In a previous blog, I wrote about the view that Paul, at the beginning of his ministry, was focused on the conversion of the Jewish people. According to that view, his apostleship initially did not differ from that of the Twelve, and the secret of the ecclesia, the body of Christ, was only revealed to him later.
Peter
On Pentecost, it is Peter who speaks on behalf of the Twelve and addresses Israel (Acts 2:14, 22, 36). If the people were to repent, the Messiah would establish His Kingdom worldwide through Israel. Also in Acts 3, at the healing of the paralytic at the Beautiful Gate, Peter addresses the people (:12) and calls out:
Acts 3
19 Therefore, reflect and repent, so that your sins may be wiped away, so that there will be periods of refreshing from the countenance of the Lord,
20 and He will send the Christ, Jesus, who is destined for you,
21 who must receive heaven, until the times of the restoration of all things, of which God has spoken through the mouth of His holy prophets…
The Jewish people had crucified and killed Jesus, but God raised Him up (:15). The door to the Kingdom was still open. If the people were to repent, the Messiah would return to establish His Kingdom over the whole earth through a believing Israel.
interim
That has not happened; the fulfillment lies in the future. In the interim, God is gathering a people from the nations for Himself (Acts 15:14). Because of Israel’s unbelief, salvation has gone to the nations (Acts 13:46; 28:28). That is Paul’s message.
some from Israel
But did Paul know this from the beginning of his calling? Or was it revealed to him later? Was he initially, like the Twelve, focused on the conversion of the Jewish people?
Paul gives the answer himself in an “early letter”:
Romans 11
13 And I speak to you, the nations: insofar as I am indeed an apostle to the nations, I glorify my ministry,
14 that I might, if possible, make my flesh jealous, and save some of them.
the glory of Paul’s ministry
Paul knew from the beginning that Israel would not repent as a people. It was precisely in this that he saw the glory of his ministry: making his people jealous and saving some. He also knew that one day all Israel would be saved (Rom. 11:25) and ultimately every Israelite (1 Tim. 4:10). But in this interim, in which the ecclesia is being gathered from the nations, it is about a few.
As an apostle, Paul was never focused on the conversion of Israel as a whole. He knew that this would not happen now. That was precisely why he was called as the apostle of the nations and why this stewardship was entrusted to him: to save some from Israel, to the glory of his ministry.