Without disregarding the uniqueness of ethnic Israel, Paul says of Gentiles, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people.’ . . . They shall be called children of the living God” (Rom 9:25-26). In other words, Gentile believers in Christ are “grafted into the olive tree” cultivated by God (Rom 11:17-24). Longtime outsiders are now members of the group!
