“All Israel shall be saved” (Rom 11:26a)

“All Israel shall be saved” (Rom 11:26a)

A highly misunderstood statement by Paul that has fueled pre-millennial dispensationalism.

ALL Israel.

All the Jews? ALL the Jews?

Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, etc? How is it that they get to be saved when they died having never believed? Seems a bit unfair for us Gentiles.

What about those who are half Jewish? Which half is saved?
Because Paul Newman's half-Jewish, Goldie Hawn is too. Put them together, what a fine lookin' Jew!

What about those who convert to Judaism? Could I convert to Judaism, then lead a life of hedonistic abandon and still be saved in the end?

But maybe this verse doesn’t mean ALL in the way that we have generally understood it. Does it mean that all the un-believing Jews who do not die before the second coming of Christ will be saved? I hope so. I want to be in heaven with Woody Allen and the Fonz.

Doesn’t this seem a somewhat odd idea and doctrine if we interpret it as so many pre-millennial dispensationalists do, i.e., that “Israel” refers here to ethnic and racial Jews?

Of course, I do not have their problem. My focus and studies on the corporate nature of Christ leads me to understand in this curious phrase as referring to Jesus Christ as Israel.

Jesus Christ is Israel. And all who are in him shall be saved. All who believe are in him. Those who do not believe are not in him. Those who are not in him shall not be saved. He is Israel. (1)

Gentiles who believe in him are grafted into him (Rom 11:11-24). Jews who disbelieve in him are turned away.

Jesus Christ was a stumbling block for unbelieving first century Jews just as he is a stumbling block for many people today, both Jews and Gentiles. However, though Christ (like the Law) maybe a stumbling block for some, he is a more of a redeemer then the Law could ever be.

Those who come into contact with the Law and its ethical requirements to God and Man must then obey those requirements or suffer the punishment (or curse) for not obeying. But since no one can do everything that is required of the Law everyone is under its curse.

However, Jesus Christ came to save us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse himself (Gal 3:13).

Instead of attempting the impossible task of accepting and obeying all the requirements of the Law, one can simply accept and obey Christ alone who perfectly accepted and obeyed all the Law.

However, those who come into contact with Jesus Christ and reject him are under the curse of Christ. The first century Jews who rejected Jesus Christ came under the “curse of Christ”, which is why the New Testament writers so often refer to Christ as a stumbling block for the Jews. (2)

Is this what Paul means when he states in Romans 11:26a that “All Israel shall be saved.”

“There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Rom 11:26b) (3)


Footnotes:

(1) Did you notice the nice chiasmus I put there?

(2) The idea that the “curse of Christ” means that God punished Jesus is ludicrous, unscriptural and the exact opposite of what Paul is stating. The “curse of Christ” means that God punishes everyone who doesn’t accept Jesus Christ.

(3) Witness to Jews, love the Jews, and treat them with equity, dignity and respect, but do not think that they will play some unique role in the unfolding of eschatological events. The Jews fulfilled their unique role in salvation history in the year A.D. 70. They are no more special that any other racial or ethnic group. But because they are “made in the image of God” they are special just like every other race, ethnicity and person. Let’s pray for a Jewish revival.