Grandma won't Save You

From the beginning God chose the Israelite nation to be His people. He chose them to be the people through whom Jesus would come. That means it is through them that salvation came to the planet. Therefore they are special. All that being said, it is not being an Israelite that saves you. Just because you are an Israelite doesn't mean you will be saved. This was (and still is) a common thought among the Jewish people. Paul makes a pretty convincing argument that not all of the Jews throughout the Old Testament were chosen by God, so why would we think that it is any different now? He pretty much sums it up by saying God can choose whoever He wants, because He is God.

As for the rest of us (who aren't Jewish), we were simply out of luck until Jesus came. Now we have the opportunity through faith in Jesus to be made right with God. However it is still easy for us to have the same entitlement mentality that the Jewish people Paul was writing to had. Many times we think because we come from a good family who has gone to church all their lives, and because we went to church when we were little that we are fine. Never mind that we have not made a single disciple in our lifetime! My grandma was a saint!

So what? Big deal. That has nothing to do with you. This is the message Paul is trying to get across in this passage. A relationship with God is now available to everyone, but it is based on what YOU are doing, and it has nothing to do with your family. For some of us that is a comforting thing, for others it is really scary. It means I need to take a look at my life, and find out if I'm really following Jesus, or if I'm relying on my family to get me to heaven. There is only one way into heaven, and it has nothing to do with my grandma.

Enjoy the Journey