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Romans 11:25-29 (KJV) For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. [26] And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: [27] For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. [28] As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. [29] For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

The Errors Of Man Do Not Stop God’s Sovereign Power

There are Christians in certain denominations today who believe that the Jews were permanently cut off from God when Christ raised up His Church. They teach that Israel has been replaced with a spiritual Israel, and that every Christian is now a spiritual Jew. It is true that the Church of Christ and the Gentiles were “grafted into” the promises of Israel. The Apostle teaches this in this very chapter. We read:

Romans 11:17-21 (KJV) And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; [18] Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. [19] Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. [20] Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high minded, but fear: [21] For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

Israel is in the Scripture “The Olive Tree” and the Church is known as “The Wild Olive Tree”. Because Israel as a nation rejected Christ as Lord and Savior, because Christ:

John 1:11 (KJV) … came unto his own, and his own received him not.

…because His nation cried out against Him – and led by the Pharisees and Sadducees cried out:

Mark 15:13-14 (KJV) …. Crucify him. [14] Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.

… because His nation, the nation He cherished, crucified Him though He was an innocent Man, and even said:

Matthew 27:25 (KJV) … His blood be on us, and on our children.

Christ raised up His Church. This was something that the Old Testament Prophets did not fully understand, though several times God alluded to it. When Christ was born of Mary and brought to the Temple on the eighth day to be circumcised according to the Law (Luke 2:21; Genesis 17:12; Leviticus 12:3) an old Prophet named Simeon saw the Christ. The Bible says that Simeon, upon holding the Christ in his arms, praised God:

Luke 2:29-32 (KJV) Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: [30] For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, [31] Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; [32] A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Simeon was quoting the Old Testament Scriptures of Isaiah 42:6-7; 49:6; 60:1-2. Jesus came not just to save Israel, but to save the Gentiles as well. The first preachers of the Church declared and quoted Isaiah when reaching out with the Gospel to redeem the Gentiles. The Apostles Paul and Barnabas preached to the unbelieving Jews:

Acts 13:46-48 (KJV … It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. [47] For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. [48] And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

God wanted to reach all with His glorious Gospel, that wonderful Word of salvation found in Christ. Christ was to be a Savior and Lord both the Israel, as well as to the Gentiles. But the nation Israel rejected the Light of God, so Christ raised up His Church. The Nation of Israel is “cut off” from God because of unbelief. Yet the Apostle wants the Church to know that the Church has NOT replaced Israel. God made certain promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God always keeps His promises.

I say again – God ALWAYS keeps His Promises!

God is able, and God is Sovereign. So God tells us in our focal text today:

Romans 11:25-29 (KJV) … blindness in part is happened to Israel, UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. [26] And so ALL Israel shall be saved…

God shall save ALL ISRAEL. Does this mean that God will save every Jew? Absolutely not! Our Lord Jesus told the Pharisees who WERE JEWS that:

John 8:44-47 (KJV) Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. [45] And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. [46] Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? [47] He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

These unbelieving Jews were not of God, for they rejected Christ. Every Jew who dies rejecting Christ are rejected of God in the afterlife. The unbelieving Jew … just like the unbelieving Gentile – will suffer the eternal wrath of God.

Romans 2:9-11 (KJV) Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; [10] But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: [11] For there is no respect of persons with God.

But God shall save “all Israel”. That nation belongs to Him. He has made promises that He will keep. The Apostle says:

Romans 11:29 (KJV) …For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

What God has said will stand.
What God decrees will come to pass.

God chose the nation Israel as His own. God is sovereign in His choice. Though Israel rejected Christ as a nation, even this rejection worked out to the purpose of God. Because Israel rejected Christ the preaching of the Gospel went beyond Israel’s territories and into the whole world. The Gentiles who received Christ by faith were grafted into God’s promises to Israel. Because we believed in Jesus were were brought into the Family of God:

Galatians 3:26 (KJV) For ye are ALL the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

What does God mean by “all”? He meant whosoever believes on the name of Jesus shall be saved:

Galatians 3:28-29 (KJV) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

You who have received Christ are spiritually circumcised. You are grafted into the Family of Abraham.

Romans 2:28-29 (KJV) For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: [29] But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Colossians 2:9-11 (KJV) For in {Christ} dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. [10] And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: [11] In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

God grafted us who are Gentiles into His Family. He gave us His Spirit, and made us a part of His New Covenant. But God has not forgotten Israel, and God will one day save ALL ISRAEL. For God is Sovereign. God has promised!

Defining God’s Sovereignty

God is above all things and before all things. He made all things for Himself – including YOU. The Bible says:

Colossians 1:16-17 (KJV) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: [17] And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Nothing evolved that God did not make evolve. Nothing is created that god did not make. God is the First Cause of all things. God knows all thing. There is nothing that He cannot know. The Scripture says:

Romans 11:33-36 (KJV) O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! [34] For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? [35] Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? [36] For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

God can do all things that He wants to do. The Bible says:

Jeremiah 32:17-19 (KJV) Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: [18] Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name, [19] Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

God is in control of all things. God knew that Israel would reject Christ when He came to this earth. You may ask, “If God knew that Christ would be rejected by Israel then why send Him in the first place?” The answer is simple. God made promises to the forefathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. In these promises God told these saints – believers in Christ – that He would bless the whole world through them. This is why Jesus was born a JEW and not a GENTILE. God told Abraham:

Genesis 12:3 (KJV) … in THEE shall ALL families of the earth be blessed.

Christ in His lineage can be traced all the way back to Abraham (see Matthew 1:2-16; Luke 3:23-38) and through the line of David. In fact, Christ’s lineage can be traced all the way to Adam. God made promises to fallen man through these people that He will keep. But God also prophesied of the Christ who would come that:

Isaiah 53:3-7 (KJV) He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [4] Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

The entirety of the life of Christ was published in the Old Testament prophesies hundreds of years before He ever came. Yet Christ was sent of the Father anyway. Why? Because God promised. Everything worked out to the glory of God, showing forth His majesty and power. Even Jesus’ betrayal by Judas Iscariot was prophesied:

Zechariah 11:12-13 (KJV) And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. [13] And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

Matthew 27:3-4, 7-8 (KJV) Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, [4] Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that…. [7] And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. [8] Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.

Matthew 27:9-10 (KJV) Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by {Jeremiah}¹ the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; [10] And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.

God knows what is going to happen. God controls what is going to happen, making all things come out as He desires and plans. Dr. Adrian Rogers said:

“The name Jehovah is used some 6,800 times in the Bible. It is the personal covenant name of Israel’s God. In the King James Version of the Bible, it’s translated Lord God. Not only does it speak of God’s strength, but also it speaks of the sovereignty of God and the goodness of God. The root of this name means “self-existing,” one who never came into being, and one who always will be.”

Our God never changes. What He has purposed, that will He do. He told Israel:

Malachi 3:6 (KJV) For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

The reason that Israel and every Jew on the face of this earth is not wiped out and obliterated from history is because God never changes. His Word endures – and He has the power, the infinite power, to keep His promises. Theologian Sam Storms stated:

“… God is dependable! Our trust in him is therefore a confident trust, for we know that He will not, indeed cannot, change. His purposes are unfailing, His promises unassailable. It is because the God who promised us eternal life is immutable that we may rest assured that nothing, not trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword shall separate us from the love of Christ. It is because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever that neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, not even powers, height, depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:35-39)!”

Limitations Of God’s Sovereignty

Our God is in control. He can do anything He pleases – but He does have limits in His power.God cannot do anything that is foreign to His character. God does not abide in untruth or lies. The Bible says:

Numbers 23:19 (KJV) God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

God keeps His Word – period! God also does no evil. The Lord may allow evil to persist or allow the devil for a time to seem to be in control. But God never does nor condones evil. The Bible says:

James 1:13-15 (KJV) Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: [14] But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. [15] Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

The devil does evil. The lost do evil. Even Christians may at times do evil. When God made us in His image He gave us a certain freedom of will. We can make bad choices. God cannot. Evil is foreign to God’s nature. God also cannot contradict Himself. What was sinful in the Old Testament is sinful today. What was wrong then is wrong now. God is moral, absolutely moral, and He establishes what is intrinsically right or wrong. When God told Adam:

Genesis 2:16-17 (KJV) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

this was an absolute. By man the fall of man came. God promised death to Adam for disobedience, and on the day he disobeyed God he died. This put man into a terrible position. God cannot forgive man without a payment being made. The wages of sin is death. How can God bring man back from death if man – being dead – can bring nothing to the Living God to redeem himself? There is only one way.

God had to become Man.
God had to become Sinless Man.
God cannot wipe the slate clean,
Nor change His promise.

Because of Adam’s failure and the immutability of the nature of God the supernatural birth of Christ was necessary. The Scripture declares:

Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 5:15-19 (KJV) But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. [16] And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. [17] For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) [18] Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. [19] For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Jesus Christ entered humanity to pay for our sins, for ALL of our sins. Christ had to come because of the Sovereignty of God. God made a way for salvation through Him and only Him. When Christ presented Himself to Israel, He presented Himself as the Son of God Who came to take away the sins of the world. The Father said of the Son:

This is My Beloved Son, In Whom I am WELL PLEASED (Matthew 3:17)

The demons said of Christ: “Thou art the Son of God” (Mark 3:11)

Peter said of Jesus: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16)

The Centurion who crucified our Lord said:

“Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54)

Many Jews as well as Gentiles have received Christ as Lord and Savior. But Israel as a nation has not yet received Him. But Israel will. Israel will go through tribulation, but in the end Christ will rule that nation. I look forward to the day when our Savior and Lord returns with His people to rule from Jerusalem (Revelation 20:2-7). God is able. God has promised. God will do what He has said. Praise God forever more! The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. What He has said, what He has promised, He will do. God is not done with His Israel – not by a long shot. When Christ returns to the earth He will establish Himself as King from Jerusalem (Luke 1:32–33). The Covenant promises that God made demand a literal and physical return of Jesus to establish His kingdom. The Abrahamic Covenant promised Israel a place, a people, and a Potentate (Genesis 12:1–3). The Palestinian Covenant promised Israel the land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 30:1–10). The Davidic Covenant promised King David a Son who would rule forever (2 Samuel 7:10–13). Israel will be regathered when Christ returns (Matthew 24:31), and that nation will believe in our Jesus. The Prophet Zechariah declared:

Zechariah 12:8-10 (KJV) In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. [10] And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and THEY SHALL LOOK UPON ME WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Jesus is coming again. Israel will be saved. And – precious believer in Christ – you shall see it with your eyes one day. What an awesome God we serve!

May God touch your hearts with His Word.