WWUTT 1321 In This Way All Israel Will Be Saved (Romans 11:25-28)

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There's a passage in Romans 11 that says all Israel will be saved and some have misread this to mean that everyone who's a

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Jew automatically goes to heaven. That's not what's being said there. Everyone who's in Christ goes to heaven when we understand the text.

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You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to the sound teaching of the Word of God. Find videos and more at our website, www .wutt

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.com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. I'm a little congested today, as you might be able to tell.

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My voice is kind of weak, so we'll see how far we get here. I'm going to start out by reading Romans 11, verses 25 through 36.

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We'll go to the end of the chapter. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, Lest you be wise in your own sight,

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I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the

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Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved.

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As it is written, the Deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob.

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And this will be my covenant with them, when I take away their sins. As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.

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But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

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For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience.

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So they too have now been disobedient, in order that by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy.

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For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

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Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways!

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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?

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For from him and through him and to him are all things.

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To him be glory forever. Amen. Such a wonderful doxology that we conclude with there at the end of Romans chapter 11, which ends a particular section of Romans that we go on into another when we'll get to chapter 12 next week.

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Let's come back here to verse 11, Romans 11 .25. Paul says, lest you be wise in your own sight,

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I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the

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Gentiles has come in. Let's understand what we mean here by partial hardening. Well, first of all, before we get to that, we begin this section with Paul saying, lest you be wise in your own sight.

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He's still talking to the Gentiles. That comes back to verse 13, where he says, now

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I am speaking to you Gentiles, and as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow

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Jews jealous and thus save some of them. So the Jews are looking at the Gentiles and seeing how they are coming into fellowship with God through the worship of Jesus Christ, and the

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Jews are jealous of that. And so Paul desires to make the Jews jealous so that they would turn from their sin and believe in Jesus and so be saved.

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But he warns the Gentiles not to be too proud, not to think of themselves more highly than they ought to think, not to think of themselves as being better than Jews, because you know the

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Jews had the law and they transgressed the law. The Gentiles didn't have the law to transgress it.

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So a Gentile is likely to think of themselves as having more favor in the eyes of God since they did not disobey.

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And because the Jews disobeyed, God took the covenant promises from them and gave it to Gentiles, so therefore the

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Gentiles are now the favored people of God. Paul says, no, don't think of yourself that way. The reason why this has happened to the

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Jews is because they were disobedient, not because you are better people. If God could cut off the natural branches, those to whom he had given the oracles, the law and the prophets from whom the

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Messiah had come, if he could cut them off, he's going to cut off the wild shoots that have been grafted in as well just as easily.

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He is God. That was the picture of the cultivated olive tree that Paul gave in verses 17 through 24.

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So again, still in that warning to the Gentiles not to think of themselves too highly. He says, lest you be wise in your own sight,

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I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the

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Gentiles has come in. What is this partial hardening? What does it mean? Well, it doesn't mean that each individual

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Jew is partially hardened. It also doesn't mean that the

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Jews are hardened for a certain period of time, and then eventually they won't be hardened anymore.

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That would be kind of absurd, honestly, to think of it that way, because that means that the

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Jews are always going to be hardened, except this small little group sometime later on in the future, who are not going to have hard hearts anymore.

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Therefore, every other Jew leading up to that time is hopeless, won't have any hope of salvation.

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It's only this group when that partial hardening is lifted that will truly see the majesty of God and get to know

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Christ, and like every single Jew will. That's what that would mean if we're talking about a time period.

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It's only for a period of time, and then the hardening is going to be lifted, and every Jew will become a

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Christian. That's not the argument that Paul is making here. A partial hardening means some of the

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Jews are going to believe, most of them will not. Partial hardening means that there are

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Jews that are coming to Christ. Most of them will not come to Jesus, but there are Jews who do believe in Jesus.

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Let me read you here from Ephesians 3. This is the first six verses of Ephesians 3.

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For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you

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Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.

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When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the

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Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

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There was a mystery among the Jews as to how God was truly going to reconcile the nations to himself through the

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Jewish people. The Jewish people thought when they read these promises in the Old Testament, like in Genesis 18, 18, where it says that in Abraham, all nations will be blessed.

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When the Jews would read promises like this, they thought that what that meant was every nation that blesses

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Israel will likewise be blessed, and every nation that curses Israel will likewise be cursed.

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They're not thinking of this in terms of a savior that is coming from the Jews, and everyone who believes in him will be the holy nation unto

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God. The Jews are thinking that this is all about them. Whoever blesses us is blessed.

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Whoever curses us is cursed. This is how God is going to reconcile all the nations to himself, by what their opinion is about Israel.

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So it was a mystery, since Israel didn't know how God was going to reconcile all nations to himself.

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Then Christ comes along, and that mystery has been revealed. And the mystery is that the

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Gentiles are fellow heirs. They're not secondary heirs. It's not somebody that, hey, as long as I have a good opinion about the

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Jews, then I'm going to get into the kingdom of God. The Gentiles are fellow heirs. They receive the same kingdom that the

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Jews receive. Members of the same body, even. So it's not Jews and Gentiles.

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They are members of the same body. Again, Ephesians 3, 6. This mystery is that the

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Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

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All the promises that were given to Israel are the same promises that benefit the Gentiles in receiving the kingdom of God.

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That's what Paul says was a mystery. It was mysterious in the Old Testament. It has since been revealed in Christ.

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And so likewise here, he makes a reference to a mystery. And this mystery in this case, in this context, is about the hardness that has come upon the

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Jews. But we're still talking about a fellow heir of the kingdom.

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Those Jews who have come to Christ are fellow heirs along with the Gentiles. So again, let me read the whole verse.

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Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers.

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A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

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So the mystery, again, being the revelation of how God would reconcile to himself,

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Jews and Gentiles, all nations through the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so you have

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Jews who are coming to the faith by faith in Jesus. And you have Gentiles coming into the kingdom by faith in Jesus.

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But a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

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And again, the partial hardening is not a period of time. And it also doesn't pertain to an individual

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Jew in the sense that only part of his heart is hardened, but the other part is soft. We're talking about some

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Jews will be saved. Most of them will not be. So that's why it's a partial hardening. It's not a whole hardening because otherwise no

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Jews would be saved. That's the argument Paul has been making. Going back to verse 11. He said, so I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall by no means?

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So not all the Jews have fallen. There are some Jews who have been saved. They've come to faith in Christ by the mercy and the grace of God that has been shown to them.

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But a partial hardening on Israel in that most of the Jews are not going to see the

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Christ when they look at Jesus. Most of them are not going to see that the old Testament, all the law and the prophets point to Jesus.

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Most of the Jews are still going to believe that they are justified by their works, not justified by faith.

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This gospel of justification by faith has been given to the Gentiles in order to make the

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Jews jealous so that they will realize fellowship with God comes to them the same way.

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They misunderstood what the law says. Justification is not by keeping the law.

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Justification is by faith in Jesus Christ. So when Jews see the

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Gentiles fellowshipping with God and becoming heirs of the kingdom that they were first promised, it is out of their jealousy that they repent of their sin and they come to faith.

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And we have one body of people, Jews and Gentiles together in Christ, the mystery revealed in Jesus Christ.

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So a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

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And this is where people will misunderstand. They'll misread this as that there's a period of time that there's a hardening upon Israel until all the

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Gentiles who are going to be saved get saved. And then the hardening is going to be lifted. And then a whole bunch of Jews are going to become

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Christians. That's not the argument here. It's simply Paul saying that the hardening is going to remain upon Israel until Christ comes.

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That partial hardening is going to be there until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. So there's never going to be a period of time where all the

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Jews are just there's going to be like a sweeping revival among Israelites, and they're all going to become

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Christians. That hardening will always be upon Israel. That partial hardening will always be there.

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Most Jews will not believe. Some Jews will believe as God demonstrates how he's reconciling

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Jews and Gentiles to himself through Christ. And so this is going to remain this way until the fullness of the

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Gentiles has come in. Everyone who is going to be saved will be saved. God is not going to lose a single one of his sheep, those whom he has elected from before the foundation of the world.

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All who he means to save will be saved. And therefore you have in verse 26, in this way, all

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Israel will be saved. This is Paul pointing out. How is it that we can hold firm to this promise that Israel will be saved?

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It's because everyone who is in Christ is Israel. Jew or church, whoever belongs to Christ is

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Israel. Jesus is the faithful witness. That's the way he's described in Revelation 1 .5.

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Israel was supposed to be the faithful witness, but they were unfaithful. Jesus is the one who faithfully kept every command of God, becoming that perfect spotless sacrifice who would die on the cross for our sins so that whoever believes in him will be saved.

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Christ is the faithful witness. And so everyone who is in Christ, therefore, becomes the people of God.

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And there is only one people of God. There's not two. There's not Jew and Gentile.

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Sometimes Paul will make the distinction because of our human limitations. But we already read back in Romans 3 .22

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that in the eyes of God, there is no distinction. Galatians 3 .28, there is neither

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Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

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We're all receiving the same reward. Now, there's a lot of people who are taking that verse out of context, and they're even applying it to transgenderism these days.

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There is no male and female. So, see, I'm not really a man or really a woman. I can be whatever it is that I want.

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Not the point that Paul was making there. The point is that we are all fellow heirs of the kingdom of God in Christ.

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If you believe in Jesus, there is not Jew or Greek. There is not Jew or Gentile.

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We're all one in Christ. We are one body. Again, that's the revelation of the mystery in Christ that we have, according to Ephesians 3 .6.

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And it's there in Galatians 3 where Paul had also made probably the most solid argument that we find in any other chapter of scripture regarding who we are as followers of Jesus Christ, as children of Abraham.

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The Jews are not children of Abraham. Those who are in Christ are children of Abraham.

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It is not according to the flesh. It is according to the spirit. Galatians 3 .7. Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

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And then at the end of the chapter, verse 29. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

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This is the argument he makes in Galatians. And we've seen this same argument laid out for us in Romans.

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So in this way, when it comes to trying to understand how all Israel can be saved, if there's a partial hardening on Israel, if there's a partial hardening upon the

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Jews, then how can we say that all Israel will be saved? Because there's a partial hardening on Israel until the fullness of the

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Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved.

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As it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob.

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The Messiah has come from whom? The deliverer came from whom? He came from Israel. He's banished ungodliness from Jacob.

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Who is it that has ungodliness banished from them? It's the followers of Christ for we have been justified in the sight of God.

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And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

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We are recipients of this covenant that God has made with his people. And we receive this covenant through faith in Jesus Christ.

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As regards the gospel, Paul goes on to say in verse 28, as regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.

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Again, he's still addressing the Gentiles here. So as regards the gospel, they're enemies of the gospel for your sake, that you may come to faith in Jesus Christ.

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Remember how Paul would go out as a missionary to these various towns that he went to preaching the gospel.

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Let's take Corinth, for example. So we went into Corinth and he went where? Where does he go first whenever he's sharing the gospel in these cities?

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He would go to the synagogue because that's where all of the scrolls were kept. That's where he would be able to read from the

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Septuagint and show from the Jewish scriptures how Jesus is the Christ, the promised

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Messiah, according to the oracles that God had given to the Jewish people. But then when the

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Jews would reject Paul, where would he go from there? He would go to the Gentiles. Hence why you have in the account in Acts, when he goes to Corinth and the

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Jews reject him in the synagogue, he shakes his garments and says, I am free from the blood of all of you.

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Now I am going to the Gentiles. So because of this hardening that has come upon Israel, the message of the gospel goes to the

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Gentiles to show Israel what it is that they've rejected from their own scriptures and how it's being fulfilled in their midst that God is reconciling nations unto himself through faith in Jesus Christ.

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So they became enemies of the gospel for the sake of the Gentiles. But as regards election,

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Paul says there in verse 28, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers as regards election.

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In other words, there are Jews who are elect who are coming to faith in Christ for the sake of their forefathers, because it was promised to Abraham that his offspring would inherit the kingdom of God.

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And that's the true promised land, not the not that area there in the Middle East that we regard as the holy land today.

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But the true promised land, according to Hebrews chapter 11, is a heavenly kingdom. So in faithfulness to the forefathers to whom

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God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jews are being saved, fulfilling the promise that God had made to them.

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So as regards the gospel, they're enemies for your sake. Those that are hardened are enemies for your sake.

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But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

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As regards election, there are Jews who are being saved to fulfill the promises that have been given to the forefathers.

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Some are enemies for your sake. As regards election, they are beloved for the sake of the promises that were given from the beginning.

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I hope this really sheds a lot more light on that that line. In this way, all Israel will be saved.

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It's not talking about how every single Jew will be saved, like as long as a person is a

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Jew, then they will receive the kingdom of God. If that were the case, you can throw the entire book of Romans out because it's contradicted itself.

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As Paul said in Romans 1, 16, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe to the

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Jew first and also to the Greek. It is not by being a Jew that one is saved. It is by faith in Jesus Christ that one comes to salvation.

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And in this way, all Israel will be saved. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the goodness of God that has been shown to us through the gospel.

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And let us not neglect the preaching of this message, for it is only by faith in Jesus that anyone comes to salvation.

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The world is going to hell. The wrath of God has been revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness have suppressed the truth.

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We are saved from the judgment of God only when we believe in Jesus. So may we not hesitate to share that message with others, knowing that only by faith can a person be saved from the wrath of God and receive that eternal kingdom that we are promised in Christ.