“I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: 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, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’ Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs, since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

With Paul’s help, we have established that the designation “Israel” does not mean what it has traditionally been understood to mean. It was never intended to refer only to a genetic tribe of people. It was always intended to refer to those people who by faith lived in pursuit of a covenantal relationship with God. The confusion here comes from the fact that one of the major covenants God made was with a genetic tribe that was made up of the descendants of the men to whom God gave the name Israel. Yet not every member of that tribe abided by the covenant such that not all of Israel was God’s Israel. Still, though, God put that tribe through a lot in using them to reveal Himself to the world. Does He have any plans for those who rejected Him? Paul seems to think so. Let’s explore this next part of chapter 11 as we draw near the end of this section of the letter.

I’ll just be honest here out of the gate: Sifting out exactly what Paul means in these verses is tricky. We’re going to walk through this bit by bit and with the understanding that how I’ve come to understand it may not be the absolute best way to understand it. I’m going to hold this interpretive work with open hands and a great deal of humility.

Paul starts here by making reference to a mystery. Which mystery? The mystery of how a people who have rejected the Gospel seemingly en masse could be grafted back into God’s “cultivated olive tree.” That is, how a people who have rejected the Gospel could turn around and receive it instead. How could Israel, who had turned their backs on God, find their way back? This way, as Paul made clear in the verses just before these and which we talked about last week, is faith. When they come back around in faith, they will be received just as the Gentiles themselves had been received.

This mystery of the miracle of faith is important to understand because it is an effective weapon against pride. The church over its history has often been guilty of looking down on those who are currently outside of its boundaries. We have been tempted – and have indeed given into the temptation on far more occasions than we should have – to consider those who aren’t currently following Jesus as beneath us. What silliness! What nonsense! If we have only been received into the body of Christ by our faith, meaning it didn’t have anything to do with us personally, then someone who is currently far from God could embrace faith just as we have and become a part of the body as well. There is no room for pride in the Gospel. Period.

As it stood, though, a significant portion of genetic Israel had indeed rejected faith and rejected the Gospel. But this was allowed for a purpose. “A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” The idea of a partial hardening here suggests that not all of Israel had joined in this rejection that opened the door for the Gentiles to come in following on the logic of Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast. Paul himself is evidence of this fact. So were the apostles. The hardening was real, but it was only partial. And it was for the purpose of allowing the floodgates that had been holding back the Gentiles – that is, the rest of the world – to come to faith to be thrown open until all who would enter had done so.

By doing this – that is, by allowing this partial hardening to happen, and by allowing the “full of the Gentiles” to enter the kingdom – “all Israel will be saved.” It’s a little tricky here to sort out which Israel Paul is talking about. Is this genetic Israel or spiritual Israel? On a full consideration of the evidence of the context, I would lean toward spiritual Israel. This is because spiritual Israel encompasses the part of genetic Israel who embraces the Gospel and comes to salvation. This is Paul’s saying that all those who respond in faith to God’s invitation to life in Christ will indeed be saved. This group will include the full number of Gentiles, and it will also include all of genetic Israel who is yet willing to turn and embrace the Gospel.

The way Paul justifies this argument is with a reference to a couple of different passages of Scripture. Most of the quote in vv. 26-27 comes from Isaiah 59:20-21. The Greek version of the Old Testament that we call the Septuagint today and which Paul was probably using is a little bit different from the Hebrew version that is the basis of the translation you’ll find in your Bible. Paul’s version ascribes more of the impetus for the turning from sin on the part of Israel to God than the Hebrew version does.

Paul’s version here says, “The Deliverer will come from Zion; he [meaning ‘the Deliverer”] will turn godlessness away from Jacob.” Isaiah 59:20 in at least the CSB says, “The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.” See the difference? Does the Redeemer or Deliver (same person) come to those who turn themselves, or is He the one who accomplishes the turning? Honestly, I don’t think this has to be an either-or proposition. Our salvation itself is not an either-or proposition. God saves in Christ. Period. There is no effort on our part that results in our being saved. At the same time, we put our faith in Christ. God can’t force faith because otherwise it isn’t faith, but only obedience. We respond to God’s invitation and turn from our sins, but He is the one who enables us to turn from our sins by the action of His Spirit in us once we have responded to His invitation. Both-and.

This both-and understanding is confirmed in v. 27 and the second part of Paul’s quote. “And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” The first part of that comes from Isaiah 59:21. The second part is a reference to Jeremiah 31:31-34 where Jeremiah is talking about the new covenant God would make with His people and how that covenant would result in their sins being taken away (when they responded in faith to the invitation of Christ). So, we will turn from godlessness when God takes away our sins. Both-and, not either-or.

Having hinted that there will yet be a turning of the portion of genetic Israel who are revealed to be a part of spiritual Israel, Paul explains why God refuses to give up on genetic Israel. They are His people. While only a portion of the whole of genetic Israel will yet turn out to be part of spiritual Israel, God still has a special place in His heart for the whole group. He worked with them directly and uniquely for so long. They were the ones who were part of His intentional program of self-revelation so that He could open the doors of a relationship with Him to the rest of the world. They were the ones He blessed to be a blessing.

God may have allowed this group to turn on the Gospel so that the invitation to receive it could be extended to the rest of the world, but God still loved them. “Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs.” God had history with them. He wasn’t going to forget and walk away from that history just because they were struggling with what He was doing now. He would stay patient with them until they finally reached the place they were willing and able to receive it.

And He would do all of this because of the special relationship He had with the original bearers of His promise to reveal Himself to the whole world. When He told Abraham that He was going to bless his descendants to be a blessing, He meant it. As a children’s Bible I read to my oldest kids all the time when they were little put it, “When God makes a promise, you know that it’s true.”

God promised to bless Abraham’s descendants. We understand now at the end of this excursus in Romans 9-11 that “Abraham’s descendants” are a spiritual people first, and not a genetic one. But all of the genetic descendants of Abraham who were also to be part of the spiritual descendants would be included. None of them would be forgotten “since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.” When God determines that something will happen, it will indeed happen. We can take that to the bank. In fact, God’s promises are a whole lot more reliable than a bank.

I think the takeaway for us here is what Paul hinted at back in v. 25. This is all about keeping us from spiritual pride. God’s actions toward us are grace from start to finish. We don’t deserve any of it. We haven’t earned it. But He does it anyway because of His great love for us. Everything He does toward us is motivated by His love for us. His righteousness and holiness and justice play equal roles, of course, but His love is always the feature. If you are walking with Christ, you know this already. If you aren’t, He is still waiting to pour His love out on you in Christ. Why keep Him waiting any longer? Why keep yourself waiting as well? He’s called you to it in Christ. You only have to receive it. I hope you will.