Is It Too Late For Unbelieving Jews?

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Romans 11:11-24

11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

 
 

Remember that chapters 9–11 make up one unified, technically complex section, filled with Old Testament allusions and quotations. As we work through this section, we see that Paul is examining and answering four related questions:

  1. Why did so many of the Jews refuse to accept Jesus as Messiah?

  2. In light of Jewish rejection of Jesus and Gentile acceptance of Jesus, has God replaced the Jews with the Gentiles as His chosen people?

  3. Is there any hope that the Jews who previously rejected Jesus as Messiah might one day turn back and believe?

  4. In light of all of the above, what is God up to?

So, in today’s reading Paul asks, Is it too late for the unbelieving Jews? Has their “stumbling” by missing the Gospel mean that they are going to permanently fall away from salvation?

11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? [Romans 11:11].

Paul gives a two-part answer to the question:

  1. No, it’s not too late for the Jews!

  2. And by the way, the Jewish refusal to accept the Messiah has meant that God has moved to bring in the Gentiles—an amazing act of God; so, along the same lines, if Jewish refusal brings in the Gentiles, can you imagine how great it will be when the Jews finally accept the Messiah?!

11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! [Romans 11:11–12].

Paul’s primary mission has become a mission to the Gentiles, and here Paul talks about that:

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them [Romans 11:13–14].

His point is that he hopes that the success of his ministry to the Gentiles will actually get the Jews’ attention and cause them to reconsider and then believe in Jesus as Messiah. Note that Paul is here talking about saving unbelieving Jews who have previously rejected Jesus. Verse 14 is proof, therefore, that just because someone has rejected Jesus previously does not mean that it is too late for that person. Remember the amazing message of Jeremiah 18 (which Paul has explicitly referenced in Romans 9 but that is in the background of this entire section of chapters 9–11):

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds’ [Jeremiah 18:5–11].

The point of the Jeremiah passage is that God will respond to people according to their willingness or their refusal to repent:

  1. If they repent and turn from disobedience toward obedience, then God will change His plan of destruction to a plan of blessing;

  2. If they turn from obedience toward evil, then God will change His plan of blessing to a plan of destruction.

In 11:14, Paul is specifically referring to the possibility of future salvation for Jews who have previously rejected Christ. In other words, it is never ever too late, and God’s desire is that people turn and repent. From a reading of Romans 9–11 that takes into account the entirety of Paul’s long, technical, and complicated argument, I believe that we cannot come to the conclusion that God has previously decreed—“predestined” that some people will be saved and others will be damned. You may disagree and I respect and expect disagreement, but you better be ready to back up your argument with support from chapters 9–11!

15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches [Romans 11:15–16].

Once again, Paul holds out hope that, if God has used the rejection of the Jews in order to bring in the Gentiles, then shouldn’t we expect something great to happen if and when the Jews finally come to faith?!

Because the synagogues slammed the door in the apostles’ faces, so to speak, the apostles turned to the Gentiles who were open to the message about Jesus. But Paul holds out hope that, because some Jews have believed—he calls these Jewish Christians “the firstfruits” (v.16)—who knows that, in the end, the rest might also believe?

Don’t you ever give up hope for anyone.