Amir’s Claim
Amir Tsarfati insists that Romans 11 proves God has a separate plan for the political nation of Israel. He argues that Paul’s words — “all Israel shall be saved” — must mean a future mass salvation of the Jewish people as a nation, distinct from the Church. According to Amir, if the Church is Israel, then the passage makes no sense, because the Church is already saved.
But Paul’s argument in Romans 11 is not about a political state or an ethnic remnant. It is about the mystery of the gospel — Jew and Gentile united in Christ in one olive tree.
Has God Cast Away His People?
Romans 11:1 (KJV):
“I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.”
Amir interprets this as proof that God must restore the nation of Israel. But Paul himself explains what he means: the remnant according to grace.
Romans 11:5 (KJV):
“Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
The people whom God has not cast away are those who believe — the remnant within Israel who receive Christ. This is not a national guarantee but a testimony to God’s faithfulness.
The Olive Tree Mystery
Romans 11:17 (KJV):
“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree…”
Here Paul explains the mystery:
- Natural branches (unbelieving Jews) were cut off.
- Wild branches (believing Gentiles) were grafted in.
- Only faith secures a place in the tree; unbelief is cut off.
This olive tree is not Israel after the flesh — it is the covenant life of Christ. There is one root, one tree, one people of God.
“Blindness in Part”
Romans 11:25 (KJV):
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”
Blindness in part has indeed come upon ethnic Israel — but notice Paul calls this a mystery. The mystery is not that God has a two-track plan (one for Jews, one for Gentiles), but that He is forming one body out of both.
The “fulness of the Gentiles” means the completion of God’s plan to bring in His people from every nation. When this is accomplished, the blindness will be lifted — not by restoring nationalism, but by unveiling Christ.
“And So All Israel Shall Be Saved”
Romans 11:26 (KJV):
“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”
The key phrase is “and so” — meaning in this manner. Not “and then” at some future date, but “in this way.” All Israel is saved in the same way: by the Deliverer coming out of Zion, turning ungodliness from Jacob, establishing the New Covenant in His blood.
“All Israel” is not every ethnic Jew, but the fullness of the true Israel — all who believe in Christ, Jew and Gentile alike.
Galatians 6:16 calls this people the “Israel of God.”
The Covenant Confirmed in Christ
Romans 11:27 (KJV):
“For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”
This covenant was already confirmed at the cross. Paul quotes Isaiah 59:20–21 to show that the Redeemer has come and inaugurated the New Covenant. The “taking away of sins” happened at Calvary, not in 1948 or in some future national revival.
Conclusion
Amir says Romans 11 proves the political nation of Israel has a separate destiny. But Paul’s teaching is that the olive tree is one, rooted in Christ. Natural branches can only remain by faith, and wild branches only stand by grace.
“All Israel shall be saved” means the full company of God’s elect — Jew and Gentile, reconciled in one body by the cross. To wrench this passage into a prophecy of modern nationalism is to miss the mystery Paul revealed: there is one people of God, defined not by flesh but by faith.
👉 Next post (Post 4) will address Amir’s historical argument — that the scattered Jews of Spain and Portugal prove the nation of Israel always continued.