A QUESTION OF IDENTITY
In a pointed exchange between Senator Ted Cruz and media personality Tucker Carlson, a seemingly simple question lit the fuse of a heated debate: “What is Israel?” Appealing to Genesis 12:3—though without being able to cite the reference—Cruz argued that Christians are biblically bound to support the modern state of Israel. Carlson’s probing question revealed a theological fog that shrouds much contemporary Christian discourse: the false equivalence of biblical Israel with the modern political state. This confusion stems from a deeper theological question: Who are God’s people, and what is the nature of God’s relationship with them? The answer has profound implications, not only for understanding current events in the Middle East, but also for grasping God’s redemptive plan in history. Paul’s letter to the Romans, particularly in chapters 9–11, provides a robust framework for addressing this question. Written to a church divided between Jewish and Gentile Christians, Paul’s letter shows that God’s people are not defined by bloodlines or boundary stones, but by union with Christ through a Spirit-wrought faith. Although the whole counsel of God speaks to this issue, this article will appeal specifically to Romans 11 to show that Israel finds its climactic expression in the church, which is composed of Jews and Gentiles alike. This vision exalts the breadth of God’s mercy and exposes the theological pitfalls of both Replacement Theology and Dispensationalism. As we carefully consider Romans 11, we will see that the church is not God’s “Plan B,” but the flowering of the spiritual seed sown long ago in covenant soil. Indeed, in the church Israel is not forgotten but fulfilled.
A CHURCH DIVIDED
T o understand Romans 11, we must first grasp the. historical context behind Paul’s letter. Paul wrote to a Roman church shaped by imperial edicts and ethnic intrigue. In 49 AD, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, including Jewish Christians, due to disputes over “a certain Chrestus,” likely a reference to Christ (Acts 18:2; Suetonius, Claudius 25.4). This expulsion created a leadership vacuum in the Roman church, which was initially founded by Jewish Christians. Due to necessity, Gentile Christians filled these roles, enabling the fledgling church in Rome to continue growing. But when Claudius died in 54 AD, Jews were allowed to return to the eternal city, causing tensions to arise within the church. Jewish Christians, as descendants of Abraham and recipients of the Law, sought to reclaim their leadership roles (Rom. 2:17–24), while Gentile Christians, who had sustained the church in their absence, questioned their authority (Rom. 11:17–18). This conflict prompted Paul to address a critical question: Who are God’s true people—indeed, his chosen people?
Paul’s answer, which is developed throughout Romans, is that God’s people are not defined by ethnicity but by God’s sovereign and unconditional election, manifested through faith in Jesus, the promised Messiah. In Romans 2:28–29, he writes, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly… But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit.” Similarly, in Romans 4:11–12, Paul identifies Abraham as the father of all who believe, whether circumcised or not. In Romans 9:6–8, the Apostle clarifies, “Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel… It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise.” Then, in Romans 10:12–13, Paul concludes, “There is no distinction between Jew and Greek … for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 11 builds on this foundation, showing how God’s covenant promises to Israel are fulfilled in Christ’s body—the church—with implications for both Jews and Gentiles. In other words, salvation is not a matter of ethnicity or merit, but of election and mercy. This is the historical and theological context that undergirds Paul’s arguments in Romans 11.
THE CHOSEN REMNANT
Many assume that all ethnic Jews today are automatically biblical Israel, inheriting God’s promises due to their ancestry, regardless of faith. This view often extends to equating biblical Israel with the modern Jewish state, as seen in Christian Zionist claims that ethnic Jews or the Jewish state fulfill God’s covenant. Now, if, as Paul argues, God’s people are not definedby ethnicity, but by being united to Jesus (the Jewish Messiah)by faith—or, put another way, if no one is justified simplyby being Jewish, but is only justified through the imputedrighteousness of Christ—then the natural question that arises isthis: “Has God rejected his people?” In Romans 11:1–10, Pauladdresses this pressing question. And, his emphatic answer is, “By no means!” For starters, Paul, an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin, serves as living proof that God has not abandoned ethnic Israel. He points to the Old Testament example of Elijah, who despaired that he alone remained faithful (1 Kgs. 19:10). God’s response to Elijah’s lament was, “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (Rom. 11:4). Paul applies this to his day, stating, “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace” (Rom. 11:5). Now, to be clear, this remnant was elected from among ethnic Israel by God’s grace, and not by their own works. Paul appeals to the example of Elijah to demonstrate that ethnicity alone has never defined biblical Israel. By citing 1 Kings 19, Paul shows that in the days of the prophet, the majority of ethnic Jews were no longer part of true Israel, for only a remnant had been graciously preserved by God. Furthermore, through this example, Paul underscores the fact that the exclusion of most ethnic Jews in no way undermines God’s faithfulness to his covenant promises, but rather establishes it. God preserved a remnant of people and enabled them to remain faithful to his promise, instead of permitting them to bend their knees before the idols that surrounded them. Today, this faithful remnant includes both Jews and Gentiles who trust in Christ, the true seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). Thus, the current composition of the church demonstrates that, just as in the days of Elijah, ethnicity does not confer covenant status; faith does.
It is important to underscore the fact that ethnic Jews who believe in Jesus, the promised Messiah—alongside believing Gentiles—continue to be part of God’s covenant people. Therefore, this understanding of Romans 11 militates against so- called “Replacement Theology,” which wrongly claims that the church has entirely supplanted ethnic Israel, dismissing any role for Jews. In Romans 11:1–10, Paul’s teaching clearly counters this notion by affirming that God’s covenant people includes a remnant of believing Jews (Rom. 11:5), showing continuity with God’s promises to Israel through faith, not replacement.
The Westminster Confession of Faith affirms this continuity, stating that God’s covenant of grace, first revealed to Adam and progressively clarified through Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, finds its fulfillment in Christ (WCF 7.3). Commenting on Romans 11:5, John Calvin notes that “The election of a remnant shows that God’s mercy is not bound to any nation but is freely bestowed according to His sovereign will.” This remnant is not defined by ethnicity but by faith, echoing Genesis 12:3, where God promised Abraham that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The true Israel, therefore, as Geerhardus Vos argues, is “the spiritual seed of Abraham,” encompassing both Jews and Gentiles who believe (Vos, The Pauline Eschatology, 88). While the remnant is preserved by grace, Paul explains that “the rest were hardened” (Rom. 11:7), citing Old Testament texts such as Deuteronomy 29:4 and Psalm 69:22–23 to show that this hardening was foretold. God’s judgment on unbelieving Israel—described as a “spirit of stupor” and eyes that cannot see—underscores the seriousness of rejecting his Messiah. Yet, we must not misunderstand this hardening from God as the cause for their unbelief, but rather as his judgment for it; after all, Scripture is clear that God is not the author of sin (James 1:13–14). So, instead of God causing sin through his hardening of their hearts, this is better understood as God sovereignly withdrawing his restraint, allowing unbelievers to pursue their sinful desires. To better understand this concept, imagine a cement truck on its way to a construction site. The constant spinning of the drum keeps the concrete from hardening prematurely. If the drum stops spinning, even for a short time, the concrete begins to separate and harden, until it eventually becomes solid and unusable. Just as the concrete hardens when the drum stops spinning, so do the hearts of people harden when God stops stirring their affections. This is what happened to Israel when they stopped responding to God’s word. God, in his sovereignty, hardened their hearts as a judgment on their unbelief. As Herman Bavinck writes, “God’s hardening is a judicial act, leaving sinners to their own devices, yet always within the bounds of His sovereign purpose” (Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 3:231).
So, then, divine hardening is not the injection of rebellion, but the withdrawal of restraint. God gives rebels what they demand: the consequences of autonomy. This sobering truth should drive Christians to humility, not hubris. Our inclusion in God’s family is not due to our merit but to his mercy. As Paul warns, we must not revel in our status, but should instead rest in God’s faithfulness (Rom. 11:6). Moreover, we should pray for those who have strayed, trusting God’s power to restore and preserve his people, even in times of spiritual decline.
EVANGELISM BY JEALOUSY
In Romans 11:11, Paul asks, “Did they stumble in order that they might fall?” Israel’s rejection of Christ led to salvation for the Gentiles, fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him (Gen. 12:3). Paul writes, “Through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous” (Rom. 11:11). This “jealousy” is a holy provocation, where the Gentiles’ inclusion in God’s covenant stirs Israel to reconsider their Messiah. Paul, as the apostle to the Gentiles, magnifies his ministry to provoke this jealousy, hoping to save some of his fellow Jews (Rom. 11:13–14).
At this point, it is good for us to consider the power of God and the love of God. Through Israel’s sin of rebellion, the mercy and grace of God for salvation will be extended to all the families of the earth. And, through the fruitful evangelism of the Gentiles, the hearts of Jews will be stirred and provoked to return to the God of their forefathers. This gracious dynamic reflects God’s sovereign power over human failure. As Joseph declared to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” In the same way, Israel’s rejection, though tragic, became the occasion for the gospel to reach the nations. And, the Gentiles’ receiving of the gospel will in turn become the occasion for the repentance and return of the Jews to God.
When Gentile Christians display the joy of their salvation, it can stir Jews—and anyone else, for that matter—to jealousy, leading them to Christ. Paul’s strategy of “evangelism by jealousy” offers a practical application for the church today. By living our lives as part of a vibrant, Christ-centered community, the church will provoke others to desire the hope displayed before them, the hope that is only found in Christ. Therefore, God’s power is demonstrated in this: Even when Jews turned their backs on God, God worked his love into others, that they might one day provoke the return of Jews to God.
But this is not only a demonstration of God’s power. Christian hospitality—lived out by welcoming others into worship, and by inviting them to be a part of our fellowship—also displays God’s love to unbelievers in a tangible way, regardless of their ethnicity. This aligns with 2 Samuel 7:23–24, where God’s people are called to be a light to the nations, a role now fulfilled by the church (Matt. 5:14–16). For modern believers, this underscores the importance of prioritizing faithful worship, vibrant fellowship, and warm hospitality, for these avenues of ministry create spaces where unbelievers can “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8). Such practices not only strengthen the church but also serve as a powerful evangelistic tool, lovingly inviting both Jews and Gentiles to join and grow God’s family.
So great is God’s power and love that it turned ethnic Israel’s rejection of him into his affectionate embrace of the Gentiles; and it transformed the Gentiles’ spiritual blindness into the marvelous light that will guide the Jews back into the loving arms of their Good Shepherd. Hence, this global movement of the gospel is neither the result of God’s rejection of Israel (Replacement Theology) nor of his alternate plan to save the nations (Dispensationalism) but is rooted in God’s foundational promise to Abraham. This underscores the church’s role as the fulfillment of Israel’s purpose, not as its replacement. The only thing replaced by the church in this unfolding of redemptive history is the stubbornness of the Jews and the corruption of the Gentiles, substituting in their place the faithfulness and righteousness of Christ, who sanctifies everyone into one family through his atoning sacrifice.
Therefore, instead of driving a geographic, political, or theological wedge between ethnic Jews and Gentiles, Christians should know that in Christ’s flesh, the dividing wall of hostility has been torn down (Eph. 2:14). In other words, there is no ethnically based hierarchy in God’s plan of redemption, for Christ is our peace. In fact, the only blood that matters in the household of God is the blood that redeems Jew and Gentile alike, the blood that kills hostility among men, the blood of the one Savior sent by God to redeem and unite all his people in the church.
THE OLIVE TREE
In Romans 11:17–24, Paul uses the metaphor of an olive tree to describe God’s people. Even though Paul does not spell it out for us, in this metaphor of the olive tree, which represents the totality of God’s people, the root is the patriarchs of the faith. This is why in Romans 4:16, Paul calls Abraham “the father” of everyone who shares in his faith. Abraham is the father, and everyone with faith is Abraham’s offspring. As Paul describes it, some “natural branches” were not nourished by the faith present in the roots, so they were broken off. These “natural branches” represent unbelieving Jews.
Paul mentions another set of branches made up of “wild olive shoots” that were grafted into the tree. These ingrafted branches represent Gentiles, whom God himself takes and graciously grafts into the olive Tree that he planted. Paul writes that these branches are alive because they are nourished by the same faith that flowed through Abraham. Therefore, the same saving faith runs through the roots that have always nourished the people of God, the roots that enable God’s people to bear fruit for God’s kingdom. Only the branches that are nourished by faith belong to this tree.
This image has sparked much discussion, as it inverts standard horticultural practice. Typically, to make olive trees productive, a good branch from a cultivated tree is grafted into a wild, unproductive stock. Paul, however, describes the opposite: wild olive branches (Gentiles) grafted into a cultivated tree (God’s covenant people). Some scholars have ridiculed Paul, suggesting his urban background led to a horticultural blunder. However, far from being a mistake, Paul’s metaphor is purposeful and profound. Grafting wild branches into a cultivated tree can revitalize a deteriorating olive tree. Through this metaphor, therefore, Paul might be suggesting that God’s inclusion of Gentiles in his tree is meant to reinvigorate God’s people, after Jewish complacency had stalled the advancement of his kingdom. However, there is a more likely alternative. Through his reversal of horticultural procedure, Paul’s intention might have been to underscore God’s radical grace in salvation. God does not take “good branches” (e.g., Law-keeping Pharisees) and graft them into inferior cultures; but, rather, God takes weak, wild, unworthy, and uncultivated shoots (Gentiles) and grafts them into his precious, life-giving tree. Gentiles, who were dead in sin, are regenerated by being united to God’s covenant through faith, not merit. This displays God’s marvelous mercy in bestowing his riches on those who are worthy only of scorn and reproach. Hence, Paul warns Gentiles not to be arrogant: “It is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you” (Rom. 11:18), he writes. God is pleased to lavish his saving grace upon sinners, precisely because it is sinners he came to save (Luke 5:32). As Calvin notes, this metaphor underscores the unity of God’s people, rooted in his covenant promises (Calvin, Commentary on Romans, 11:17).
The church, as the fulfillment of Israel, is not a new and disjointed entity, but the continuation of God’s covenant people, now expanded to include all nations. This is why, in Romans 11:23, Paul also holds out hope for ethnic Israel, stating that if the Jews “do not continue in their unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.” This reflects God’s ongoing commitment to ethnic Jews, not as a political state, nor as a separate people of God, but as the initial recipients of the promise of salvation through the Messiah, a promise that is for “everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself” (Acts 2:39). Therefore, Christians must understand that Jewishness does not save anyone, any more than any denominational label does. But in Christ, God saves sinners—Jew and Gentile alike— and that is glorious news, indeed! God takes those who are dead in sin and grafts them into the most vital Tree of all.
In Isaiah 11:1–10, the prophet presents the Messiah as the root of Jesse, as the shoot, and as the branch. He is the root, for as Jesus proclaims in John 8:58, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Abraham and all God’s people are nourished by him. He is the shoot, because he sprang forth from the grave when all hope seemed lost. And Jesus is the branch, because he was cut off on the cross so that we might be grafted in.
The one true hope for sinners is the one Tree raised on Calvary nearly 2,000 years ago, the one upon which our Savior was fastened by hammer and nails, thus bearing the sins of his people. We should all ask whether we ourselves are bound to that glorious Tree by faith, or if our unbelief is causing us to foolishly seek shade elsewhere? We must find life in the only Tree that gives it: Christ, the Tree of Life. The good news is that there is yet room for more Jew and Gentile branches to be grafted into this one Tree, which unites and gives life everlasting.
MERCY FOR ALL
So, “Who are God’s people, and what is the nature of God’s relationship with them?” Romans 11 has taught us that to be part of God’s household, one needs to be united to Christ by faith. To be disconnected from Christ—the Jewish Messiah—is to have no part in God’s Tree of Life. Regarding the ethnicity of God’s people, we have also learned that they are made up of both Jews and Gentiles who are united to Christ by faith—the same faith in God’s promise that Abraham and the Jewish patriarchs enjoyed. Therefore, a Jewish Christian is no more a child of God than a Gentile Christian is; nor does a Gentile Christian enjoy preferred status over the Jewish Christian. Just as sin equally disqualifies Jew and Gentile alike, so does union with Christ by faith equally save and dignify them, because every branch is joined to the same Tree, and nourished by the same faith that the Tree supplies. Again, when it comes to status as children of God, ethnicity plays no role at all!
So, is it even appropriate for Christians to make any kind of distinction whatsoever between Israel and the church? Although it is clear that the church is the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people, and that those covenant blessings promised to Israel had nothing to do with a political state, Paul does teach in Romans 11 that God is not yet done with ethnic Israel. In verses 25–32, Paul unveils the “mystery” of God’s plan, stating that “a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,” so that, in the end, “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25–26). The Greek word translated here as “partial” can refer to “a share” or “a portion,” as it is rendered here. Or, it can mean “for a while,” as Paul employs it in 2 Corinthians 1:14, where he informs his audience that he plans to go to Spain after he has enjoyed their company “for a while.” I believe that both the spatial and temporary aspects of the partial hardening of Israel are in view. In these verses, Paul is indicating that, momentarily, the church will grow mostly among Gentiles—though always including a remnant of Jews—until a certain time when “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
Romans 11:25–26, therefore, should cause Jewish and Gentile Christians to have a greater appreciation for the scope of God’s saving work. Far too often, we have a stunted understanding of the make-up of the people of God. We believe that God is only at work in our little denominations. Or, we focus exclusively on the church in America, without thinking about, or praying for, the church around the world. But consider that when Paul wrote Romans, he was convinced that the gospel of Jesus would reach even the most remote parts of the earth. Humanly speaking, that would not have been a good bet to take. Not only were those who believed in Jesus as the Messiah expelled from the Jewish synagogues, but they were also persecuted by the most powerful empire in antiquity: Rome. Christians had every reason to fail and be forgotten. Yet now, the church of Jesus Christ is a global church, or, as we confess in the Nicene Creed, a “catholic,” or universal church. For almost 2,000 years, the gospel has been going out to all the nations, so that now, people from every nation, tribe, and tongue confess Jesus as their Lord and Savior! Remarkably, while other religions have grown by the use of the sword and the spilling of blood, Christianity has grown only through the sword of God’s word, and only through the blood spilled by Christ on the cross.
Over the years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit Israel on many occasions. It is amazing to see that people from many countries and ethnicities—representing many different religious groups—visit Jerusalem every year. But one of the things I tell the people that I lead on those trips is that if they see any group that is multiethnic, that group is almost certainly a Christian group, which is a fulfillment of Paul’s expanded vision of the church. Our plans and expectations for the church might be small, but God’s plans span the whole globe and include all peoples across all ages.
To be sure, as Christians we serve an awesome God and are part of an amazing movement that is bringing God’s glorious salvation to every corner of the earth. Romans 11, therefore, shows that far from shutting the door on ethnic Israel, the growth of the church is a powerful demonstration of God’s commitment to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham’s seed (Gen. 12:3). That is to say, God’s covenant with Abraham is the very covenant that has secured the salvation of Gentiles, and a fulfillment of the promise that God made to the patriarch of Israel. This is important to understand because some people believe that Christians have one way of salvation and that Jews have another way. Some Protestants believe this, as do some Roman Catholics.
For example, when the Jewish host of The Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro, interviewed Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Barron, Shapiro asked him if he, as a Jew, was condemned to hell, according to Roman Catholic teaching. Bishop Barron answered that though Jesus is “the privileged route” of salvation, individuals who do not explicitly trust in Jesus—such as unbelieving Jews or members of other faiths—may still achieve salvation if they follow their conscience and seek truth and goodness to the best of their ability. Barron explained that this is because Christ’s grace operates universally, even beyond explicit Christian belief.
Paul’s teaching in this letter contradicts the bishop’s statement, agreeing instead with what Jesus says in John 14:6, where he declares: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is not merely the privileged route; he is the only route. This is a mystery, to be sure, but also a marvelous grace. The privileged route of salvation has its starting point in Zion, it is paved with the blood shed by Christ, and it ends in the hearts of his people. This route is privileged because it is gracious. It is the only way of salvation. It is the same way of salvation that delivered Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is the way of salvation that has delivered every believer since—whether Jew or Gentile. And, according to Paul, it is the way of salvation that will deliver many more Jews in the future.
In fact, in Romans 11:26, we read that God’s privileged route is the way that “all Israel will be saved.” Now, it is important for us not to be confused by this phrase. Paul is not here stating that every Jew in history will be saved. We know this because, as we have already seen, Paul does not teach that any ethnicity saves— not even the Jewish one. Instead, Paul continually teaches that one is saved by faith, “for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek,” since “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:12–13). So, when Paul writes that “all Israel will be saved,” he must mean that a time is coming when “all Israel will call on the name of the Lord.”
A possible meaning for this, which was held by theologians such as Augustine, is that “all Israel” refers to all believers across time (both Jewish and Gentile). We know that, in this sense, “all Israel” will indeed “be saved.” However, in Romans 9–11, Paul is concerned with the fate of ethnic Israel, particularly in showing that God has not forgotten his promise to Abraham, nor has it failed. So, given this context, it is likely that “all Israel” does not refer to “all the elect,” but to ethnic Israel in particular.
In this context, Paul cannot mean that every single Jew will be saved, for two reasons: first, because he has already taught that ethnicity does not save; and second, because in Romans 11:14, Paul writes that he hopes his ministry to Gentiles makes his fellow Jews jealous, “in order that some of them might be saved” (italics added). So, what does Paul mean when he writes that “all Israel will be saved?” I believe that the best explanation for this phrase is that after the fullness of the Gentiles comes into the family of God by faith, many Jews will quickly come to faith, so that “all Israel”—finally including every Jew who had been predestined from the beginning—will believe and “be saved.”
Throughout history, many have tried to exterminate the Jewish people. But all these wicked attempts have failed because God made a promise that one day many Jews would call on the name of the Lord, the Jewish Messiah, the Deliverer from Zion who would banish iniquity from Jacob, and be saved (Isa. 59:20–21; Rom. 11:26). Therefore, in that moment, at the end of time, the fullness of the Gentiles will have come into the church, and the fullness of ethnic Israel will have come in as well. On thatday, God’s glory will be revealed through the salvation of his people through the life, death, and resurrection of his promised Messiah. As Bavinck notes, “The church is the true Israel, not by replacing it, but by being the organic continuation of God’s covenant people” (Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 4:667)—a people that will triumph over every scheme of man, indeed even over the very gates of hell (Matt. 16:18). Because God is faithful to his promises, when ethnic Israel rejected the gospel, God sent Paul to the Gentiles so that they might be saved. Thus, Paul writes in Romans 11:28 that for the sake of the gospel’s advancement, Jewish enmity with God has resulted in salvation for the nations. Is it not comforting to know that nothing is wasted in God’s Kingdom? Is it not comforting to know that, as the Prophet writes in Isaiah 55, God’s word never returns to him empty, but accomplishes all which he purposes? Is it not comforting to know that, as Joseph says in Genesis 50, what we mean for evil, God means for good? As an impressive displayof his compassion and his power to save, God uses the Jewish rejection of Jesus to cause the gospel to spread, saving countless Gentiles.
And yet, Paul writes in Romans 11:29 that despite Israel’s disobedience, they remain “beloved for the sake of their forefathers” because “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:28–29). By “calling,” Paul is referring to what theologians name “effectual calling,” that is to say, God’s irresistible call to his people to repent and believe—to turn away from sin and embrace righteousness, to escape death and live forever. It is Jesus who stood before the corpse of Lazarus and commanded him to “Come forth!” It is the call that turns hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. It is eternal life knocking at the door, and salvation entering your house. After all, that’s what Jesus’s name means, “God Saves,” which is why, when he entered Zacchaeus’s house (Luke 19), Jesus said, “Today salvation hasentered your house,” and Zacchaeus rejoiced. Like Zacchaeus, no one is worthy of salvation, which is why salvation must be an act of God’s mercy.
Hence, in Romans 11:30–31, we learn that God’s mercy works in an astonishing way! As Gentiles are brought into the people of God—as salvation enters the house of the unworthy and corrupt—this provokes Israel to jealousy, leading them also to repentance and faith. God’s overarching plan ensures that all his people—both Jew and Gentile—will ultimately experience his mercy through the saving work of the Messiah. This is not an accident or a mistake. It is not God’s Plan B. God chooses to save sinners, and his gifts and calling are irrevocable. The word translated as “irrevocable” literally means “without regret.” In other words, if one belongs to God, if one gives oneself over to Christ, one can be sure that God will never regret that person’s adoption into his family. That person may be discouraged in his faith or be disappointed at his lack of spiritual discipline, and may even experience the painful consequences that sin inflicts. But that person can be sure of this: God does not regret calling him his child. God loves everyone united to his beloved Son, for his calling and gifts are irrevocable.
In Romans 11:32, Paul writes that “God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.” Paul uses the image of imprisonment to illustrate the glory of God’s mercy. Consigning everyone to disobedience is another way of saying that God binds everyone’s will to sin. In other words, Sin becomes their jailer, and Death their impregnable prison. On their own, they cannot escape such incarceration. But God does not leave his people there. Instead, he uses their inability to save themselves as the occasion to display his abundant grace and mercy. God has confined all people under disobedience for a redemptive purpose: to have mercy on all whom he saves. In God’s economy of salvation, no ethnicity is excluded: God’s mercy extends equally to Jews and Gentiles—indeed, to everyone who calls on the name of the Lord (Acts 2:21). So, whether one is Jewish or Gentile, this is the good news: through Jesus—the Jewish Messiah—God’s rich mercy is for all, delivering everyone who shares in the faith of Abraham from bondage to sin and death. No one is able to comprehend the fullness of this mystery, but everyone in Christ, regardless of ethnicity, can apprehend the mercy that he freely offers. As Corrie ten Boom famously stated, “there is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still” (ten Boom, Sherrill, and Sherrill, The Hiding Place, 8). God’s commitment to save his own is irrevocable. No one who turns to him will ever regret it, and neither will he.
POLEMICAL CLARITY
This interpretation of Romans 11 stands in contrast to twoprevalent views: Dispensationalism and Christian Zionism.Dispensationalism posits two distinct peoples of God—Israeland the church—with separate destinies for each. This view,however, contradicts Paul’s teaching that there is one olive Tree,rooted in the same covenant promises, uniting Jew and Gentilein Christ. As Vos argues, “The distinction between Jew andGentile is eschatologically irrelevant in the new covenant” (Vos,The Pauline Eschatology, 90). Christian Zionism, as reflected in Senator Ted Cruz’s appeal to Genesis 12:3, often equates biblical Israel with the modern state, suggesting Christians must support its political agenda. Now, there might be some very good political reasons to support the Jewish state. However, these have nothing to do with God’s promises. Instead, Romans 11 teaches that God’s promises are fulfilled spiritually in Christ, not politically in a nation-state. While Christians should oppose anti-Semitism and pray for the Jewish people, equating biblical Israel with a modern state risks misreading Scripture through a political lens. The church’s mission is to proclaim Christ, not to promote any government.
A HEART FOR ALL NATIONS
Romans 11 calls the church to a global mission, proclaimingthe gospel to all nations, including the Jewish people. Paul’slonging to see his fellow Jews saved (Rom. 11:14) models a heart for Jewish evangelism. By living as a vibrant, hospitable community, the church can provoke a “holy jealousy” (Rom. 11:11), drawing both Jews and Gentiles to Christ. This mission aligns with God’s promise in Isaiah 49:6 to make his people a light to the nations, a role now fulfilled by the church. Practically, this means prioritizing worship, fellowship, and hospitality, for these activities provide avenues to invite others to experience his love. As is true of any culture, evangelizing Jews requires sensitivity to their heritage while boldly proclaiming Christ as the only way of salvation (John 14:6). As Calvin writes, “The salvation of the Jews is not to be despaired of, for God is able to graft them in again” (Calvin, Commentary on Romans, 11:23).
THE CHURCH AS THE FULFILLMENT OF ISRAEL
Romans 11 reveals that God’s people are not defined by genetics, but by grace. It is not the blood of Abraham that makes one righteous before God, but the blood of Jesus, the promised Messiah. In a very real sense, Christ is both the offspring of Abraham and the true Israel of God. The church, as the spiritual seed of Abraham, fulfills God’s covenant promises, uniting Jew and Gentile in one body: the body of Christ. This understanding avoids the errors of Replacement Theology, which dismisses ethnic Israel’s role in redemptive history, and Dispensationalism, which divides God’s people along two separate paths of redemption. The former denies the continuity of God’s promises, and the latter denies the necessity of Christ’s blood. Instead, Romans 11 affirms Fulfillment Theology, which sets forth Christ as the culmination of God’s promises, and the church as the organic continuation of God’s people.
The Carlson-Cruz exchange laid bare a critical question: What is Israel, and how should Christians relate to it? Romans 11 provides a clear answer: biblical Israel is neither contemporary ethnic Jews nor the modern Jewish state, but the church—Jews and Gentiles united by faith in Christ, the true Israel. God’s people are not defined by genetics, geography, or geo-politics, but by God’s grace, which grafts Jewish and Gentile believers into the olive tree rooted in God’s covenant with Abraham and fulfilled in the cross of Christ. This truth dismantles the false equivalences that confuse ethnicity with election, and political entities with God’s people. Far from rejecting Israel, God has expanded and completed it in and through Christ, who tore down forever the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:14). The church, as the fulfillment of Israel’s purpose, is called to proclaim this gospel to all nations, inviting Jews and Gentiles to be grafted into the Tree of Life.
The True State of Israel was original published in Point of Contact in July 2025 by Westminster Theological Seminary. You can subscribe to Point of Contact here: https://wm.wts.edu/point-of-contact