 The Bible says that all Israel will be saved, but when it says all of Israel will be saved, does it mean all of Israel will be saved? All of the Jews will be saved? Well, the answer is yes, all of the Jews, all of Israel will be saved. But the question is, which of all of Israel? Sounds like a strange way to kind of put it, but that needs to be understood because he's not saying that every single Jewish person, every single person that claims to be Israel will be saved. To get a better understanding, we need to look at the exact passage that's spoken of and then see if we can glean what Paul is speaking of. He says in Romans chapter 11, verse 26, he says, so all Israel will be saved. Just as written, the deliverer will come from Zion and he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. And that's what he says. This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. So the question is, what is he speaking of? What is he referring to? He's referring to the book of Isaiah. Oftentimes you'll see Paul quote Isaiah all throughout Romans, but particularly in Romans 9 to 11. Because in Romans 9 to 11, he's speaking specifically about the salvation of Israel. And before we cover what he means by Israel and what he's getting at in Romans 9 to 11, as well as chapter two and three. And so let's go to Isaiah chapter 59, verse 20, where he says, a redeemer will come to Zion and those who turn from transgression in Jacob declares to Lord. Now notice what he says to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, meaning of Israel. And then the following verse he states in verse 21, he says, as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord, my spirit which is upon you and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring, says the Lord from now and forever. Now this hasn't happened yet, but he's speaking what's going to happen. Remember even going to Isaiah 53, he's speaking of what he's going to do with Israel. At some point in time, Israel will say those words, looking back at what the Messiah did that for our transgression, he was bruised, he was run through for the chastisement, peace was laid upon him and he bore our sins. This is why Isaiah speaks in past tense about Israel because Israel will say that in the future about what has happened. Now let's also look at the passage that he brings up about this covenant that he makes with Israel in Jeremiah 31. And this kind of helps us get an understanding of what he's meaning in Romans nine when it says all of Israel. Behold, days are coming says the Lord when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast, as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster. So I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the Lord. So he's speaking of what he's going to do. He says in those days, they will not say again, the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge. So in other words, their sins won't be attributed to someone else. You will be guilty and charged and the consequences of your own sins will be your own. He says, but everyone will die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes his teeth will be set on edge. And here it is. Behold, days are coming declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. And he's specific that who the covenant is going to be with, he's mentioning Israel and the house of Judah. Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them out of the land to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them declares the Lord. So he said that I'm going to make a covenant with Israel. And so his point is that he is going to redeem. He's going to save Israel. The reason why this is important, even for those of us who are not Jewish who are not Israel is because if he makes a promise for Israel then we should also expect that he would keep that promise. Why is that important for us? Because if he makes a promise for us to us which he has, then we should also expect him to keep those promises. If he's not going to keep the promises with Israel that he made, then what's the expectation for us to think that he will keep the promises that he made for us? Why this is important also? Notice what it said in Psalm 89. Look what it says in verse 34. He says, my covenant I will not violate. Speaking of this new covenant that he's making with Israel, my covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of my lips. In other words, he's not going to change. He's not going to deviate from that. That's what this word, alter, comes from. He's not going to differ. He's not going to make it any way to fit what we think. Well, if someone were to think that, yes, he's going to keep this covenant with Israel but we are Israel now, no, he said I'm not going to alter that. I'm not going to make it differ in any way, shape, form or fashion even more. So he says, once I have sworn by my holiness I will not lie to David. He says, his descendants shall endure forever and his throne as the son before me. It shall be established forever like the moon. In other words, he is not going to stop off David having any descendants that is of Israel, of the Jews. Notice what he also says here. Going back to Isaiah 9, 20, 70 says, Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be like the son of the sea. It is the remnant that will be saved and this is where we get the understanding of all of Israel. Who does he mean by all of Israel? Well, he says a remnant of who? A remnant of Israel that will be saved according to verse 27, verse 28, for the Lord will execute his word on the earth thoroughly and quickly. That's important thoroughly and quickly. He says, just as Isaiah foretold, unless the Lord of Saba had left us a posterity we would have become like Sodom and would have resembled Gomorrah. Here's what he means. Sodom and Gomorrah, there are no more descendants of that land. He says, we're not going to be like Sodom and Gomorrah. We will have a posterity. In other words, there will be Jews left. There will be some Jews that God will keep. Who will those Jews be that he will keep? It will be that remnant that he promised to keep, those whom he will change their hearts, the elect of Israel. And that's how we understand who all of Israel is. Now, he makes a statement also in chapter nine. Let's start in verse one so we can know what he's speaking of. Paul is speaking of salvation all throughout Romans. When he gets to nine, he's speaking about Israel in particular. He says, I am telling you the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience testifies with me and the Holy Spirit that I have a great sorrow and an easing unceasing grief in my heart. Here's why. For I could wish that I myself were cursed separate from Christ for the sake of my brethren who is his brother. He says, my kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelite. So these are ethnic Jews, physical Jews to whom belong the adoptions as the sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the laws and the temple service and the promises. Whose are the fathers and from whom is the Christ? According to the flesh who is over all God bless forever. Amen. That's what he says though. But it is not as though the word of God has failed for they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel. In other words, not all of those who literally physically come from Israel are the Israel that he's speaking of. Just because you are Jew doesn't mean that you're the Jew that he wants to save. Just because you are of Israel he's not calling you true Israel. True Israel is not a Gentile who places his faith in Christ nor is it an Israelite who is not placing his faith in Christ. It is an Israelite who does place his faith in Christ. It's a Jew who has faith in Christ. Now does that mean that he's any better off or any worse already different than the Gentile who places himself in Christ, places faith in Christ? No, his only point is that he's speaking specifically of these Jews. What about them? Why is it that they are not coming to Christ? And so he says, has God's promise failed them? No, they will come, but God will save a remnant. But right now he is giving them a spirit of stupor and a partial hardening. But at some point in time in the future he is going to save the Jews of Israel, the true Jews of Israel. And so at some point in time he is going to do what he stated that he would do in Ezekiel 36, as well as Jeremiah 31. He is going to change the hearts of the people. He's going to provoke them to jealousy. He is going to bring wrath upon them and cause them to turn their hearts back to him. Now, how many of those Jews will there actually be? We don't know. He doesn't say. We can rest assure that whatever the number is he is at some point in time going to save Israel. Is that going to be in a year, in a hundred years, in 500, we have no idea. Does that mean that if you are a Jew today that you'll be saved? No, it doesn't. As a matter of fact, if he didn't come back for another hundred years, 200 years, 500 years, then that necessarily means that it's not likely to be you. However, an individual Jew will place his faith in Christ from time to time on this planet as we live. But at some point in time he's going to keep his promise that he made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jacob being Israel. Now at the end of Romans chapter two, going into three, he's speaking about Jews and how there should be some sort of benefit in the fact that they were given the covenants and so forth. But other than that, nothing else. He says, for indeed circumcision is a value if you practice the law, which Israel was not doing. But if you are transgressive of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision as though why are you even circumcised in the first place? You're not keeping the law. You're not keeping this covenant, which is the sign of this circumcision is the sign of this covenant. And so you're not keeping it. Look what he says. So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the law that it's a Jew, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? In other words, those who are uncircumcised are keeping the law. They'll be treated as though they are circumcised. The problem is though, and he's being hyperbolic because there's no uncircumcised person that's also keeping the law. Keep that in mind. Verse 27, and he who is physically uncircumcised if he keeps the law, will he not judge you though having the letter of the law and circumcision are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly nor is a circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision that which is of the heart by the spirit not of the letter. So his point is the true Jew, the true circumcised person is the one who circumcised the flesh and in the heart. But ultimately it's the heart that must be circumcised. That's what he's speaking of in terms of salvation. That's where there is no difference, no delineation. And it's not to say that there are going to be two different people of God. There's one people of God, one flock. But they do have different tracks. The history of the Jews is vastly different than the history of the Gentile coming to Christ. Just like your history of coming to Christ is different than mine. Similarly he has a specific plan that's recorded with the people of Israel. And so his promises to them he's saying, do not worry, I'm going to keep my promises. Look what he says, what then are we better than they? Not at all. For if we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are under all, you know what I'm saying? As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. So all of us are unrighteous. All of us are right, none of us are good. None of us on our own have sought after God. However, that does not nullify, as he said, his plan for what he's going to do with Israel. And what is he going to do with Israel? At some point in time, he is going to touch the hearts of Israel. Those Jews right now, the nation that has turned their back on the Messiah, at some point in time, he is going to, one, inflict wrath upon them, which he says. Two, he is going to save those who are saved out of that. He is going to elect those, save a remnant out of them, change their heart. And those will be the ones that he considers to be true Jews. Not some Gentile who places his faith in Christ will be the Jew or a new Jew. No, nor some Jewish person who does not have his faith in Christ. He's not a true Jew either. The only true Jew, the only true Israel will be those who are of Israel, who are descended ethnically of Israel, who will then have their heart circumcised as he says that he will do in Deuteronomy 36. He says, I will circumcise your heart in the future. He will do so and they will look back on him and the Messiah and regard him as Messiah and place their faith in him. And so we come back to the very beginning. He says in chapter 11 verse 26, as a matter of fact, let's go to verse 25 first, for I do not want you brothers to be uninformed with this mystery so that you will not be unwise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until now, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and then we can heal, say, and so all Israel will be saved just as it is written, which are the passages that we've gone over. And so he will save all of Israel, but not all of those who call themselves Israel, not all of them who call themselves Jews will be saved. Those that he chooses, those will be the true Jews, the true Israel of Israel and all of them will be saved. Amen.