Salvation for the Gentiles and for Israel
Lesson 19 Notes: Romans 11:1-32
“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.” (Romans 11:25)
How can we be confident that God does not give up on His people? As we look around, we see people giving up on one another all the time. Friendships wane, marriages end in divorce, business partnerships fail, and even nations that were once allies turn on one another. How do we know who to trust when life becomes unsettled? Paul told the Romans in no uncertain terms that God can be trusted. He will never turn His back on His people. Ever. Throughout history, God maintains a remnant of believers that He upholds and strengthens. He certainly did not give up on Paul.
God is eternally faithful. He will keep every promise and fulfill every prophecy in Scripture. God weaves His purposes into every detail of history. When His people rejected Jesus as Messiah, God made salvation available to the Gentiles with a plan to motivate the Jews to belief. Though God seldom works the way we would, His perfect plans accomplish His greater purposes. In the end, God will fulfill His promises and Israel will be saved. As we examine God’s faithfulness to Israel, He opens our eyes to recognize His faithfulness in our lives today. God always works to accomplish His perfect plan for all people.
Romans 9 and 10 express Paul’s burden for Israel. Paul heralded God’s unfailing Word and call to faith as His people proclaim Christ. Throughout these chapters, election and human responsibility arise as mysterious partners in God’s glorious plan of redemption. Chapter 11 continues Paul’s revelation of God’s grace that brings future hope and promises Israel’s future restoration.
A Remnant of Believers – Romans 11:1-10
Paul defended God’s faithfulness by answering his question, “Did God reject his people?” Paul exclaimed, “By no means!” and immediately provided facts supporting his argument. A descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin, Paul presented himself as proof that God had not abandoned Israel. In the past and present, the world has seen many Jewish Christians. No claim can maintain that God has rejected the Jewish people. Paul believed and the Old Testament affirms God’s disciplinary actions toward Israel, His covenant people. Even so, a believing remnant will remain within Israel. God never breaks His promises.1
Paul recalled an Old Testament event involving the prophet Elijah as further proof that God had not rejected Israel. Elijah challenged 450 prophets of Baal to sacrifice a bull to their false god, Baal, while Elijah sacrificed the same to the Lord. Neither side lit an altar fire, and both sides agreed that “the god who answers by fire—he is God.”2 Baal’s altar remained unlit. But God answered Elijah’s prayer with unquestionable power—fire consumed Elijah’s sacrifice. Baal’s prophets were put to death. Israel’s enraged queen, Jezebel, then sought Elijah’s demise. Seized with great fear, Elijah fled to the wilderness. God met fleeing Elijah and revealed that He had reserved “seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Elijah was not the only faithful Israelite left! God’s grace extended beyond one lone prophet. God had preserved a believing remnant.
A remnant is a small part remaining after the main portion is gone, such as a piece of fabric left unsold. In the Old Testament, the “remnant” often refers to believing Jews who survived the prophesied invasion and exile of Israel’s Northern and Southern Kingdoms.3 Though Elijah lived prior to Israel’s captivity and exile, Paul rightly referred to the seven thousand as a remnant who had remained faithful to God. Many Israelites would be saved, but not all. Paul’s recollection of the remnant in Elijah’s time prompted him to speak of God’s grace to the church in Rome. Why? Perhaps God’s grace constantly amazed Paul. Once so proud of his works and abilities, Paul now cherished God’s grace and wanted his readers to do the same.
Paul summarized chapters 9 and 10 in these four verses of chapter 11. Verse 7 reviews election and why Israel rejected the gospel: “What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened.” Back in chapter 9, Paul included four passages from Old Testament prophets to prove God’s restorative plan always included Gentile salvation and Israel’s rejection of Jesus.4 Here, in chapter 11, Paul further explained Israel’s rejection of Jesus in verse 8: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”5
Paul’s summary not only looked back but also carried his argument forward. Chapter 9 discussed Pharaoh’s hardening,6 and Chapter 11 revealed Israel’s hardening. Paul seems to be explaining how Israel trusted in their God-given customs rather than in God Himself. Tragically, their lack of faith turned God’s gifts and blessings into a stumbling block. The same thing happens today when God’s people trust religious heritage, rituals, and ceremony rather than believe in Jesus and trust in His sacrificial death on the cross.
The Promise-Keeping God
God faithfully kept His covenant promises to Israel, and He continues to keep those promises today. His promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, came and accomplished salvation for all who believe. God’s Old Testament prophets foretold events that came to pass in the lives of Israel’s enemies, kings, and people. Believers today confidently anticipate God’s future fulfillment of prophecies regarding Jesus’s return and the new heaven and earth.
Hundreds of biblical prophecies have been fulfilled, while many more await fulfillment. Fulfilled prophecy proves the God of the Bible is the true God and that the Bible is God’s Word. Prophecy can only be repeatedly and accurately fulfilled if God, who reveals future events, also makes certain those promises come to pass.1 Throughout history, many have attempted in vain to predict the future. Only God can see and determine what lies ahead.2
God knows all things past, present, and future. Biblical prophecy reveals God’s unique character and power. God alone holds the power to guide history to accomplish His good plan. God’s perfect, unchanging character and power stand behind every promise He makes, and all His promises and prophecies remain certain.
Lack of trust in God’s unchanging Word can bring uncertainty in an ever-changing world. Without God’s Word as our foundation, we seek security in inadequate human resources, which leaves us ultimately lacking what we need most. Unless we believe in and stand on the firm foundation of God’s Word, we forfeit the comfort of God’s fulfilled prophecies and hope for the future.
Belief in God’s past fulfillment of prophecy brings great hope that He will fulfill every remaining prophecy in His Word. We can stand on the rock-solid foundation of God’s Word while we live in a world that swirls with circumstances beyond our control. Fear, anxiety, and desperation loom when violence or unexpected tragedy strikes. However, God and His unchanging power, wisdom, and strength provide every comfort we need. God keeps His every promise and fulfills His every prophecy.
Salvation of Gentiles – Romans 11:11-24
Our inability to fully understand God’s ways does not mean He acts without purpose. Though God’s ways may confound us, He is good and wise. His plan is perfect, and He does not owe us an explanation for our life circumstances. Yet He graciously invites us to seek Him in prayer and cry out to Him in times of trouble. He also reveals some of His purposes in salvation. Election shows us God’s patience, wrath, power, glory, and mercy.7 God has a distinct purpose in setting aside Israel for a period of time. Paul unfolded important truths about Israel throughout the remainder of chapter 11.
Israel indeed stumbled badly but not beyond recovery. Though the nation rejected Jesus as Savior and Messiah, they will rise again in faith. God’s purpose for Israel’s stumbling, like all His purposes, brought good. Israel’s rejection of Jesus resulted in opening salvation to the Gentiles. Two points remain historical facts: 1) Israel rejected Jesus, and 2) the gospel spread to the Gentiles.
Paul pressed forward and articulated how God would use the Gentiles to bring Israel back to Himself. Gentile salvation would stir envy among the Jews, opening their eyes to what matters in God’s eyes: living by faith. As Israel desires God’s good gifts that believing Gentiles enjoy, they will one day turn to seek God when they turn away from unbelief. Currently, Israel’s sinful unbelief means spiritual riches for Gentiles. But Israel’s future faith will lead to even greater blessing for both Gentiles and Jews. Though spiritual blindness settled over the majority,8 individual Jews continue to come to faith in Jesus even today.
Ultimately, Paul longed for his ministry among the Gentiles to bring the Jews to saving faith. Their future belief will mean spiritual resurrection—a true “life from the dead.” Paul drew upon two Old Testament pictures to further emphasize that God has not forgotten Israel, His chosen people. The “dough offered as firstfruits” refers to Israel’s harvest festival. As the people looked forward to the full harvest, they offered the first portion to God.9 As the first of two illustrations, the “holy dough” probably speaks of the same reality illustrated by the “holy root” of the olive tree.
To be holy means to be set apart to God. God set apart the patriarchs for Himself. They are the “holy root” within Israel. The spiritual foundation of holiness and consecration to God they laid within the nation brought inescapable consequences for their unbelieving descendants, the natural branches that were broken off. The broken-off branches are not individuals whom God has saved, for true believers cannot lose their salvation.10 The broken branches are also not whole nations. Gentiles do not replace Israel. Instead, God grafts believing Gentiles into the one people of God.11 The olive tree’s branches seem to include many Jews and many Gentiles. Paul’s point is that unbelief cuts Israel off from the spiritual blessings that belong to them as Abraham’s descendants. Many Gentiles, with no claim on Israel’s spiritual blessings, have entered those blessings by faith in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.12
Future Salvation for Israel – Romans 11:25-32
The Bible identifies Israel as God’s elect people, and He is not finished with them. His plan to bless Israel will unfold in the last days. Many biblical prophecies were recorded long before they were fulfilled and validate the Bible as God’s Word.13 God alone knows and controls the future. His prophecies and promises regarding the Jews have yet to be fulfilled. Even so, God can be trusted. Unchanging and trustworthy, God remains true to Himself, His will, and His Word.
In the Bible, a mystery is something hidden in the past that God has now revealed. The mystery disclosed in these verses is God’s plan to save Gentiles and Jews through Israel’s partial hardening. God’s ultimate purpose to lead Jews to find Jesus as their Savior continues as Gentiles come to faith in Christ even today. God’s gracious plan has always included Jews and Gentiles.
God will save all Israel when the full number of Gentiles, which only God knows, comes to faith. What did Paul mean by “all Israel”? Faithful Christians hold a variety of views.
Paul continued his pattern of proving his argument by quoting from the Old Testament.16 He loosely quoted Isaiah 59:20-21 but weaved in thoughts from other passages.17 Isaiah wrote centuries before Jesus’s birth, so his words could refer to Jesus’s first or second coming. However, writing after the cross, Paul said, “The deliverer will come.” Repeating the future tense in Isaiah’s words, Paul looked to a time of future faith and blessing for Israel at Jesus’s second coming. God’s unconditional covenant becomes clear in verse 27. Israel will turn from sin to Jesus in earth’s final days. Paul tied Israel’s future salvation to God’s covenant: “And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
God is sovereign, good, and wise in all He does. He rules over all circumstances. God’s purposes at the end remain exactly as they were at the beginning. God has promised to “take away their sins.” Most Jews have rejected Jesus, yet our faithful God will not forsake Israel. God can be trusted to keep all of his promises to Israel through the work of His Son, Jesus, the Messiah.
Paul shifted from God’s covenant to His irrevocable call: “As far as election is concerned, they [the Jews] are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gift and his call are irrevocable.” Though the Jews have rejected Jesus the Messiah at the present time, God’s covenantal love for Israel remains. What led Paul to this conclusion? Paul had witnessed Israel’s rejection of the gospel. He saw how, through the Jews’ hardening, God included the Gentiles in His salvation plan. So why wouldn’t Paul assume God would revoke His covenant and His call? Paul confidently grasped eternal truth that exceeded his circumstances; Paul understood God’s character.
Because God does not change, neither do His promises or plans. God’s call, which puts His plans into action, is irrevocable. God chose Israel to be His special people. Nothing that has happened, is happening now, or will happen can change God’s choice regarding His relationship with Israel. Like God’s covenant, His gifts and call help us understand the nature of His faithfulness. The gifts Paul mentioned in chapter 11 are not aptitudes for science, art, carpentry, or commerce; nor are they moral or spiritual abilities. Instead, he was referring to gifts God gave His people as part of that covenant relationship, including adoption, law, temple worship, and Christ’s ancestry.18
Because verse 28 mentions election, “call” probably refers to God’s choice of Israel as His people. God chose Israel as a special nation for His purposes. God will not and cannot abandon that choice. God’s sovereign purposes and promises for Israel remain. Though most Jews have rejected the Messiah, Jesus, many will turn from unbelief to Him in the final days.
Paul briefly reviewed the major truths of chapter 11 as he concluded his letter’s third main section. Through Israel’s disobedience, God has shown mercy to the Gentiles that will ultimately lead to Israel’s lasting blessing. Paul’s lesson is clear: God’s mercy shines brilliantly against the dark background of sin and the grief it causes.19 God’s great mercy, along with His plan for saving Gentiles and restoring Israel, led Paul to a doxology of praise in the remaining verses of this chapter.
Recalling God’s amazing mercy takes us back to Paul’s explanation of the way God’s sovereignty directs the exercise of His mercy: “Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”20 Paul’s words stretch our understanding of God’s mercy, stating, “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” Paul did not teach universal salvation. To do so would contradict his prior teachings,21 Jesus’s words,22 and the Bible as a whole.23 Rather, God’s past work and the future blessings He promises continually prove He will show mercy to Jews and Gentiles alike. God’s mercy remains inclusive, not exclusive. God simply asks us to respond to His initiative with faith to be a part of His blessing.
Paul spoke about Jews and Gentiles as groups of people, not individuals. Disobedience characterizes both groups. Neither Gentiles nor Jews deserve mercy, but God pours out mercy on both. This truth led Paul, formerly a self-righteous and proud Pharisee, to regard all people as equally needy before God.24 God always works to accomplish His perfect plan for all people.
God’s covenant stands at the heart of Scripture, God’s revealed Word. “Covenant” is a legal term that describes at least three types of Old Testament relationships:
A covenant is a foundational arrangement God has established with an individual or group of people. Some of God’s covenants are unconditional, such as His covenant with Abraham, in which God’s actions do not depend on human actions. God’s unconditional covenant becomes clear in Romans 11:27. God promised to make Abraham into a great nation and bless all people through His promised Messiah. Abraham had no required work to complete before receiving God’s promise—he simply received God’s promised blessing by faith. In addition, some of God’s covenants are conditional, such as His covenant with Israel. God promised to bless the people if they obeyed His commandments and to judge them for disobedience.4 God sets the unchangeable terms to His covenants. As well as His covenants with Abraham and Moses, God established covenants with others in the Old and New Testaments. The number of covenants in Scripture is a subject of ongoing scholarly discussion. However, all viewpoints recognize key events in the scriptural narrative where God establishes foundational arrangements with people that include promises and obligations.
Take to Heart
The Bible reveals Israel’s past, present, and future. Most Jews have not believed in Jesus, but God’s Word has not failed. Even in their unbelief, God has not rejected His chosen people. God’s preservation of the Jews despite centuries of hardship demonstrates His care and faithfulness. Though not every individual Jewish person believes and is saved, God is still fulfilling His covenant. God is saving a remnant of Jews and Gentiles who belong to the one people of God. Jewish people are not on a separate salvation track. All come to God one way: through faith in Jesus Christ.
Only Jesus’s death removes sin’s penalty. As long as Israel rejects Jesus, they exclude themselves from the salvation God provides. God will keep His promises to the Jewish people. He will not reject Israel. At last, as prophesied, our faithful God will bring the masses of Israel to faith in Jesus Christ, who died to save them from their sin. In the last days, the Gentiles’ salvation will lead many Jews to faith in Jesus the Messiah.
God keeps His promises and fulfills His every prophecy. How does knowing He is fully trustworthy help you personally? Though life often feels uncertain, God remains unchanging. What makes it difficult for you to trust Him? Jesus came, suffered, died, and rose again on your behalf. How might God’s fulfilled prophecies about His Son and faithfulness to keep His promises to Israel encourage you? How will you find strength, comfort, and hope in your time of need?
Have you felt isolated in your faith, cast aside, or persecuted because of your relationship with Christ? Co-workers, neighbors, or family members may resist any talk of Jesus or ridicule your faith. Perhaps deep struggles leave you feeling weary and discouraged. Remember, you are never alone. God keeps His watchful eye on His faithful people. When we feel alone, God draws near. As you study God’s Word, do you recognize your vital role as part of His people? Cry out to Him in prayer and seek Him for comfort and direction. How will you encourage fellow believers as they walk with God through difficult circumstances? How could you speak to an unbelieving friend or into a family member’s struggle by sharing Christ and His gospel?
God allowed the Gentiles who came to saving faith in Paul’s time to create jealousy within His people, the Jews. How might He use you to help others see Him? God calls His people to shine His light into dark places in this world. He strategically positions believers to impact their workplaces, neighborhoods, and schools. How does your daily attitude illuminate hope or spread joy to those around you? In what ways is God calling you to share the wonder of Jesus’s love and make a difference in someone’s life today? The Holy Spirit empowers all who know Jesus to live and love like Him. Pray your life will show Jesus’s grace and truth to any who oppose the gospel.
God’s mercy in Jesus Christ remains an unshakable foundation. We cannot save ourselves. Our sinful state reveals our absolute need for God’s mercy. A harsh word spoken, an unkind action, even a critical thought about someone demonstrates our need for mercy. Do you look down on anyone in any way? Doing so demonstrates how little we understand about our own sinful nature and how desperately we need God’s mercy. God never turns away any who truly seek Him. Do you believe that? Have you experienced God’s mercy? If so, will you tell others of God and His great mercy? God is exactly who Paul declares Him to be—the God who saves all who will come to Christ.
1. God keeps His promises: Psalms 89:28, 34; 105:8-10; Jeremiah 31:33-37
2. Elijah: 1 Kings 18:16–19:18
3. Remnant: 2 Kings 19:4, 30-31; Ezra 9:8, 13; Isaiah 11:11, 16; 37:31-32; Jeremiah 23:3; 42:2; Micah 7:18
4. God’s plan: Hosea 1:10; 2:23; Isaiah 1:9; 10:22-23
5. Paul’s proof: Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaiah 29:10
6. Pharaoh’s hardening: Romans 9:17-18
7. Election: Romans 9
8. Spiritual blindness: 2 Corinthians 3:14-16
9. First portion: Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 2:12, 14; Numbers 15:20-21; 18:12; 28:26-31
10. Secure salvation: John 10:27-30; Ephesians 1:13-14; Philippians 1:6
11. Grafting of Gentiles: Ephesians 2:11-22
12. Spiritual blessings: Romans 4:11-12; Ephesians 2:11-22
13. Promised beforehand: Romans 1:2
14. All Israel: Romans 9:6-8
15. Future blessing: Zechariah 12:10; 13:1
16. Paul’s pattern: Romans 3:10-18; 4:1-22; 9:25-27, 33; 10:18-21
17. Future faith: Psalm 14:7; Isaiah 27:9; Jeremiah 31:33-34
18. Israel’s gifts: Romans 9:4-5
19. Sin abounds: Romans 5:20-21
20. God’s mercy: Romans 9:14-16
21. All people sin: Romans 2:5-12; 3:10-18; 6:23; 9:1-3, 22
22. Born again: John 3:3
23. Bible’s authority: 2 Timothy 3:16-17
24. All people equal: Romans 3:9-12, 22, 29-30
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