Paul has actually been building toward this very uncomfortable subject since chapter 1. From the beginning of the letter, he has been laying out an argument that leads us to an unavoidable conclusion: Gentiles and Israelites are all under the power of sin. When it comes to our need for salvation, they are equals.

Let’s go back for a moment to Romans chapter 3:

“For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.

As it is written: 

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18, NIV)

Paul has effectively dismantled any argument that Israel possesses some automatic advantage when it comes to entering God’s Kingdom.

Now, that does not mean Israel had no advantages at all. Quite the opposite. There were plenty of reasons for Abraham’s physical descendants to recognize the incredible privilege they had been given.

God had chosen Israel as the nation through which He would deliver His Word and His promises to the world. And, perhaps most importantly, through Israel would come the Messiah Himself.

That is no small privilege!

But here is the distinction Paul wants us to understand: Israel’s role on the world stage was to prepare the way—not to be the way.

Here is the YouTube link:

God is Sovereign Part 1

Here is the Spotify Link:

God is Sovereign Part 1

In His Grip,

Paige