All... must believe on Jesus Christ as God's Promised Savior and in His death and resurrection, in order to receive remission of sins and be saved. That is regardless of one's nationality or birth.
Sure. Agreed.
The flesh cannot save, so even with the chosen seed of Israel which God blinded away from The Gospel, like Apostle Paul taught in Romans 11, once their spiritual blindness is removed by God, THEN... they also, like us, MUST make their choice to believe on Jesus of Nazareth as The Christ, or not. Only by belief on Jesus as The Christ can they be included in God's Salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.
Well, I wholeheartedly agree that the flesh cannot save, and spiritual blindness must be removed by God. But the latter is a
function/result of God's mercy and compassion, as Paul says in Romans 9:16. And God has mercy on whom He will, and compassion upon whom He will, as both Moses and Paul say (Romans 9:15,18). Yes, I agree that they must make their choice to believe on Jesus, but I would submit to you, Davy, that this belief is a
result of them having been included in God's salvation
because of His mercy/compassion upon them and the work in their hearts, the working of faith in them, by the Holy Spirit. Paul does not say that believers "can't or don't make a choice," but that their being among God's elect and receiving of His salvation
depends first on... something else. :) Paul also writes to the Philippians in this same vein, that
"...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." And He says to the Ephesians,
"God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ ~ by grace you have been saved ~ and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus... (f)or by grace you have been saved through faith... (a)nd this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast... (f)or we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Absolutely nothing in any of these passages denies that we can or do make a choice or that it is not necessary.
Hey, you may recall Jesus's conversation with some Jews gathered around Him at the Feast of Dedication in John 10. They said to Him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” And He said to them in reply, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,
but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep." Notice the order there, Davy. He did not say, "You are not among my sheep because you do not believe," but rather the reverse,
"You do not believe because you are not among My sheep." And He goes on to say,
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, Who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." So, the Jews He was speaking to
were not given to him by the Father, and therefore
never in His hand, otherwise they could not have been snatched away.
Do you see?
Grace and peace to you.