Q: What will happen to Jews when they die? In Matthew 8:12, Jesus said that The children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But in Romans 11:26 [not 11:27], Paul says that all Israel shall be saved."
A: By children of the kingdom, Jesus does not mean all Jews -- which would include Himself and all His apostles. The nation in general could be described this way. But His audience at the time probably took this statement as something most aptly applied to those who enjoyed privileges in the religious sphere like the privileges that royal families enjoy in a political sphere.
Paul, meanwhile, is not speaking about every individual Jew either! Paul begins to discuss Israel in chapter 9, as part of an illustration of sovereignty and election, but in chapter 10 the focus is on Israel itself. Paul was aware that many Jews had rejected the gospel, and he concluded that (a) the true Israel has always been a remnant, a spiritually faithful sub-population within the physical nation, and (b) as the end of the world approaches, the final generation of Israel will be converted. Thought b is what he expresses in Romans 11:26. He is not referring to the entire nation in all generations, but to a generation preceding Christs return.
When one considers the different nuances involved in each statement, it should be clear that they do not disagree, since they address different quantities (Jesus is talking about the particularly privileged Jews; Paul is talking about the a future generation of Israel). The eternal destination of any individual descendant of Jacob depends largely on what paths that person takes, and the decisions that person makes.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: By children of the kingdom, Jesus does not mean all Jews -- which would include Himself and all His apostles. The nation in general could be described this way. But His audience at the time probably took this statement as something most aptly applied to those who enjoyed privileges in the religious sphere like the privileges that royal families enjoy in a political sphere.
Paul, meanwhile, is not speaking about every individual Jew either! Paul begins to discuss Israel in chapter 9, as part of an illustration of sovereignty and election, but in chapter 10 the focus is on Israel itself. Paul was aware that many Jews had rejected the gospel, and he concluded that (a) the true Israel has always been a remnant, a spiritually faithful sub-population within the physical nation, and (b) as the end of the world approaches, the final generation of Israel will be converted. Thought b is what he expresses in Romans 11:26. He is not referring to the entire nation in all generations, but to a generation preceding Christs return.
When one considers the different nuances involved in each statement, it should be clear that they do not disagree, since they address different quantities (Jesus is talking about the particularly privileged Jews; Paul is talking about the a future generation of Israel). The eternal destination of any individual descendant of Jacob depends largely on what paths that person takes, and the decisions that person makes.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
