A Short & Concise Analysis of Rom. 11:26—All Israel Will Be Saved! (3 of 4)

Romans 10

With tongue in cheek, Romans 10 is pretty simple and straightforward. This chapter shows how becoming righteous before God is not by works, but by God’s grace through faith—a faith in which the Scriptures also say God gives to us in order to enable us to come to Him (see also John 6:44, 65; Eph. 2:8; 6:33; Php. 1:29; 2Pet. 1:1, lit., “allotted faith”). We see this in the book of Acts where God opens Lydia’s heart to receive what Paul was saying. And we also see this in Acts 13:48, where it says, “all who were ordained to eternal life, believed.” We cannot, and do not “believe” if we are not God’s chosen people who are “ordained” to eternal life, as Jesus also said to some Jews in John 8:47 and John 10:26. Such “faith” as God’s gift to us is also seen in the administering of our gifts and talents in Rom. 12:3-9 and 1Cor. 12:7-11. We have nothing that we have not received from God. To Him alone is the glory, honor, power and praise. We have no cause for boasting, as indicated earlier in the election of Isaac and Jacob before either were even born.

Like Romans chapter 9, Romans 10 again affirms to us that there is “no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all” (v. 12). Who are the “all” here? In context, all elect Jews and Gentiles whom God sovereignly chooses to have mercy upon and save. Again, Paul says “everyone” (i.e., not just Jews) who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But, again, God sovereignly gives us the ability to call on Him; otherwise, verse 20 (and even Rom. 9:29 and 11:7f) would be superfluous. Elsewhere Paul likewise says that when we were “dead” in sins and trespasses, Christ “made us alive” together with Him (cf. Eph. 2:1, 5). Dead men do not raise themselves from their dead state. This is why salvation is ALL of God. We are HIS workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus. By grace we have been saved, through faith—and THIS not of ourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, lest any man should boast. If you believe your own “work” of faith has in fact saved you, then you have cause or reason to boast in yourself. So it stands to reason that even our “faith” (the ability to believe) has been “allotted” or portioned out to us by God, as Peter is noted above as saying in 2Pet. 1:1 (see Weymouth’s translation).

As I stated before, in Romans 10 a “righteousness” from God which is not based upon keeping the law is put before us. And it is a righteousness by faith in which many Jews and Gentiles will never be partakers of. They are “vessels of wrath, prepared in advance unto destruction” (Rom. 9:22), and even “hardened” by God no less in Rom. 11:7 which Paul denotes in the Greek by using the passive voice.[1] Paul again makes it very clear to us that this righteousness by faith is to be for all those whom God has chosen to be partakers of in verse 20, as quoted from Isaiah 65:1: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me,” with Isaiah also adding, “To a nation that did not call on My name.” No one of their own volition “seeks” God (Rom. 3:3); and no one of their own volition “asks” for Him or “calls” upon His name (cp. Jhn. 6:65; 15:16). Again, dead men do not and cannot “call” upon God. Yet even for all this, God continues to tell us through His prophet Isaiah in this same chapter described above,

Thus says the LORD, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is benefit in it,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants in order not to destroy all of them. And I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and an heir of My mountains from Judah; even My chosen ones shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a pasture land for flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me. But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune, and who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you for the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not hear. And you did evil in My sight, and chose that in which I did not delight.” Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold, My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame. Behold, My servants shall shout joyfully with a glad heart, but you shall cry out with a heavy heart, and you shall wail with a broken spirit. And you will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you. But My servants will be called by another name. Because he who is blessed in the earth shall be blessed by the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth (vv. 8-16, ‘77 NASB).

Notice that God is talking to the Jews here. Some He sovereignly will “bring forth,” giving them hearts that actually seek after Him (like Lydia’s for example), while others He leaves to themselves, judging them for the sinners that they are. And it is of these latter wicked Jews that God says, “you will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones.” Truly, “The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot” (Pro. 10:7). The old name, “Israel,” is now considered by God as nothing more than that which evokes a “curse.” And we see this being fleshed out in history, even to this day; and as with natural Israel in the past, it is all God’s doing, not man’s.[2] Yet God’s “chosen ones” who are God’s “servants” here, are the spiritual “Israel of God” that are hidden among the sheaves and who are blessed, not cursed; filling all the world and not just the small pittance of the land of Palestine. They are the “servants” whom Christ had sent out in Mat. 22:1-14, only to be ignored, mistreated and even killed by the Jews (v. 6). And when these Jews did not have the proper clothing for Christ’s wedding banquet, He commanded that they be “tied hand and foot, and thrown outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 13). These were the same ones that He just earlier spoke to, and for which Matthew writes, “When the chief priests and Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was talking about them. So they looked for a way to arrest Him…” (21:45). And it was immediately after knowing this, that Christ gives them the parable of The Wedding Banquet in the chapter to follow.

These “servants” described above are also inclusive of all Gentiles, and who “surname” themselves with a new name: the name “Israel” in Isaiah 44:5 (KJV); for, like I said earlier, no natural born Jew would need to do this. Gentiles are included in the “all Israel” who are of Israel, while some (whether they be Jews or Gentiles) are not.[3]  And of those Jews who are not this “Israel” of God according to the Spirit, Christ says, “I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet (the Church) and acknowledge that I have loved you (the Church). Since you (the Church) have kept My command to endure patiently, I will also keep you (the Church) from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (Rev. 3:9-10). Be it far from Christ’s lips to speak or pray for “peace” for this bunch. You just don’t hear it from Him. He uses their name for a curse, not a blessing. And while their name is left for a curse, evoking God’s curses; we are given a new name, evoking God’s blessings. And it has always been this way for God’s “chosen ones,” His true people who are saved by grace. Even Paul said of the Judaizers in Galatia who were preaching a false gospel (or false good news): “let him be anathema”—accursed! (Gal. 1:8). The new 2011 NIV says, “Let them be under God’s curse.” And, clearly, this is what Paul is talking about here. Truly, their name has been left for "a curse" to God’s chosen ones. And Paul evokes a curse upon them for teaching and preaching things that they just should not teach or preach. And the same is no less true today.

God said the same thing in Jeremiah of all Jews who think they are God’s people. He likewise refers to all natural thinking and reasoning Jews who have not the Spirit,

They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife. Should I not punish them for this? declares the Lord. Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this? Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the Lord”…. Among My people are wicked men.” (5:8-10).

Here God is referring to elect Jews (My people) among non-elect Jews—who are the “wicked men” here. Sound familiar? Christ and His apostles encountered the very same thing. Christ and His Jewish followers were the true believing Jews (or "servants") among the wicked unbelieving Jews. Jews who would rather kill them, even as they would of Jeremiah, rather than embrace them; who would rather spit on them, rather than give them a cup of cold water; who would rather see to it that they were thrown in a prison and forgotten about, rather than visit them; who would rather strip off all their garments, rather than clothe them; who would rather cast them out of their houses, rather than take them in and feed them. These are the ones that Christ has in mind in Mat. 10:40-42 and 25:31-46. All Christ’s “brethren,” in Matthew 25, are not all natural Jews in a future seven-year tribulation that all Christian Zionists and many dispensationalists would have us believe today. Christ’s “brethren” are US!. By now, this should have all become very clear to us. Those who receive us, receive Christ, and give evidence to the fact that they are indeed “sheep.” All “goats” (all unbelieving Jews and Gentiles) are, as Christ claims, “cursed” (Mat. 25:41), thrown into “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (ibid).

Once gain, Jeremiah records for us,

This is what the Lord says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.” Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.” But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: “I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve" (14:10-16).

History is repeating itself. False prophets and false teachers abound in the Church today who are proclaiming “peace” to all natural Jews, and even “praying” for their peace (and encouraging others to do likewise), quoting verses and texts out of context in order to make them a pretext for what they are falsely affirming. There is no future for Israel outside of Christ and all of His “called-out” ones (or the Church); whether in the past, present, or in the future. Christ appeared the first time to take away sin. But He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him (Heb. 9:26b-28). Then comes the end. All this talk about additional comings of Christ after this final second coming of Christ are “the delusions of their own minds.” Historically, the orthodox teaching of the Church has always believed in only one second coming of Christ in the future. And it wasn’t until the last couple of hundred years that a teaching started to filter into the Church (through Darby, Scofield, Lewis Sperry Chafer, John Walvoord, Hal Lindsey, J. Vernon McGee, Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, and the like),[4] that is predominantly now taught in most churches today, which is dispensational premillennialism (an extremely aberrant form of historic premillennialism[5]).

As noted above, God, nor Christ, have no kind words for those who are really not Their people. What is all this talk about the Jews being God’s “Chosen People,” when all who die not knowing Christ only go to hell in a hand basket? It makes no sense whatsoever; unless we understand that when God at times refers to them as “My people,” He was only referring to them as such when separated from the other nations and placed under the Mosaic covenant of works with Him, with most (except for His remnant) not being afforded the benefits of the Abrahamic covenant of grace by faith. And this is the only reason that makes sense of why Paul could now say, “they are not all Israel which are of Israel.” We see God alluding to this idea often in the Prophets, in the words of Christ, and even in the rebukes of the apostles to all unbelieving Jews in their letters. In Galatians, Paul even wished they would go all the way and emasculate themselves. He didn’t befriend them like so many of us do today in the Church. He harshly rebuked and criticized them for thinking they had one-up on everyone else because they were natural born Jews. Even Stephen had no kind words of “peace” for them. And they stoned him for those words. Jews are either for us, or against us. And if they are against us, which they are, then we have no business telling them that God has a wonderful plan and future for them; even a future time of “lasting peace in this place,” as those in Jeremiah's day had claimed.

As it was in Jeremiah’s day, so it is today: “they dress the wounds of My people as though it were not serious. Peace, peace, they say, when there is not peace” (6:14). Instead of overturning their tables, we want to help build their tables; instead of discouraging literal animal sacrifices, we are encouraging them to continue to do so now and in the future in the millennium; instead of speaking against rebuilding a literal temple, we are encouraging them to do so again, even by sending them money in order to do this; instead of speaking against a literal priesthood in the future, we are encouraging them to seek after it—and all based upon reading into God’s Word what He is NOT saying to them. Truly, they are “visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.” Like the Jews, many in the Church today envision things spoken of in the prophets to come to pass in a natural, physical way; when it is all now to be understood in a spiritual way. Doesn’t Peter make this unequivocally clear in his first epistle? (cf. 1Pet. 2:4-10). Yet even for all that we still have those in our midst who say that even Peter isn't talking about both Jews and Gentiles collectively in the Church, but only about natural born Jews! According to these so-called “brethren,” only Jews are “the chosen nation”; only Jews are the “royal priesthood”; and only Jews are “the people for His own possession.” But how could Peter say in verse 10, “you were once NOT A PEOPLE, who have become the people of God; and have not received mercy, but have now received mercy,” if they were all by natural birth already the “people” of God? Peter’s words only make sense with regards to everyone who has no physical ties that bind them to be designated as such. They are the people or children of God who are the “children of promise” born of the Spirit. And, as noted earlier, Paul has said the same thing of all Gentiles as well in Rom. 9:24-26 and Gal. 4:28.

To read further with regards to Romans 11, click here.


Footnotes:


[1] How God “hardens” men’s hearts is seen in how He leaves them to themselves without any of His restraining influences or help. These restraining (or non-restraining) influences are often what theologians refer to as “secondary” causes, whether they be God’s Spirit, spirits, or the natural events that occur around us. All three are seen in the Bible as God’s directing influences upon the hearts of men for either good or evil. “Secondary causes” are to be fully recognized as not independent of God, but as having their proper place in His plan. God so presents outside inducements, that man acts in accordance with his own nature, yet does exactly what God has planned for him to do (cp. 1Kin. 22:19-23, concerning God enticing king Ahab with the advice from an evil spirit, that ended up in the king’s demise). Even in the case of a good person, such as Joseph, or even Job, Calvin has keenly articulated God’s involvement and providence over all that transpires in one’s life. He says of Job’s plight: “The Lord permits Satan to afflict his servant [Job]; and the Chaldeans, who had been chosen as the ministers to execute the deed, He hands over to the impulses of Satan, who, pricking on the already depraved Chaldeans with his poisoned darts, instigates them to commit the crime. They rush furiously on to the unrighteous deed, and become its guilty perpetrators. Here Satan is properly said to act in the reprobate, over whom he exercises his sway, which is that of wickedness. God also is said to act in His own way; because even Satan when he is the instrument of divine wrath, is completely under the command of God, who turns him as He will in the execution of His just judgments….We thus see that there is no inconsistency in attributing the same act to God, to Satan, and to man, while, from the difference in the end and mode of action, the spotless righteousness of God shines forth at the same time that the iniquity of Satan and of man is manifested in all its deformity” (Inst., II, IV, 2). And again, “Satan and all the wicked are so under the hand and authority of God, that He directs their malice to whatever end He pleases, and employs their iniquities to execute his Judgments” (Inst., I, VIII, 1). It is just as Solomon has said in Proverbs, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water, He turneth it withersoever He will” (21:1, KJV). And we definitely saw the Lord doing this with Pharaoh, while at the same time exonerating the Lord and holding Pharaoh entirely liable for his dastardly deeds. This is the biblical doctrine of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Neither one cancels out the other.
[2] The Bible is replete with examples of this, too numerous to mention. But just a few will suffice. Just in Deuteronomy 28 alone, God tells the Jews what HE will do to them if they disobey His Mosaic covenant that He had previously set up with them. And this is even true of all Jews today and anyone else who are not in any covenantal relationship with the Lord, with their consciences either accusing them or excusing them. In verse 20, Moses says, “the LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke”; v. 21, “the LORD will plague you”; v. 25, “the LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies”; v. 27, “the LORD will afflict you with boils”; vv. 28, 29, 33, “the LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind…day after day you will be oppressed…you will have nothing but cruel oppression all you days”; v. 49, “the LORD will bring a nation against you”; v. 63, “just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in numbers, so it will please Him to ruin and destroy you.” Israel of today is not the Israel of yesterday. They are a different “breed” of people altogether—even a mixed breed, with no genealogies anymore to prove who they are. “Genealogies” that even Paul said in his day were of no value in God’s plan of salvation (1Tim. 1:4;Tit. 3:9). The kingdom of God and of heaven has been taken from Israel of the past, and given to a nation who will produce its fruit (Mat. 21:43). We, the Church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles—are that “nation”! (cf. 1Pet. 2:9). And even anyone today who would call themselves a “Jew” are welcome to join us, should God so choose to add them to our number. Besides that, there is no other future for the Jew. They either join us, or are lost forever, cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (cf. Mat. 8:10-12; Lke. 13:22-30).
[3] This is the “all Israel” who is the spiritual Israel in Rom. 9:6. In Rom. 11:26, “all Israel” there is referring to all elect Jews, as opposed to all elect Gentiles in verse 25. Nevertheless, they are all God’s “children of the free woman” (Jews and Gentiles born of the Spirit) and not “children of the slave woman” (particularly said of Jews who are born solely of the flesh)–cf. Gal. 4:24ff.
[4] Lewis Sperry Chafer founded what is today called, Dallas Theological Seminary. It has given birth to a long list of individuals who have taken predominant places and positions in the Church.

Most notably, the late Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel’s all over America, is a leading proponent of Dallas Theological Seminary’s dispensational premillennial teaching. Chuck Swindoll, Charles Ryrie, John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, and even John MacArthur, all vehemently and tenaciously teach and support dispensational premillennialism. I am saddened to hear this of Swindoll and MacArthur. But all I can say is: reader beware! Those who are first, will be last.
[5] Historic Premillennialism, as articulated in George Eldon Ladd’s book, The Blessed Hope, pretty much agrees with the orthodox teachings of the Church throughout history that views everything centered around the Church, and not just around Jews of natural ethnicity. And except for believing in a literal earthly reign of Christ in the future for a literal 1,000 years, historic premillenialists have more in common with Amillennialists when it comes to interpreting many Scriptures as either already fulfilled, or to be fulfilled in Christ and His Church. Historic Premillennialists do not place an importance on Jewish natural ethnicity as all dispensationalists do. And they surely do not envision natural Israel residing in Palestine, while the Church remains separate and distinct from them in heaven. They do not believe in an earthly people made up only of Jews, verses a spiritual people who are not a part of this group. In God’s plan, there is only one flock with One Shepherd residing over them, not two. Children born only according to the flesh, have no part or place with all children born according the Spirit and who are God’s “children of the promise.”