You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
29 Is he [e] the God [theos] of the Jews [Ioudaios] only
[monon]? is he not [ouchi] also [de][kai] of the Gentiles [ethnos]?
Yes [nai], of the Gentiles [ethnos] also [kai]: KJV-Interlinear
29 Or is God
the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles
also, ESV
There are a number of religions or cults, that have adopted the false belief that they are the only ones who God has favored or selected or adopted as His.
But that whole system of belief is false.
God receives all who believe in Him, namely in Jesus Christ. No one is excluded, except that they themselves reject by means of unbelief.
The Jews of Pauls day had presumed that since God had chosen them as a race, or as His people, that they alone were the chosen.
But the real issue is that God chose based on faith, not on race.
Prior to Abraham, the Jews did not exist. In fact the term, Jew, did not exist until just a few centuries prior to the First Advent of Jesus.
Abraham was a gentile, as all people on planet earth were gentiles, as it were. But He believed in the one true God, crossed over the river heading to the promised planed as ordered by God, and that crossing over, from unbelief to belief, gained him a designation of Hebrew. The one who crosses over. And, even though He crossed over a river and some land, the real crossing was in faith.
These days there are many organizations that claim exclusivity with regard to God. Whether it is Islam or some of the more current religions or cults, it is all the same false principle.
Faith has always been the prerequisite of entrance into Gods favor, into Gods family, into Gods nation, and so forth. Entrance is and has always been open to everyone, excluding no one.
But there are those who claim some special favor with God, based on their membership rules, and they always tend to pick and choose who they will allow into their group, which is mostly a prejudice driven attitude of some type.
But Paul makes it clear, as does the Old Testament itself, that all are received by faith, that no one is rejected, unless they themselves choose to reject God. In which case God always allows each person to make and keep their choices. God only warns of the repercussions of unbelief.
