What was Paul thinking when he used the phrase “all Israel will be saved?” To answer this question of what Paul was thinking, we have to address three questions. One, how does Paul define “all Israel?” When Paul uses the term Israel or thinks of Israel, he isn’t excluding ethnic Jews, but he’s also not thinking only of ethnic Jews. Rather, he is thinking about the total covenant people of God. When Paul talks about Israel and all Israel, he’s talking about a theological construct. Not an ethnic construct. Israel for Paul is not an ethnic term. It’s a theological term. Why? Because it is tied to the covenant people concept in the Old Testament.
Two, what does Paul mean by the fullness of the nations, the fullness of the Gentiles? And the third, how is the salvation of all Israel and how is it related to the fullness of the Gentiles and what’s the relationship between the two? These three things work together and Paul was angling what the in gathering of the Gentiles have to do with the salvation of all Israel?Romans 11:25 and 26 discuses both ideas in relationship to each other. We can’t talk about all Israel being saved without talking about the fullness of the Gentiles. What does the in gathering, the in gathering of the fullness of the Gentiles again into the family of God? What does that have to do with the salvation of all Israel?
In Romans 9:25-26, Galatians 3, if you are Christ’s, you are Abraham’s seed. Paul is writing to the Galatians who were Gentiles. The whole chapter of Galatians 3 is redefining the children of Abraham to include the Gentiles. In other words, whoever has the faith of Abraham, and everybody who believes, including Israelites, are in the family of God, believers. In Paul’s mind, he’s creating a construct that is inclusive of Gentiles. In Romans 9:6-8, the children of Abraham includes the Gentiles. Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
Those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Paul is thinking, since we have Jesus, all Israel will be saved, all the people of God, including the Gentiles. The people of God aligned themselves with Yahweh as the God of gods by faith. Their believing loyalty is assigned to Yahweh and no one else. aThe people of God aligned themselves in believing loyalty to Yahweh incarnate now in Jesus Christ, this salvation is tied to the new covenant, the indwelling of the spirit in all who believe. The Gentiles experienced the coming of the spirit in exactly the same way that the Israelites did.
Paul is swapping in the Gentiles to replace the 10 lost tribes, those who were not my people because of believing loyalty. Paul includes the Gentile in the restoration of the people of God, all Israel, because he reads that theology in the Old Testament. Paul is reading that in Hosea. Once the Gentiles come in, all Israel will be saved. Paul’s theological construct does include Gentiles in the 12 tribes. Look at Paul’s wording, it’s a partial hardening on Israel. What Paul’s thinking about is a theological construct, the totality of the people of God, whoever they might be. Believing loyalty.
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