Romans 9-11 teaches that all who reject Jesus become God’s enemies and the Jewish people are no different. They have rejected the Messiah, God the Son; therefore, they have rejected God himself. Like the rest of humanity without Christ, they are dead in their sins and enemies of God.

If God is your enemy, who can you turn to for help?

You can only turn to God and God has made a way by sending a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Without Christ, God is your enemy.

Romans 11:25-26 is a controversial passage:

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved… (Romans 11:25-26)

All Israel 

The “mystery” is that now all kinds of people can be part of the one people of God by trusting in Jesus.

“a partial hardening has come upon Israel”: A part or even a greater part of Israel did not accept the Messiah; they were and are hardened.

“until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”: a part of Israel will keep rejecting Jesus until the all those Gentiles that God has called before the creation of the world have been saved.

“And in this way all Israel will be saved”: “All Israel” means the true Israel within Israel (the full remnant) will be saved cf. Romans 9:6

How will “all Israel” or the remnant be saved? By the proclamation of the gospel, the same way anyone else is saved:

…as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,

    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;

 “and this will be my covenant with them

    when I take away their sins.”(Romans 11:26-27)

From Jerusalem 

This quote from the Old Testament book of Isaiah is very interesting because Isaiah originally said the Deliverer will come “to” Zion or Jerusalem; but the Apostle Paul changed the word and says that the Deliverer will come “from” Zion.  The Apostle Paul changed the word in keeping with the intention of Isaiah.  The deliverer (Jesus) was going to come “to” Jerusalem, but now he has come, so the Deliverer is now going “from” Jerusalem.

How will the full number of Gentiles and the true Israel be saved? By Jesus going out “from” Jerusalem.

But how will Jesus go out from Jerusalem? After all, from Jerusalem, after his resurrection, Jesus ascended back to heaven.  The answer is in the previous chapter:

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (Romans 10: 14)

In the original manuscripts the little word “of” is not there. 

In our Bibles it reads:

And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

What it should say is:

And how are they to believe him whom they have never heard?

Hearing Jesus

What does this mean? It means that Christ’s voice is heard when the gospel is preached.  Remember what Jesus said, “My sheep will listen to my voice.”  How do Jesus’ sheep hear his voice? When they hear the gospel.  I may preach God’s Word on Sunday’s using my voice, but if you belong to Jesus you will hear his voice in the preaching of the gospel.  The same is true when you share the gospel with your unchurched friend. 

Jesus’ voice may be comforting you as a Christian, or it may be calling you to repentance if you are not yet a Christian.

My sheep will listen to my voice.

The full remnant of Jews (all Israel)  will be saved and God will take away their sins, as they hear the voice of Jesus in the preaching of the gospel.