What does it mean that they are beloved regarding election?

Explanation:

Paul writes that there is a sense in which the Jews are enemies regarding the gospel. Still, when it comes to election, they are beloved. To understand what Paul means by Israel being beloved regarding election, it is important to note what he wrote in Romans 11:1–2. There Paul is asking whether God rejected the Israelites given that they do not, generally, believe the gospel. And his response is that God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. So Paul is saying that while the Israelite’s reject the gospel, God does not reject them. Paul is making this same point in Romans 11:28. That is, regarding the gospel, the Jews are enemies in the sense that they do not believe, but in regard to election, they are beloved. That is, God has not rejected his people but offers them the same opportunity for salvation through Christ as he does the Gentiles.

Counterargument:

While it is true that Paul writes in Romans 11:1–2 that God has not rejected his people, he goes on to explain that this means God kept a remnant for himself, elected by grace. So Paul associates election with the remnant that God keeps for himself for salvation. It is this detail, that God has elected a remnant of Israelites for salvation, that is important for understanding what Paul means by election in Romans 11:28. Paul says that the Israelites are enemies regarding the gospel, but beloved regarding election. In other words, the majority of Israel rejects the gospel, but God keeps a remnant to himself for salvation. So election refers not to God’s faithfulness to Israel in history but to his keeping a remnant for himself.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument depends on the notion that Paul switches his subject mid-sentence. That is, it assumes that in Romans 11:28a Paul refers to the Jews who are enemies of God and that in Romans 11:28b he refers to the remnant who are saved by grace. The fact is, it is unlikely that Paul would switch the subject mid-sentence.³ The subject is likely the nation of Israel in general. Paul is saying that the nation is generally hostile toward the gospel, and yet they are still beloved because God is faithful to his covenant with Abraham through which he chose to use Israel for his special purposes.

Explanation:

To understand what it means that Israel is regarded as an enemy concerning the gospel but beloved concerning election, it is important to understand that the Jews not only rejected the gospel but were hostile toward it. We know from Paul’s other letters that the Jews not only failed to believe but they fought against the apostles’ efforts to spread the gospel.⁴ For example, in 1 Thessalonians 2:14–16 Paul writes that the Christians in Judea suffered at the hands of the Jews, who killed the Lord and the prophets, displease God, and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles. Likewise, in the book of Acts we read that the Jews often tried to prevent Paul from preaching (Acts 14:19), have him arrested (Acts 21:1–40), and plot to kill him (Acts 23:12). In other words, the Jews were enemies regarding the gospel in the sense that they opposed it. Still, Paul is explaining that because of the forefathers with whom God made a covenant, they are beloved regarding election. In other words, God chose to use Israel to accomplish his salvific plans, so they remain beloved by God. This means that God does not reject the Israelites, even though they oppose the spread of the gospel. Rather, God will gladly welcome them if they repent.

Counterargument:

This argument misunderstands what Paul means when he refers to the Israelites as enemies regarding the gospel. Paul is not saying that the Jews opposed the gospel in some particular sense. Rather, he is saying that, like all humanity, anyone who is not in Christ is an enemy of God. As Paul wrote in Romans 5:10, when we were enemies of God he reconciled us through his Son. Likewise, in Romans 8:7 he explained that the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God.⁵ Still, while the Israelites, who are not in Christ, are enemies, God still considers them his beloved elect because of the forefathers. Of course, as the beloved elect, they will be saved.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument overlooks the theme of Romans 9:1–11:36. Throughout these chapters Paul has been confronting the question of how God could choose Israel because of Abraham, and yet many Israelites reject the gospel. To answer this Paul explains that a partial hardening has come upon Israel so that the gospel goes to the Gentiles. Still, although the Jews not only reject but oppose the gospel, as referenced above, because of the forefathers they are beloved regarding election. So the theme of this section suggests that Paul has much more than general human enmity toward God in mind. Rather, he is specifically concerned with Israel’s enmity toward God, given God’s special provision for them.

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be. Paul has already revealed the special benefits of being God’s chosen people (Romans 9:4–5), which is their election. And we know from what follows that although Israel is now disobedient, this is only so that God will have mercy on them.

Explanation:

To understand what it means that Israel is beloved regarding election, we have to combine elements of what Paul wrote in Romans 11:1–2 and Romans 11:26.⁹ In Romans 11:1–2 Paul explains that God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Israel is the elect of God, so God would not reject them. Of course, that Israel was not rejected by God results in consequences that Paul articulates in Romans 11:26, namely, that all Israel will be saved.¹⁰ So to be beloved regarding election means that God does not reject Israel so that one day the whole nation of Israel will be saved.

Counterargument:

This argument relies on a specific interpretation of Romans 11:26 that is not at all obvious. Specifically, it relies on the interpretation that when Paul writes in Romans 11:26 all Israel will saved, he means that the nation of Israel as a whole will be saved in a moment of time. Therefore, election has to do with the fact that God will save the whole nation of Israel.

Unfortunately, there is another more plausible way to interpret the notion that all Israel will be saved. Specifically, Paul has explained that God hardens some Israelites so that the gospel goes to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous (Romans 11:11). For this reason, Paul magnifies his mission to the Gentiles to make his fellow Jews jealous and save some (Romans 11:14). It is in this way that all those Israelites who will be saved are saved. That is, all Israel being saved refers to the culmination of some Israelites turning in repentance out of jealousy of the Gentiles. So when Paul says that all Israel will be saved, he does not mean that the whole nation will be saved, but that through a certain process all of the Israelites who will be saved are saved.

Of course, if Paul is not saying that the whole nation of Israel will be saved in a moment, then when he refers to Israel as beloved regarding election, he does not mean that the whole nation will be saved.

Response to counterargument:

While it is possible that when Paul writes that all Israel will be saved, he means that all those who will be saved are saved, it is also possible that he means the nation of Israel as a whole will one day be saved. Thus, if all Israel being saved means that the nation as a whole will one day be saved, then this view is likely correct that being beloved regarding election means that the whole nation of Israel will eventually be saved.

Explanation:

Paul states that the Jews are beloved by God regarding election. Then in Romans 11:29 he explains, The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. In context, this explains how Israel can be both enemies and yet beloved. They are beloved with respect to election because God’s covenantal commitments to Israel cannot be annulled. And that includes the promise that all Israel will be saved.

So Paul has gone full circle. In Romans 9:1–33 he explained that Jewish identity alone does not obligate God to show favour to Israel; divine favour is always a matter of God’s sovereign choice. Still, once God makes the choice to show favour, his gifts and call are irrevocable.¹¹ So they are beloved regarding election such that the majority of Israel will be saved.¹²

Counterargument:

The irrevocability of God’s gifts and calling does not imply the salvation of all Israel. Instead, Paul is referring back to the privileges listed in Romans 9:4–5—the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, the patriarchs, and the Christ. These are the gifts and calling God bestowed on Israel as his chosen instruments in redemptive history.

The fact that Israel now acts as enemies to the gospel does not nullify God’s gifts and calling. God’s favour toward Israel remains irrevocable. But this does not guarantee the salvation of all Israel. Rather, it means that although they currently oppose the gospel, if they turn to God in repentance, they will be saved.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument depends on reading the enmity of Romans 11:28 as Israel’s hostility toward the gospel. But Paul’s wording points in the opposite direction. The enmity in view is God’s stance toward Israel in the present: they are enemies for your sake, meaning that God has placed them under judicial hardening so that salvation might come to the Gentiles.

Thus the contrast in Romans 11:28 is not:

• Israel’s enmity toward the gospel versus

• God’s love toward Israel

but rather:

• God’s present enmity toward Israel (for the sake of Gentile inclusion) versus

• God’s enduring love toward Israel (for the sake of election)

Because the beloved status is grounded in God’s electing purpose—and because his gifts and call are irrevocable—Paul concludes that God’s covenantal commitment to Israel’s salvation remains firm; he considers them beloved regarding election.¹³ And since they are beloved regarding election, all Israel will be saved.

The weakness of this view is the assumption that election means salvation, but these terms are not equivalent. Election has to do with God choosing to use Israel for his purposes, that is, he elected to bless Israel and through them deliver the law, the Scriptures, the worship and so on. Salvation, on the other hand, is related to forgiveness of sins and eternal life.