The Unsearchable Mercy of God Text: Romans 11:25-36
Introduction: The Great Reversal
We come now to the high point of Paul's magisterial argument in Romans 9 through 11. These three chapters have dealt with one of the thorniest questions in all of theology: what is the relationship between God's sovereign election and His covenant promises to ethnic Israel? Has God cast away His people? Paul has already answered with a resounding "May it never be!" But how does it all fit together? How can God be faithful to His promises to Abraham when the vast majority of Abraham's children, according to the flesh, have rejected the Messiah?
Our modern evangelical landscape is littered with confused and contradictory answers to this question. On one side, you have the dispensationalists, who drive a hard wedge between Israel and the Church, effectively creating two separate peoples of God with two separate plans. On the other side, you have those who are so eager to dismiss dispensational errors that they fall into a kind of simplistic replacement theology, acting as though God is simply finished with ethnic Israel in any meaningful sense. Both positions fail to grapple with the glorious complexity of what Paul reveals here.
Paul is about to unveil what he calls a "mystery." This is not a puzzle to be solved, but a truth previously hidden and now divinely revealed. This mystery concerns the great reversal in God's redemptive plan. He has orchestrated history in such a way that the disobedience of the Jews becomes the occasion for mercy to the Gentiles, and the mercy shown to the Gentiles will, in turn, become the very instrument that brings mercy back to the Jews. It is a breathtaking strategy, one that leaves no room for human pride, whether Gentile or Jewish, and results in all the glory going exactly where it belongs: to God alone. This passage is the death knell for all man-centered theology and all ethnic arrogance. It is a symphony of sovereign mercy, and it climaxes in one of the most glorious doxologies in all of Scripture.
The Text
For I do not want you, brothers, to be uninformed of this mystery, so that you will not be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE REPAID TO HIM? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
(Romans 11:25-36 LSB)
The Revealed Mystery (vv. 25-27)
Paul begins by telling the Roman Christians, who were mostly Gentiles, something crucial they must not miss.
"For I do not want you, brothers, to be uninformed of this mystery, so that you will not be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved..." (Romans 11:25-26a)
The first thing to notice is the purpose of this revelation: "so that you will not be wise in your own estimation." The Gentile believers were in danger of becoming arrogant. They had been grafted into the olive tree of God's covenant people, while many natural branches, the Jews, had been broken off. The temptation was to look down on the broken branches and think, "We are better than them." Paul is taking that arrogant thought and snapping it over his knee. The mercy you received, he says, is not a platform for pride, but a lesson in humility.
The mystery has three parts. First, a "partial hardening has happened to Israel." This is not a total hardening; Paul himself is a Jew, as is the remnant according to grace. But as a nation, as a corporate body, Israel has been judicially hardened in their unbelief. This is God's doing, a judgment for their rejection of the Messiah. Second, this hardening has a time limit: "until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." The "fullness" here means the full number, the complete harvest of elect Gentiles that God has determined to save throughout this age. Israel's rejection of the gospel became the catalyst for the great Gentile mission. Their stumbling meant riches for the world (Rom. 11:12).
Third, after this harvest of the Gentiles is complete, "and so all Israel will be saved." This is the storm center of the debate. What does "all Israel" mean? It cannot mean every single Jew who ever lived. Nor does it mean that the Church has simply replaced Israel, and so "all Israel" just means "the whole Church." Paul has been carefully distinguishing between ethnic Israel and Gentile believers throughout this entire section. The most natural reading is that "all Israel" refers to the corporate body of ethnic Israel. Just as the "partial hardening" happened to corporate Israel, so the salvation will come to corporate Israel. This points to a future, large-scale conversion of the Jewish people to their Messiah, Jesus. This has been the historic Reformed position for centuries, long before dispensationalism came on the scene. It is not a promise of a restored political state with sacrifices, but a promise of mass spiritual regeneration.
Paul then grounds this promise in the Old Testament Scriptures, quoting from Isaiah and Jeremiah.
"...just as it is written, 'THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.' 'AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.'" (Romans 11:26b-27)
The Deliverer is Christ. He has already come from the earthly Zion at His first advent, but this points to the application of His work to His kinsmen according to the flesh. He will turn them from their ungodliness. This is the New Covenant promise: not just external laws, but internal transformation and the forgiveness of sins. God is not finished with the children of Jacob.
The Irrevocable Calling (vv. 28-29)
Paul now explains the paradoxical position of the Jewish people during this present age.
"From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Romans 11:28-29)
This is a stunning statement. Look at the two perspectives. From the standpoint of the gospel message as it is currently being preached, unbelieving Israel is in a state of hostility. Their rejection of Christ makes them enemies of the gospel. And Paul says this is "for your sake", for the sake of you Gentiles. Their enmity was the very occasion God used to throw the doors of salvation wide open to the nations. But that is not the only perspective. From the standpoint of God's eternal choice, His election, they are still "beloved for the sake of the fathers", Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
God made unconditional promises to the patriarchs. He chose them and their descendants for a special purpose. And while individual Jews can be cut off through unbelief, God's corporate commitment to that lineage remains. This leads to the bedrock principle in verse 29: "for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." The Greek word here is powerful; it means "not to be repented of." God does not change His mind. He doesn't make a covenant promise and then say, "Oops, I didn't see that coming." His election of Israel as a people was a sovereign gift and a sovereign calling, and He will see it through to its glorious conclusion. This doesn't mean every individual Jew is elect unto salvation, but it does mean God's purpose for the nation as a whole has not been cancelled.
The Grand Strategy of Mercy (vv. 30-32)
Now Paul brings the whole argument together, revealing the breathtaking wisdom of God's plan.
"For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all." (Romans 11:30-32)
Trace the logic carefully. It is a great chiasm of mercy. He says to the Gentiles, "You were once the disobedient ones, pagans outside the covenant." But now, you have received mercy. What was the occasion? It was "because of their disobedience," that is, the disobedience of the Jews. Their rejection of the Messiah propelled the gospel out to you.
But the story doesn't end there. The whole thing reverses. "So these also now have been disobedient", the Jews are now in the position of disobedience that the Gentiles were once in. And for what purpose? "That because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy." The salvation of the Gentiles is not the end of the story; it is the means to another end. The plan is that the flourishing of the Gentile church, our faith, our love, our witness, will ultimately be the instrument God uses to provoke Israel to jealousy (Rom. 11:11) and draw them back to faith in their own Messiah. The mercy you Gentiles received is destined to boomerang back to the Jews.
Verse 32 provides the ultimate summary of God's strategy for all humanity, Jew and Gentile alike. "For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all." The word "all" in both cases refers to the two groups Paul has been discussing: all Jews and all Gentiles. God, in His sovereign plan, has allowed both groups to be cornered, imprisoned by their own sin and disobedience. He let the Gentiles run into the cul-de-sac of their idolatry. He let the Jews run into the cul-de-sac of their self-righteous legalism. Why? So that no one could claim to have earned their salvation. So that no one could stand before Him with a resume. He leveled the playing field at the foot of the cross, so that salvation for everyone, Jew and Gentile, would be understood as what it is: pure, unadulterated, sovereign mercy.
The Doxology of Deep Theology (vv. 33-36)
Having scaled this theological Everest, Paul does not simply move on to the next point. He breaks out into worship. This is what deep, rigorous, biblical theology is supposed to do. If your theology doesn't make you want to sing, you have bad theology.
"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" (Romans 11:33)
Paul is overwhelmed. The plan he has just outlined, this intricate, centuries-long plan to save the world through the fall and rise of Israel, is a demonstration of the sheer depth of God's attributes. The "riches" of His grace, the "wisdom" of His plan, the "knowledge" of all things from the beginning. His judgments, His sovereign decisions, are "unsearchable." We can't fully plumb their depths. His ways, the paths He takes to accomplish His will, are "unfathomable," like an ocean floor we cannot trace.
He continues by quoting from Isaiah and Job, driving home the point of God's absolute sovereignty and self-sufficiency.
"For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE REPAID TO HIM?" (Romans 11:34-35)
God doesn't have a cabinet of advisors. No one sits on His planning committee. He is not reacting to our decisions; we are living within His. And no one can put God in their debt. You cannot do God a favor. You cannot give Him anything that He did not first give you, including the very breath you would use to make your claim. Every theology that makes man the decisive agent in his own salvation, that pictures God pacing the halls of heaven, wringing His hands and hoping we will choose Him, is a blasphemous assault on these verses. It is an attempt to make ourselves His counselor and to put Him in our debt.
And so Paul concludes with the ultimate statement of God's sovereignty over all things, the foundational truth of a Christian worldview.
"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36)
"From Him" as the ultimate source and creator. "Through Him" as the sustainer and governor. "And to Him" as the ultimate goal and purpose of everything. All of history, every molecule, every election, every sin, every act of repentance, flows from His sovereign decree, is upheld by His sovereign power, and is directed toward His ultimate glory. This is the grammar of reality. Because this is true, there is only one possible, sane, and righteous response: "To Him be the glory forever. Amen."
This is where our study of God's mercy to Israel and the Gentiles must leave us. Not with charts and timelines, not with ethnic pride or geopolitical arrogance, but on our faces in worship. It leaves us humbled by the fact that we were all shut up in disobedience. It leaves us staggered by the mercy that found us there. And it leaves us confident in the God whose gifts and calling are irrevocable, and whose wise and unsearchable plan will most certainly come to pass, all for His everlasting glory.