Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward
those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you
continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And
even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be
grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if
you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted,
contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more
will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own
olive tree. 25 Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to
understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come
upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 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”; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them when
I take away their sins.” 28 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. 29 For the gifts and the
calling of God are irrevocable.

God has us in Romans 11 at a remarkable time in history. The
place of Israel as a people in the Middle East is a global issue
with worldwide significance. And the place of Israel right here in
our city is just now a front-burner issue as it is around the
country, largely because of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the
Christ. So let me put today's message in this context.

On Friday I received an email from a Jewish leader in the
community mailed to some of the downtown clergy. It was a gentle
but firm expression of concern about Gibson's film. After praising
the track record of peaceful Jewish-Christian dialogue in
Minnesota, the message said:

It is with this sense of respect and need for dialogue that we
raise our concerns about this film with you. We are gravely aware
of the potential rifts this film could open once again, not only
between Jews and Christians, but between Christians of different
view points. Our world has become all too polarized in recent years
and we believe this film promotes that very polarization. . . .

After viewing the film, we are deeply troubled with the way in
which Jews are portrayed. No religious, racial or ethnic group
welcomes being stereotyped. This film portrays Jews who did not
follow Jesus as a bloodthirsty crowd demanding the crucifixion of
Jesus, unyielding in their lust for his torment and death.

For almost 2,000 years, the week leading up to Easter was a time
when some of the worst violence against Jews occurred -
often because Passion Plays encouraged an interpretation that
blamed Jews collectively for the death of Jesus and also served as
a reminder that Jews do not accept Jesus. In recent decades, The
Catholic Church and many Christian denominations recognized that
the charge of deicide [murder of God] and the depiction of Jews in
Passion Plays have led to the death, expulsion and horrific
mistreatment of Jews.

The repudiation of the deicide charge by the Catholic Church and
others, and calls by leadership groups within Christianity for
responsible, accurate and sensitive portrayals of the Passion, have
played an instrumental role in not only diminishing tensions
between Christians and Jews but building relationships based on
trust and mutual respect.

We hope that as you and your congregants view this film and talk
about it, you and they will gain awareness of the Jewish
perspective and come to understand the source of our concerns and
the sincerity of our prayers for peace and understanding. We ask
Christian clergy to discuss these perspectives with their
congregants as they wrestle with the meaning and their
understanding of this controversial film. Our hope is that all
religious institutions find it their mission to build bridges of
understanding and peace.

I make no effort here to defend the movie. You decide for
yourself whether it is a “responsible, accurate and sensitive
portrayal” of Jesus' final suffering. My concern here and now
is to simply make plain that the “bridge of understanding and
peace” built by Romans 11 between the Israel of Minneapolis
and the followers of Jesus Christ in Minneapolis is an explanation
and invitation to Jews and Gentiles to believe in the one and only
Redeemer Jesus, the Christ—the Jewish Messiah—and be
saved from the wrath of God.

Christ the Deliverer Is the Bridge of Understanding and
Peace

The apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 that Christians
“wait for [God's] Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
Jesus is the “the Deliverer” (ton heruomenon)
from God's wrath to come. The closest parallel in the New Testament
to this word “Deliverer” is found in Romans 11:26,
where Paul describes how “all Israel” will be saved.
Verse 26: “And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is
written, ‘The Deliverer (ho heruomenos) will come
from Zion [meaning Jerusalem or the heavenly Jerusalem], he will
banish ungodliness from Jacob.”

So we see that this Deliverer is Jesus Christ. He is the one who
will save “all Israel,” and his salvation will be from
“the wrath to come.” And the way he will do it is by
“banishing ungodliness from the people,” as we see in
verse 26: “He will banish ungodliness from
Jacob”—that is, from all Israel. And he will forgive
their sins. Verse 27: “And this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.” So Israel will be saved when
Jesus Christ, the deliverer, comes from Zion and (1) takes away the
ungodliness—that is, the hardening—from Israel and
replaces it with faith [recall verse 23, “if they do not
continue in their unbelief , they will be grafted
in”), and so (2) their sins will be forgiven, and (3) they
will be grafted in to the tree of salvation and promise as one
people with the Gentiles who believe in Jesus.

I say again, this is the bridge and the peace that Romans 11
builds between the Jewish community and the Christian Church. One
Deliverer, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel,
saves us both through faith alone in his finished work on the
cross. Which means that the bridge from Christ to Israel is a
bridge of prayer and evangelism, in the hope that Israel (and the
nations) might trust her Christ and be saved. We follow the apostle
Paul across this bridge as he prays in Romans 10:1, “My
heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be
saved;” and as he preaches the gospel in Romans 11:14 to
“save some of them.”

Two-Covenant Theology, or Two-Track Salvation?

I say this clearly and forthrightly because you need to know
that this is not believed by the Jewish community, nor, sadly, by
some of the Christian leaders in this city. On the contrary, much
of the peace and mutual respect between Jews and Christians in this
city is built on a denial of Paul's teaching and on an unbiblical
teaching that there are two separate ways for Jews and Christians
to be saved.

Listen to John Stott as he comments on the meaning of salvation
in Romans 11:26.

It is understandable that since the holocaust Jews have demanded
an end to the Christian missionary activity among them, and that
many Christians have felt embarrassed about continuing it. It is
even mooted that Jewish evangelism is an unacceptable form of
anti-Semitism. So some Christians have attempted to develop a
theological basis for leaving Jews alone in their Judaism.
Reminding us that God's covenant with Abraham was an
“everlasting covenant”, they maintain that it is still
in force, and that therefore God saves Jewish people through their
own covenant, without any necessity for them to believe in Jesus.
This proposal is usually called a “two-covenant
theology”. Bishop Krister Stendahl was one of the first
scholars to argue for it, namely that there are two different
salvation “tracks”—the Christian track for the
believing remnant and believing Gentiles, and the track for
historical Israel which relies on God's covenant with them.

Romans 11 stands in clear opposition to this trend because of
its insistence on the fact that there is only one olive tree, to
which Jews and Gentile believers both belong. . . “The irony
of this,” writes Tom Wright, “is that the late
twentieth century, in order to avoid anti-Semitism, has advocated a
position (the non-evangelization of the Jews) which Paul regards
precisely as anti-Semitic.” [1]

Yes, and it is not only an irony, but a tragedy. I doubt that a
church that surrenders the evangelization of the Jewish people in
this way can keep the gospel for long. It will be undermined by
denying the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation. The apostle
Paul would have found
this position of a two-track salvation to be
a radical denial of the work of Christ, and a profound failure of
love toward Israel.

So let the point be made clearly and soberly today:
Salvation comes to Israel and to Gentiles in the same
way—through faith in the Deliverer, Jesus the Christ, or it
doesn't come at all.

The Certainty of Israel's Salvation

Now the point of today's text is wonderfully more than that. Not
only is salvation for Israel only through the Deliverer,
Jesus Christ, but this salvation for Israel also is
certainly coming. The salvation of Israel is not just a
possibility but a certainty. God has given the promise, and God has
called Israel for his own, and Paul says in verse 29, “The
gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” So let's read
the promise in Romans 11:25-26, “Lest you [Gentiles] be wise
in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery,
brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel [we saw that
back in verse 7], until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 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.'”

Not: all Israel may be saved, but: all Israel
will be saved. Not everyone agrees that “all
Israel” refers to the nation as a whole alive in some future
generation. Some take “all Israel” to refer to the true
spiritual Israel including Jews and Gentiles. Others take it to
refer to the remnant of believing ethnic Israel that is being saved
all along through faith in Christ. Both of these views deny what I
have been arguing for—that there will be a great and
stupendous national conversion of Israel some day.

Five Reasons Why I Believe Romans 11:26 Refers to the Nation of
Israel as a Whole

So let me draw out several reasons again why I believe verse 26
(“And in this way all Israel will be saved”) means that
someday the nation as a whole (not necessarily every individual;
see 1 Kings 12:1; 2 Chronicles 12:1) will be converted to Christ
and join the Christian church and be saved. And then we will
conclude with some implications.

1. I think the term “Israel” in verse 25 and
26 most naturally refer to the same thing.

Verse 25: “Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want
you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has
come upon Israel. . . .” That must refer to the
nation as a whole from generation to generation. He continues,
“. . . until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And
in this way all Israel will be saved.” I don't think
the meaning of Israel changes between verse 25 and 26. The hardened
Israel (the nation as a whole) will be the saved Israel (the nation
as a whole).

2. The reference in verse 26 to banishing ungodliness
from Jacob fits with the national view of “all
Israel.”

Verse 26: “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.'” This seems most
naturally to be a picture of Christ's return at the second coming,
and banishing ungodliness from Jacob refers most naturally to the
removal of the hardening referred to in verse 25.
“Jacob” is not a natural or typical reference to the
elect remnant of Israel. The hardening lasts until the full number
of the Gentiles comes in (the climax of world missions), and then
Christ comes and lifts the veil and removes the hardening—he
banishes ungodliness from Jacob, from “all
Israel.”

3. The parallel between the two halves of verse 28 point
to all Israel as the nation as a whole.

Verse 28: “As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God
for your sake.” Now that half of the verse surely refers to
the nation as a whole—they are enemies of God. So the second
half of the verse surely refers to the nation as a whole as well:
“But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of
their forefathers.” The point of this verse is to show that
even though Israel now is a covenant-breaking, unbelieving nation,
that is going to change. The nation that are enemies now, will be
converted later because of election and love.

4. The parallels in verse 12 point in the same
direction.

Verse 12: “Now if their [the Jewish nation's] trespass
means riches for the world [salvation for the Gentiles], and if
their [the Jewish nation's] failure means riches for the Gentiles,
how much more will their full inclusion!” Here
“their full inclusion” most naturally refers
to the same nation as “their trespass” and
“their failure.” So “their full
inclusion” refers to the salvation of “all
Israel” and is national.

5. The same thing is true about the parallels in verse
15.

“For if their [Jewish nation's] rejection means the
reconciliation of the world, what will their [Jewish nation's]
acceptance mean but life from the dead?” The nation now
rejected will be accepted. So the “acceptance” of the
Jewish nation most naturally refers to the salvation of “all
Israel”—the salvation of the nation as a whole some
day.

Implications

Now how is this going to happen? I don't know the details, but
it seems to me that Paul does mean that in connection with the
second coming of Christ there will be a great turning of Israel to
Christ. Just how it works, I don't know. But I find certain
prophecies very suggestive. For example, Zechariah 12:10,
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so
that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they
shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep
bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” And Isaiah
6:8, “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in
one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her
children.” And Matthew 23:39, where Jesus says to the
hardened nation: “I tell you, you will not see me again until
you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord.”

I don't want to go beyond what is clear. So I say that I am not
sure about the precise when and how of Israel's conversion. But
that it is coming and that it will be given by Jesus Christ, the
deliverer who banishes ungodliness and forgives sins—of that
I feel sure.

We should pray for it—that the full number of the Gentiles
comes in and that the hardening be lifted from Israel. We should
work for it with missions to the nations and witness to Israel. We
should put away all conceit and presumption over Jewish unbelievers
but realize that God is aiming to save them through our salvation.
And we should think clearly and carefully about the land of Israel
today—which is what I want to try to do next week.

For now, then, let us give ourselves to prayer and to the great
work of gathering the fullness of the Gentiles, if by any means we
might make Israel jealous of her treasures in Christ so that they
believe and be saved.

[1] John Stott,
Romans: God's Good News for the World (Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 1994), pp. 304-305.