Heritage Reformed Baptist Mission
ROMANS
Sermon 40
Salvation for Israel
Romans 11:23-36
"And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."
In John 4, we read the story of Jesus talking with a woman of Samaria. In that conversation, He said to her, “Salvation is of the Jews.” That is truth which the Jews, as a nation, falsely assumed was exclusively theirs. They held to that so strongly they came to believe God could never take His hand from them. The result was their rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ as God's Messiah. For that act, Israel, as a nation, was blinded to the truth. Salvation then became a reality for Gentiles and God began to work through the church, the body of Christ, instead of through Israel.
However, even now there are individual Jews believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and being saved. They are the “remnant according to the election of grace”written about in Romans 11:5. They are placed into the body of Christ, the church, along with every other believer in this age, for in Christ “there is neither Jew nor Gentile,...for ye are all one in Christ Jesus”, as Paul writes in Galatians 3:28. This is the now revealed mystery of the age of grace, that Jews and Gentiles would be united into one body in Christ.
In the last sermon, there is a verse which we need to look at just a moment in preparation for this lesson. That verse is Romans 11:15. “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” That is a hint Israel's present condition of unbelief is not permanent.
There is coming a time when Israel, as a nation, will no longer abide in unbelief. They will receive the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah. And, as it says in verse 26 of our text, “all Israel shall be saved.” How and why that will happen is the subject of this sermon.
Salvation for Israel! That is the promise of God. Not only individual Jews, but Israel, as a nation, in God's time, will be saved. How? By the grace of God through faith.
The reason they were set aside was because of unbelief. When that unbelief is erased from their hearts and replaced by faith, God will graft them back into the root of righteousness from which they were cut. Nothing is impossible with God. But how much easier for Him to restore the original branches to the natural olive tree than for Him to save ungodly Gentiles who had no root of righteousness whatsoever. Jews already recognize their natural heritage from Abraham. When they finally realize faith like Abraham had is what they need, they will easily believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even now, individual Jews greatly rejoice when, with eyes of faith, they behold the truth as it is in Jesus. Some years ago in the city of Hialeah, Florida, I was asked by a nurse to speak with a Jewish lady in the nursing home. The nurse had been telling her about Jesus, but could not seem to lead her to trust in Him. When I went to her bedside, I read to her from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah and explained that the prophet was speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Almost immediately, her eyes lit up and she asked if that was really so. I assured her it was and asked her if she would receive Jesus as her Messiah. Without hesitation she said, “Yes!”, and there in that nursing home bed she became a new creation in Christ Jesus. Two or three months later, she saw Him face-to-face.
Now, that is a preview of what is going to happen some day to Israel as a nation. Paul tells us that is one of the mysteries of God; i.e., it is one of the things God has determined, something human beings never would have considered. Even after it has been plainly revealed in God's Word, there are still a host of people who refuse to accept it. They are bound and determined to exclude Israel one way or another and twist the Word of God in order to do it.
But, God has said it is so and warns us Gentile believers not to think we have totally and permanently replaced Israel as God's people. They were hardened because of unbelief. But even so, the hardening has not occurred to all. And our text plainly declares the hardening will last only until God is finished calling out a people for His name from among the Gentiles. That is His purpose for the church. When that is done, Israel, as a nation, will be saved.
Many people who call themselves Christians take the prophecies of the Old Testament and apply the blessings to the church and the cursings to Israel. But those who do that are not of the same spiritual persuasion as the Apostle Paul. He was led by the Holy Spirit to write a summary statement from both Isaiah and Jeremiah in verses 26-27 of our text that definitely states God's plans for national Israel, not in the past, but in the future. “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” Those who do not accept these words of Paul as the inspired truth of God must also reject everything else he has written, or else prove themselves to be intellectually and spiritually dishonest. That is what anyone is who decides to pick and choose for himself which words in the Bible are the truth of God and which are the ideas of the human writers.
As to the argument which makes Israel another name for the church, look carefully at the context of Romans 11. It is as clear as it can possibly be Paul is speaking of the Jewish nation. Only one who is spiritually blind would even dare to say otherwise.
Israel is an elect nation. No other nation in all the earth can claim that relationship with God. Even the USA, as blessed of God as it has been, has never been God's elect people. Many of the people of the USA and of most other nations of the world are God's elect, are members of the one body of Christ, and are called “a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). But Israel alone, among the many peoples of earth, received the special call of God to be a national people unto Him.
God chose Israel because of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To them, He made some unconditional promises, one of which was possession of a tract of land stretching from Egypt to the River Euphrates. They have never possessed that land. But, when they shall believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and He reigns on the throne of David, they will. Why? Because the gifts and calling of God are never changed. What He unconditionally promises, He performs. That is true whether the promise is to Israel concerning the land, to each individual believer concerning the gift of eternal life, or to the world concerning the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation.
The fact Israel is now the enemy of the gospel in no way whatsoever makes any difference in what God has purposed for them. Their rejection of Christ, as we saw earlier in Romans 11, laid the groundwork for the gospel to come to Gentiles. But, while it doomed those individuals who rejected, it did not change the fact that national Israel is God's elect and will, in His time, finally receive all the blessings promised in His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Why? Well, we could state several reasons. But, let's stick with the one Paul gives in our text. God is merciful. Gentiles were without God and without hope in the world for more than 2000 years. They were unbelievers of the most vile sort. But, God had mercy on them by sending the gospel to them as a result of, perhaps in spite of, Israel's unbelief. No one deserves God's salvation, least of all vile, sinful Gentiles. When Israel rejected and crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, God could very well have taken on to heaven those who did believe and destroyed everyone else. But, He did not, because He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, even vile, wicked, godless Gentiles.
That ought to give anyone a clue as to why God will ultimately save Israel. He will have mercy on them, too. But, mercy cannot be given where it is not needed or wanted. Israel was so wrapped up in their own self-righteousness, they admitted to no need for mercy. But now, they, like the Gentiles before, do not believe God and are without hope. Ad so it is that God will have mercy on them when the Lord Jesus Christ returns in glory and their sin-blinded eyes are opened to recognize and receive Him as their Messiah.
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”
Who, indeed, can fully know or even understand God's ways. But, how marvelous it is that they need not be fully known or even understood to be fully experienced. Salvation is free, by the mercy of God, to everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord. Forgiveness of sins is assured to everyone who is washed in the blood of the Lamb. Eternal life is promised by God, who cannot lie, to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven is the certain hope of each and every one who receives Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
Has that happened to you? If so, lift your voice in praise to God for all His wonderful works for you and in you. And serve Him with all your heart with His people in and through a local Bible believing, Bible preaching church where He is Lord.
If you have not received Jesus yet, do you at least believe you are a sinner? If you do, the good news for you is that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Come to Him, confessing and repenting of your sins and calling upon His name. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” Do it NOW!