All Israel Will Be Saved

let's pray Lord in a day of heightened tension between Jewish people and Christians I ask that you would build bridges of salvation in places and in ways that we have not yet dreamed it seems to me that you're doing that in these days and I pray that they would be well built biblically and well trodden by witnesses and converts I pray that the offense of the gospel would not be muted and I pray that it would be overcome in the hearts of unbelievers by the power of the Holy Spirit so that Christ is not seen as a stumbling block or as foolishness but as the power of God and the wisdom of God and embraced unto salvation to that end grant us understanding of Romans 11 and more than understanding and through understanding gratis obedience heart obedience and feet obedience and mouth obedience guard us now from the deceptions of Evil One and from the diss inclinations to godliness in our own hearts come a fresh deliverer from Zion and banish even our own ungodliness I pray in Jesus name Amen God has us in Romans 11 at a very remarkable time in American cultural life doesn't he the place of Israel in the Middle East is one of the most explosive significant issues facing planet Earth and I plan to come back to that in some detail next week the place of Israel in the twin cities in relation to the place of the Christian Church in the twin cities is just now a front-burner issue for many largely because of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ so let me put today's message into that context on Friday I received an email from a Jewish leader mailed to a dozen or so of us downtown clergy with a gentle but firm expression of concern about Gibson's movie first there was praise for the track record of the peaceful jewish-christian relations in Minnesota and then these words it is with this sense of respect and need for dialogue that we raise our concerns about this film with you we are gravely aware of the potential rifts this film could open once again not only between Jews and Christians but between Christians of different viewpoints our world has become all too polarized in recent years and we believe this film promotes that very polarization after viewing the film we are deeply troubled with the way in which Jews are portrayed no religious racial or ethnic group welcomes being stereotyped this film portrays Jews who did not follow Jesus as a bloodthirsty crowd demanding the crucifixion of Jesus unyielding in their lust for the torment and death for almost 2,000 years the week leading up to Easter was a time when some of the worst violence against Jews occurred often because passion plays encouraged an interpretation that blamed Jews collectively for the death of Jesus and also served as a reminder that Jews do not accept Jesus in recent decades the Catholic Church and many Christian denominations recognized that that charge of deicide that is the murder of God and the depiction of Jews in passion plays have led to death expulsion and horrific treatment of Jews the repudiation of the deicide charge by the Catholic Church and others and calls by leadership groups within Christianity for responsible accurate sensitive portrayals of the passion and I'll come back to that responsible accurate sensitive portrayals of the passion have played an instrumental role in not only diminishing tensions between Christians and Jews but building relationships based on trust and mutual respect we hope that as you and your congregants view this film and talk about it you and they will gain awareness of the Jewish perspective and come to understand the source of our concerns and the sincerity of our prayers for peace and understanding we asked Christian clergy to discuss these perspectives with their congregants as they wrestle with the meaning and their understanding of this controversial film our hope is that all religious institutions find in their mission to build bridges finding their mission to build bridges of understanding and peace close quote now I'm not going to make any effort to defend the movie one way or the other you decide whether it is a responsible accurate sensitive portrayal of Jesus final sufferings in their biblical context my concern here is to simply make plain that the bridge of understanding and peace between the Christian Church and the Jewish community that is built by Romans 11 is first an explanation and then an invitation to Jews and Gentiles to believe in the one and only Redeemer Jesus Christ the Jewish Messiah and thus be saved from the wrath of God that's the bridge built between the church and the Jewish community an explanation and an invitation to believe in the one and only Redeemer of mankind the Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ and thus be saved from the wrath of God the Apostle Paul says in first Thessalonians 1:10 Christians wait for God's son from heaven whom he raised from the dead Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come the reason I mentioned that verse as I move towards chapter 11 is because the phrase who delivers us has one close parallel in the New Testament and it's found in Romans 11:26 which says this and in this way all Israel will be saved as it is written the deliverer now that's exactly the same participle and verb as found in 1st Thessalonians 1:10 the deliverer will come from Zion meaning Jerusalem or the heavenly Jerusalem he will banish ungodliness from Jacob that is Israel so the deliverer who saves all Israel is Jesus he's not named in verse 26 and I went to first Thessalonians 1:10 to get a name for him lest anybody try to pour any other meaning into the term deliverer in Romans 11:26 his name is Jesus and he is the one who will come from Zion banished ungodliness from Jacob and save all Israel from the wrath to come this is not a national salvation of political sort this is a salvation from a god you do not want to meet in your sin if you do you will call for rocks to fall upon you and crush you unless you have to face the wrath of the Lamb but if there is a deliverer if there is a righteousness if there is a forgiveness if there is one who can banish ungodliness from our lives and clothe us with Christ then it will be glorious it will be glorious and we will not be consumed but satisfied so it says in verse 26 he will banish ungodliness from Jacob all Israel it's going to be freed and verse 27 this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins so now you have two things banishing ungodliness and forgiving sins so Israel's going to be saved by Jesus Christ coming from Zion when he takes away ungodliness forgive sin removes hardness takes the broken off branches grafts them back into the tree and they and we will be one tree one people one covenant community with a common root in the Abrahamic promise of inheriting the world and having God is our God and Jesus is our king not two peoples not two plans one great glorious Messiah one people one salvation one Hope one great joy and I say again the bridge that we need to build has already been built in Romans 11 between the Christian community in Minneapolis and st. Paul the Jewish community in Minneapolis and st. Paul there's a bridge to be built and it is the bridge Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God the Messiah and has borne our iniquities and carried our sorrows by His stripes we are healed all our iniquities are laid upon him and in his name there is salvation and in his name alone for Jew and Gentile that's the bridge and I say it plainly openly forthrightly knowing that is not believed by the Jewish community nor heard with delight and I say it sadly and tragically that it is not believed by many of the clergy in Minneapolis but rather instead of that bridge another kind of bridge has been built which is heard with gladness in the unbelieving christ-rejecting Jewish community it's the bridge of a construct of two covenants a Jewish covenant by which Jews can be saved and go to the Father and a construct of a Christian covenant by which Christians can be saved through Jesus and go to the Father and the Jews do not need the covenant that the Christians use and the Christians don't need the Covenant that the Jews use we have two tracks bound for glory that's the bridge that's been built and you can read about it in a lot of places I'll read you one place john stott who does not believe in this to track to covenant bridge between the communities wrote in his commentary on Romans 11:26 these very bold and penetrating words from his pulpit at the center of London which is a very cosmopolitan place surrounded by many religions it is understandable that since the Holocaust Jews have demanded an end to Christian missionary activity among them and that many Christians have felt embarrassed about it it is even suggested that Jewish evangelism is an unacceptable form of anti-semitism so some Christians have attempted to develop a theological basis for leaving Jews alone in their Judaism reminding us that God's covenant with Abraham was an everlasting covenant they maintained that it is still in force and that therefore God saves Jewish people through their own covenant without any necessity of them to believe in Jesus this proposal is usually called a two covenant theology Bishop Krister Stendhal was the first of the scholars to argue for it namely that there are two different kinds of tracks the Christian track for the believing remnant and believing Gentiles and the track for historical Israel which relies on God's covenant with them Romans 11 this is still start talking Romans 11 stands in clear opposition to this trend because of its insistence on the fact that there is only one olive tree to which Jews and Gentiles both belong the irony of this right stomm right is that the late 20th century in order to avoid anti-semitism has advocated a position the non evangelization of the Jews which Paul regards as precisely anti-semitic close so I say publicly and without apology the bridge that has been built between Jewish community and Christian community built out of two tracks and two covenants one through faith in Jesus and one without faith in Jesus is anti-semitic though it's called peace and respect it is not only an irony that this has happened in the end of the 20th century in the beginning of the 21st it is a tragedy I doubt that any church who abandons the evangelization of Jewish people can long keep the gospel because if you say Christ is not needed for being justified with the holy God as a fallen sinner in Adam you have destroyed the gospel therefore churches that are embracing this will undermine the gospel and cease eventually to be Christian churches so let the point be made clearly and soberly today salvation comes to Israel and to the Gentiles in the same way namely by being united to Jesus the Messiah who then makes us part of the olive tree which is the Covenant of Abraham so that we all do and Gentile can participate in the one redeemed people now the point of today's text is not merely that only by the deliverer Jesus can Jew and Gentile be saved the main point of tonight's text and today's text is that it will certainly happen Israel will be saved that's what we need to dwell on a little bit now let's first of all look at verse 29 and remember that God has given a promise for Israel and he is called Israel to his own and verse 29 says the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable if he has given a promise and given a covenant to a people he will not revoke it and if he has called them he will not revoke it and from that Paul draws this conclusion let's read verses 25 and 26 lest you Gentiles be wise in your own conceits we've been spending 4 weeks on that is burden to take pride out of our lives as we talk about the necessity of Jewish people to believe in Jesus lest you Gentiles be wise in your own conceits I want you to understand this mystery what a partial hardening has come upon Israel that is not all Israel but the mass of Israel are hardened a hardening is come upon Israel we saw that back in verse 7 until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in come into the tree come into Israel come into salvation the Covenant verse 26 and in this way what way the hardening of Israel and the ingathering of the Gentiles because of that hardening in this strange way all Israel will be saved as it is written the deliverer will come from Zion and banish ungodliness from Jacob and this is the covenant that i will make with them when I take away their sins he does not say all Israel may be saved it says all Israel will be saved now what is all Israel mean and I want to make clear now tonight that not everybody sees it the way I see it so I'll tell you two options that are not mine and know that people in this church embrace those options and can live here happily one option would be to say in this way all Israel will be saved means in this way all the Jews and all the Gentiles who are elect come in to the tree and are called Israel and thus the all Israel refers to Jew and Gentile the redeemed people that would not be heresy at all that truth if it were the right interpretation would contradict nothing Paul says the other view is a little narrower it says that the all Israel does not include Gentiles but it only includes the remnant who is coming to faith little by little throughout history because back in the beginning of the chapter that's what Paul stresses if by any means I might save some I magnify my ministry to the Gentiles to make my kinsmen jealous if I might save some and as a trickle like through Jews for Jesus come in in generation after generation in that way all Israel the remnant not the nation as a whole will be saved and my view is that all Israel refers to the nation as a whole corporately those are your three major options none of them is heresy in fact I don't regard any of them as serious error it's just going to affect the nature of your expectation of the end time because theologically all three of those views cohere with biblical theology so let me give you reasons for why I have the view that I have and I'm not alone stott holds this view john murray holds this view tom Shriner holds this view and zillions of other scholars hold it as well so there's nothing quirky or eccentric about the view that I'm saying in fact I think probably it is the more common view in history but you don't settle theology by counting noses do you you settle it by exegetical arguments so they give you five number one I think Israel in verses 25 and 26 naturally referred to the same thing verse 25 lest you be wise in your own conceits I want you to understand this mystery brothers a partial hardening has come upon Israel now what does this really mean in that part of the verse I think most of us would agree it means the nation as a whole has rejected Christ so I think the meaning of the word Israel in the very next verse should be the same that's the argument number one so when it says until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and in this way all Israel that same Israel that I just referred to that he's hardened the hardened Israel now becomes the saved Israel that's argument number one I think that is the most natural way to read these two verses argument number two the reference to banishing ungodliness from Jacob the reference to Jacob strikes me is more naturally referring to Israel as a whole rather than a remnant of Israel verse 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved as it is written the deliverer will come from Zion and he will banish ungodliness from Jacob in its Old Testament context and here I think Jacob would more awkwardly refer to part of Israel and more naturally referred to all Israel the nation as a whole argument number three verse 28 the two halves of these verses seems to me must be kept parallel in the meaning of Israel verse 28 as regards the gospel they that's what I want to found who they are who's they they are enemies of God for your sake well who's that that's corporate Israel that's Israel as a whole that's the nation of Israel they are enemies of God for your sake they're hardened they're unbelieving so the second half of the verse I think refers to the same group because nothing suggests that the Veii is any different in the second half and the second half says but as regards election they same they the ones who are enemies of God are beloved for the sake of the fathers and therefore he's going to move on them and save them the Veii is the same in the two halves of verse 28 if their enemies here and their beloved and gonna be saved here then I don't think you can narrow them down here and have them be corporate here argument number four back to verse 12 this is all reviewed now these last two arguments verse twelve point in the same direction because of the parallels in the verse now if they're Jewish trespass if the if they're trespass and that's a reference to their hardening their being enemies their trespass means riches for the world that's the in gathering of the nation's because of the Jewish branches being broken off if their trespass means riches for the world salvation of the Gentiles and if their failure and the ver th e IR if that refers to the corporate failing Israel means riches for the Gentiles how much more will their same their you can't make it mean something different I don't think their fullness mean their fullness it's that people who are enemies who are hardened who are trespassing that group as a whole now is in their fullness brought in last argument number five verse 15 for if their rejection and there is the corporate nation of Israel as a whole if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world what will their acceptance same they're not a few of them being accepted but the their who are rejected now and rejecting God they will be accepting but will it mean but life from the dead so as hard as I've tried because I admire a lot of the people who hold these other views I cannot see anything in Chapter eleven but Paul arguing that the reason the Word of God has not fallen Romans nine six its first because not all Israel is Israel chapter nine and second because some Israel is always Israel and there's a remnant in every generation and third in the end all Israel will be saved and therefore the Word of God has most definitely not fallen he fulfills his covenant promises in all those three ways and Romans 11 simply brings us to the climax of the argument by saying in the end of this age they're all coming in not meaning every last individual because the phrase all Israel is used several times in the Bible to simply mean the corporate mass movement and it might be individuals here and there who are not participating but it will be a corporate total national turning to Christ being saved joining the church not a second track to glory and being Christian now how does that happen wouldn't you like to know so would I but the next thing in my notes here is I don't know the details but it seems to me that we can say this much that Paul does see the turning of Israel from its unbelief to belief and it's being grafted back in as a whole in connection with the coming of Jesus from the heavenly Zion at the last day somehow and I am very tempted if I had time to work longer with you on the relationship between this hope and zechariah 12:10 for example which says i will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy I will pour out on them pleas for mercy so that they will look on me on him whom they have pierced they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn if I had time I would probably try to make a case that that's a description of how it's going to happen somehow or I would go to Isaiah 66 8 and read this who has heard such a thing who has seen such things shall a land be born in a day shall a nation be brought forth in one moment for as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children I know prophetic words are very provocative and ambiguous at times but surely this is at least an invitation to say there are prophetic pointers and hints that something stunning is going to happen in Israel in the future and lastly I would take you to the words of the Lord Himself in Matthew 23 as he is spewing out woe to you scribes woe to you hypocrites he comes to the end of that chapter in which we he has consigned this generation to hardness and then says how often would I have gathered you luck a hen gathers her chicks and you would not and then come these words I tell you you will not see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord when's that gonna happen he's already entered on Palm Sunday they've already said blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord and now they're crying crucify him and he's saying brood of vipers hypocrites and then he ends that horrible consignment to hardness with these words you won't see me again until the day when you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord there's no time for that to happen between when it was spoken and his ascension I think it's yet to happen so if I had time I would dwell on zechariah 12:10 Isaiah 66 8 Matthew 23:39 in order to show that other places in the Bible there are these pointers these suggestions that this prophecy that all Israel be saved the deliverer will come from Zion he will banish ungodliness from Jacob he will make a covenant and bring it to pass and it will be the forgiveness of their sins and it will be the very hardened people who are now saved in mass but I do not know the precise way it works I will not try to envision it beyond what scripture tells me lest I go too far and speculate in an unhelpful way so conclusion what should we then do and it's real clear what we should do and the parts that aren't clear I'll try to tackle next next weekend namely should Christians be pro-israel in the Middle East should Christians be Zionists can Jews do no wrong in the Middle East that's next Sunday I told you months ago we'd get there well that will be the controversial sermon and tonight I think what we can agree on is this let's follow Paul across the bridge that he built watch him go watch him go in chapter 10 verse 1 my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved so let's get on the bridge of prayer for Israel let's get on the bridge of prayer for all the Jews we know and should love and lay down our lives for and no anti-semitism no slurs no mockery but just humble truth-telling about Jesus as the only way for Gentile and Jew let's pray for Jews and then let's get on the bridge with Paul in chapter 11 verse 14 where he says being an apostle to the Gentiles I magnify my ministry in order that if any beans in many means I might make jealous my kinsmen as I and all the Gentiles exult in our inheritance of the Abrahamic prophet promises and I've said before that means that over lunch with your Jewish colleague you get excited about his Bible you get excited about the first screen of Mel Gibson's movie he has borne our iniquities he has carried our sorrows you get excited about that because it's yours in the Messiah Jesus and you exult in your forgiveness you exult in the peace you exalt in your assurance of salvation you exult in all the Abrahamic blessings belonging to you and pray that they would what's your money well yeah in principle they are but come on in waters really good I think that's what he means by try to make your kinsmen jealous it's not an ugly thing it's a sweet thing it's celebrative it's saying I love Jesus your Messiah I love your book it's full of promises that I now feel I inherit because of my attachment to the Messiah it's a it's an it's seller celebrative humble way of walking across the bridge and besides prayer and witness get all proud conceit out of our lives verse 25 lest you be wise in your own conceits I'm telling you this strange mystery about the hardening of Israel the fullness of the Gentiles coming in in order that then all Israel might be saying so realize this all you johnny-come-lately Gentiles your salvation is a means to theirs and therefore you contradict your own if you boast over them let's pray father in heaven please grant me occasions even perhaps in responding now to the email I got yesterday and grant these brothers and sisters occasions to speak a humble celebrative Christ exalting word into the Jewish Christian mix in Minnesota protect us from an anti-semitic two-track bridge and grant that there would be one clear biblical Christ supported bridge built and may we be on our knees going across it and with our arms extended wide going across it and words of witness and love on our mouths going across it and if necessary not any blood shedding but blood letting from our own hands and feet to reach both the nation's that the fullness might come in Pakistan whose Becca Stan United Arab Emirates Cameroon Ivory Coast Philippines China Japan that they all might come in and then the great climax all Israel saved I ask this in Jesus name amen before you go you might pray about this I would like to respond to that email I have already sent an editorial to the paper about jewish-christian relations in relation to the movie pray that they'll print it I think it would be a witness to Jesus and pray that I would have wisdom to know how to respond to the rabbi at Temple Israel who wrote this and is in a clergy group that I used to be a part of so it's a very practical way you could put shoes on this we're not talking theory here in Minneapolis we are not talking theory we have lunch with rabbis in this city right and we look them in the face like I did with the last two rabbis the rabbi over temple Israel now is a young woman in the previous two I took them both out to lunch consider I'm an evangelical and they say I know what that means and I tell them what I think and so let's be real okay let's not play any games you're like they're Jews somewhere in the universe what you stand with me sing this chorus jesus paid it all all to him you

Channel: Desiring God

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Keywords: Sermon, John Piper, Desiring God, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Christian, Christianity, Church, Bible, Jesus Christ, God, Scripture

Id: ZuW6xHi4qOA

Length: 46min 19sec (2779 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 28 2013