Are the Jewish people chosen/elected by G-d to be saved? If you answer they once were but G-d rejected them for the non-Jews where does that leave those who are elected now and replaced us? If you answer yes then are we saved, like you because we are/you are the elect?
I wish that I could say, �Yes! G-d has made a special way for Jews to be saved without believing in Y-shua.� Isn�t there a way for them to be saved without faith in Y-shua?
Certainly, each individual, Jew and Gentile, will have to stand before G-d on his or her own, and we cannot claim to know the fate of every human being. But of this we can be sure: G-d has not made a special covenant with the Jewish people that allows them to be saved without Y-shua. The testimony of the Scriptures is clear.
Why then do some Christians teach that Jews can be saved without believing in Y-shua? For some, it is primarily a sentimental issue. That is to say�in overly simplistic terms�they go to Israel, they see Jews praying at the Wailing Wall, they recognize that the Jews are the chosen people, they read about the church�s past persecution of the Jews�in the name of Y-shua no less�and they simply cannot imagine them being lost. After all, at certain times in history, it appears that the Jews have been far more righteous than the Christians! Isn�t it arrogant, then, to think that believers in Y-shua are saved while these righteous Jews are lost? The unspeakable tragedy of the Holocaust has also made it difficult for many Christians to believe that Jews who do not believe in Y-shua will not be saved.
Repeatedly in the book of Acts, the Jewish apostles shared the Good News with their people, and repeatedly their message was rejected by many of their people. Peter plainly stated to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish governing body, �Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved� (Acts 4:12 Paul too made himself clear when his people rejected the message of the Messiah: �We had to speak the word of G-d to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles� (Acts 13:46; this is basically how Acts ends; see Acts 28:16-31). That�s why Paul had �great sorrow and unceasing anguish� in his heart: so many of his people were not saved (see Romans 9:2), including those whom he said were �zealous for G-d, but their zeal is not based on knowledge� (Romans 10:2). In fact, it was for those very people that he prayed (see Romans 10:1), �Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from G-d and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to G-d�s righteousness� (Romans 10:3).
So, according to Paul, despite the religious zeal of the Jewish people, they failed to understand the gift of G-d�s righteousness and therefore �his heart�s desire and prayer to G-d for [them was] that they MAY be saved� (Romans 10:1).
Are the Jewish people chosen/elected by G-d to be saved? NO! Circumcision has always been of the heart -- not the flesh.
"For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. " Rom. 2:28-29
If you answer they once were but G-d rejected them for the non-Jews where does that leave those who are elected now and replaced us? The Jewish people were not ALL chosen/elected by G-d for salvation.
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Rom. 9:6-8
For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to ELECTION might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Rom. 9:11-13
If you answer yes then are we saved, like you because we are/you are the elect? The elect are those that are of the faith of Abraham of both Jews and Gentiles.
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith Gal. 3:6-9,14
The term "elect" means exactly what it sounds like. There's no need to import a philosophical concept into the text. The elect are those whom God has chosen for salvation. By nature, man is unable and unwilling to turn to Christ (cf. John 6:44; Rom. 8:7-8), making it impossible for any man to come unless God draws them to do so.
The bible grounds election in God's determinative purpose, and in His own good pleasure. It does not ground it in anything that we do or choose, present or future. On the contrary, the whole point is that we WON'T do anything pleasing to God (such as turn to Him in faith), UNLESS He draws us to do so.
The reason why this is a hotly debated issue is because the church today has lost sight of the reason Scripture gives us as to why God created in the first place. God did not create the universe for us. He created it to glorify Himself. Creation is a stage on which God has purposed to demonstrate Himself and all that He is. That includes both His grace and love, and His righteousness and justice. Hence, it was always God's INTENTION to save a people and judge others, for both acts serve to glorify all of who He is. This is the God-centered gospel. Many churches today preach a man-centered gospel that are more focused on what God does to help US than on what He is doing in creation to glorify HIMSELF. They fail to honor and worship God properly.
So the elect are those chosen by God for salvation, for the purpose of demonstrating His mercy. This does not include everyone. When Jesus was praying in the garden in John 17 just prior to going to give His sacrifice, He specifically SAYS that He does NOT pray for the whole world, but for those GIVEN to Him OUT OF the world. Those who despise the doctrine of election do not do so on the basis of biblical exegesis.
As to the OP's question, the true Israel is not national Israel. Romans 9:6. Israel, God's elect, are the children of the promise (all those who believe, both Jew and Gentile), not the Israelite people as a nation. Part of Paul's point in that chapter is to demonstrate that this has always been the case (which is why any interpretation, by the way, that claims that Romans 9 is not talking about individual election, entirely flips the point of Paul's argument on its head). Those who believe are the elect. But again, no one can believe unless they are drawn (and those drawn WILL come to believe - John 6:37, 44). So the elect are those God has chosen for salvation, and consequently brought to faith by the Spirit's work in their hearts, all to His own glory.
