Will All Israel Be Saved?

All Israel Will Be Saved

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way[e] all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion;he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

One of the more complicated theological questions to answer is, "If the Jewish people were the ones originally chosen by God to be His people, will they be saved?"

Of course this is not an easy question.  Some people think only Messianic Jews will be saved, and others believe there will be special dispensation in the future when all Jews will be included in God's plan of salvation. This could be in the end times, or in some future time to come. 

Paul's own life and other Jews who came to faith in Jesus prove that there were many Jewish people who did believe in Jesus and were saved.  But I think the question is if Paul says all Israel will be saved what does he mean by this phrase?

First, we must say upfront the core of the Christian faith is that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, as Paul affirms throughout his whole letter to the Romans and the rest of the New Testament.  If there were another way outside of Jesus to be saved, Jesus would not have had to die for us.  Jesus himself says in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me."

In this chapter, Paul is specifically addressing the Gentile Christians who might have gotten a little prideful that they were the chosen ones. Paul warns them that although they were the "unnatural branches" that were grafted in, they could also be taken out.  

Then Paul also addresses this question of the fate of the Jews, who he calls "the Israelities".   There are two important points that Paul makes in regard to this question.  First, he cites the promises to the patriarchs (Abraham, Issac, and Jacob) which God made by covenant with them. 

This covenant God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12 was, "I will bless you and make your name great and through you all nations will be blessed." And most important we see in Genesis 15 we see how Abraham received God's covenant promise.  Genesis 15:5 says, 

5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Paul cites this verse to say that Abraham was justified just like we are by faith.  Though Jesus had not come yet, Abraham had faith in God's promises. I think this gives us the key clue into the question of whether all of Israel be saved and in what sense? 

In another passage says that just being a physical descendent of Abraham does make someone Abraham's true offspring. Paul writes, "In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring." Romans 9:8

So it is clear that when Paul says "all Israel" he is speaking not just about an ethnic Israel, but those who like Abraham have believed in God by faith. God's call on the Israelites is irrevocable, they are His chosen people.  But like Abraham they need to come to God in faith, or else they cannot receive the benefits of the promise.  Just like Gentiles can only receive God's promise through Christ in faith.

So whether it is Jews or Gentiles, the same principle applies.  We believe in God by faith and this faith saves us, nothing else.  Faith is a gift God gives to us in Christ, and it is something we need to cling to our whole life.  And remember God never goes back on his promises!