GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE
The scheme of redemption called for Jesus to come to this earth as both the Son of man and the Son of God. In order for Him to be the Son of man it was necessary for Him to come through a certain race of people. God determined that it would be through the Jewish race that is the descendants of Abraham through Isaac. It was not the descendants of Abraham through Ishmael but rather through Isaac. Jesus, therefore, came to the earth through the Jewish race and salvation then would be through Him and not the Jewish race, itself (Galatians 3:16; Acts 4:12).
The Jewish race above all others had an advantage. They were given the oracles of God (Romans 3:2). Through this revealed Word of God, the Jewish people should have been willing to accept the One of whom the prophet had spoken. Yet the message is that when Jesus came unto His own, His own did not receive Him (John 1:11). The prophet Isaiah foretold that Jesus would be "rejected by men." (Isaiah 53:3). The very elements that conspired together to bring about the death of Jesus were the leadership of the Jewish world. Pilate knew that for envy, Jesus had been delivered by the Jews into his hands (Matthew 27:18).
On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, Peter and the apostles, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, placed the blame on the house of Israel (Acts 2:4; 36). There were those in the audience that day which accepted the charge made by the apostles and sought for a way to get rid of such guilt because of sin (Acts 2:37). Those Jews were told to repent and be baptized in order to remove their sins (verse 38). On that day about three thousand responded to heaven's invitation (Acts 2:41). However, the three thousand were not in any way, the majority of that audience. Most of the Jews on that day rejected the offer by God to remove their sins.
Years later we find Paul speaking about his desire for the Jewish race. He wanted them to be saved (Romans 10:1). Having come from the background of being a Jew, himself, he spoke about their zeal for God (Romans 10:2). His own zeal had earlier in his life lead him to persecute the church (Philippians 3:6). When he learned the truth he did as the Jews had done on Pentecost. He was baptized to wash away his sins (Acts 22:16). At times he was discouraged because the Jews would not accept the written record of the Old Testament and its fulfillment in the life of Jesus (Acts 13:46). The history of his life after he became a Christian was one of trying to reach his Jewish brethren.
Paul writes that God had not cast away His people (Romans 11:1). That is, God was striving through the gospel to bring the Jews to salvation. Any person then who was baptized to wash away their sins, did by that act of obedience put on Christ (Galatians 3:26,27). It did not matter if they were Jews or Greeks, obedience to Christ resulted in their sins being removed and them becoming children of God (I John 3:1). Paul reveals that when one is baptized into the body of Christ they are able to drink of the one Spirit. How does Paul describe those who were baptized into the body? Paul says, Jews and Gentiles (I Corinthians 12:13).
If one then is in Christ (through obeying the gospel), they are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise that God had made. The Gentile, then, the non Jew, once he submitted to Christ, he likewise was of "Abraham's seed". One such person is a Jew inwardly. One is not a Jew who has been circumcised in the flesh (Romans 2:28). The spiritual Jew is the one (whether Jew or Gentile) who has been circumcised in the heart and spirit (verse 29). Who then today are God's chosen people? Anyone from any nation or race of people who have complied with the law of Christ and obeyed the gospel of Christ. God's ultimate plan that was originated before the foundation of the world was to make a new body of people on earth composed of both Jew and Gentile (Titus 1:2; Ephesians 3:5,6).
If you are not in the body of Christ today then you are not an heir. Obey the truth by believing in Jesus, turning from sin, confessing your faith and be baptized in water for the removal of all your sins. God will then add you to the church that is His kingdom and you will be one of God?s chosen people.