Romans 11
by Pastor David Groendyk

We’ve learned so far that God is utterly sovereign in salvation (chapter 9) and that Israel did not believe the gospel or have true faith (chapter 10). So what is God doing with Israel exactly? Is he toying with them? The answer is no! As Paul says in verse 28, there is a great purpose for Israel’s apostasy, and God also promises that he still loves them and plans to save them.

Verses 1–10 assure us that, although Israel in the main rejected God, he still has a remnant that have true faith and are saved by God’s grace. Paul himself is an example of that! So Israel has no need to despair. God is faithful to his covenant promises which he made to Israel; he will surely keep them. Our God is a faithful covenant-keeping God. This is important to remember especially when we are tempted to despair and lose hope in God’s goodness and his promises. He is firm, constant, and unchangeable. And especially in light of the fact that we as his people are so often unfaithful and rebellious to him, how much greater is God’s faithfulness! He is utterly worthy of our trust and constant in his goodness.

Verses 11–32 are quite extraordinary in the fact that they pull back the curtain and reveal what God’s plans are throughout human history. It’s not often we’re told exactly what God is doing and accomplishing through the hard circumstances in our lives, and even here we don’t get all the details, but we do learn a lot. Through Israel’s sin and rejection of God, the rest of the entire world were made to hear and receive the gospel message of salvation. Gentiles (i.e., anyone who’s not a Jew, which includes you and me) were grafted into the people of God because Israel failed. God used Israel’s disobedience as an opportunity to show mercy to Gentiles. But what’s even more than that is, through God showing mercy to the Gentiles, Israel will be provoked to return to God, believe in Christ, and receive his mercy again. Corporate Israel still has a future in God’s plans. In one sense, this plan of God is quite simple to understand, yet, in another sense, it’s totally mystifying. Israel’s hardened hearts will be softened, and the whole corporate body of ethnic Israel will turn in faith to Christ and be saved. Does this mean every single Jew will be saved? No. When will this happen? We don’t know. How will they come to faith? By faithful men and women proclaiming Christ to them (see Rom. 10:14). Why is God doing this? Because God is faithful to his covenant (vv. 28–29).

There’s a lot that we don’t know about Israel’s grand turning back to God, but that’s ok. We as Gentiles have many lessons to learn from this chapter which are far more important than knowing every detail of the plan. One is certainly the necessity of evangelism, both to Jews and fellow Gentiles. Both the fullness of the Gentiles (v. 25) and the fullness of the Jews (vv. 12, 26) must be brought in before Jesus returns. Another lesson is humility in the face of grace. Paul reminds us constantly throughout this chapter that no one ought to boast about being saved, because it is purely by God’s grace that any human being receives eternal life (vv. 6, 20, 32, 35). Gentiles are no better than Jews, and Jews are no better than Gentiles. A final lesson is to worship and glorify God for his greatness (vv. 33–36)! The depths and riches of God’s wisdom, judgments, graces, and gifts are unsearchable, and all of his inscrutable ways are designed for his own glory. We all come from him, and we all are meant to exist for him. It’s a fitting ending for these first 11 chapters of Romans that magnify for us God’s unimaginable gift of righteousness and salvation despite our own unrighteousness, as well as all of the benefits that come with that gift. Our God is a great God and far higher in wisdom, power, and love than we could ever imagine. Let us worship and glorify him accordingly!