The Apostle Paul is going to give us news today that he declares is a "mystery". He is going to make the statement that all Israel will be saved. He doesn't tell us when this will happen. He doesn't tell us how this will happen. But on the authority of God he assures us this is going to happen.
"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 Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved." (Romans 11:25-26a) Paul is speaking to a Gentile audience. He already warned them in yesterday's passage not to think they are better than the Jews. In Paul's day the hearts of many of his countrymen were hardened against the gospel. But he's telling his readers this won't always be the case. It might appear to some of the Gentiles that God has turned to them and has forsaken Israel, but nothing could be further from the truth. God always intended to bring the Gentiles into His family, and God never intended to banish the Jews from His family.
So what does Paul mean by "all Israel"? Some scholars and commentators think he is referring to "spiritual Israel", those who are Israel by faith and not merely by nationality. But the majority of scholars and commentators appear to believe that when Paul says "all Israel" he means "all Israel" in a national sense. When he says Israel has experienced a hardening in part, he is referring to national Israel, so it makes sense that when he says all Israel will be saved he means national Israel.
Paul wouldn't say this salvation is a mystery if he simply meant faithful Israel. God has always had a faithful remnant, even during the Old Testament times when idolatry was so prevalent in the land. It's not much of a mystery to think that those who have remained faithful to God, and who have diligently studied His word, and who want to be taught by the Lord, would come to see that Jesus is the Christ. The mystery is that somehow God is going to bring the whole nation to Christ. In Paul's day, seeing how much the religious leaders were persecuting Christians, such a thing must have appeared nearly impossible. He couldn't imagine how God will accomplish such a thing, but God has revealed to him that He is going to do it.
"As it is written: 'The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.'" (Romans 11:26b-27) Paul quotes the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. God has made many promises in the Old Testament to atone for Jacob's (Israel's) sins. He made many promises of remembering their sins no more. He doesn't explain to us in detail how He will accomplish these things, but the word of God will never fail. This is why Paul says, "As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable." (Romans 11:28-29)
In Paul's day, when the majority of his people rejected the gospel, the gospel went to the Gentiles. Up until then the Gentiles lived in idolatry. God bestowed grace on them with the gospel message and He brought them out of darkness into light. In the same way, though most of Paul's countrymen were rejecting Christ, somehow God will bring the gospel message to them through the Gentiles. God has worked things out in such a way that the Gentiles will not be complete without the Jews and the Jews will not be complete without the Gentiles. "Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all." (Romans 11:30-32)
Whether Jew or Gentile, we have all broken God's laws. We are guilty and have been "bound over" for sentencing...except God would rather show us mercy. He has made a way for us to obtain this mercy, and that is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not promising us mercy through any other means, for, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
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