Studying His Word and His Works

Listen to the study here: Romans 11:25-36

Read here: Romans 11

Review

• Calvin on the theme of Romans: “Man’s only righteousness is the mercy of God in Christ, when it is offered by the Gospel and received by faith.” Romans 1:17 and elsewhere.
• IMPORTANT: Paul wrote the letter to the saints (1:7), and the letter is about the gospel, which is a reminder we need to preach the gospel to ourselves daily. 
• Luther: Simul iustus et peccator = At the same time, righteous and a sinner! Romans 3:23-25
• In Ch. 1-3 Paul shows us our unrighteousness, and God’s wrath against that, and then switches to Christ’s righteousness as our covering, the propitiation of our sins (Romans 3:25) as the final sacrifice for sin, fulfilling the promise to Abraham, who had faith before any works
• Faith being “counted” or “credited to our account” as righteousness is mentioned 11 times in Chapter 4! If “none are righteous” as Paul wrote in Romans 3:10, then this saving faith must be a gift from God.
• Ch. 5, We now have peace with God, access to God, and hope, because of what Christ did for us while we were weak(v. 6), sinners (v. 8), and enemies (v. 10). Christ did this “at the right time,” (v. 6), connecting Christ’s work on the cross and God’s plan of redemption to real history (not just a myth or legend).
• Atonement(5:6-11): Jesus satisfying God’s wrath for us through His sacrificial death on the cross.
• Ch. 5 and 6 describe federalism, this idea of one man making a difference, for righteousness (Jesus) or wickedness (Adam). 
• Ch 6 ended with lots of words pointing to the new road we are now on with Christ, the sanctification road.
  • Service is the key word, “slaves” used 8 times.
  • “Present yourselves”(5), “Leads to”(5).
• Sproul: “our regeneration, our rebirth was the work of one Person, God. It was not a joint venture; but from the moment we take our first breath of regenerated spiritual life, it  becomes a joint effort.” The work of one Person is what salvation is about. The joint venture is what sanctification is about. Ch.6 ends and we continue into Ch.7 describing what this “sanctification road” looks like to walk down. We were on the sin road that leads to death, but now we are on the grace road that leads to eternal life.
• Chapter 8 is describing the assurance we have as Christians in salvation. Deus pro nobis – God for us. It is a reminder of God’s sovereignty over our salvation, and God’s infinite wisdom, in the creation, fall, redemption plan he has for not just us, but the whole world. Ultimately, God, not us, foreknows, predestines, calls, justifies and glorifies. There are many verses (Romans 2:4, John 3:16, etc) that point to God’s patience with everyone, His love for everyone, that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9), so I believe there is some free will in there somewhere, perhaps an ability to answer the call, or not. But, even if we answer the call, it is God who initiated. Even if we are crying out for God, “feeling our way to Him” like Acts 17:27 says, we are only doing this because He has already called. We are MORE THAN CONQUERORS, not on our own of course, but “through Him who loved us” from before time began. 
• Chapter 9 continues on the point of election, which, if you think about it, Paul has been discussing since Romans 1:1 when he said he was “set apart”. Paul continues to hammer the point that it is God’s free will, not ours, that matters most. It’s good to keep in mind the complexity of God, as he is not just electing, but he is doing a bunch of things simultaneously and eternally. He is electing, foreknowing, predestining, calling, justifying, glorifying, answering prayer, “giving them over to a debased mind” (Romans 1:28-32) while also being kind as a means to lead people to repentance (Romans 2:4), showing mercy to some and hardening others (9:18). It’s like God is working on an eternal and therefore infinite scale, but also an instantaneous and therefore infinitesimal scale. Pastor John Macarthur, who went home to Jesus recently, described this as a parallelism, God’s sovereign election running alongside the “whoever believes in Him will have eternal life” of John 3:16. It is Euler’s “every instant,” of God initiating, so the saved are always indebted to Him. And it’s also Paul’s “unceasing anguish” for the lost in 9:2, something we should ask God to give us, too. And something that clearly shows that God predestines us to a team, His team, and we are working with Him to save sinners. He’s just team captain and MVP. He gets all the glory!
  • Also remember that Paul references almost 50 OT verses in Chapter 9 alone. He is retelling Israel’s story in many places to serve as a reminder of God’s sovereign will over nations, but also individuals like Pharoah, Moses, Jacob and Esau, etc. Some want to say election is only about nations, or only individuals, but this is another both/and. 
  • Romans 9:6 is key (I think) to understanding a lot of Ch. 9-11. We need to keep going back to this, that “not all Israel belongs to Israel.” What Paul is getting at here is that true Israel are believers, regardless of nation or ancestry.
• Chapter 10 also discusses election, as well as Macarthur’s “parallelism”, or even the “3 strands are not easily broken” analogy in Ecclesiastes 4:12. That’s more what some of Chapter 10 is describing, because God could just yell the gospel down from heaven if wanted, but he chooses to use us, weak on our own but strong in Him. Ch. 10 describes a deep, personal bond God has with believers. Paul also describes Israel’s history of disobedience, how they did not hear the gospel, but in Ch. 11 again reminds that God preserves a remnant.

Intro

• Key words: God, mercy, disobedience, all  (4); come (3); Israel (2) . This is about God’s mercy in spite of man’s disobedience, for Jew and Gentile alike, for all God’s chosen. We will only cover verse 25 and 26, but read all the verses for context, and as always, try to memorize them!
• Review of Ch. 11: Paul makes it clear that God is not done with the people of Israel, and that He will save a remnant. Paul uses himself as an example, and again, like at the start of both Chapters 9 and 10, expresses his wish for Jews to be saved(11:13-14). We see God’s sovereign will in calling and election, moving through history while at the same time watching branches broken off because of unbelief.
  • It is important to see Paul is describing ONE olive tree, not two. One tree that will come to its fullness when it is 100% believers, 100% those who have a circumcision of the heart, a baptism of the heart, that for who the outward covenant sign matches the inward soul, a soul filled with God’s love through the Holy Spirit being poured into us (Romans 5:5). We see this is God’s doing, but once that happens, now we have true free will, to choose righteously or wickedly, and Paul warns us not to be arrogant towards the branches, towards the outward circumcised Jews, lest we too get cut off. He’s not saying we can lose our salvation, but he is saying we will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20). If you get baptized, take communion, go to church, and all you do is show hate and arrogance to those on the outside, you are producing bad fruit. Sanctification is about repenting from your bad fruit, submitting those parts to the Holy Spirit in you, renewing your mind daily, resulting in good fruit.  
• A review of end times theologies: In the study on Romans 11:1-10, we defined eschatology as the study of last things. Sproul wrote that you will view Romans 11 differently depending on how you view end times events. And right now in 2026, eschatology is a super controversial topic among believers. So, with that, I want to encourage you to be super careful with any conclusions you draw from reading this. I broke these last verses of Ch. 11 into two studies, for the express purpose of being super careful. As we connect Chapter 11 and eschatology, I think it is important to consider the biblical themes of righteousness and wickedness. Calvin said the whole point of Romans is to remind us righteousness is from Christ alone. We are only righteous because of Christ. Jews don’t have this. Or Muslims. Or a lot of other groups. They are destined to face God’s wrath, not His mercy, which created great anguish for Paul(9:2). So, what should our mission as believers be to individual non-Christians, or nations that are mostly Jewish or mostly Muslim? Should our emphasis be on helping them murder each other or bringing the gospel’s message of peace and mercy and forgiveness in Christ alone? Think about this as you read on.
  • Genesis 12:3 and “I will bless those who bless Israel” is a big part of eschatology. Paul actually quotes this in Galatians 3:8. Some Christians believe the verse is referring to the current nation of Israel, its people and government. But, what Paul shows us all through Romans and extended into other books like Galatians, is that faithfulness is what matters, not works. That true Israel is made of believers, the faithful, something that transcends nations and works. Chosen by God, which is what grace is about. That nations will come and go, but the one true nation, God’s elect, who are the believers from all generations, will be blessed and a blessing to others through Christ’s indwelling spirit in them. Genesis 12:3 is not about providing military support to unbelieving Jews or their opposition, both of which are wicked, since righteousness is from Christ alone. What God had Paul write also has nothing to do with being an antisemite, or Jew-hater, but instead has everything to do with echoing Paul’s hope that some Jews may be saved.
  • Regarding unbelieving Jews, Jesus himself called them names, a “brood of vipers” (Matt 12:34) among other things. And Jesus was a Jew! John the Baptist called them the same thing(Matt 3:7). Jesus called out fake Jews in the same way that we should call out fake Christians. And just because we call them out doesn’t mean we can’t also pray for their salvation.
  • After reading Romans 9-11, now I understand what the ABCFM was up to in the early 1800s. Guess where their first two foreign missions were sent? Hawaii and Palestine! To the Gentile and the Jew. They understood the mission. It wasn’t to fund Jews militarily, it was to preach the gospel. To educate others in the Word. The main thing ABCFM got wrong though was they tried to put a date on Christ’s return (2000 AD), which you’re not supposed to do(Matthew 24:36). It probably helped give them a sense of urgency for getting the gospel out, but it wasn’t biblical and therefore wasn’t necessary. All you have to do is read Matthew 28:18-20 and Romans 10:14-15. Those two sets of verses should be all any believer really needs to hear to know we are supposed to be on mission daily. 
  • The ABCFM had it right in being on mission for unbelieving Jews. They got the date-setting wrong. Regarding eschatology, I think everyone (including me!) get something wrong. All the more reason to approach the topic with great humility and patience. Here are two other views of Israel that contradict a plain reading of Romans 9-11 and verses connected to it:
    • (1) Dispensationalism, also known as premillenialism, premil rapture, etc.
      • Developed in the 20th century, the idea is that the formation of Israel in 1948 triggered “the beginning of the end,” or the last generation. Pastor Chuck Smith and others believed 1948 set the clock ticking for the “last generation” described in the old testament (Daniel), that the rapture of all Christians would occur in 1981, and that Jesus would return in 1988.[generation=40 yrs, rapture with 7 yrs left, so 1948+33=1981, +7=Jesus back in 1988]. They would actually hold rapture parties, one of note being New Year’s Eve 1981. But then many attendants were disillusioned when the rapture didn’t happen. Chuck Smith later apologized and repented, quoting Matthew 24:36 and the date setting error. 
    • (2) Replacement theology, an idea that the Christian church has replaced Israel as God’s chosen people. I have leaned towards this idea more, but in reading Romans, I can see now that true Israel has always been about the faithful. That’s what the olive tree is describing, among other things. The tree didn’t get replaced, just some branches were broken off, basically circumcised unbelievers. And then there is a warning that under the new covenant, baptized unbelievers can get cut off too, so that, in the end, this one tree will be 100% faithful believers and 0% fake believers. Fake believers being those who have the signs but not the inward heart change.
      • God’s promises are fulfilled in Christ, not replaced. Romans 3:31 says Christians don’t nullify the law through faith, we uphold the law. Romans 10:4 says “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness”. He is the fulfillment of the law, in other words. He has done what the law could not do, which is save people. People could only produce self-righteousness by trying to keep the law and boasting about their track record. Note how both of these verses emphasize faith. Belief. This is what it has always been about. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” Romans 4:3, and also Galatians 3:6 and James 2:23, all referencing Genesis 15:6. This was before God gave the law to Moses, before circumcision, so that it would be from faith, not works, Romans 4:10-12. 
    • So again, while the ABCFM was wrong in date-setting, they were right about the missional aspect. Their efforts were missional, outward-focused, while the pre-tribulation rapture idea is more self-centered, it’s more of an inward focus on us getting raptured to heaven before hard times (the tribulation). Preparing for hard times and handling them fearlessly, anchored in Christ, is spoken of everywhere in the New Testament. Eternal life is coming, but in this world we should expect tribulation (John 16:33). God gave us His spirit so we wouldn’t be enslaved to fear tribulations (Romans 8:15).
      • There is nothing in the New Testament that states Israel becoming a nation again in 1948 marks the beginning of the last generation before Christ’s return. According to an AI summary on the topic, 20th century prophecy teachers invented this. It developed out of theology taught by John Darby in the 1800s, incorporated into the Schofield Reference Bible, first published in 1909.
        • Darby used Daniel and Revelation to develop a theology that stated the Church and Israel had distinct paths, which I don’t believe is what Romans teaches. Romans teaches a “one tree system”. Somehow, Darby read Romans 9-11 as evidence for his two-track system. It is interesting how some of the more vocal dispensationalists today talk a lot about the big problems with replacement theology, but their theology is actually like a reverse of it! Replacement theology says the Church replaces Israel. Dispensational theology says the Church gets raptured and ethnic Israel replaces the Church. But the Bible says things like not all ethnic Israel are true Israel(Romans 9:6). What the Bible is saying is that True Israel IS the Church! True Israel are the believers, the called, the predestined, the receivers of grace and mercy instead of wrath. the Bible says that, indeed, there is a future plan for ethnic Israel to be saved, in the same way that Paul teaches us how there is a current plan for Gentiles. That God moves through nations, families, peoples, in waves, in phases. A current season of Gentiles, but seasons change and it will be back to ethnic Israel, which we are about to read.
        • So, we have Christians that conclude Genesis 12:3 means God will bless those who bless the government of Israel. Contrast that with Paul who wrote in Galatians 3:8 that Genesis 12:3 is about True Israel, about believers, not a government. Galatians 3:9 says all who are of faith are blessed.
          • It is also interesting that Gen. 12:3 says God will “curse those who dishonor you.” Some Christians think this means God will dishonor Americans if we don’t ally with the nation of Israel. What Paul is saying though is (I think), God will curse those who dishonor (disrespect) believers. And dishonoring believers is exactly what Satan wants to do, so he deceives people into thinking that dishonoring Christ and Christians is a good thing. But when people dishonor Christians, who are they dishonoring? Christ, because he is in them. You are either for Christ or against Him, honoring Him or dishonoring Him, righteous or wicked.
            • The truth is, unbelieving Israel is unrighteous. They always have been, and all you have to do is read the OT to see this. We must respect Jews for maintaining the Old Testament for centuries, and for the fact that Jesus came from their line, and Paul too. It is for these reasons that we should be like Paul and be anguished over their rejection of Christ. We need to pray for their repentance and even send missionaries, but we don’t need to be silent if they perform evil acts. We don’t need to support their hate vs. hate wars. We need to pray for salvation of all those involved, Jew and Muslim.
            • Because a lot of Republicans are pro-Israel, meaning they think our tax dollars should go to defending Israel (and maybe some should out of respect for them preserving Scripture), the narrative tends to be to  frame anyone who disagrees as “anti-semitic.” A Jew-hater bordering on Nazism.  “Literally Hitler.” This is what is called an ad-hominem attack, attack the user instead of having an honest conversation. So, it is very telling when some of the biggest defenders of dispensationalism frame those who disagree with them as anti-semites and “replacement theologians.” Shutting down the conversation with name-calling. People tend to do this when they can’t defend their argument. This is why it is so important to know the BIble. We are getting a really good education here by going through Romans! Let’s get back to what the Bible says about Israel, let’s pray for Israel, pray for missions. 
    • Let’s wrap up this eschatology discussion with some historical context for the modern nation of Israel. 1948 is when pastor Chuck Smith and others claimed was the beginning of end times events. 1948 is when Israel became a nation. Here is a little more about what happened.
      • In order to become a nation, around 700,000 Arabs were displaced, including 50-70,000 Christians! Haifa, Israel had entire Christian neighborhoods uprooted. They fled for a number of reasons. Fear of being massacred was one reason, but they fully expected to return. I mean, it was THEIR homes, after all. But somehow, this didn’t happen. They were never allowed to return.
      • At one time, Christians were a significant percentage of the population, now it is 1-2%, largely due to 1948, and some later emigration. Now THAT is one statistic you won’t normally hear among modern evangelical Christians.
      • So, Christians have been forced from the land by Jews, but this has also worked in reverse many times. Here is an AI summary of Jewish conversions to Christianity, and expulsions from the region:
        • Early church was all voluntary conversion from Jew to Christian.
        • 13-1400’s, Spain and Portugal, Catholics forced Jews to convert or face exile.
        • In 1800’s Europe, Jews saw a mix of voluntary and social/economic pressure to convert.
        • 20th century saw the horrific Nazi holocaust of millions of Jews. The holocaust was a genocide of a specific race of people.
        • 21st century has seen a resurgence of voluntary conversion to Christianity, which is interesting in light of Romans 11 and the partial hardening and how that seems to be a phase, maybe a phase that is ending?
• Verse 25
  • Paul values knowledge and truth. He doesn’t want his readers walking around being wise in their own eyes, when they are actually ignorant. This reminds me of that time I was conducting a marine science camp and I licked a jellyfish to prove “this kind doesn’t sting.” The truth was, the stingers couldn’t penetrate the skin on my hands, but they could most definitely penetrate my tongue’s surface! Yes, “Mr. PhD in aquatic science” learned the hard way about this whole “being wise in their own eyes” thing, haha! It’s important to know the truth rather than just our own opinions.
  • This mystery Paul refers to is that God has hardened Israel’s hearts, but not completely, and he suggests that it is for a season, until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. So, this partial hardening has an end. 
    • Paul has been saying throughout Ch. 11 that there’s never been a “Church replaced Israel” idea. And if you look at Romans as a whole, it’s always about the faithful. Here in Ch. 11 Paul describes a remnant of faithful Jews, that there’s always some repenting and believing. But here Paul is saying the partial hardening will end once this God-ordained fullness of the Gentiles has been met. Sproul says this interprets as “plentitude”, or like a saturation point, and at that point, His relationship with ethnic Israel will change.
    • Sproul reminds of the destruction of the Jewish temple in AD 70, which put an end to the sacrificial system for good. Many scholars see a parallel in Romans 11 and Luke 21 and the predictions made there, when Jesus prophesied about the temple destruction. Paul is basically affirming here that the temple destruction will happen, but also that there is a future for ethnic Israel and the city. And, Paul is saying the hardening will be lifted, as if to say converted Jews will rebuild a Christian church in Jerusalem.
      • Side note: Many supporters of dispensationalism believe these verses refer to Jews NOT converting, but building a third temple in Jerusalem. But this doesn’t make sense when you read the verses.  
    • Sproul says the destruction of the temple in AD 70 is the clearest proof of all that Jesus was a prophet sent from God. It’s the absolute best example of foreknowledge and predestination. 
• Verse 26,
  • all Israel will be saved. It seems clear enough that there is a future salvation coming for ethnic Israel, but what does all Israel mean here? It could refer to believers, like it did in Romans 9:6. True Israel compared to ethnic Israel. I think it is more likely all Israel means all believers, and that Paul is concluding everything discussed in Romans 9-11.
    • Whatever all Israel refers to here, the one thing that is clear is that there is a future hope for ethnic Israel!
    • Sproul believes, as I do, that the things spoken of in Luke 21, called the Olivet Discourse, have happened. Read Luke 21. Jesus was prophesying about the destruction of the temple in AD 70. There was some kind of visitation by Jesus at this time as well. Remember, Jesus visited Saul, now Paul, on the road to Damascus, and we don’t refer to that as “The Second Coming,” so maybe there’s no reason to refer to Christ’s “coming in the clouds” in Luke 21 as the Second Coming, either.
    • Other Bible believing Christians think the Olivet Discourse describes a future event yet to come. That the coming in the clouds IS Christ’s second coming, and that this is still in the future. Those with a dispensational eschatology usually believe this.
      • It is interesting that, when I used AI to summarize what is happening with Jews over history, there was a season of salvation early-on, then the temple was destroyed and for 2,000 years it has mostly been hardened Jewish people with the majority of conversions being forced, but now, there is an increase in voluntary conversions, which is basically what Romans 11 is saying!
        • The premillenial view is that the destruction of millions of Jews is coming. There is no evidence of this.
        • The postmillenial view is that this happened already. There is evidence of this. Josephus, one of the earliest writers during the AD 70 period, estimated 1.1 million Jews died inside the temple walls in Jerusalem when Rome laid siege. Jesus told his followers in Luke 21 to leave, so that is what they did in AD 70. This is important, as we will discuss later.
        • The postmillennial view does seem to match better with history, the only question is what Jesus “coming in a cloud” meant(Luke 21:27). Is it the real Second Coming, or is it more like a visitation. Here are three interpretations of this:
          • (1) Olivet discourse is about a future destruction of Jerusalem, after the rapture, and then Jesus “coming in the clouds” is the second coming.
          • Two interpretations that say Jesus correctly predicted the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70:
            • (2) Jesus coming in the clouds was the 2nd coming.
            • (3) Jesus coming in the clouds was a visitation, not a “meet him in the air” and come back down with Him like 1 Thessalonians 4:17 alludes to. After battle, it was common back then for the citizens to run and meet the victorious army returning from battle. Many scholars believe this is what is being referred to, not that we get taken away permanently so that the future destruction of Jerusalem can take place. 
    • It’s almost as if the premillennial rapture idea was a response to what is called “higher criticism” of the Bible in the 1800s and early 1900s, because one of the main things critiqued was the Olivet discourse. It is a difficult passage for sure, but atheists would read it and just assume the author meant everything literally, the blood dripping moon and everything. It’s almost as if weak-minded Christians succumbed to the pressure of higher criticism and instead of starting with the premise that God’s word is true and our interpretations are imperfect, they reversed this, believing our modern understanding of things is so much better than these ancient writers, therefore our interpretation is superior because God’s word was written by less-evolved, sheepherding nomads. So, in response to this criticism, some Christians like Darby said that the Olivet discourse was in the future, as a way to protect what was said there from these critics. So now you could say “oh, they don’t know what they’re talking about, they can’t criticize what hasn’t happened yet.” I don’t know, I’m just saying this seems like what may have happened and what inspired people like Darby to develop his premillennial theology, rejecting the obvious fulfillment of Jesus prophetic words regarding the fall of Jerusalem. So, while Darby had good intentions and wanted to defend God’s word, the way he went about it wasn’t the best.
      • Sproul points out how amazing it was that in the Olivet Discourse, Jesus tells his disciples to flee Jerusalem, which is the opposite advice of what you normally do. Normally, you would flee TO the city with the most fortified walls, which would be Jerusalem. But Jesus tells them NOT to go there, and then the city gets destroyed just as Jesus predicted, in that generation, and 1.1 million Jews died inside the city. Sproul suggests Christ’s “coming in the clouds” was describing His wrath. 
      • In any case, l think some “for sures” in this are
        • 1) God is not finished with ethnic Israel!
        • 2) We need to emphasize missions to the current nation of Israel, and pray for salvation for all people in the middle east, atheist/Jew/Muslim, etc.
        • 3) We should respect Jewish people for what they’ve done in history, and help them when attacked. Organizations like Samaritan’s Purse seem to “get it.” They helped Israelis after the horrific Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, and helped Arabs in Gaza with the food shortage during Israel’s extreme response to Oct. 7.
        • 4) God will banish ungodliness. One day, the olive tree will be 100% faithful. No more broken branches!
• Up next: Part 2 of Romans 11:25-36. We will cover more than 2 verses though!