Romans 9 and 10, Paul describes a theological problem: Most Jews are rejecting the gospel. Not only are they missing out on salvation, it makes other people wonder whether God is faithful to his promises. In chapter 11, Paul affirms that God has a surprising plan for the people of Israel.
The remnant of Israel
At the end of chapter 10, Paul described Israel as a people who heard the message but refused to accept it even though God pleaded with them. So Paul asks, “God has not rejected his people, has he?” (11:1). He answers: “Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.” Paul is living proof that God has not abandoned his people.
“God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew!” (verse 2). Foreknow here does not refer simply to advance knowledge, as if God knew some facts about the Jews. Rather, it refers to a relationship that God had with the Jews. He had a covenant with them. It is no longer valid as a source of laws, but the promises God made to them will still be kept. God has not given up on the Jews.
“Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are seeking my life!’” (verses 2-3, quoting from 1 Kings 19:10, 14). Elijah thought that everyone else had gone astray.
“What was the divine response to him?” Paul asks in verse 4. It was: “I have kept for myself seven thousand people who have not bent the knee to Baal.” [1 Kings 19:18] Paul draws a lesson from this: “So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace” (verses 4-5). The situation wasn’t as bad as Elijah thought it was. In Paul’s day, too, thousands of Jews believed in Christ. There was a remnant, a small percentage, of Jews who accepted what God had done in Jesus Christ.
They are chosen by grace, he says, not by their zeal for the law. “And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (verse 6). Grace and works are opposites—we cannot mix the two.
Some were hardened
“What then?” Paul asks in verse 7. “Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it.” The Jews sincerely wanted to be righteous, but their efforts did not achieve what they wanted.
The elect—the chosen ones—obtained righteousness, Paul says. “The rest were hardened, as it is written, ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, to this very day’” (verses 7-8, adapting Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:9-10). The minority accepted the gospel; the others did not because God gave them over to their own inclinations.
In verse 1, Paul asked a question as a springboard for his discussion, and in verse 11 he does it again: “I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, did they?” And again he answers: “Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous.” Their fall, their blindness, their hardening, can be revoked.
Jews who reject Christ are not hopelessly lost — they can still be saved. But in the meantime, salvation is being offered to Gentiles. Paul is alluding here to Deuteronomy 32:21: “I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, with a nation slow to learn I will enrage them.” Contrary to what most Jews thought, God would bless the Gentiles so much that the Jews would be envious. That is Paul’s hope and reason for ministry.
In verse 12, Paul reasons from a less-than-ideal situation to a better one: “Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration bring?” If Jewish failure has brought blessings to others, won’t Jewish success bring even more? Paul is implying that there will come a day of success, when most Jews will accept Christ.
Paul believes the majority will be saved — first a remnant of Jews, then a good number of Gentiles, then the majority of Jews, and finally another blessing for the Gentiles — the salvation of the great majority. “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles,” he says in verse 13. “Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them.” Although Paul was writing to Gentiles, he was addressing a question about Jews. He may be rehearsing what he will say on his trip to Jerusalem: He wants his people to accept their Messiah, so that they might be saved.
In verse 15, Paul again uses an argument from the lesser to the greater: “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” If the failure of the Jews brought salvation to everyone else, won’t it be even better when the Jews finally accept the gospel? They might be spiritually dead now, but God can raise the dead.
The remnant of Israel
At the end of chapter 10, Paul described Israel as a people who heard the message but refused to accept it even though God pleaded with them. So Paul asks, “God has not rejected his people, has he?” (11:1). He answers: “Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.” Paul is living proof that God has not abandoned his people.
“God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew!” (verse 2). Foreknow here does not refer simply to advance knowledge, as if God knew some facts about the Jews. Rather, it refers to a relationship that God had with the Jews. He had a covenant with them. It is no longer valid as a source of laws, but the promises God made to them will still be kept. God has not given up on the Jews.
“Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are seeking my life!’” (verses 2-3, quoting from 1 Kings 19:10, 14). Elijah thought that everyone else had gone astray.
“What was the divine response to him?” Paul asks in verse 4. It was: “I have kept for myself seven thousand people who have not bent the knee to Baal.” [1 Kings 19:18] Paul draws a lesson from this: “So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace” (verses 4-5). The situation wasn’t as bad as Elijah thought it was. In Paul’s day, too, thousands of Jews believed in Christ. There was a remnant, a small percentage, of Jews who accepted what God had done in Jesus Christ.
They are chosen by grace, he says, not by their zeal for the law. “And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (verse 6). Grace and works are opposites—we cannot mix the two.
Some were hardened
“What then?” Paul asks in verse 7. “Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it.” The Jews sincerely wanted to be righteous, but their efforts did not achieve what they wanted.
The elect—the chosen ones—obtained righteousness, Paul says. “The rest were hardened, as it is written, ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, to this very day’” (verses 7-8, adapting Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:9-10). The minority accepted the gospel; the others did not because God gave them over to their own inclinations.
In verse 1, Paul asked a question as a springboard for his discussion, and in verse 11 he does it again: “I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, did they?” And again he answers: “Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous.” Their fall, their blindness, their hardening, can be revoked.
Jews who reject Christ are not hopelessly lost — they can still be saved. But in the meantime, salvation is being offered to Gentiles. Paul is alluding here to Deuteronomy 32:21: “I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, with a nation slow to learn I will enrage them.” Contrary to what most Jews thought, God would bless the Gentiles so much that the Jews would be envious. That is Paul’s hope and reason for ministry.
In verse 12, Paul reasons from a less-than-ideal situation to a better one: “Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration bring?” If Jewish failure has brought blessings to others, won’t Jewish success bring even more? Paul is implying that there will come a day of success, when most Jews will accept Christ.
Paul believes the majority will be saved — first a remnant of Jews, then a good number of Gentiles, then the majority of Jews, and finally another blessing for the Gentiles — the salvation of the great majority. “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles,” he says in verse 13. “Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them.” Although Paul was writing to Gentiles, he was addressing a question about Jews. He may be rehearsing what he will say on his trip to Jerusalem: He wants his people to accept their Messiah, so that they might be saved.
In verse 15, Paul again uses an argument from the lesser to the greater: “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” If the failure of the Jews brought salvation to everyone else, won’t it be even better when the Jews finally accept the gospel? They might be spiritually dead now, but God can raise the dead.
