Are the Jews still God's chosen people?

from the old testament

• God made Israel a nation when He called Abraham in Genesis 12:1–3, establishing a covenant with him and promising to make his descendants a great nation (Genesis 12:2–3). The formal establishment of Israel as a nation occurred when God delivered the Israelites from Egypt through Moses and gave them the Law at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:5–6), marking the beginning of their covenant relationship as God's chosen people. The nation of Israel was further defined when God changed Jacob's name to Israel (Genesis 32:28), and through his twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Israel were formed (Genesis 35:10–12).
• The Jews are God’s chosen people forever. In Genesis 17:7–8, the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants was everlasting, promising them the land and His unending relationship with them. This covenant is reiterated to Isaac (Genesis 26:3) and Jacob (Genesis 28:13–14), establishing Israel as His chosen people for all generations.
• Exodus 19:5 says, "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine." In this key moment, God outlines the covenant He made with Israel at Mount Sinai. While the entire earth belongs to God, He chooses Israel to be His treasured possession, with the expectation that they will obey His commandments. Their obedience is essential to their identity and their role in God’s plan for the world.
• Israel was established as a nation to be God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6). He set them apart for Himself, not because of their greatness or worthiness, but because of His love and faithfulness to their ancestors (Deuteronomy 7:7–8). Israel's chosenness is not a privilege to be proud of, but a responsibility to live according to God's commands and reflect His holiness to the world.
• Deuteronomy 14:2 reiterates God’s covenant with Israel. It says: "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth." Israel was set apart to reflect God's character to the world.
• God’s choosing of Israel involves not only a declaration of His love but a calling to obedience (Deuteronomy 26:18) so that the world—all nations—may know who God is (Genesis 12; Exodus 19:5–6; Isaiah 42:6; 43:10).
• God reaffirms His choice of Israel in other places in Scripture (Psalm 135:4; Isaiah 41:8; 44:1–2; Amos 3:2). God chose Israel to reveal Himself to the world and to be a blessing to the nations through their example and the coming Messiah.
• God first promised the Messiah in Genesis 3:15, declaring that the offspring of the woman would crush the serpent’s head, foreshadowing Christ’s victory over sin and Satan. Through Abraham, God reaffirmed this promise, saying that all nations would be blessed through his offspring (Genesis 12:3), ultimately pointing to Jesus. The prophet Isaiah foretold the Messiah’s suffering and redemption, proclaiming that He would bear the sins of many and bring salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 53:5–6; Isaiah 49:6).
• The Bible speaks of Israel's future restoration. Jeremiah 31:35–37 indicates that as long as the sun, moon, and stars remain, so will God’s covenant with Israel.

from the new testament

• Romans 11:1–2 affirms that God has not rejected His people, Israel, despite their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. Paul, a Jew himself, emphasizes that God's promises to Israel are irrevocable (Romans 11:25–32). God's election of Israel remains part of His redemptive plan.
• Romans 9:4–5 reveals how God has worked through His chosen people. They received the covenants, the Law, and the promises, and they are the lineage from which the Messiah came. This Messiah, Jesus, brought salvation to the whole world, fulfilling God’s promise He made to Abraham to bless the whole world through him. Israel played, and plays, a major part in God’s plan of salvation.
• Throughout the New Testament, Israel is described as still having a unique role in God's redemptive plan. Romans 11:25–26 teaches that Israel's current rejection of Jesus as Messiah will remain “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” But “all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.’” Revelation 7 speaks of Jewish believers sealed by God during the end-times tribulation. Matthew 23:39 shows that Jesus anticipates a future time when Israel will recognize Him as the Messiah.
• In Romans 11:26–27, Paul quotes Old Testament prophecies of Israel’s ultimate salvation, indicating that God will restore His people in the fullness of time.
• Although the Jewish people as a whole have rejected the gospel and the Messiah, God's calling and gifts to Israel are irrevocable (Romans 11:28–29).

implications for today

God knew from the beginning that He would need to send the promised Savior (Genesis 3:15) to be born into the human race so He could save us from our spiritually dead condition (Ephesians 1—2). God’s intentionality of His plan of salvation can be seen from the very beginning. When He chose to make a nation out of a people who were not a nation, He had salvation in mind. From the beginning, He chose Israel to be a light and blessing to the nations and to use them to bring the Messiah into the world. History shows us how God has created, distinguished, and preserved the Jews. Jesus had to come from some nation or people, and God chose Israel to be that nation and people.

The Jews being God’s chosen people comes with a high responsibility. God called them to holy living so they would reflect God in His character and glory so the world would know Him. Israel was called to keep and preserve the Law (Joshua 22:5). They were called to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6), and they were called to bring “renown and praise and honor” to the Lord (Jeremiah 13:11, NIV).

We as believers are also called to live out the same high calling of holiness and to reflect God's character in our lives. Peter writes, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9–10). Paul says that no matter the ethnicity of a believer, “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). Ephesians 2 discusses the breaking of barriers between Jew and Gentile and their combined purpose when united in Christ. Just as Israel was chosen to be a light to the nations, we, as followers of Christ, are called to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13–16). Our lives should point others to God's goodness, truth, and love, and we are entrusted with the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of God's plan for the redemption of humanity. No matter our heritage, in Christ, we have a responsibility to live according to God's Word, to uphold His truth, and to make His name known among the nations (Matthew 28:18–20).

The reality that all believers are united in Christ and part of God’s unfolding redemptive plan does not negate God’s promises to Israel or His plans for them. In fact, it was always part of God’s plan (Ephesians 3:1–6). The existence of the Church is not the dissolution of Israel. The Jews are still God’s chosen people, and God's faithfulness to Israel remains. His covenant with them is irrevocable and will be fulfilled (Daniel 9:24–27; Revelation 20—22). Praise God that He is faithful to fulfill His good purposes and that all who trust in Him are invited to participate (John 15:15–17)!