Introduction
Few theological issues today provoke as much discussion as the question of who constitutes the true “people of God.” In recent years, renewed interest in Christian Zionism and support for the modern nation-state of Israel has led many to affirm that national Israel remains God’s uniquely chosen people with distinct covenant promises yet to be fulfilled. According to this view, also known as dispensationalism, the land promises to Abraham and his descendants are everlasting and await full realization in ethnic Israel’s future restoration.
Others, however, contend that Scripture presents a more expansive and spiritual definition of God’s people—one that transcends ethnicity and geography. They argue that the covenant promises given to Abraham find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ and extend to all who share his faith, whether Jew or Gentile. From this perspective, the Church, as the body of believers united to Christ, is the continuation and fulfillment of God’s covenant community. This classic protestant view is espoused by the author.
In this brief article, I will present several Biblical phenomena that prove that the people of God were never defined solely by race or nationality but always by faith and covenant fidelity.
1. Old Testament Inclusion of Non-Jews
Throughout Israel’s earliest history, God welcomed Gentiles into Israel’s covenant community if they turned to Him in faith. Ruth the Moabite (Ruth 1:16; 4:13–22) became the great-grandmother of David, a foreigner grafted into the covenant line by her faith and loyalty to Israel’s God. Caleb the Kenizzite (Num 32:12; Josh 14:6–14), though originating from a Canaanite people, was counted among Judah because of his wholehearted trust in Yahweh. In Esther 8:17, after Haman’s downfall, “many among the peoples of the land [i.e. of the Persian Empire] became Jews”. While there is mixed scholarly opinion regarding the sincerity of this conversion, it shows that the covenant was administered in a way that allowed the inclusion of non-Jews who openly embraced Israel’s God.
These examples reveal that covenant inclusion depended not on ancestry but allegiance to Yahweh—anticipating the later gospel inclusion of all nations.
2. Covenant Conditions: Land and Seed
God’s promises to Abraham and his descendants were never unconditional in the sense of ignoring faith or obedience. The Old Testament itself sets conditions—both explicit and implicit—around the covenant blessings.
a. The Land Condition
The promise of land was central to God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 12:7; 15:18–21; 17:8). Yet Scripture repeatedly shows that the continued possession of the land depended on Israel’s covenant faithfulness. Moses warned the people that if they turned to idolatry and disobedience, they would be uprooted from the land:
“As the LORD delighted over you to prosper you and multiply you … you shall be plucked off the land which you are entering to possess” (Deut. 28:63–68)
Long after Moses, and on the brink of exile, God reminded Judah:
“…I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them…” (2 Ki 21:8)
b. The Seed Condition
Similarly, the promise of a “seed”—the offspring through whom all nations would be blessed (Gen. 12:3; 17:7)—was reaffirmed to Abraham in connection with his faith and obedience. After Abraham demonstrated his willingness to offer Isaac, God declared:
“… because you have done this and have not withheld your son… I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven… and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Gen. 22:16–18)
Thus, from the beginning, the covenant’s blessings were mediated conditionally through faith, not lineage.
3. The Faithful Remnant Principle
Throughout Israel’s history, God’s covenant promises have always been preserved through a faithful remnant rather than applied to the entire nation indiscriminately. This principle, rooted in the prophets, becomes a major theme in Romans 9–11, where Paul wrestles with Israel’s unbelief and God’s ongoing faithfulness to His covenant.
a. Romans 9:27 — The Prophetic Pattern
Paul begins by addressing why so many Israelites have rejected the Messiah. Quoting Isaiah 10:22–23, he writes: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved” (Rom. 9:27). In other words, physical descent from Abraham does not guarantee salvation; God has always preserved a smaller, believing subset within ethnic Israel. This principle, pervasive throughout Isaiah (1:9, 10:20-22, 11:11, 16), explains why Israel’s widespread unbelief does not mean God’s word has failed (Rom. 9:6). God’s saving purpose continues through those who, like Abraham, respond in faith.
b. Romans 11:5 — The Present Application
Moving forward, Paul applies this principle to his own day: “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace” (Rom. 11:5). Just as in Elijah’s time—when God preserved 7,000 who had not bowed to Baal—so now, within unbelieving Israel, God has preserved a faithful minority who believe in Christ. This “remnant” demonstrates that God’s covenant promises remain intact, even as many Israelites remain hardened (Rom. 11:7–10).
c. Romans 11:26 quoting Isaiah 59:20–21 — The Future Hope
Finally, Paul looks ahead to Israel’s ultimate restoration, citing Isaiah 59:20–21: “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.” When Paul writes, “And in this way all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26), he does not mean every ethnic Israelite without exception, but rather the fullness of God’s redeemed people, including a future turning of many ethnic Jews to Christ. The Isaiah quotation clarifies that the Redeemer comes specifically “to those who turn from transgression”—faithful, repentant believers. Thus, even in its eschatological sense, salvation remains tied to repentance and faith, not ethnicity.
4. Covenant Exclusion: Ethnic Israel’s Unbelief
A pattern of covenant exclusion begins in Genesis itself. God chose Isaac rather than Ishmael (Gen. 17:19–21), and later Jacob rather than Esau (Gen. 25:23; Mal. 1:2–3; Rom. 9:10–13). Though all were Abraham’s physical descendants, God Himself limited the covenant line, showing that His redemptive promises are governed by divine election, not ethnicity. Israel’s later conflict with the Ishmaelites and Edomites highlights this distinction within the offspring of Abraham.
In the New Testament, the pruning is even more granular, being within Israel itself. In John 8:39–47, Jesus tells certain Pharisees that though they are Abraham’s offspring physically, they are “children of the devil” because they reject the truth. This is echoed in Revelation 2:9, where such hypocrites “who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan”. Romans 11:17–21 describes unbelieving Jews as branches broken off from the covenant “olive tree,” while believing Gentiles are grafted in. Paul concludes that “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Rom 9:6), and that “a person is a Jew who is one inwardly” (Rom 2:29).
Thus, unbelief—not ethnicity—results in exclusion from God’s people.
5. New Testament Expansion of the Covenant
With the coming of Christ, the Abrahamic promises reach their fulfillment and universal scope.
a. The Land Promise
Paul reinterprets the land promise in cosmic terms. Abraham is made “heir of the world” (Rom 4:13). This inheritance now extends to “all who share the faith of Abraham” (Rom 4:16), showing that the geographical land of Canaan pointed to a greater, global inheritance realized in the new creation (cf. Matt 5:5; Heb 11:10, 16).
b. The Seed Promise
Paul also identifies the promised “seed” of Abraham as Christ (Gal 3:16). Therefore, “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29). All believers—Jew and Gentile alike—share equally in the Abrahamic covenant blessings through union with Christ.
6. The Prophets and the Mystery Revealed
The major prophets foresaw Gentile nations coming to Zion to worship the God of Israel (e.g., Isa 2:2–4; Mic 4:1–2), and even being called “my people” by God (Isa 19:23-25), yet in a way that is subservient (Isa 60:1-14). Paul, however, speaks of a gloriously revealed mystery – that the Gentiles wouldn’t be mere glorified servants of Israel, but “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph 3:6). They who were once “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise” are now “brought near” to these covenants as full participants (Eph 2:12,13). This explains the New Testament’s consistent application of the Jewish New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34) to the church (Mt 26:27-28, Heb 8:8-12, 10:16-17).
The Church, composed of believing Jews and Gentiles together, is thus the true continuation of God’s covenant people—a single, multiethnic people of faith.
Conclusion
From Ruth’s faith to Paul’s gospel, Scripture testifies that the “people of God” have never been defined solely by ethnicity or geography. Covenant blessings have always been contingent on faith and obedience, pointing ultimately to Christ. The true seed of Abraham is the community of believers—past, present, and future—who trust in the Redeemer and turn from transgression.
Secondary Sources:
- Christopher J.H. Wright, The Mission of God (IVP Academic, 2006).
- N.T. Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God (Fortress Press, 2013).
- G.K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology (Baker Academic, 2011).
- Michael Horton, God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology (Baker Books, 2006).
The Middle Ground 