In what way will “all Israel will be saved?” (A study of Romans 11)

3rd Semester / Week 7

“…a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And IN THIS WAY ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED…,” (Romans 11:25-26).

“In this way”… in what way?

It’s often assumed by dispensationalists that this passage is saying the final generation of Jews will all be saved by mass conversion due to events surrounding the Second Coming. Yet a question we’ll consider was whether verse 26 was truly a prophetic glimpse of the future or if it was merely a theological discussion of circumstances which began at that particular moment in time, as is noted by the use of the word “now” in multiple verses all throughout the chapter. 

Nowhere does this passage mention a final generation, therefore that isn’t likely to be the case (and typical dispensational interpretations of passages supposedly dealing with the future for Israel, like Ezekiel 37:15-28 and Zechariah 13, fail to see their prior fulfillment by Jesus). All that’s mentioned here is a partial hardening until the full number of Gentiles have come in, but the passage doesn’t go on to say anything else will happen after that time period.

There are, however, some “Evangelical” teachers who’ve been heavily influenced by dispensationalism who’ve even gone so far as to teach that every single person ever born with Jewish DNA essentially gets a free ticket into Heaven. As their story goes, Jewish people are consigned to lead a life of suffering and persecution, but to compensate them for their troubles in this life, each one of them will be rewarded with eternal salvation. But is any of that really the way that “all Israel will be saved?”

Oddly enough, as we’ve previously seen, Romans 9:27 declares:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.”

So, which one is it? Will “all Israel be saved,” or will “only the remnant?” Those are both contrasting statements, yet they’re both equally valid, we just have to be able to rightly understand what we’re being instructed by God’s Word.

Romans 11 is one of the primary New Testament passages that teaches God’s plan for Israel. Our first priority in this chapter would be to identify which Israel is being discussed. Remember from just a couple of chapters back that we’re told there are two different Israels: “not all Israel is Israel,” (Romans 9:6). Since there’s two different Israels, then when studying this chapter it appears that the context is regarding the fleshly Israel. However, if the context in verse 26 is spiritual Israel (believing Jews and Gentiles who belong to the antitypical Israel, Jesus/Israel = the Church), this should be an easy study, because it’s not complicated at all to grasp that everyone in the true Israel of God has already been saved by being connected to the True Vine, Jesus, and by being “one” with Him we’ll receive eternal salvation.

Before trying to figure out verse 26, let’s look back at the preceding verse:

“…blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”

What is it that the Gentiles have entered into? That verse mentioned Israel, which is a possibility, yet the other more likely possibility is found in the preceding topic which is the “olive tree.” As we’ve already seen, the “olive tree” is a symbol for Israel since it had been specifically depicted as an “olive tree” in Jeremiah 11:16-17, which even still appears on the emblems of both the State of Israel as well as the Israeli Defense Forces. The “olive tree” is Israel, and Jesus has grafted us onto His “olive tree,” and He is the True Israel of God.

At first glance, it might appear strange in two back to back verses, 25 and 26, for the name Israel to have two different meanings. However, this isn’t unique at all, since, again, we’ve seen just a couple of chapters earlier in Romans 9:6 which provides the context for our discussion here, that even in the exact same verse it can have two different meanings:

“For they are not all Israel who are of Israel.”

If Gentiles have been brought into the olive tree of Israel, then it’s not difficult to see how “all” of Israel, both Jewish and Gentile believers, would be saved: we were being saved at that very moment when Paul wrote to the Romans, and that salvation by being added to Israel continues to this very day. Could it be that the “way” that “all Israel” is saved is that God has hardened “some” Jews in order to save “some” Gentiles? That’s one possibility.

However, as originally pointed out, if verse 26 hadn’t changed to include Gentiles within “all of Israel,” then in what way would the national Israel of the flesh be saved?

Here’s a complete study of of Romans 11, and its conclusions are applicable to either scenario:

(The following information, used with permission, is from New Testament Reformation Fellowship, https://ntrf.org, and the specific study is by Stephen E. Atkerson and can be found here)

Since ethnic Israel for the most part rejected Jesus (Romans 9:27), one might conclude God might’ve rejected all ethnic Israel in an act of righteous judgment. Yet Paul offered himself as proof that God has not totally rejected ethnic Israel. Paul was a Jew, yet Paul was also a believer (Romans 11:1).

God has not rejected ethnic Israel in the sense that he still has an elect remnant among them. All throughout the past two thousand years of church history, there has been in every generation a steady trickle of Jews who believe in Jesus and join the Church.

The word that Paul used in 11:5 to describe how many from ethnic Israel would have Abraham’s faith was “remnant.” But what time indicator did Paul give in 11:5 concerning when this remnant would be saved? Paul said “at this present time” there was a remnant. That reality was already true when Paul wrote this, and arguably it’s still true today. It’s not some pie in the sky, by and by promise. It’s a present reality.

According to 11:7-10, “the majority of ethnic Israel rejects Jesus because they are not among God’s elect. God hardened them, just as He did Pharaoh.” Some people believe that in the future the remnant will one day become a majority. We’ll have to see if Paul goes on to predict that. What time indicator did Paul give in 11:8 concerning the hardening? Paul chose a quote that stated the hardening occurred “down to this very day.”

Ethnic Israel stumbled, but did not actually fall. In this context, what would it mean to actually fall (11:11-12)? To fall in this context would mean the Jewish race would be totally rejected by God (no elect Jews) and perhaps even go extinct as a race (as happened to the Canaanites or Hittites or Philistines or the Mohicans). In light of wholesale Israelite rejection of Jesus it would be easy to make the mistake of concluding that God had forever divorced Himself from the Israelite race. As it now is, the elect among ethnic Israel are still God’s people.

According to 11:11b, Israel’s stumbling/trespass resulted in salvation coming to the Gentiles (riches for the whole world). God’s plan is to use Gentile salvation to provoke ethnic Israel to jealously and cause the elect among them to accept Jesus as Messiah.

According to 11:13-16, how many jealous Jews did Paul expect to see saved (11:14)? Paul expected that “some” of them would be saved. This fits with what Paul wrote in 11:5 about a remnant being chosen by grace at this present time. Notice the timing: Paul wrote “Now I am speaking…” (11:13). This process is a present reality.

How does 11:14 help interpret what Paul meant by full inclusion in 11:12? Both mention Gentile conversion leading to Israelite jealousy and the subsequent conversion of the elect within ethnic Israel. The 2nd paragraph adds Paul’s goal that “some” be saved (far different from literally all of them getting saved). Some interpreters feel Israel’s jealousy and conversion will not happen until just before the Second Coming and that a huge percentage of Israelites will accept Christ. However, it seems clear from 11:13-14 that this inclusion was already happening in Paul’s day and presumably has kept on happening right along since then for the past two thousand years. Fullness in this case arguably refers to the full number of the remnant.

Does 11:17-24 express a possibility or a prophecy? The key seems to be the word “if” in 11:23. It is a statement of theological fact, however, it falls short of an all out prophecy that ethnic Israel as a whole will be grafted back in again. It is possible, but not predicted here. What Paul did emphatically state is this:

Romans 9:27, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, ONLY A REMNANT of them WILL BE SAVED …”

The point of 11:17-24 is to make the application that the Gentiles must not be arrogant toward unbelieving Israel. The purpose was not to make a prediction or even state a probability.

Ethnic Israel has experienced a partial hardening (11:25). What is the difference between partial and temporary? Partial refers to a quantity. Temporary refers to time. Paul did not say that a temporary hardening had happened to Israel. He said a partial hardening had happened. There may never be a time when they are not partially hardened.

Does the word “until” in 11:25 indicate how long the hardening will go on or does it indicate the purpose of the hardening? In English the word “until” typically denotes when something will happen. For example, I might say I stayed inside “until” it stopped raining (denoting a time frame). Notice that my staying inside did not cause the rain to stop. The Greek for “until” in such usages (as a time frame) is often “heos hutou.” However, the meaning of “until” in 11:25 is different because the Greek word used is “achri hou,” which can denote a goal or objective. An example is 1 Corinthians 15:25, “[Jesus] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” [The point is not to inform us when Jesus will cease to reign, but rather, the purpose of his reign is to put the last enemy into subjection]. The Greek word Paul used here for “until” is with an aorist subjective verb. When so used, it denotes not a time frame (when) but rather an objective (why). Thus Paul is not telling us how long Israel will be hardened; he is telling us why Israel was hardened: so that the fullness of the Gentiles can come in.

In 11:25, what is the fullness of the Gentiles? This is a reference to the full number of elect Gentiles who will come to faith. It does not mean a majority of Gentiles will come to faith, and neither does it mean this about Israel back in 11:12. Fullness (11:25) and full inclusion (11:12) and are from the same word (pléroma). How can 11:25 (fullness of Gentiles) help us understand 11:12 (fullness of Israel)? If the fullness of the Gentiles is the full number of Gentiles who will be saved, it also makes sense that Paul’s use of the word fullness with reference to Israel’s salvation (11:12) refers to the full number of Israelites who will be saved.

Paul then wrote that “in this way” Israel will be saved (11:26); in what way? What way is “this way?” See 11:25 and 11:7. It seems to refer back to 11:25 and the partial hardening of Israel. It is not a total hardening. The elect remnant will be saved through jealousy and the rest will be hardened. It was true in Paul’s day, it has been true throughout Church history, it is true today and it will be true in the future. Thus, “in this way” (i.e. due to God’s grace in election and jealousy), the elect within ethnic Israel will be saved.

What did Paul mean by “all” Israel (11:26)? See 9:6. It is the full number of elect Jews gathered out of ethnic Israel over the course of the centuries. Just as not literally all Gentiles will be saved, but rather a full number of Gentiles, so too not literally all Israel will be saved, but rather a full number (all the elect). All the “elect” within ethnic Israel will finally be saved.

Mass Conversion? Many interpret 11:25-27 to mean that the partial hardening of Israel is also a temporary hardening and that it will be removed toward the end of the church age after the fullness of the Gentiles is accomplished, resulting in a wholesale conversion of Jews due to the events surrounding the Second Coming. However, it seems strange that Paul would introduce a major eschatological event with just five words, with no further explanation and without alluding to it elsewhere in any of his other writings.

In 11:26-27, Paul quoted from Isaiah 59 and Jeremiah 31. When did the Deliverer come, make a covenant and take away Israel’s sins? When were these prophecies fulfilled? These Old Testament prophecies are now fulfilled history. Hebrews 8 confirms the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31. It is a prediction of the first coming of Jesus, when He made the New Covenant (which accomplished the forgiveness of sins). Thus Paul quoted Isaiah and Jeremiah as the basis for all believing ethnic Israel being saved (the making of the New Covenant), not to make a prophecy about a wholesale conversion at the Second Coming.

What word in 11:30-31 repeatedly indicates when disobedient Israel will receive God’s mercy? Timing is everything. According to the text, the time is “now” (not far off in the future). The word “now” occurs three times. The elect within ethnic Israel were already getting God’s saving mercy when Paul wrote and they are still getting it now.

Universalists believe everybody will go to heaven and quote Romans 11:32 in support of their belief. What does “all” mean in 11:32? Paul’s reference is to all men without distinction (Jew or Gentile), not all men without exception. We must let Scripture interpret Scripture. We must interpret the word “all” concerning Israel in the same way (11:26).

Conclusion: what truth about Israel does Romans 11 hold for us?

Even though Israel rejected their own Messiah, God has not totally rejected Israel. God could have caused them to become like the Canaanites or Philistines or even Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans. There was then, has been throughout, is now, and will be in the future an elect remnant within ethnic Israel that God will save and bring into the Church in each generation. Some of the physical offspring will yet become spiritual offspring!

Romans 11 does not predict a mass conversion of Jews at some point in the future. Romans 11 does not predict the restoration of geo-political Israel to the Promised Land. Bad theology leads
to bad application, misguided action, false expectation and an incorrect lifestyle. (To get an idea of what incorrect theology on Israel can lead to, watch youtube videos of Jack Van Impe use the newspaper to interpret Bible prophecy concerning Israel).

– Stephen E. Atkerson

(A similar supporting study can be found here)