Mark 16:15

16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Romans 11:1-6

Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final

11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 11:3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are seeking my life!” ¹  11:4 But what was the divine response ²  to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand people ³  who have not bent the knee to Baal.” ⁴ 

11:5 So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 11:6 And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Ephesians 3:8

3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ⁵  – this grace was given, ⁶  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

[11:3]  ¹ sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:10, 14.

[11:4]  ² tn Grk “the revelation,” “the oracle.”

[11:4]  ³ tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it appears to be a generic usage (“people”) since when Paul speaks of a remnant of faithful Israelites (“the elect,” v. 7), he is not referring to males only. It can also be argued, however, that it refers only to adult males here (“men”), perhaps as representative of all the faithful left in Israel.

[11:4]  ⁴ sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:18.

[3:8]  ⁵ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

[3:8]  ⁶ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).