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NASB | Romans 11:26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 11:26 and so [at that time] all Israel [that is, all Jews who have a personal faith in Jesus as Messiah] will be saved; just as it is written [in Scripture], "THE DELIVERER (Messiah) WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." [Is 59:20, 21] |
Bible Question: Does this mean every single Jew, or Israel as a national entity? Didn't Judaism on the whole reject Christ and thus refuse God's saving act? How then can "all Israel" be saved? And didn't Jesus, before Paul, say that the kingdom of God would be taken away from the Jewish people and given to a new people (Matt. 21:43)? |
Bible Answer: Steve, This obviously does not refer to each and every individual Jew simply because many are already dead who died in unbelief. It also cannot be refering to Israel as a nation since that nation is also comprised of those same individuals already dead in unbelief. In the Old Testament, Israel is referred to as God's elect. But do not forget what Paul stated in Rom. 9:6; "But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel". Not all Jews are Israelites simply because they physically descended from Jacob (Israel). Paul states precisely who true Israelites are in verse 8; "That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants". So, when salvation is used in conjunction with Israel, God is referring to any individual who is a child of God according to the spirit (not the flesh). Paul states in Galatians 6:15,16 that neither circumcision (physical Israelites) nor uncircumcision (physical Gentiles) is anything. It is the new creation that refers to salvation and Paul relates the new creation with being the Israel of God in verse 16. It is the elect Israel of God who will be saved because God has chosen them to be in Christ since before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4; Col. 3:12;2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:10) Sam Hughey |