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“ And So All Israel Will Be Saved”
"And So All Israel Will Be Saved”
We had a great class discussion about Romans 11:26, which caused me to go back and do more study. Here are some thoughts.
Not Universal Salvation for the Jews
Some dispensationalists argue Paul’s statement means that, one day, every person of Jewish heritage automatically will be saved. Some even include Judas.
As we mentioned in class, everything we need to realize that this is NOT the correct interpretation is found right here in the context of chapters 9-11. Paul begins the section lamenting the lost condition of many Israelites (9:1-5). In his defense of God’s righteousness in the face of what looks like a colossal failure to save Israel, Paul asserts that God never intimated universal salvation of all Israel. Paul reminds his readers “they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel, nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants” (9:6). The sons of Ishmael were not included, the sons of Esau were not included. Even among the sons of Israel a majority was not included, for it is only “the remnant that will be saved” (9:27, 11:2-5).
While we often misunderstand this point, God’s salvation has always been obtained by faith (9:8), even in the Mosaic dispensation. The basis of salvation is not ethnicity or law-keeping but faith in the promises of God through Christ (10:12-13, 4:1-4). So, individuals among ethnic Israel will be saved, in the same manner Paul was saved (11:1), when they obey Jesus (11:23). The whole point of chapter 11 is that Israel’s unbelief has caused them to be broken off the olive tree, and that belief specifically in Jesus (not just zeal for the Law, 10:2)—a belief just like the ethnic Gentiles have shown—is what will permit them to be re-grafted into the olive tree.
Not a Mention of “Spiritual Israel.”
For centuries, the predominant interpretation of Romans 11:26 was that “Israel” here refers to “spiritual Israel,” that is, the people of God who, in the New Testament dispensation, are made up of both Jews and Gentiles who are faithful to Christ. In other words, “spiritual Israel” is the church.
While Paul certainly does introduce the eye-opening and important concept of “spiritual Israel” in a different letter (Galatians 3:29, 6:16) there are two big problems with reading this into Romans 11:26.
First, it makes Paul’s statement a rhetorical tautology, a statement that upon deeper analysis contains a meaningless repetition of terms. Like, “the rock star died of a fatal drug overdose.” Well duh, if the rock star died of a drug overdose, we don’t need anyone to tell us it was fatal. And if “Israel” in 11:26 just means basically “the church,” then Paul really isn’t telling us anything by saying the church will be saved. We knew that already. Instead of 11:26 being the powerful punchline Paul has clearly been winding up to deliver, it lands more like a rhetorical whimper.
Second, as Brother McClister pointed out in class, defining Israel as “spiritual Israel” in 11:26 requires a different definition of Israel than is found in the previous verse ... part of the very same sentence! In verse 25, Israel clearly refers to ethnic Israel, the Jewish people. Paul is contrasting physical Israel with the Gentiles throughout this chapter; Paul wouldn’t suddenly combine them in the same sentence without explanation. No, we must assume that “Israel” in verse 26 still means ethnic or fleshly Israel.
“And so...” = Not When, but rather How
The word that needs to be defined carefully to make sense of the sentence in the context is “so” (Greek, houtos, Strong’s 3779). To our ears, “so” often has the connotation of inevitable temporal progress toward the end mentioned. A good synonym would be, “in the due course of time.” Like when a story concludes, “...and so they lived happily ever after.” Or like 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “...and so (houtos) we shall always be with the Lord.”
However, “so” can be defined as a statement of means without any connotation of inevitability. A good synonym would be “by this method” or “in this way.” Like Matthew 3:15, “Permit it at this time, for in this way (houtos) it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”; had John refused to baptize Jesus, all righteousness would have gone unfulfilled. Or like Romans 11:5, “In the same way (houtos) then, there has also come to be ... a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.”
It’s tempting to interpret 11:26 as “...inevitably in the due course of time, every Israelite will be automatically saved.” But a much better interpretation of 11:26 is, “...it is by the method stated that every Israelite who is going to be saved will be saved.” This is not a statement of when; this is a statement of how!
And what is the method stated? It’s right there in the very next verse, the very same method that has been in view all throughout the book of Romans: “the deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob” (11:27). Jesus is the promised Deliverer. When ethnic Israel, the Jewish people, stirred up by jealousy, emerge from their partial hardening to confess the name of Jesus Christ, they shall obtain the same forgiveness of sins that Gentiles have begun to enjoy in the kingdom of God.
In other words, if any person, Jew or Gentile, is to obtain salvation, it will be obtained by faith in Jesus Christ. This interpretation makes perfect sense grammatically, and in the context of the sentence, the chapter, and the whole book.
—John Guzzetta
