Paul has been making the point that God has chosen the way of salvation and that is by faith. We already saw that previously the argument was made with Abraham, that righteousness was by faith.
Then in Romans 9 we read that God chose for his salvation to be revealed through the promised line, Ishmael, and not just by birth. Meaning that salvation was not just because of someone’s ethnicity within the Jewish line. Rather it was by faith.
Then we moved to the line of Jacob and Esau where the younger, Jacob, would be the chosen line, and not the older Esau. This was once again to show that it was through God’s choice and not through merely blood lines.
Next, we see how God chooses to highlight his power through his great patience to those who should be getting his wrath. He does those to reveal himself to the objects of his mercy.
And now we see that Gentiles are included in the faith. Once again, it isn’t just bloodlines, but those who are chosen by the ways of God. And God has chosen all to be included into his family through faith, which means Gentiles also. It was always this way. The Jewish people just missed it.
As indeed he says in Hosea,
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”
For us Gentiles, this is significant as we are included. But for the Jewish people, this is shocking. God’s way of salvation and being in His family are not about bloodlines, but about faith. The Jewish people have a significant role to play, but their bloodlines alone are not enough for salvation. It is the people who have faith in God that will be saved.