Hi Shalom,
I would like to discuss the Word and what it means without the name calling and accusations but it seems some can't help but to repond that way. There are some erronious beliefs here but it seems like hitting a brick wall to address them. Maybe you have something to add that would help, let's try. I think that any scripture must be interpreted and be in agreement with other scripture that relates to it. We can't have one passage hanging out by itself and given meaning aside from "the rest of the story." As A.W. Tozer says in his essay which I have posted here "Truth Has Two Wings" we must use the whole word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to find the meaning in the word.
Some have said here that Romans 11:26 "and thus all Israel will be saved" means that every Jew will be in heaven, none will perish apart from God. The word does not support that interpretation and here is why.
Jesus said to Nicodemus(a Jew) in John 3:3, "You must be born again." This is and has always been the requirement for salvation since calvary. Their is no other way.
If all Israel is to be saved then all Jews must be born again. Paul clearly established before verse 26 the principle of belief and unbelief being the deciding factor. In Romans 11:23
"And they (Jews) also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted
in; for God is able to graft them in again." Paul says the door is not closed to any
Jews who accept Jesus, of course they are grafted back in. But Paul qualifies it with, "if
they do not continue in their unbelief". They still must believe and accept the New
Covenant salvation provided by God through Jesus His Son. In verse 20 it says,
"Quite right, they (Jews) were broken off for their unbelief, and you (gentiles)
stand only by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; 21 for if God did not
spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you."
So Jews were broken off
for unbelief, but not all because the Christian church started in Israel, the first believers were
Jews who believed. They were not cut off. So in these preceding passages to verse 26
Paul spells out the principle that faith and unbelief are still the deciding factor, I can't
see then he would completely depart from those principles in verse 26 with a blanket
amnesty outside of being born again.
Could all Israel turn to Jesus to the last man, woman, child after they realize they have
been decieved by the anti-christ and signed a covenant with him? That is what will have
to happen for all Israel to be saved. But I don't think that is Paul's meaning here.
Bob |
