Pray for Israel

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1, NKJV)

Upon reading the passage, You are also probably asking these same questions. “What will happen to the Israelites who believed in God but not in Jesus Christ?” Since they believed in the same God, won’t they be saved? They should be saved; aren’t they the chosen people of God?

If that were true, it would not be necessary for the Apostle Paul to desire and pray for the Israelites to have salvation. He would not have to work so hard and go through the persecutions (beating, stoning, imprisonment, etc.) and sacrifice so much to teach them about Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the complete revelation of God, and we cannot fully know God, the Father, apart from Him. God made Him our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). Since God appointed His son Jesus to reconcile and bring God and man together, we cannot come to God by another path (John 14:6). Therefore, like everyone else, the Israelites can only find salvation through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

So, just like the Apostle Paul, we should desire and hope that the Jewish people might be saved. We should constantly share the Gospel to them as well as to the whole world and pray for their salvation.

– Contributed by Ptr Neil Marlon Crisostomo