Principle VII: The Gentile Inclusion

In order to fulfill the pleasure of God, the Gentiles have been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel as elected coheirs with the children of Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ.

Much, if not all, of the promises of God are given first to one people. It is widely understood that Israel is first, and heir to the promises of God. Paul says:

“…My countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”

- Romans 9:3-5

However, we see something interesting happen in the New Testament. The Gentiles are not only “grafted in", but made equal, and many in Israel reject the gospel. The Scriptures make it explicit that the Christ, Who was born of Israel, came first for the Jews. What are the grounds for this inclusion?

For the Gentile, Christianity can feel like starting from the middle-end of a book. Assurance requires a step into the front end of history to better understand God’s promises. How is the Gentile assimilated on Old Testament promises with confidence? Has God merely changed His mind on a whim in the New Testament, or were there telling signs of the inclusion and rejection? But we can listen to the Apostle Paul as he reflects on the matter at hand saying:

“But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’”

- Romans 9:6,7

Paul understands that it would appear to us like God’s word has had little effect in the appearance of the mysterious inclusion, and Israel’s rejection. However, God is unchanging and nothing has changed regarding the intent of Hs will since the beginning. The Scriptures say:

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

- Numbers 23:19

Therefore, even the “surprise” of the Gentile inclusion has been purposed in God beforehand and is made evident in the history. The promises are widely understood to be exclusive to the children by Abraham. Paul goes on to affirm the Church that Abraham’s children are not merely natural born descendants but spiritual. Then he brings to the forefront of His mind the history of the patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He continues saying:

“That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: ‘At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.’”

- Romans 9:8,9

The first point he makes is that the children of God by the patriarchs are children of promise. Though Abraham made his own effort to fulfill what was promised by Hagar, it was through Sarah and Isaac that the children of promise are found. Take note that Ishmael was firstborn, but Isaac is the seed of promise. If it was a matter of flesh, Ishmael would have been blessed as the promise fulfilled. The point the Apostle makes is that the promise outweighs the flesh. The apostle then continues on building the idea further saying:

“And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, “‘The older shall serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.’”

- Romans 9:10-13

In this passage Paul is torn by how many of his own countrymen have refused the gospel though all these things have been given first for them. He is moved to contemplate over the history of the patriarchs and the sons given to them. In the case of Jacob and Esau, he reflects on the mystery of their birth, and Jacob’s election.

“So when her (Sarah’s) days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob.”

- Genesis 25:24-26

The story between these brothers is famous for Jacob’s crafty game at taking his older brothers’ blessing and birthright when they were young.

“But Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright as of this day.’

And Esau said, ‘Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?’

Then Jacob said, ‘Swear to me as of this day.’

So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”

- Genesis 25:29-34

And when Isaac grew old and blind, Rebecca was moved to direct Jacob to stand in Esau’s place. Isaac was unaware because he could not see of old age. Isaac then blessed Jacob, the younger, saying:

“Surely, the smell of my son

Is like the smell of a field

Which the Lord has blessed.

Therefore may God give you

Of the dew of heaven,

Of the fatness of the earth,

And plenty of grain and wine.

Let peoples serve you,

And nations bow down to you.

Be master over your brethren,

And let your mother’s sons bow down to you.

Cursed be everyone who curses you,

And blessed be those who bless you!”

- Genesis 27:27-29

When Jacob did this to Esau, God appears to remain silent. However, this was not spontaneity between siblings, but Paul is aware that it was orchestrated by God. Before the two brothers were born, God had spoken to their Mother, Rebecca, in private.

“But the children struggled together within her; and she said, ‘If all is well, why am I like this?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord.”

- Genesis 25:22

Here in the womb of Rebecca the two brothers are found, and even here within Rebecca they wrestled with each other, rivals from end to the end. Distressed, their mother goes before God in prayer. The Lord responds saying:

“Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.”

- Genesis 25:23

It is the same passage Paul brings to mind upon reflection of Israel’s rejection in Romans. God said to her, “The older shall serve the younger”. The point to be made first is that God had already selected the younger one to rule over the older before the two had been born. God knew Jacob would carry the blessing and birthright and told their mother as she prayed. He has already chosen the younger, weaker vessel to attain the inheritance. Esau was to be set apart to be in service to Jacob “until the yoke is broken,” as their father Isaac tells Esau. What Jacob did to his brother when they were of age was no surprise. Rebecca was well aware of what needed to take place, and it happened in order to fulfill what God had said.

Paul alludes to the time in his history where the first son became a servant to the younger, and he understands it as prophetic. The rejection in regards to Israel is likewise no surprise to him. He recounts the Scriptures saying, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated’. Their history is prophetic. Here, in Esau, is the one to whom all the promises of God belong as the firstborn son by every right. However, it is given to Jacob instead before they were born. Similarly, the New Testament shows us how these promises are “suddenly” given to another nation. History repeats, and the story is fulfilled as the first ones come to despise their birthright, and the second takes possession of it. The Scriptures say that “Esau despised his birthright” and Israel, in this passage, is compared to Esau. Israel was to be refused as Esau was. Paul goes on to say:

“What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.’ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.”

- Romans 9:14-16

Israel is His to regard as He pleases, as are the Gentile nations. These foreigners (Gentiles) were weak, and poor to Israel. They were all behind and beneath Israel. However, when the promise came, the Gentiles were receptive to the promise and were called coheirs, grasping the heel of Israel. Paul says in another passage:

“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 (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.”

- Ephesians 3:2-7

The unbelieving Jews would call it absurd. The Gentiles are equal heirs without having worked as hard and as long as Israel? And that is the lesson of God’s election and their inclusion. It is not a matter of our effort, “but of Him who calls”. Christ spoke many times regarding these things in parables. Here He says:

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.”

- Matthew 20:1,2

Christ tells them that the landowner went out again at the third hour, the sixth hour, and the eleventh hour to hire more workers.

“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.”

- Matthew 20:8,9

But listen to the familiarity of the complaints that the first workers expressed. Christ continues:

“But when the first [workers] came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’”

- Matthew 20:10-12

These last workers who have worked the tail end of the day have been given the same reward as those who bore the burden and heat of the early morning hours. In the parable, the first workers become angry with the landowner. The Gentiles are like those workers hired at the last hour. Israel are the first. In Romans the Apostle Paul continues his reflection quoting Moses, saying:

“I will provoke you [Israel] to jealousy by those who were not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.”

- Romans 10:19

And quoting Hosea he says:

“I will call them My people, who were not my people, and her beloved, who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,

‘You are not My people,’

There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

- Romans 9:25,26

How Paul talks to the Gentiles in the book of Romans about the state of his own countrymen is sobering. It’s not an easy thing for him to say, and it should be twice as hard for us. He is a Jew and they are his brothers. He's broken by their fall and even wishes himself to be cast out from Christ so that they would all be saved. Despite this, he understands why God had raised Israel up when he says about Israel:

“For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth.’ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.”

- Romans 9:17

Paul is gripped with the realization that God had known that the hearts of Israel would be hardened by Christ. He knew they would conflict with the stone of rejection, Jesus Christ. Paul compares Israel to the likeness of Pharaoh who was lifted up that God would be recognized. In the same vein Paul understands how it would appear to us that God has acted severely by dealing with Israel like this in the history, knowing they would reject Him as Esau was rejected. God had known all along that Israel would be refused, but He also knew that by them, many would come to be saved. They were the vessel of dishonor, that we would be made honorable by them. Paul continues saying:

“But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory.”

- Romans 9:20-23

Israel was made first and famous for this reason, and we see that the Gentiles were, “prepared beforehand for glory” as “vessels of mercy”. The Jews are chief of nations, the apple of His eye, the center of history, and those whom God is very jealous over. Yet, respectively speaking, Israel’s pride in their positioning as God’s elect by blood became their poison. Many became blind, and trusting in their bloodline they became faithless. Making every effort to persuade them back to Him and to faith by humility through the voice of His prophets, which they killed, even raising their hand against His Son, God would give them over to the depravity of their minds. Israel would stumble over the stone rejected. As Paul says:

“As it is written:

‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,

And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’”

- Romans 9:33

Christ is what would cause Israel this trouble. It was foretold. Even Isaiah spoke of the rock of offense saying:

“He will be as a sanctuary,

But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense

To both the houses of Israel,

As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And many among them shall stumble;

They shall fall and be broken,

Be snared and taken.”

- Isaiah 8:14,15

The inclusion came, but so did the rejection. It is God's doing by His design. Peter clarifies to the Church:

“Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

‘Behold, I lay in Zion

A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,

And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’

Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,

‘The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone,’

and

‘A stone of stumbling

And a rock of offense.’

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.”

- I Peter 2:6-8

In this passage we see that Peter has also familiarized himself with this truth. He continues speaking to those who were once not a people, and who have accepted the appointed Word in Christ saying:

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

- I Peter 2:9

Paul calls Israel’s fall an advantage for the Gentiles. And though it pains him to explain, he says to the Roman Church:

“For as you [Gentiles] were once disobedient to God, yet now have obtained mercy through their disobedience.”

- Romans 11:30

Paul also says:

“I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!” - Romans 11:11

Even Moses spoke to Israel, as Paul says in Romans, saying that God would move them to anger by a foolish nation, and that He did. This inclusion of the Gentiles to that heavenly inheritance did anger Israel. The anger of the elder is foreknown and an evident pattern in history.

Consider the history of Jonah. It was in bitterness that Jonah, the prophet of God, fled from the Lord’s instruction knowing full well that He was a gracious and merciful God. The word of God came to him saying:

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”

- Jonah 1:2

He refused to go to Nineveh, a foreign nation. Though he fled in his stubbornness, the Lord brought much trouble upon him, bringing Him to the lowest place. Though when Jonah did preach in Nineveh it says:

“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.”

- Jonah 3:10

Jonah was raised up as a vehicle of mercy to foreigners, and a deathly anger came over him. God asked Jonah as the prophet sat outside the city after preaching to them:

“Is it right for you to be angry?”

- Jonah 4:4

This question cuts to the conscience of the reader, and the story ends. Jonah’s conflict is left weighted as if his choice has yet to be made. God extended His mercy to foreigners and brought salvation to those who were weaker and ignorant, but Jonah did not share any pity whatsoever. He remained indignant and stubborn even when the Lord took care of him with a vine for shade.

“Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’

And he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death!’”

- Jonah 4:9

In his anger, Jonah waited outside for the city’s demise. He would refuse to take part in their celebration and inclusion because his task was far too humiliating. He was too proud of the blood in his veins to recognize his brother’s true face, and his Father’s lost son.

Also, in the parable of the prodigal son we see the younger brother return, having spent his portion on his pleasures, and finding himself humiliated in poverty. He returned in contrition and his father called him saved and adorned him as a king. However, we see again that the older son who had not gone out to spend his portion resisted:

“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.’”

- Luke 15:28-30

Similarly, the older brother remained outside and refused to enter into the celebration of extended mercy. But their father reasoned with Him saying:

“Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.”

- Luke 15:31

God also tried to reason with Cain. It was the spotless sacrifice that was pleasing to God and the second son understood the acceptable sacrifice, but the elder resisted doing what was right. Cain grew bitter because of the favor Able received from the Lord, and he became an enemy to his own brother. God asked:

“Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?”

- Genesis 4:6

Cain was poisoned with his own anger and sought to kill him. It reminds me of Esau and how he wept in bitterness before his Father, Isaac, saying, “Bless me – me also, O my father!” and he was made subject to his little brother, and he was brought into a viscous rage.

“So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, ‘The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’”

- Genesis 27:41

Through these stories I feel we can understand the heart and struggle of Israel and the weight of their task. I would not have been any better.

“But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.”

- Romans 9:31

However, though some in Israel fell, many Gentiles were saved. He does first preach to His own always, as it is their own heritage and law. Yet, due to the stubbornness of many, for a time, many are given over to blindness in part. Paul explains:

What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written:

“God has given them a spirit of stupor,

Eyes that they should not see

And ears that they should not hear,

To this very day.”

And David says:

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

A stumbling block and a recompense to them.

Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see,

And bow down their back always.”

- Romans 11:7-10

It is a temporary position until they are restored at our fullness. He says again:

“For I 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.”

- Romans 11:25

He says to the Roman Church that Israel has been blinded, “but the elect have obtained it”. This is a great assurance to the foreigner who comes to field of God in humility. Just as Ruth, the Gentile woman, came to Israel in complete surrender. There she was content to gather remains at the field of Boaz and it was there that she found favor in his sight.

“So she [Ruth] fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, ‘Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?’”

- Ruth 2:10-12

Boaz took her as his wife, and it is written that her inheritance was redeemed. She was grafted into a better commonwealth, through whom Christ would be a direct descendant of. The Gentiles are likewise married into the inheritance by Jesus Christ.

It becomes plain to see in our history how we have been prepared to answer His call. Regarding our acceptance, Paul says:

“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

- Romans 11:29

Those called and elected here are the Gentile nations fulfilling that which was foreseen.

Paul quotes Isaiah saying:

“All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

- Romans 10:21

With this in mind, Christ told a parable to them saying:

“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.”

- Matthew 21:28-31

The first point made is that the least of them will enter first, or the first will be last. Christ immediately continued with another parable meaning to press into the conscience of the Jews, to show that they knew how to judge right from wrong. They were unaware that He was speaking of them, and by these stories, he would leave them without excuse. He said:

“Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”

- Matthew 21:33-40

Here it becomes plain as they answer Christ’s question.

They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone.

This was the Lord’s doing,

And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruit of it.”

- Matthew 21:41-43

The Scriptures are explicit saying, “This was the Lord’s doing”. And even Christ was aware that the rejection was a matter of fulfillment. After all, what is the evident pattern? Was not Ishmael the firstborn of Abraham? But Isaac was chosen. Esau was the firstborn of Isaac, but Jacob was chosen. Reuben was firstborn of Jacob, but all the elder sons were brought to their knees before Joseph. And even Jacob looked at Joseph’s sons and switched his hands blessing Ephraim as the first, though he was born second.

“And Joseph said to his father, ‘Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.’

But his father refused and said, ‘I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.’”

- Genesis 48:18,19

It is an intriguing event, and Jacob was aware of something Joseph did not understand: The last are first.

We go on to see that even Cain was firstborn, but the promise came through Seth. Many more are like them and by them we understand that the first were always last. It is as God said to her about her children who, “'(Not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, ‘The older shall serve the younger.’” His decision was made before we drew breath. Paul likewise says:

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

- Ephesians 1:4-6

This is our confidence as foreigners who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord. We can observe what the landowner had said to the workers he hired in the parable:

“Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”

- Matthew 20:14-16

This is the Lord’s doing. The blessing of Abraham is a gift of the Spirit, by the promise spoken. It is not of bloodline, or effort. As Jacob was chosen, and as Isaac was promised before any deed was done by them, likewise the Gentiles were set apart as vessels of mercy raised up in honor that God would be glorified among them. Paul says:

“You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.’ Well said. Because of unbelief they [Israel] were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”

- Romans 11:19-23

We who were once strangers to the promises of God, have been accepted into the commonwealth where Christ is the Vine.

“Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

- Ephesians 2:11,12

All this being said, for Israel to deny Gentiles a place in their promise because we did not work as hard as they did is for them to deny their own election considering how Jacob was chosen over Esau. Both Israel and the Gentiles are one and the same in their calling. Both are the younger, so to speak. Jacob embodies this as he is literally chosen and aptly named “Israel”, out of whom the nation would rise. At the same time he is the definitive symbol of the Gentile election and inclusion. He embodies them both perfectly, and all humanity is captured in the redemptive call to work the vineyard for the harvest. It does not force redemption, but it announces that call because God intended it from the beginning, showing the greatness of His wisdom and love. It presents the entire world to share in the opportunity of grace and in the heavenly inheritance as sons of Abraham. It is ultimately a choice as many are called. Whether we are a Jew or Gentile, it makes no difference. Listen to Paul’s conclusion on the matter of the two.

“For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.”

- Romans 11:30-32

The point made is that both Jew and Gentile are guilty of disobedience, and by the extension of mercy given by Christ, both are now able to obtain the same mercy. Both are the same.

“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ‘Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life’? But what does the divine response say to him? ‘I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”

- Romans 11:1-5

Also, Paul clings to this promise, saying,

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,

And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

For this is My covenant with them,

When I take away their sins.”

- Romans 11:26,27

A remnant remains, and all Israel will be restored. Both Jew and Gentile are called in the same fashion and both are embodied in Christ. Paul says to the Church:

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,”

- Ephesians 2:14-20

Christ is all in all. Paul exhorts in his wonder and excitement:

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

‘For who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has become His counselor?”

“Or who has first given to Him

And it shall be repaid to him?’

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.”

- Romans 11:33-36