Today is the last day in our Romans series until June, when we will go until we finish the study. Our study in Romans is titled The Gospel Unveiled, and my sermon title today is God Will Save All His People.
This past week, Pastor Adam came into the office and told us he had won a drawing at Veg Out for a gift card, for $1,000. That’s a lot of salad. He said, “ I never win anything in those drawings.” Well, you can’t say that anymore, Adam.
How many of you have entered a drawing or put your name in the hat for some prize, thinking you most likely wouldn’t win? How many times have we all done that? There’s always a little hope. “Maybe this will be the time I’ll win.” But in the back of your mind you know your chances are pretty slim.
Something that you can be certain of, one thing that is a sure-thing, every time, is God’s promise to you. The Lord doesn’t say, “Throw your name in the hat and we’ll see what happens. Come unto Me and maybe you’ll be the winner this time.” No, He promises to you and me that if we come to Him, we will find rest in our souls, peace in our hearts, and purpose for our lives. That’s not a possibility. That is certainty.
And that is why the apostle Paul wrapped up chapter 8 of Romans with this incredible promise:
Rom 8:28 (CSB)—We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
That’s not hyperbole. It’s not an exaggeration. It’s reality.
If the hard things you are facing right now, the struggles you are wrestling with, or the pressure around you seem to indicate otherwise, then you need to understand Romans 9–11. This is for you this morning.
Remember, in this section of Romans, Paul is talking about the practical outcomes of our justification. In other words, when we give our lives to Christ, we are justified before God, meaning that God does not see our sin but instead sees the righteousness of Jesus. Now we are declared righteous, not because of anything we have done but because of what Jesus has done for us.
After painting this beautiful picture of our justification in the first section of his letter, Paul, now, in this section, is showing us some of the results of our justification. He uses the nation of Israel to illustrate that, to the justified, God is faithful, even when His people are fickle.
You can go to the bank on that. You can count on Him. God will be faithful to you no matter your situation or what you’re going through. God will be faithful to me. Say it out loud this morning. “God will be faithful to me.”
How can I be sure? Look at God’s relationship with Israel…
- In chapter 9, Paul points to God’s past dealings with Israel and highlights the sovereignty of God.
- In chapter 10, he deals with God’s present dealings with Israel, based upon equity. Whether Jew or Gentle, all are invited to be saved.
- Now, in chapter 11, we come to God’s future dealings with Israel, which show His integrity. That is, God made specific promises to the nation of Israel, which He will fulfill. Even though they’ve totally blown it, God has promised to see Israel through, not based on their behavior but based on His integrity and faithfulness.
The same is true for us.
Phil 1:6 (CSB)—I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
That’s His promise. And we can rest in that promise.
Let’s look at what Paul says about God’s promise to Israel.
In chapters 9 and 10, Paul is lamenting Israel’s failure to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah. Instead of finding their justification in Christ, they insist on following the law to obtain righteousness on their own.
Paul then asks this question:
Rom 11:1 (CSB)—I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
With all of the attention on Israel these days, many people are asking why Israel is any different than any other nation? There are even Christians who teach that God is finished with Israel and they aren’t special in any way. Those people will tell you the church is now the recipient of the blessings that were promised to Israel and forfeited by Israel when she rejected Jesus Christ.
Why do they teach this? *(See the end of the post for more info about this.)
There are some schools of thought, especially when it comes to the end times (what will happen when Jesus returns for His church), that only work if you believe that God is done with Israel and the church is the new Israel. In other words, God has removed His blessing from Israel and placed it on the church.
Yet Romans 11 definitely contradicts this viewpoint. Paul asks, “Has God rejected His people? Absolutely not. No way.” And then he points to Exhibit B: himself.
Rom 11:1 (CSB)—I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
“God isn’t through with the Israelites. Look at me as an example. “God saved me.” Paul said. The point Paul makes here is not the fact that he is saved, but the way he was saved.
Paul was persecuting the church, coming against Christianity, when he had an audible and tangible encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul’s eyes were opened. You can read about that in Acts 9.
In the same way, when persecution will be coming down on Israel, when Jerusalem will be surrounded and about to be annihilated in the Tribulation period, what will happen? Suddenly, the Lord will appear, and, like Paul, Israel will realize their mistake and they will turn to Him and be saved. You can read about that prophecy in Zechariah 13.
Paul was simply a shadow of what will happen to the entire nation. Paul points to himself and says, “Is God through with Israel? Consider me and my new life in Christ as an illustration of what will happen eventually to Israel.”
God continues in His promise to Israel, just like He continues in His promises to us!
Rom 11:2-3 (CSB)—God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel?
Now he uses Elijah as an example. You can read about Elijah in 1 Kings 18 and 19. You may remember the story: Israel had turned to worshipping the god Baal. So, Elijah confronted King Ahab and told him to assemble all of Israel and 450 prophets of Baal and he says, “I’ll show you who the one true God is.” Elijah says build two altars, one for your god Baal and one for the only true God of Israel. Whichever god sends down fire to burn up the altar and the offering on it is the true God of Israel. Of course, despite their pleading with Baal, nothing happens, but when Elijah pleads with God, He answers in a spectacular way.
Despite his victory, Elijah is discouraged that Israel has turned away from God and pleads with God against Israel, but despite their disobedience and Elijah’s pleading, God reserves a remnant who refuse to bow their knee to Baal.
Even in their disobedience, God still honors His promises to Israel and preserves a remnant devoted to Him. Paul now says, that is true even today. There is a remnant who believe Jesus is the promised Messiah and who are saved by grace. Even in 2025 that is true. There are many Jews who have turned to Christ.
You’re going to meet one of them in April when they come and lead a Sader meal for us on the Wednesday before Easter.
Through this remnant, God will honor His covenant with Israel and Israel will be saved. Will they be saved by obeying the law? No, they are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, just like us.
Rom 11:5-6 (CSB)—In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace. Now if by grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace.
Only by the unmerited favor of God can we experience His blessings. It’s not by what we do, we cannot earn God’s favor. It is by His mercy and by His grace alone.
Paul then points out that many in Israel have stumbled and hardened their hearts toward God. But have they stumbled in such a way that their fall is permanent? Have they been shoved down never to stand up? Has their ritualism snared them, caught up in their traditions and ceremonies in a way that will never allow them to stand as a nation?
Rom 11:11-12 (CSB)—I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring!
Again, Paul says, “Absolutely not!”
God is using their disobedience to bless the rest of the world. I mentioned this last week, but this is a fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham, that out of Abraham He would bless all of the nations of the earth. That covenant promise is being fulfilled today. God is reaching and saving people all over the earth. When the Jews rejected the Gospel message, it came to the non-Jewish people, the Gentiles.
If you participated in Gather 25 this weekend, you heard stories about revival happening everywhere. We often pray for revival, well, revival is happening. Frequently we hear that church attendance in the US has been declining. That is true of the big denominations but not true of the church overall in the US and most definitely not true of the church worldwide.
You know who is driving this growth? Gen Z. There are 10’s of thousands of students coming to Christ and being baptized. It’s not like anything I have ever seen in my lifetime. And this is happening all over the world. Not just the western world but Asia, Oceania, Eastern Europe, literally everywhere! 10’s of thousands of people are responding to the message of the gospel.
There is one organization called UNITE. This is a student-organized, student-led event that has happened on over 400 university campuses. This past year over 85,000 students came to a UNITE event. 9,000 students put their faith in Jesus and over 3,000 of those students were baptized that night at that event. UNITE started with three people on the campus of Auburn University praying that God would reach their friends on that campus. This is the very tip of the iceberg.
This is exactly what Paul is talking about here in Romans 11. We are experiencing the fulfillment of God’s promises in our generation. You and I are a part of what God is doing. All of this orchestrated by God.
Israel rejected the gospel message and so it came to the Gentiles, the non-Jews, and as the message spreads across the world, the evidence of our salvation and the blessing of God becomes a point of jealousy to the Jews so that many are drawn back to Him.
Rom 11:25 (CSB)—I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
There is a time limit. God has a plan to bring Israel back to himself, to right every wrong and restore His plan for His earthly family. Paul says it will happen when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
What is the fullness of the Gentiles? It’s when the full number of Gentiles are saved. In other words, there is a Gentile somewhere on the earth who is the last one to be saved. When that person acknowledges Jesus Christ as Savior, the fullness of the Gentiles will be complete, and at that moment, the church will be raptured. So if you haven’t given your life to Jesus, do it. You could do us all a great favor because you might be the last one!
The Lord will wait until all one hundred are in the flock. He’ll leave the ninety-nine and search out the one, and when that last one is brought into the fold, the fullness of the Gentiles concludes and up we go to meet the Lord.
Rom 11:28-29 (CSB)—Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs, since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.
Why will God gather Israel? Because His calling is sure. He didn’t change His mind about Israel. Nor does He change His mind about you. Even if we are faithless, He remains faithful because that is who He is.
God continues to be faithful to Israel and to us. Whatever you are experiencing in your life, know that God’s promises are true. He doesn’t fulfill some and forget others. He doesn’t fulfill His promises in your life because of what you do or don’t do. He fulfills them because of His grace and His mercy.
As we take communion this morning, let’s take a moment to tell Him thank you for His faithfulness.
If you are facing a hardship, ask Him to open your eyes to His faithfulness and remind you of His goodness.
Rom 11:33-36 (CSB)—Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
*They teach this to make their case that the church will go through the Tribulation.
The Bible describes a time when Jesus will return for the church and He will remove His bride, or His followers, from the earth. That event is called the Rapture.
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (CSB)—We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Corinthians 15:50–54 (CSB)—What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. 53 For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. 54 When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:
Death has been swallowed up in victory.,
55 Where, death, is your victory?
Where, death, is your sting?
Also, Revelation 5-16 describes how God will judge the earth before He creates a new Heaven and Earth for His bride. This judgement is called the Tribulation Period. There is some disagreement, however, on when the Rapture will occur and when Jesus will return for the Church. Will it be before the Tribulation, in the middle of it, or at the end of the Tribulation?
The end or post-Tribulation viewpoint says that God is done with Israel and the church is now synonymous with Israel. They say this to explain the fact that, although 144,000 Jews are seen during the Tribulation period, the church is never mentioned. Thus, those who believe a post-Tribulation viewpoint, always teach that God is done with Israel.
Chris Hankel 
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