If or Since… THEN!
“For we are his workmanship…” ~ the
Apostle Paul
“What God hath wrought!” ~ Alexander Graham Bell
"What hath God wrought?" ~ yours truly
"What hath God wrought?" ~ yours truly
Part 1 :: Since~!
If
you don’t believe Jesus is the divine Son of God His Father, and especially if
you oppose or defy “the idea” of such, you might not want to waste your time
reading this. But if you do, please read on. But you might not like what you
read as “the ideas” contained here are seen by some believers as an offense.
A
humorist once told this story:….. Henry Kissinger brought the finished
manuscript of his autobiography to a publisher. They were thrilled, but after
looking at it were fearful they would never publish it. They returned it to him
asking that he edit it down from 1500 pages to a more readable say 400 pages
give or take. They never thought he would or could do it. But they received it
back at 423 pages. Asked how he did it, Henry said, “It wasn’t that difficult.
I simply took out most all of the “I’s.” “I” have come to the conclusion
after my 65 years in life that narcissism is the sin of Satan full blown. Pride
was his sin at the first, and his opinion of his worth exceeded the truth of
that worth. So it is with fear and trembling that “I” write this piece.
I
am writing out of conviction, and if it is the truth of the (Convicting) Holy
Spirit… YOU must decide. If you are inclined to skip over the scriptures I
cite, you will have skipped the Writing of
writings, the revelation of the basis of everything, of life itself, of all
goodness and all things reasonable.
You
will find this writing perhaps repetitive, and the same ideas expressed more
than once or even twice. Someone said that to memorize a musical phrase the
musician needs to repeat it flawlessly 35 times. Then is becomes committed to
his/her memory. So this writing is both for you, and for me a continuing
exercise in the memorization of certain essential Biblical truths. If you wish
to skip my wordy writing, a very concise study: Jews, Gentiles, and
Christians by Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum can be found here: http://www.arielm.org/dcs/pdf/mbs007m.pdf
(and more valuable studies here: http://ariel.org/come-and-see.htm
God’s
plan was perfect before the beginning. Before God said “Let there be…” His plan
included the creation, the foreknown sins of satan and of Adam, and the remedy
by which God would save all who would and will believe His Gospel. The remedy
is the good news of salvation from everlasting destruction through faith by in
His Son Jesus the Christ. Some one preached a message: If the Vision is Big
Enough the Details Don’t Matter. The point? It is that if we study the
forest and the trees long and carefully enough we will see well enough to
remove the devil from the details and not defoliate the whole thing. God who is
True, Authoritative and unstoppable will complete His plan, that plan perfected
before the beginning and now being carried out in Time and History.
We
live now after the Time of the laying of the stone in Zion
Hebrews
1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many
ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created
the world. … Hebrews 2:1 ¶ Therefore we must pay much closer
attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels
proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just
retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we
neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it
was attested to us by those who heard, 4
while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles
and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
The
Power of God in the Messiah crucified and risen is the greatest power there is,
and yet that Power is most grossly underestimated and under appreciated by
mankind for whom it was exerted. God is offended by one thing more than any
other: that men and women don’t believe Him! Yet for all Israel
Paslm
78:
38 Yet he, being compassionate,
atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes and comes not again.
We
ought never to think that God is not offended by other things. He gave Moses
and the children of Israel
have
said “YES!”
Romans 1:20 …the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
The
God we cannot see, even the “invisible things of him” He reveals to all, so we
all are without excuse in our denying Him. What are the invisible things? I
think they (some) are His righteousness, His power, His holiness, and His
goodness. And importantly I believe God reveals that He has no beginning or
end.
Ecclesiastes
3: 11 He has made everything beautiful in
its time. Also, he has put eternity into
man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the
beginning to the end.
Hebrews
7:15 This becomes even more evident when
another priest [Jesus] arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest [our everlasting High Priest
forever] not on the basis of
a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible [endless]
life.
Since God is…
All
mankind, and even you who may have read this far in unbelief, are without
excuse for our ignorance. We ignore the teaching of the things God has made and
forget the invisible, eternal God who IS. But God in mercy comes calling out to
us:
Hebrews
1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many
ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son…
Psalm
19:
1
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their
voice is not heard.
…..
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting
the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing
the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for
ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea,
than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and
in keeping of them there is great reward.
12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou
me from secret faults.
13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous
sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall
be innocent from the great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation
of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Romans
1:20 …the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead;
Part 2a :: If~!
If
you are a believer… or since you are a believer…
Part 2b :: If~ à THEN~!!!
People
sometimes ask Christians, “What about people who never hear about Jesus”or “who
never read a Bible? Will they be saved?”
My
personal take is that God has not been unjust to any man or woman, but that He
has given each enough revelation of Himself and opportunity to all to believe
Him for salvation. THIS is not a doctrine of the church or of God, not that I
know of, and I may likely be wrong to believe it. Certainly God is never
unjust, of that we may be sure. But…
…what
about you? If you have read this far
you have heard at least something about Jesus. Have you heard about Him before this? Have you a Bible; have you
read it? I’m not one to say you are saved. I believe I’m saved, but God does have
the final word on ALL matters. Whom you believe and trust, and how you live
your life is not up to me.
I
trust God to keep the promises of Jesus made and made to me. Those promises are
not made only to me; they are made to many (if not all). Yet they are
conditional on our faith.
I
believe you will either benefit in the same way I do, or suffer the way all
unbelievers do. Most people don’t like this expression of assurance that
Christians present as absolute. A Bible teacher said: “The truth almost always
appears negative when it first appears.” The truth often reveals in us
something unpleasant in us. It is generally that we find we are not as is said
today: “all that and a bag of chips.” We are not what we thought we were. We
were wrong about this, that and/or the other. Simply having to admit we are
wrong is a thing that narcissistic humanity is loathe to do!
But
moving on presuming you are a believer, or that you are still interested in
reading…
Today
is “good Friday” 2015. Almost 2000 years ago “they” crucified Jesus. Who were they? For much of that same 2000
years much or some the gentile church has believed it was the Jews that killed
Christ. But here is a problem already. Why do I (dare to) use the phrase:
“gentile church?” Paul writes to the gentile believers in Ephesus
Ephesians
Ch. 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are
called in one hope of your calling; 5
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you
all.
Paul
writes to the believers in Colossae:
Colossians
1:13 He has delivered us from the domain
of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness
of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of all creation.
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven
and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
17 And he is before all things, and in him all
things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Jesus
is the head of the body. The body is the church. And there is one body, there
is one church. In the age we live in almost 2000 years after Jesus rose from
the dead we see on the earth many “churches” named. In the city I live there
are thousands of “churches.” But in Jerusalem
I
am sometimes asked “What church do you go to?” Not to be silly, or to be proud
I answer “You mean there is more than one?” Sometimes I answer “The one that
Jesus loves.” Why do I not say “The Seventh Baptist Church, Rev. A. B. Ceester
Founder.” ???
Because
if the person asking is a believer I want them to know they are my spiritual
sibling, not my doctrinal rival! And that is what Christendom has devolved into
today in too many cases: doctrinal competition.
Paul
received reports of factions in Corinth Ch. Ch.
17
Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not
for the better, but for the worse.
18 For first of all, when ye come together in
the church, I hear that there be divisions among you;
and I partly believe it.
19 For there must be also heresies
among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
Divisions
are schisms, and heresies are sects. The Greeks were known for their pursuit of
intellect and wisdom. But they were sinners. Sin has perhaps caused one thing
more than any other which causes most all human troubles: war. War doesn’t
happen without some small or large division of humanity, almost always as a
result of covetousness. Satan went to war coveting the authority of God to rule
and possess heaven. He though he knew better than God how to run heaven. And
after Adam sinned, Cain went to war with his brother Abel thinking to eliminate
Abel who some how had “outdone” him before God. Sin causes war. It causes
enmity in the most “humble” settings, between children over a toy or (and/or)
over the attention of their daddy. In that we are sinners we so often forget
that God is our FATHER, that God is good and just, and that what He says and
asks of us always works out for our good. Divisions like those in Corinth
v Yet a more disturbing division eclipsed the church in
those early times. It was the division of the very body Jesus came to form. It
was a body that resolved and removed the only really meaningful division in
human history, the division of the Jews from the rest of the world’s people.
God
is a giver. He is a giver because He is a lover. But God IS who He IS. He
cannot be another. He is who He is! When Moses was being oriented by God to
carry out God’s plan of the Exodus from Egypt, Moses proved to be very
insecure. God is not insecure.
Exodus
3:13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come
to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me
to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to
the people of Israel
God
gives to Himself a very powerful name: “I AM WHO I AM.” It is also written “I
AM THAT I AM.” By simple deduction we can say that God is who He is and is not
any other being. My dad was who he was, and he was not my uncle or my sister.
We can only be who we are. An angel can only be the angel it is. The pencil on
your desk can only be that pencil, it cannot be the pencil on my desk… barring
some miracle. Miracles did (do?) happen, yet the miracle of Moses rod is not the same as the
miracle of Aaron’s rod.
Reality
(a Greek word) and Truth (an Hebrew word) describe the nature of things as they
are. Sin has brought decay and death into this world. Sin is the child of
satan’s thought, but that thought is illegitimate. It is a real thought, and
produced real results, but thankfully those results could never overcome God,
or God’s thoughts, purposes and plans. God will do as He will and who will
oppose Him?
Yet
even those who believe in Jesus as Savior stumble over Jesus as Lord! A Lord is
(from Strong’s concordance): supreme in
authority, i.e. (as noun) controller; by implication, Mr. (as a respectful
title):— God, Lord, master, Sir.
That
we who name and claim Christ a Savior AND Lord are so divided in our belief and
in what we teach is clear evidence that we stumble over Jesus as Lord, as He
who is supreme in authority.
Jesus
came to bring us into everlasting Life, and as He says of Himself “I am the
Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” The
implications are huge: If we do not trust Jesus, we trust someone or something
else and that person or thing is NOT the Way, or the Truth or the Life, and by
that thing or person we CANNOT come to the Father!
We
should settle it right now that only Jesus who IS the Way, or the Truth and the
Life, and it IS He ALONE who can lead us to God. “For we are his workmanship…” wrote
the Apostle Paul.
“
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker:
For he is our God, And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his
hand. To–day, oh that ye would hear his voice!” The Psalmist (David?)
Yes!
God is our God. But He is our MAKER. Had He chosen not to make us… God owns us!
We need to see and believe and UNDERSTAND what that implies: that if we reject
his ownership we reject Him. Anything owned is owned. For a person to reject
its owner is for that person to steal itself from its owner. This kind of theft
is separation, it is divorce, division and is death. It is the death of the
relation of the owner to the person owned. If a husband rejects his OWN wife,
he rejects himself as her OWN husband.
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and
keep my covenant, then ye shall be a
peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
(Exo 19:5)
For thou art a holy
people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee (the children of Israel) to be a peculiar people unto himself,
above all the nations that are upon the earth.
(Deu 14:2)
For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his
peculiar treasure.
(Psa 135:4)
But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye
should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light:
(1Pe 2:9)
The Jews were God’s
choosing, yet God was not always their choosing! When Jesus came to bring the
New Covenant in His blood to the Jewish people, not all chose to believe Him
and receive Him as their Lord, Savior or Messiah. Yet He was all these.
John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Those who did receive Him
were the apostles, and certain other Jews, those who followed Him after He
began to preach and endured, those who arrived in the upper room and awaited
the promise Jesus had made: to be endued with power from on high.
If
I reject God as my own, and (shockingly?) God does allow me that choice, then
is God not free also to reject me as His own? We are deceived if we think we
can deny and disown God without consequence. And yet this is the end of man when
he discards God as owner. God’s chosen people were sinners, ALL have sinned,
and when God saw their frequent wicked condition He wanted to kill them all and
start over!
One
thing I have learned is that God wants His people to persevere in their faith
and relationship to Him (and each other) by the Gospel. If salvation were just
swallowing a pill, if it were just learning the alphabet or how to ride a
bicycle, we might not value it as the Gospel should be valued. We might not
honor God as He should be honored if His Gospel were just a bedtime story. Yet
I fear too many who name and claim Jesus treat His revelation of salvation by
the Gospel in such a small way. The more I learn about the Gospel the more
valuable it seems.
Perhaps
I should have stated this already: If you have a saving relationship with Jesus
the Messiah and do not believe the Old and New Testament to be God’s inspired
revelation and absolutely trustworthy, you are missing much. Why? Because some
other “revelation” will come along and seduce your mind and spirit to believe
in what God has not inspired. Is God not God? Is God not able to reveal
Himself? Is He not able to inspire men to write down His true words and
history? Is He not able to preserve the texts of those and keep them from being
altered by men? If your God is not able, then He is not God at all.
God’s
Bible is true. Jesus is the Truth. And Jesus is… (drum roll) ... Jewish. If you
are saved by God, it was a Jew who saved you. It was a Jew who took your sin to
the cross and received the punishment and death your sins had earned for you.
Jesus did was not conceived in the womb of an Italian or a Greek, or a German,
Japanese, Bolivian, Nigerian, South African, Norwegian, Iraqi or an Iranian.
Jesus was born of an Israeli woman of the house of Israel ’s
second King David, David of the tribe of Judah :
Judah the son of Jacob, Jacob also named Israel Judah
Seeing
that God chose to direct the course of human history as He did, we cannot at
all say to Him that He was in error by choosing this man Abraham, or any of his
sons, in particular Isaac, and making them distinct as Hebrews or Jews from
that time forward. The salvation of any gentiles is accomplished by Jesus the
Jew, a biological son of Mary. Jesus was the Word MADE FLESH, and it was Jewish
flesh of which Jesus was made. That is God’s doing. If you have a problem with
Jesus being a Jew, take it up with God. Rethink it. If you have a problem with
Jews in history or as a nation today, consider first that God put them through
a lot just by making them different than gentiles, second that your salvation
was a result of the faithfulness of at least some of these Jews, and third that
Jews are human and all of them have sinned except for the Son of God Jesus the
Jew. Jews are never more hated than by satan. Jews are the family tasked by God
to bring the Word of God into the world, Jesus being that Word. By the Jews God
also gave us (all, Jews and gentiles) the law, the prophets and the entire Old
Testament.
Chuck
Missler, a Bible teacher for more than 50 years has said that 5/6ths of the
Bible is about Israel Israel Israel Israel
God
called Abram and soon afterward renamed him Abraham. The story of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob begins in Genesis Ch. 12. This historic choice of God will
never end as Abraham and his descendants are a family even today, the family
and nation we call Israel Israel Israel is no more a nation (in spite of the
event of May 14, 1948) might be among those who say that the European colonists
in New World committed genocide against the
North and South American Natives. Yet Israel ’s
many enemies would commit genocide against Israel
What
is today called replacement theology, more benignly known as “Covenant
theology” has been around for at least 1600 years with roots reaching back to
Origen, a Christian writer, teacher, and theologian born in the late second
century CE. Known as an “early church father” (certainly Paul, Peter, James,
Jude, John, Matthew, and others were earlier fathers), Origen began to
allegorize the scriptures in a way which taught that the church is now
spiritual Israel
Simple
common sense, Biblical interpretation, history and archaeology teaches truly
that Israel is 1) the new name the angel of the Lord gave to Jacob, 2) the
family name of the 12 children of Jacob and their descendants, 3) the name
given to Canaan, the land God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all their
descendants, even that land today in which Jews, Christians, Muslims and
gentiles reside. Do the Jewish people have a future in that land? According to
God’s covenants 1) with Abraham, 2) with the children of Israel
Everything
God does is a part of His big picture plan to establish the people of God as
His own peculiar treasure. After Adam sinned almost everything up God did until
and including Jesus and the birth of the church is a response to the sin
problem. At Pentecost the apostles were baptized by the Holy Spirit and endued
with power from on High just as Jesus promised they would be. And from that
Pentecost in 30CE until Peter went to the gentile Cornelius in Joppa in 37 BC
we know of only two possible gentile believers, the “good” thief on the cross
beside the Lord and the Ethiopian eunuch whom Phillip taught the scriptures.
From sometime in 30CE to sometime in 37 CE the Church of Jesus Christ
Jesus
said to the Samaritan woman at well of Jacob, “Ye worship ye know not what: we
know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). Samaritans
were “half breeds” partly Jewish and partly gentiles. Yet here was Jesus
preaching to a non-Jew, even declaring Himself as the Messiah. She believed Him
and brought others to Him! The plan for the gentiles is seen in this and in
other events where Jesus interacted with non-Jews. But what is clear is that
God started something with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that continued through time
until Jesus was crucified, risen and ascended and continued through the birth
of the church and for seven years His plan concerned the Jewish people and
their Jewish Savior Jesus. In Joppa the plan of God “blossomed” for the
gentiles. Yet it was not until the council in Jerusalem
Acts
15: 5
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed,
saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the
law of Moses.
6 And the apostles and elders came together for
to consider of this matter.
7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter
rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while
ago God made choice among us, that
the Gentiles by my mouth should hear
the word of the gospel, and believe.
8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare
them witness, giving them [the gentiles]
the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
9 And [God]
put no difference between us [Jews] and
them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Peter
went on to note that those who would require the gentiles keep the law of Moses
were requiring something of them that they, the Jews were not even able to
bear.
Acts
15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to
put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we
were able to bear?
11 But we believe that through the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ we [Jews] shall
be saved, even as they [gentiles shall
be].
So
it is clear that there only one way of salvation, and this way of salvation is
the same for the gentile and the Jews. That is why Paul would write: “there is
neither Jew nor greek.” Paul also wrote there is neither male nor female,
showing that for males and females there is only one way of salvation. It is
senseless to say that male and female do not exist anymore, or that females
have now become spiritual male, or visa versa, or that there is now only one
new sexual gender. It is senseless to say that the relationships between men
and women have changed at all. The New Testament in fact emphasizes the
differences between men and women. Paul
also wrote there is neither bond nor free. Again this meaning the way of
salvation is the same for slave and freemen and for masters. God did not erase
the institution of slavery in the world. Again the New Testament gives wise
counsel to slaves and masters as to how they should now live in the gospel by
the Holy Spirit within the very real context of master slave relationships.
Slaves have not become masters, not even spiritual masters, nor have masters
become slaves. Masters might grant freedom to their slaves as a result of the
gospel, and slaves might gain their freedom by lawful means. And the gospel
since that time has led nations to outlaw slavery. If slavery is legal today in
some nation, faith and salvation of a slave will not free him or her from their
master, nor will the faith of a master place a legal requirement on a master to
free his or her slaves.
It
is seen in Paul’s letter to Ephesus that Jews and gentiles are by their faith in the same Savior joined together into
one body which he names the ONE NEW MAN. God receives Jews by their faith in
His Son Jesus. He receives gentiles by their faith in the same Jesus.
Ephesians
2: 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh,
called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made
in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from
Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once
were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself
is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the
dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed
in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might
reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the
hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace
to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to
the Father. 19 So then you are no longer
strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members
of the household of God, 20 built on
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the
cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole
structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22
In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the
Spirit.
The
body is one body, but the distinctions remain. In the New Covenant there are no
distinctions, BUT in these, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Land Covenant and the
Davidic Covenant the Jews are made certain promises that don’t extend to the
gentile believers. One such distinction can clearly be seen in this promise.
Matthew
19:27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Lo, we have left all, and followed
thee; what then shall we have?
28
And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man
shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jesus
spoke this to His chosen Apostles of whom there were no gentiles. He is
speaking of their role to come in the millennial Messianic Kingdom. It seems
presumptuous for gentiles to think they will share in this role. As one
Messianic Jew teaches, we believing gentiles are partakers with the believing
Jews but we are not “takers over.”
God
recognizes and rewards faith without regard to ethnicity, race, sex, social
status, legal status or criminal record! But in saving them God does not make
males into females or masters into slaves. Nor in saving them does God make
Jews into gentiles or gentiles into Jews. With regard to our spirits God saves
ALL, male, female, slaves, freemen and masters, and Jews and gentiles through
their faith by His grace. This is
certified by the decision of the Jerusalem council regarding circumcision for
gentiles. After hearing the whole matter, James, the acknowledged Prince (chief
leader) of the council set before them a plan of action:
Acts
15: 13 After they finished speaking,
James replied, “Brothers, listen to me.
14
Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a
people for his name.
15
And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 “‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that
has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the
Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my
name,
says the Lord, who makes these things
18 known from of old.’
19
Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who
turn to God,
20
but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from
sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
21
For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim
him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
22
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to
choose men from among them and send them to Antioch
23
with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to
the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch
and Syria and Cilicia , greetings.
24
Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you
with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,
25
it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send
them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26
men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27
We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same
things by word of mouth.
28
For it has seemed good to the Holy
Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these
requirements:
29
that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and
from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep
yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
The
decision was to not require the gentiles to be circumcised. In fact it was,
James said, the Holy Spirit who did not require that of Gentiles. The counsel
AND the Holy Spirit DID require ONLY these four things of them: that they
abstain from foods sacrificed to idols, from blood (as food), from the meat of
strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. Perhaps it seems a stretch but
wasn’t the Lord saying in effect to the gentiles, “you are saved through faith
as the Jews and in abstaining from these four things you will keep your
spiritual garments clean?”
[Note: James says to the counsel: “For
from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him,
for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” There are interesting
commentaries as to why James said this.]
Are
you a gentile believer, saved by the blood of the Lamb, not your own any longer
but bought with that precious price? If so, do not allow man to tell you that
you have become a Jew spiritually or otherwise. You were a spiritual being as a
gentile in unbelief, and it was satan’s spirit that ruled your mind and flesh.
When you saw/heard Jesus calling you to faith and repentance and said yes, your
spirit was regenerated in the Messiah and the Holy Spirit, you became a NEW
CREATION. What that will mean in heaven is not clearly known. But in this life
your faith saves you from hell, from the same hell that unbelieving Jews will
enter unless they repent in the faith of Jesus. You as a gentile are grafted
into the cultivated olive tree. Romans Ch.’s 9 to 11 make it plain, God has by
the blood of Jesus opened the way of salvation to you. He has make you gentiles
partakers, PARTNERS with His redeemed Jewish remnant, that remnant being the cultivated tree.
Romans 11:11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
Romans 11:11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
13
Now
I am speaking to you Gentiles.
Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in
order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15
For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their
acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits
is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive
shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of
the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember
it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you
will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is
true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast
through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare
the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and
the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness
to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut
off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be
grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were
cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature,
into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches,
be grafted back into their own olive tree.
God
has more to do with our salvation that we do. He is The One who makes the way
of salvation, apart from Him there is NO Savior!
Romans
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek [the gentiles].
Isaiah 43:11
I, even I, am Jehovah; and
besides me there is no saviour.
The
distinction between Jew and gentile has not disappeared either in the church or
in the world. The restoration of the land Israel (often mis-called Palestine) to the Jews for as their own homeland in 1948 certainly shows it to be so.
Do we think this event, this rebirth of a nation to be some anomaly, some
random act of men?
Isaiah
66:
8
Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall a land be born in
one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion
travailed, she brought forth her children.
9
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah: shall
I that cause to bring forth shut the womb? saith thy God.
What God starts He finishes! With
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob God started a family, a nation (a nation being itself a
large extended family) named Israel from whom the Messiah would be born in flesh
into the world. God didn’t choose an Italian or a Chinaman. It is worth noting
that He did choose Abram from Ur of the
Chaldees, and from a family/nation of idolaters. God chose Abraham to be the
man whose descendants through Isaac would be distinct from all other
family/nations. We should let God finish with the Jews. We should not, as many
wish to do today, even those who name and claim the Jew Jesus as their own, we
should not finish them the Jews off! As gentiles we need to submit to God’s
plan. Yet it is or should be obvious that God’s plan for the Jews and Israel is
not finished.
Unbelieving Jews and the nation of
Israel are under tremendous pressure today. The Islamic clerics (most) and the
radical Muslim terrorists are unabashed in their desire for and public calls
for the destruction of Jews and the possession of Israel by the caliphate. Muslims
are so fearful of their own political/religious leaders that they will n ot
oppose them in their evil desire and plans for Israel (and for the USA!). God
who allows a measure of pressure and condemns those who exceed that measure,
God who keeps Israel will bring Israel to faith.
The
distinctions God ordained for the Jewish people were not placed on them at the
same time. Abraham never was under the law of Moses. Moses never knew of God’s
covenant with the house of David. And the New Covenant was not enforce until
Jesus went back to heaven. Yet in Jeremiah Ch. 31 a most amazing thing is
prophesied: God declares the New Covenant to the children of Israel
Jeremiah
31:8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country
and gather them from the farthest
parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in
labor, together;
a great company, they shall return
here.
Here
they return from the north. Today Jews are returning to the land of Israel
from Russia Babylon
Jeremiah
31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares
the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and the
house of Judah
32 not like the covenant that I made with their
fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt
33 But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel
34 And no longer shall each one teach his
neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know
me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will
forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
As
can be seen by comparison the new covenant will not be at all like the Mosaic
covenant. The Mosaic Covenant was a covenant mediated between God and the
people by the Levitical priesthood. In the New Covenant God write His law on the
hearts of His people.
Jeremiah
31:35 ¶ Thus says the LORD,
who gives the sun for light by day
and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the
LORD of hosts is his name:
36 “If this fixed order departs
from before me, declares the LORD,
then shall the offspring of Israel
from being a nation before me forever.”
37 Thus
says the LORD:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
then I will cast off all the offspring
of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the LORD.”
In
Ch. 31:35-37 we have a
promise of God that surely shows God has a future which includes Israel USA Israel
God’s
commitment to Israel’s future is guided by His love for the patriarchs, for
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, the prophets,
right through to John the Baptist.
The
gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. God’s gifts to and callings for
the Jews are not always the same as His gifts and callings for the gentiles. Gentiles who declare that God has made them
spiritual Jews might be accused of identity theft.
Romans 11: 25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The
Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27
“and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
28 As regards the gospel, they are
enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake
of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received
mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient
in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For
God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
33
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36
For from him and through him and to
him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God
for salvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first and also
to the Greek.
The
prophesy of the Jewish New Covenant which God opened to Jews first and also to gentiles
by the blood of Jesus:
Jeremiah
30: 1 ¶
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write
in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.
3 For behold, days are coming, declares the
LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the
LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and
they shall take possession of it.”
4 These are the words that the LORD spoke
concerning Israel and Judah
5 “Thus says the LORD:
We have heard a cry of panic,
of terror, and no peace.
6 Ask now, and see,
can a man bear a child?
Why then do I see every man
with his hands on his stomach like a
woman in labor?
Why has every face turned pale?
7 Alas! That day is so great
there is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob;
yet he shall be saved out of it.
8 “And it shall come to pass in that day,
declares the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and
I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him.
9 But they shall serve the LORD their God and
David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10
¶ “Then fear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the LORD,
nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of
their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.
11 For I am with you to save you,
declares the LORD;
I will make a full end of all the nations
among whom I scattered you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
I will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you
unpunished.
12 “For thus says the LORD:
Your hurt is incurable,
and your wound is grievous.
13 There is none to uphold your cause,
no medicine for your wound,
no healing for you.
14 All your lovers have forgotten you;
they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,
the punishment of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
because your sins are flagrant.
15 Why do you cry out over your hurt?
Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
because your sins are flagrant,
I have done these things to you.
16 Therefore all who devour you shall be
devoured,
and all your foes, every one of them,
shall go into captivity;
those who plunder you shall be plundered,
and all who prey on you I will make a prey.
17 For I will restore health to you,
and your wounds I will heal,
declares the LORD,
because they have called you an outcast:
‘It is Zion
18
¶ “Thus says the LORD:
Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the
tents of Jacob
and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt on its mound,
and the palace shall stand where it
used to be.
19 Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
and the voices of those who celebrate.
I will multiply them, and they shall not be
few;
I will make them honored, and they
shall not be small.
20 Their children shall be as they were of old,
and their congregation shall be established
before me,
and I will punish all who oppress them.
21 Their prince shall be one of themselves;
their ruler shall come out from their
midst;
I will make him draw near, and he shall
approach me,
for who would dare of himself to
approach me?
declares the LORD.
22 And you shall be my people,
and I will be your God.”
23 Behold the storm of the LORD!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the
wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn
back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intentions of his mind.
In the latter days you will understand
this.
Jeremiah
31:1 “At that time, declares the LORD,
I will be the God of all the clans of Israel
2 Thus says the LORD:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel
3 the LORD appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my
faithfulness to you.
4 Again I will build you, and you shall be
built,
O virgin Israel
Again you shall adorn yourself with
tambourines
and shall go forth in the dance of the
merrymakers.
5 Again you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria
the planters shall plant
and shall enjoy the fruit.
6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will
call
in the hill country of Ephraim:
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion
to the LORD our God.”’
7 For thus says the LORD:
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the
nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘O LORD, save your people,
the remnant of Israel
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in
labor, together;
a great company, they shall return
here.
9 With weeping they shall come,
and with pleas for mercy I will lead
them back,
I will make them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall
not stumble,
for I am a father to Israel
and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10
¶ “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far
away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel
and will keep him as a shepherd keeps
his flock.’
11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from hands too strong
for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height
of Zion
and they shall be radiant over the
goodness of the LORD,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the
herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
and they shall languish no more.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the
dance,
and the young men and the old shall be
merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them
gladness for sorrow.
14 I will feast the soul of the priests with
abundance,
and my people shall be satisfied with my
goodness,
declares the LORD.”
15 Thus says the LORD:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her
children,
because they are no more.”
16 Thus says the LORD:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the LORD,
and they shall come back from the land
of the enemy.
17 There is hope for your future,
declares the LORD,
and your children shall come back to their
own country.
18
¶ I have heard Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was
disciplined,
like an untrained calf;
bring me back that I may be restored,
for you are the LORD my God.
19 For after I had turned away, I relented,
and after I was instructed, I slapped
my thigh;
I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
because I bore the disgrace of my
youth.’
20 Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the LORD.
21 “Set up road markers for yourself;
make yourself guideposts;
consider well the highway,
the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel
return to these your cities.
22 How long will you waver,
O faithless daughter?
For the LORD has created a new thing on the
earth:
a woman encircles a man.”
23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah
“‘The LORD bless you, O habitation of
righteousness,
O holy hill!’
24 And Judah
25 For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every
languishing soul I will replenish.”
26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was
pleasant to me.
27
¶ “Behold, the days are coming, declares
the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel
and the house of Judah
28 And it shall come to pass that as I have
watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring
harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD.
29 In those days they shall no longer say:
“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on
edge.’
30 But everyone shall die for his own sin. Each
man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the
LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah
32 not like the covenant that I made with their
fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt
33 But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel
34
And no longer shall each one teach his
neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know
me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will
forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
35
¶ Thus says the LORD,
who gives the sun for light by day
and the fixed order of the moon and the
stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves
roar—
the LORD of hosts is his name:
36 “If this fixed order departs
from before me, declares the LORD,
then shall the offspring of Israel
from being a nation before me forever.”
37 Thus says the LORD:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below
can be explored,
then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the LORD.”
38 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the
LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the tower of Hananel
39 And the measuring line shall go out farther,
straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah.
40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and the
ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the
Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be
uprooted or overthrown anymore forever.”
The
prophecy of the rebirth of the land of Israel:
Isaiah
66:
5
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hate
you, that cast you out for my name's sake, have said, Let Jehovah be glorified,
that we may see your joy; but it is they that shall be put to shame.
6
A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Jehovah
that rendereth recompense to his enemies.
7
Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was
delivered of a man-child.
8
Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall a land be born in
one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion
travailed, she brought forth her children.
9
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah: shall
I that cause to bring forth shut the womb? saith thy God.
10
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice
for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her;
11
that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye
may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.
12
For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and
the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck thereof;
ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees.
13
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be
comforted in Jerusalem.
14
And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall
flourish like the tender grass: and the hand of Jehovah shall be known toward
his servants; and he will have indignation against his enemies.
15
For, behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and his chariots shall be like the
whirlwind; to render his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of
fire.
16
For by fire will Jehovah execute judgment, and by his sword, upon all flesh;
and the slain of Jehovah shall be many.
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