Beth Shalom
Seventh-day Adventist

Romans 11:25-36

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Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers and sisters: 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 banish ungodliness from Jacob”;¹
“and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”²

As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been His counselor?”³
“Or who has given a gift to Him
that He might be repaid?”⁴

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. [ESV]

(¹ Isaiah 59:20-21. ² Isaiah 27:9. ³ Isaiah 40:13. ⁴ Job 35:7; 41:11.)

NOTES:

Paul’s anguish over the unbelief of his Jewish relatives finally finds relief. It was not what we expected, however.

He began by asserting that “...not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.... This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of promise are counted as offspring.” (Romans 9:6-8) Abraham had several sons -- Ishmael, and seven sons by his second wife, Keturah -- but only one was the child of promise -- Isaac. Isaac had two sons -- Esau and Jacob -- but only one was the child of promise -- Jacob.

He then asserted the sovereign freedom of God. “So then He has mercy on whomever He wills, and He hardens whomever He wills .... Has the potter no right over the clay, to make of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” (Romans 9:18, 21). God is doing what He knows is best based upon His own freedom of choice rooted in His foreknowledge in order to bring about what is best for all.

However, having said all of this and more, Paul still asserts that “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” (Romans 11:2) In fact, God has kept a remnant for Himself: “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.” (Romans 11:5) Does this apply to all Israel? At the moment Paul wrote this, there were two groups within Judaism: “Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened....” (Romans 11:7) We see here two groups within the entity called “Israel” -- the ELECT and the HARDENED.

As we view what Paul says about these two groups WITHIN Israel, we see GRACE in operation. “So too at the present time there is a remnant, CHOSEN BY GRACE. But if it is by GRACE, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” (Romans 11:5-6) This believing REMNANT is such because of the sovereign freedom of God -- HE CHOSE THEM! HE KEPT THEM FOR HIMSELF. The REST HE HARDENED.

We have already determined that God, in His sovereign position as GOD, has a right to do this. However, it is not arbitrary on His part. God has a divine PURPOSE -- the salvation of the whole world! He has HARDENED Israel so that “...through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles.” (Romans 11:11).

BUT--- does this mean that the HARDENED are lost? No! God in His grace is using the salvation of the Gentiles to also save His own people, even those whom He has HARDENED! “...salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the WORLD, and if their failure means riches for the GENTILES, how much more will their full inclusion mean! For if their [the HARDENED] means the reconciliation of the WORLD, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:11-15)

As seen in the previous study, God has GRAFTED the Gentiles into the Jewish tree. The Gentiles who were afar off, with no hope, with no place, have been brought into the Commonwealth of Israel, and are now partakers of the promises made to Israel. The whole world now enjoys the same covenant blessings God gave to His chosen people Israel. The Gentiles have been grafted in among the remnant, chosen by His grace -- the ELECT.

But what does God intend to do for the rest of Israel -- those whom He Himself has hardened? “...a partial HARDENING has come upon Israel, UNTIL THE FULLNESS OF THE GENTILES HAS COME IN.” (Romans 11:25) For the past two-thousand years, the glorious news of the Jewish baby born in Bethlehem who is the Son of God, the Savior of the whole world, has been going to the Gentiles. The everlasting Gospel has been carried to every kindred, nation, tongue and people. (Matthew 28:19-20; Revelation 14:6-12). The FULLNESS of the Gentiles is now almost complete. This fact is reflected in the removal of the hardness in Israel. When this FULLNESS is complete, Paul states it plainly: “And in this way ALL Israel will be saved...”.

Paul tells us to which Israel he refers: “As regards the Gospel, they [the Hardened] are enemies for your [i.e., the Gentiles] sake.” (Romans 11:28) However, “...as regards ELECTION (God’s CHOSEN people), they are BELOVED for the sake of their forefathers.” The forefathers are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God made an everlasting covenant with them in our behalf. This covenant promised the coming SEED through whom God would bless the whole world -- Jesus Christ.

Paul then asserts this certainty -- “For the GIFTS and the CALLING of God are IRREVOCABLE [#metamelomai].” (Romans 11:29). The Greek word is built upon the root “metamelomai” which means “to change one’s mind.” The prefix “a-” makes this a negative -- “never change one’s mind.” Paul is saying that what God has given us (i.e., gifts of His GRACE) will never be taken back, nor will He ever revoke His having chosen us (ELECTION). Hence, we translate this word as “irrevocable.”

What has God GIVEN us that He will never take back? “For God so loved the world that He GAVE us His only Son...” (John 3:16) “The wages of Sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). “By GRACE you have been SAVED through FAITH, and that is not your own doing; it is the GIFT of God, not of works, lest we would boast.” (Ephesians 2:8) All of these GIFTS and more are “irrevocable.”

What is His “calling” about? “For we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also CALLED, and those whom He CALLED, He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)

All of this and more is ours IRREVOCABLY -- God will NEVER take any of it back for any reason! This is the logical extension of the firm promise we have in Romans 8:31-39 -- “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Lest we miss his point, Paul describes it one more time: “For just as YOU [Gentiles] were at one time disobedient to God, but NOW have received mercy because of THEIR [the Hardened Israel] disobedience, so THEY [Israeli too have now been disobedient in order by the mercy shown YOU [Gentiles] THEY [Israel] also may now receive mercy.” (Romans 11:30-3 1)

Paul summarizes it: “For God has consigned ALL [i.e.. both Gentiles and Jews] to disobedience, THAT HE MAY HAVE MERCY ON ALL.” (Romans 11:32)

We have already ascended to the pinnacle of the Gospel in Romans 1:16 - 8:39. What God has done and is doing for us through the incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ is fully complete, perfect, and for all mankind, for all time. Paul has applied this full, eternal security to the practical example of his own doubting, unfaithful people, Israel. He has reaffirmed the sacred secret God has held for millennia, but which He has now revealed to His apostles and prophets through Jesus Christ that all of His Chosen People -- Israel, and all of His chosen Gentiles, have been merged into one new man in the person of His Son. And ALL of these -- Remnant Jews chosen and kept by GRACE, Hardened Jews softened and received by GRACE, and grateful surprised Gentiles, freshly grafted by GRACE into the Israeli Olive Tree, have been saved by that GRACE of God in the person Jesus Christ through faith alone.

All, Jews and Gentiles alike, have sinned. All, Jews and Gentiles alike, come short of the glory of God. And ALL, Jews and Gentiles alike, are being declared righteous freely by His GRACE through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sin-offering by His blood, to be received by faith.