentile salvation (see, e.g., Rom 11:11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 25, 28, 30, 32); (3) All Israel. The salvation of all Israel will lead to the resurrection of the dead—i.e., full and final salvation (see Rom 11:12, 15).
[6]In Romans 8, Paul also says that the resurrection of believers leads to the end of the world and the dawning of the next. “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” at the resurrection (Romans 8:19; see Romans 8:23). Because it’s at that time that “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). It’s at that time that the world itself will be resurrected.
[7]“[A]ll” equals “all associated” with Adam and Christ.
