All Israel Will Be Saved

The apostle Paul speaking to Jews in a synagogue in ancient Rome. Generated by AI

At a key point in Paul’s letter to the Romans, after Paul has been wrestling with the Jewish rejection of Jesus and the Gentile acceptance of him, warning Gentiles not to look down on the Jews as if they’ve been voted off redemptive-history island, Paul then turns to the topic of Israel in the future, and his claim is that in the end “all Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:26).

Let me say that whole schemes of theology, complete with charts, modern prophecy, novels, and theo-political lobby groups for the US policy in the Middle East. hinge on these few words.

But what does it mean that “all Israel will be saved”?

In the context of Rom 11:25-32, Paul argues that Israel’s “hardening” is only temporary, until the “full number of Gentiles” enter into God’s grace. After that, Paul expects “all Israel” to be saved, probably at the return of Jesus, when the Messiah returns to Jerusalem. The rationale is that God’s “gifts and calling” are irrevocable, including for Israel.

Here’s what I think needs to be remembered …

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First, in this context “Israel” is not referring to the church, but to ethnic Jews.

Here I disagree with Tom Wright in that I don’t think Rom 11:26 uses “Israel” the same way Gal 6:16 does, as a reference to the church as the vanguard of a renewed Israel.

For Paul, the term “Israel” is always positive, it’s a prestige term, that shows the organic continuity between the church of his own day and the covenant people of God’s sacred history recounted in the Scriptures. While “Israel” can find contemporary expression in the Messiah-believing community, it primarily encompasses ethnic Jews who share in this Israelite heritage, with its covenants, worship, promises given to the patriarchs, as it is from their lineage (even “flesh”) that the Messiah is descended (Rom 9:1-5). Israel in this context refers to “Jews” who for the time being do not believe in Jesus and are sadly cut off from Jesus.

Second, while Paul does not say that every individual Jew will necessarily be saved in the end, yet he remains hopeful there will be a future reconciliation when the “remnant” of believing Jews (i.e., Jewish Messiah-believers like himself) will be joined with the elect from the “rest” of Israel including unbelieving Jews (Rom 11:7, 15). In other words, when the remnant (Jewish Messiah-believers) and the rest (unbelieving Jews) are united in faith in Jesus, then, “all Israel will be saved.”

Third, when will this salvation happen? That too is a complex matter. To begin with, Paul clearly knows that Jews like himself as well as Peter, Barnabas, Priscilla and Aquila, John Mark, and many others who came to faith. Indeed, he seems to assume the necessity of a continued preaching mission to Israel in Rom 10:14-21. So we can think that the salvation of the Jews will happen over the course of church’s missionary activity present and future.

Yet there is definitely a future horizon to his thought. The adverb houtōs in context could be either modal for “in this way all Israel will be saved” (NIV, NRSV, CSB) or temporal “and then all Israel will be saved” (Living Bible; NLV). I think the temporal meaning is supported by three things.

(a) Paul has already given a temporal sequence in v. 25 by asserting that Israel’s hardening will last “until” the full number of Gentiles are saved. So the natural sequel is that he looks ahead in v. 26 to a future moment after the fullness of Gentile are saved and when Israel’s hardening ends.

(b) The future tense of sōthēsetai (“will be saved”) in v. 26 is a real future as opposed to a logical future and underscores the temporal sequence all the more.

(c) The condensed citation of Isa 27:9, 59:20, and Jer 31:33 in vv. 26-27 looks like a description of what will happen at Jesus’ return when Israel comes to repentance and experiences the new covenant blessing of forgiveness.

The argument set forth is highly reminiscent of Gal 3:22, “Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.” The backstory is important. All of humanity, Gentile and Jew, are condemned in Adam. Israel was meant to be the bearer of the promises of deliverance from this condition, yet they found that the Torah convicted them with Gentiles them rather qualifying them for their role as rescuer. It was the Messiah, the new Adam, the true Israelite, who reversed the curse of sin and overturned the sentence of death. Yet Israel lapsed into further disobedience to the message of the Messiah with the result that the Gentiles would be freed from their disobedience. Still, Israel will one day be rescued from their disobedience as they come to see the Gentile rescued with the mercy is that properly theirs.

If you remember anything, it should be this, God’s mercy in the Messiah will not Passover Israel, instead, it will embrace them!