What is a summary of the Jews and Gentiles?
It depends on what you are asking. The New Testament has many
verses that discuss the Jews and the gentiles. The early church was
comprised of some pagans and a number of Jews who had come to
believe that Jesus was the messiah. There were some very real
questions in those early days about whether only Jewish believers
(Hebrew-Christians) were the authentic members of the church, and
whether the gentiles would be saved. Interestingly, in other
verses, addressed to Jews who did not accept Jesus, the question
was whether a person who remained Jewish and did not accept Jesus
could be a member of the new Christian faith. (The conclusion of
the church was that they could not; believing in Jesus was
essential to salvation, and anyone who did not accept him would not
be saved.)
The church ultimately rejected Jewish customs and practices like
keeping kosher or being circumcised, and moved away from its Jewish
roots; it instead decided that it would reach out to the gentiles,
since most Jews did not seem eager to embrace the new Christian
faith. Thus, there is a verse in Acts 11:17-19, which explains, "So
if God gave them [the gentiles] the same gift as those of us who
believed in the Lord Jesus Christ who was I to think that I could
stand in god's way?" When they heard this, they had no further
objections and praised God, saying, "So then, even to the Gentiles
God has granted repentance that leads to life."