Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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God turned from His Old Testament people when they rejected His Son and offered His grace to us Gentiles. Paul spoke of this in a letter to believers in Rome, using the figure of an olive tree (Israel) with some of its branches broken off so that we Gentiles (”wild olive trees”) might be grafted in with the natural branches. Then, to any of the Gentile believers who had drifted into pride because of their new status with God at the expense of the Jews, Paul wrote (to paraphrase him), “You will say then, ‘The branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ True. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be high-minded, but fear, for if God did not spare the natural branches, He might not spare you, either” (Rom. 11:19–21).
Beyond the Jews, we who have believed in Christ have no reason to look down on fallen angels either, for if we who belong to the Savior fall from grace, our spiritual condition will be worse even than theirs. “To whom much is given”, Jesus said, “shall much be required.” And we sons of God have been given more than any angel has ever been given; accordingly, we will be judged by a higher standard and are worthy of greater damnation if we prove to be unfaithful. If we fail to walk in the Spirit, fallen angels themselves will pity us and call us fools, and rightly so.
In short, we who have been called into the grace of Christ have no reason to boast of anything but the mercy and love of God. Jesus is what we boast of. Jesus is the reason we live. Jesus is our hero. “If any man boast,” wrote Paul, “let him boast in the Lord.” And anyone with good spiritual sense will practice that truth because he will feel it in his heart.