Many Christians believe the “fullness of the Gentiles” refers to a set number of Gentiles that will come to the Lord. After the last Gentile is converted, then Jesus will return. The passage often used to “prove” this is Romans 11:25:
“For I [Paul] do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom. 11:25).
But is that really what this passage is teaching?
To understand what the “fullness of the Gentiles” refers to, we first need to understand what the term “mystery” refers to (which Paul mentions just prior). And there is no need to speculate about this because Paul says elsewhere:
“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles–if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery…that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Eph. 3:1-3).
As this passage shows, the “mystery” refers to Jew and Gentile equality. Now let’s look again at the passage in question:
“For I [Paul] do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery [Jew/Gentile equality] lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom. 11:25).
Now it’s much easier to understand Paul’s point. He is talking about Jew/Gentile equality–not quantity. In other words, “the fullness of the Gentiles” refers to Jew/Gentile equality. It refers to the Gentiles coming to the equal status as Jews. And it refers to the Gentiles coming to an equal understanding of who God is, just as the Jews.
This is also evident by what Paul said a few passages earlier:
“Now if their [the Jews’] fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!…For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Rom. 11:12).
Here, the term “fullness” refers to acceptance and understanding. It has nothing to do with quantity!
Paul uses the term “fullness” in another passage too. “For in Him [Jesus] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). Again, the term “fullness” has nothing to do with quantity.
It is clear from this analysis that the term “fullness of the Gentiles” refers to Jew and Gentile equality. It has nothing to do with quantity. In Jesus’s day, the Gentiles began learning about Israel’s God and the prophecies of old. It was Paul’s mission to teach the Gentiles. And Paul completed this mission (2 Tim. 4:16-18, Col 1:24-27). Today, the Church is filled with Gentiles who understand the God of Israel! Moreover, Jesus has broken down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, creating one new man from the two (Eph. 2:14-15). In other words, “the fullness of the Gentiles” has come in.
Keep in mind, also, that the new covenant age has no end–so Gentiles (and Jews) will continue coming to the Lord. As Isaiah said:
