<p>11:32- see on Rom. 5:20.</p><p><em>For God has shut up all to disobedience, that He might have mercy upon all</em>- The &quot;all&quot; appears to be that of :26 &quot;All Israel&quot; (see note there). All those within the number of the redeemed, known as &quot;Israel&quot;, have at some point been disobedient; and that disobedience was within God's purpose, in the same way as God &quot;concluded s.w. all under sin&quot; (Gal. 3:22). Human sin and blindness is therefore used by God in the development of His final wonderful purpose of saving all His Israel.</p><p>Thus God works out His plan of salvation actually through man&rsquo;s disobedience rather than his obedience. As Paul puts it, we are concluded in unbelief, that God may have mercy (Rom. 11:32). It was and is the spirit of Joseph, when he comforted his brothers: &ldquo;Now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life&rdquo; (Gen. 45:5). And again, speaking about the sin of Israel in rejecting Christ: &ldquo;Their trespass means riches for the Gentile world&rdquo; (Rom. 11:12). Or yet again, think of how Abraham&rsquo;s lie about Sarah and unfaithfulness to his marriage covenant with her became a source of God&rsquo;s blessing and the curing of&nbsp; Abimelech&rsquo;s wife from infertility (Gen. 20:17- I read her infertility as a state that existed prior to the incident with Abraham). The righteousness of God becomes available to us exactly because we have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23,24). If we lie, then through our lie the truth and glory of God is revealed (Rom. 3:7). The light comes into the world- the light of hope of salvation, forgiveness, of God in Christ- but this light reveals to us our verdict of &lsquo;guilty&rsquo; (Jn. 3:18,36).</p><p>The references to &quot;all&quot; being saved seem to be limited by the context- and &quot;all&quot; rarely means 'every single one', e.g. &quot;all&quot; Jerusalem went out to hear John the Baptist and were &quot;all&quot; baptized by him. I don't suppose the city was left deserted. The only passage which appears to have some bearing is Rom 11:32: &quot;For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all&quot;. But the context speaks of how both Jews and Gentiles will be saved- not every Jew and Gentile that's lived, but those who accept the Gospel. And how does God have mercy? The preceding verse clarifies: &quot;even so have these also now been disobedient, that by your mercy they also may now obtain mercy&quot; (Rom 11:31).&nbsp; Surely the mercy we show to the Jews is preaching the Gospel of God's mercy to them. Their obtaining mercy depends upon our mercy. Because God chooses to work through us as His witnesses. The Jews must obtain salvation in the same pattern as the Gentiles do: &quot;For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience...&quot; (Rom. 11:30). As Gentiles crossed over from disobedience to obedience to the Gospel, so must the Jews. And in the last days, this will happen: &quot;...and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob&quot; (Rom. 11:26). This turning away of ungodliness from Israel is required before &quot;all&quot;- i.e. the redeemed from both Jews and Gentiles- can be saved. But the turning away of ungodliness surely implies a repentance of some Jewish people; God won't just save them regardless, they must turn away from ungodliness.</p>