Wednesday, August 12, 2026
I ask, then, has God rejected His people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. … Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? As regards the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that He may have mercy on all. (Romans 11:1-2a, 13-15, 28-32)
This is a touchy subject as a result of thousands of years of hatred and persecution. But it needs to be dealt with, and Paul does deal with it. If we are Gentile Christians, what is our relationship to the people God chose to be His very own in the Old Testament?
Our thinking needs to start with the facts that Paul points out: “God has not rejected His people,” and “As regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.” These are the people God created by promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were entrusted with God’s own Word, with the Law, and with all the prophecies about Jesus. Jesus Himself is Jewish, born to these people. Almost all the first Christians were Jewish, and there are many Jewish Christian believers even today.
This means that any kind of hatred or persecution is completely out of order—evil—the work of the devil, never of God. We owe thankfulness and respect to these, our elder brothers and sisters, even if they themselves do not yet recognize the relationship. We owe them love and patience, recognizing that we ourselves are only believers in Jesus because of God’s great mercy and kindness. We have not earned a place among God’s people—we stand there as the result of God’s lovingkindness shown to us in Jesus the Messiah, who suffered, died, and rose from the dead to save us all. And if we stand in God’s mercy because of Jesus, we must pray for those who do not yet believe in Him—and especially for these, from whom Jesus came.
Paul tells us, “God has consigned all to disobedience, that He may have mercy on all.” It was always God’s intention to bring the whole human race together in our Savior, Jesus the Messiah. As He has brought us to faith, so we pray for those who do not yet believe, that together we may love Him and serve Him forever.
WE PRAY: Dear Lord, bring to faith those who do not trust You yet, especially the Jewish people. And keep me humble, remembering I’m only Yours because of Your mercy. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions: