Until the Fullness of the Gentiles Has Come In

Romans 11:25–32

“For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written,

‘There will come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant with them, when I will take away their sins.’

“Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

“For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy. For God has bound all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all.”

The olive tree left Paul’s Gentile readers with no reason to interpret Israel’s unbelief as evidence of their own superiority. Some natural branches had been broken off through unbelief, while wild branches had been grafted in through faith. Yet the broken branches were not beyond restoration. If they did not continue in unbelief, God was able to graft them into their own olive tree again.

Paul now describes Israel’s condition as a “partial hardening.” The qualification confirms what the chapter has already demonstrated. Israel’s unbelief is widespread, but it is not universal. Paul himself is an Israelite who believes in Christ, and a remnant remains according to grace. The hardening therefore cannot mean that God has rendered every Israelite incapable of believing the gospel.

The hardening is described in relation to the coming in of “the fullness of the Gentiles.” During this gathering, Jewish people are not universally excluded: the remnant already believes, and Paul seeks to bring others to faith. The word “until” marks the relation between this hardening and the gathering of the nations. It does not, by itself, tell us that every hardened person will subsequently believe or establish a later national saving program. The whole argument must determine what Paul means by the salvation of “all Israel.”

Within that movement Paul declares that “all Israel will be saved.” This study understands “all Israel” as the complete people of God in Christ: the believing Jewish remnant together with believing Gentiles brought into the same family of promise. God fulfills his word by gathering that people through the gospel. The distinction between natural and wild branches explains their different ancestry; it does not divide them into two covenant peoples.

A Partial Hardening

Romans 11:25

Paul explains the mystery because misunderstanding Israel’s condition could produce the Gentile arrogance he has just condemned. The wild branches might look upon the broken natural branches and conclude that Israel had simply been discarded while the Gentiles had inherited its place. Paul instead describes a partial hardening that exists alongside the believing remnant and the possibility of restoration.

The hardening is real. Paul has already described those who failed to obtain the righteousness they sought, were given eyes that did not see and ears that did not hear, and were broken from the olive tree through unbelief. Yet “partial” prevents that judgment from being extended beyond Paul’s own description. Israel has not been hardened without exception.

Paul's own existence makes that impossible. So does the remnant he identified at the beginning of the chapter. The distinction is not between an Israel that God has rendered incapable of believing and Gentiles whom God has permitted to believe. It remains the distinction Paul gave in the olive tree: some natural branches were broken off through unbelief, while others remained, and those presently broken off can be grafted in again if they do not continue in unbelief.

The hardening also exists within a period Paul associates with “the fullness of the Gentiles” coming in. Gentile salvation has occupied an important place throughout the argument. Israel’s stumbling has become riches for the world, and Paul’s ministry among the Gentiles serves both the salvation of the nations and his desire to provoke his own people to jealousy.

“The fullness of the Gentiles” therefore belongs to the gathering of the nations through the gospel. Paul does not say that Gentile salvation ends when a predetermined numerical quota is reached, nor does the expression itself tell us how many Gentiles constitute this fullness. His concern is the relationship between the present gathering of the nations and the partial hardening of Israel.

Gentiles must therefore understand their own inclusion within this larger work of God. They have not inherited the tree because Israel became worthless. They have received mercy while many Israelites remain in unbelief, and the mercy shown to them can itself serve God’s purpose of bringing mercy to Israel.

And So All Israel Will Be Saved

Romans 11:26–27

“and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written,

‘There will come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant with them, when I will take away their sins.’”

The immediate wording raises an important question. In verse 25, “Israel” describes ethnic Israel experiencing partial hardening, in distinction from the Gentiles being gathered. Why, then, understand “all Israel” in verse 26 as the whole people of God in Christ?

The reason is the distinction Paul established at the beginning of this discussion. Romans 9:6 says, “For they are not all Israel that are of Israel.” Paul distinguishes descent from Israel according to the flesh from belonging to Israel according to the promise. That verse alone does not identify Gentiles as Israel, but it prevents us from assuming that ancestry exhausts the meaning of the name throughout the argument.

Paul has also explained who belongs to Abraham’s family. Abraham is the father of uncircumcised believers and of circumcised people who walk in his faith (Romans 4:11–12). The promise extends to all the offspring who share that faith (Romans 4:16–17). God calls his people from Jews and Gentiles together (Romans 9:24–26). Romans 11 then portrays believing Gentiles being grafted into the same tree in which believing Jews remain. They share the root and its richness as members of one people.

Read in that setting, “all Israel” names the complete Israel of promise, gathered in Christ from Jews and Gentiles. It does not mean every physical descendant of Abraham, nor does it require the future conversion of ethnic Israel as a nation. It also does not mean every person who merely claims the Christian name. The people in view are those who belong to Christ through faith.

This is an interpretive conclusion drawn from Paul’s whole argument. The ethnic reading appeals to the immediate use of “Israel” in verse 25; the reading followed here takes the movement from partial hardening and Gentile inclusion to the completed covenant people as the point of verse 26. Historical Jewish identity remains real, but it does not restrict the identity of the people inheriting the promise in Christ.

The wording connecting the partial hardening with salvation also matters. Paul says “and so all Israel will be saved.” “And so” describes the manner in which God accomplishes this gathering. It should not simply be replaced with “and then,” as though Paul had said that the Gentile mission must end before a separate Jewish saving program begins. The wording alone does not settle the identity of “all Israel”; it belongs with the remnant, the promise, and the one-tree argument.

The manner of this gathering has been unfolding throughout the chapter. A Jewish remnant believes. Many other Israelites remain hardened in unbelief. The gospel goes among the nations, and Gentiles are brought into the same covenant people. Their reception of mercy can provoke Jewish people to seek the salvation found in their Messiah. Those who cease their unbelief are grafted into the same tree. Through this gospel God gathers the whole people who belong to him.

“All Israel will be saved” therefore expresses the salvation of that complete people. The church does not arrive as a Gentile replacement that expels believing Jews. Jewish and Gentile believers together belong to the Israel of promise.

The same relationship appears in Galatians 3:16, 26–29: the promise centers on Christ, and those who belong to him are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise. Ephesians 2:11–22 likewise moves from the Gentiles’ former alienation from Israel’s commonwealth and the covenants of promise to their present place as fellow citizens and members of God’s household. These passages support the covenant unity expressed by the olive tree without turning Gentiles into ethnic Jews.

Paul confirms the nature of this salvation by appealing to Scripture:

Isaiah 59:20–21

“A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh.

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says Yahweh, “from now on and forever.”

Paul draws upon Isaiah’s promise of the Redeemer and combines it with the covenantal promise of sins being taken away. The salvation of Israel is therefore described in the same categories that have governed Romans from the beginning: ungodliness must be turned away and sins must be forgiven.

The Deliverer accomplishes that salvation. Paul’s reference to Jacob anchors it in God’s promises to Israel; it does not create a salvation detached from Christ or limit the heirs to physical descent. Jewish believers receive the forgiveness promised through their Messiah, and Gentile believers share that forgiveness as fellow heirs in him. The promise reaches its fulfillment in the saved people gathered around Christ.

Beloved for the Fathers’ Sake

Romans 11:28–29

“Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

Paul now returns to the condition of his Jewish kinsmen. Describing “all Israel” as the completed people of promise in verse 26 does not mean that every subsequent reference to Israel must include Gentiles. The contrast in verse 28 concerns people opposed to the gospel whose history nevertheless remains connected to God’s election of the fathers. That historical relationship calls for humility and hope for their salvation; it does not confer saving membership while they reject Christ.

Concerning the gospel, many Israelites presently stand in opposition. Paul has never minimized that reality. They have stumbled over Christ, refused to submit to God’s righteousness, failed to obey the good news, and been broken from the olive tree through unbelief. Their opposition has accompanied the spread of the gospel among the Gentiles, making them, in Paul’s words, “enemies for your sake.”

Yet Israel's present hostility cannot rewrite the promises God made to the fathers. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remain the patriarchs through whom God established the covenant history that has occupied Paul throughout Romans 9–11. Israel’s unbelief cannot make God unfaithful.

That brings Paul back to the problem with which this entire section began:

Romans 9:6

“But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing.”

Romans 11 has been demonstrating why it has not. The unbelief of many Israelites has not destroyed God’s word. A remnant exists according to grace. The nations are receiving the promised blessing. The natural branches presently broken off are capable of being grafted in again. God continues accomplishing the redemptive purpose established through the fathers despite the unbelief of many of their descendants.

“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” belongs to God’s faithfulness to his promises and calling. Human unbelief cannot force him to abandon the purpose established through the fathers. That purpose comes to fulfillment in Christ and in the family receiving the promise through faith. The believing remnant and the inclusion of the nations are evidence of fulfillment, not evidence that God must later establish another covenant people defined by ancestry.

“Irrevocable” does not make every physical descendant an heir regardless of unbelief, or guarantee a future national conversion as the only way God can remain faithful. The natural branches have already shown that ancestry cannot secure participation apart from faith. Paul’s continuing love for his kinsmen and his desire for their salvation are fully consistent with one people of God in Christ.

God’s faithfulness does not eliminate the necessity of faith. It guarantees that human unbelief will not make his word fail.

That They May Also Obtain Mercy

Romans 11:30–31

Paul places Jew and Gentile within the same categories of disobedience and mercy. The Gentiles whom he has warned against boasting were themselves formerly disobedient to God. Romans 1 described the nations suppressing the truth, refusing to honor God, exchanging his glory for images, and exchanging his truth for a lie. The wild branches entered the olive tree with no history that could provide grounds for boasting.

They “have obtained mercy.”

That description exposes the absurdity of Gentile arrogance toward unbelieving Israel. Mercy cannot become proof of the recipient’s superiority because mercy begins with need. Gentiles who now participate in the richness of the olive tree did not arrive there because their history demonstrated greater faithfulness than Israel’s. They arrived as disobedient people upon whom God had mercy.

Israel presently occupies the position of disobedience, but Paul deliberately places that disobedience alongside the mercy already received by the Gentiles. Israel’s rejection contributed to the spread of the gospel among the nations, while the mercy now displayed among the nations serves Paul’s hope that Israelites themselves may obtain mercy.

The movement therefore does not end with one disobedient people being discarded and another taking its place. Gentile disobedience did not prevent Gentiles from receiving mercy, and Israel’s present disobedience does not place Israelites beyond mercy. The broken natural branches can be grafted in again because the same mercy that received wild branches remains available to them.

Their natural relationship to the patriarchs does not give them a claim upon that mercy. Paul has already excluded righteousness as a debt owed because of works, and the olive tree excluded ancestry as a guarantee against unbelief. Israel must receive mercy precisely as mercy: through the saving work of the Christ whom Paul proclaims to Jew and Gentile alike.

Mercy on All

Romans 11:32

“For God has bound all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all.”

Paul’s conclusion returns to one of the controlling arguments of Romans. Jew and Gentile differ in covenant history, but neither difference in history nor possession of privilege changes the fundamental human condition before God.

Paul established that point when he brought the opening chapters of Romans to their conclusion:

Romans 3:9

“What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin.”

And again:

Romans 3:22–23

“For there is no distinction, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 11 reaches the same ground through the language of disobedience. Gentiles were disobedient and received mercy. Israel is now disobedient and stands in need of mercy. The historical movement differs, but neither group can claim righteousness from itself.

When Paul says that God has “bound all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all,” the Jew-and-Gentile structure of his argument determines the sense of “all.” Paul has not suddenly introduced universal salvation. The same chapter has described branches broken off through unbelief and warned Gentiles of the severity of God. Romans as a whole has repeatedly connected salvation with faith in Christ.

“All” instead destroys the ethnic boasting Paul has opposed from both directions. The nations cannot boast over Israel because they too were disobedient and survive only by mercy. Israel cannot appeal to covenant ancestry as though descent from the patriarchs removes the need for mercy. Jew and Gentile alike have been enclosed under disobedience, leaving neither with a claim upon God as though salvation were owed.

Israel’s partial hardening does not mean that God has rejected his people or that his word has failed. A remnant already demonstrates that the hardening is not universal, while the possibility of broken natural branches being grafted in again demonstrates that present unbelief need not be permanent. The gospel has gone among the nations during this hardening, bringing Gentiles into the blessings promised through Israel’s Messiah and using their reception of mercy to provoke Israel toward the salvation it has rejected.

It is within that movement that Paul says “all Israel will be saved.” The whole people of promise is gathered in Christ: believing Jews and believing Gentiles in one tree. God has neither abandoned the Jewish remnant nor created an exclusively Gentile replacement people. The promises find their fulfillment in Christ, and all who belong to him share the inheritance.

God’s irrevocable gifts and calling guarantee that human unbelief cannot overturn his purpose. They do not establish covenant membership through ancestry apart from Christ. The Deliverer takes away sins, and the people receiving that mercy are the people in whom the saving promise is fulfilled.

Paul therefore ends where the argument of Romans has repeatedly brought both Jew and Gentile. Their histories differ, their privileges differ, and their places within the unfolding history of redemption differ, but neither possesses righteousness as an ethnic inheritance or a reward that God owes. Gentiles who were disobedient have obtained mercy, and Israelites who are presently disobedient remain objects of that same mercy. Neither can boast over the other because both stand entirely dependent upon the mercy of God.