Rejected?

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! 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. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.’ But what is the divine reply to him? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. (Romans 11:1-6, NRSV)

We sometimes think and get the picture form the New Testament that God has rejected the Israelites and moved on to the Gentiles…

But Paul clearly tells us here that God is not rejecting His chosen people. You see God made a promise to the Israelites, that is the Old Covenant as we Christians call it. The promise that was made that they would be His people and God would be their God.

And you see in that is grace! Grace has permeated the world from the beginning. There is no way we can do enough to be in the promise, that is grace.

So Israel is still God’s chosen people, and we get to be grafted into the body of Christ through the grace given to us…

So they are not rejected, and you are not rejected either…