Choices

God desires that we choose Him over all else. This is reflected in the First and Greatest Commandment.

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. °This is the first and great commandment. °And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. °On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. — Matthew 22:37-40

In order to see whether you are truly dedicated to God and have a love of God, God set up alternatives to try your faith in Him; your love of Him. It is easy enough to feign fealty in God, while despising Him in your heart.

He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. — Mark 7:6

People down through history have fashioned idols for themselves; gods made in the image of man, in defiance of God. Some idols however are more subtle, and more insidious.

Would it surprise you that God Himself set up an idol in order to see whether the Hebrews would follow Him, even as did Abraham and the Patriarchs? That God set up an idol; a false god in order to test the Hebrews that came long after Abraham and the Patriarchs, even as God set up two trees in the garden of Eden to test Adam and Eve?

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. — Matthew 6:24

Jesus stated that the Pharisees, who kept the law and administered the law, hated Him. And not just hated Him but also the Father in Heaven. Their hatred of Him was so great, they ignored the weightier matters of the law in order to use the law as the means of condemning Him. Jesus even cited Scripture to this effect.

But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. — John 15:25

Who was their “master” then in this scenario? They claimed to serve God, but they had another master they obeyed.

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. — Matthew 6:24

Mammon is often understood to mean “wealth” but like most words, there are nuances of meaning and understanding. It is wealth that one depends on; trusts, so that their wealth provides for them, and they rely on their wealth; not God.

The Pharisees of the Sanhedrin gave God lip service, whereas their hearts were far from Him. Their hearts, minds, and souls were focused on their place in Jewish society; their status; their condition in relation to Jewish culture. To now embrace God Incarnate was to effectively destroy everything they had worked for to get to where they were. Notice then the parallel with the wealthy man who came to Jesus and asked, “What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

Jesus reminds Him that only God is good, but that what he could do would be to keep the commandments, which, in the narrative that follows, it is established for the reader to see that he was unwilling to actually keep the Two Great Commandments written in the law.

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. °But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. — Matthew 19:21-22

He had another god besides God. He had another master; mammon. His wealth and his reliance on his wealth, that he placed above following God and above showing any real love for his “neighbors” who were the poor. Jesus was saying to him to abandon his treasure on earth for the treasure of heaven.

But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. — Luke 11:42

They had an almost fanatic dedication to the law; the works of the law such as tithing, while passing over; ignoring, judgment and the [a] love of God. The law; their ‘cherry-picked’ law was what they were dedicated to. They were dedicated to the works of the law that presented them before the people their dedication to the law, sans judgment, mercy, and faith; the “weightier matters of the law.”

Jesus said they hated Him without a cause; a just cause. They twisted judgment / justice in order to condemn Him using the law as the means to do so.

Notice a modern equivalent, where Sabbatarian Adventists judge and condemn others for worshiping on a day other than their sabbath, specifically “Sundays” according to the name given the first day of the week in the Roman / Gregorian calendar, where there is no precedent in either Christianity or the law of the old covenant to do so. It follows a series of non-biblical associations conjured out of thin air in order to give their condemnation the air of legitimacy. There is no justice; there is no mercy; there is no faith. Just a cold, calculated condemnation for not following them and their idol that they have set up in their minds, hearts, and souls.

The choice is still there, where an apparently ‘legitimate’ other god; an idol engraven in stone was presented to the faithless, unbelieving Hebrews that they embraced wholeheartedly; a law they never kept, resulting in their condemnation, in accordance with that law. They sinned another, greater sin, violating the First and foremost commandment in the law.

Take special note that this commandment finds exclusion in the Adventist law based solely on the Decalogue, claimed to be ‘moral’ law to the exclusion of all other commandments in the law, deemed ‘ceremonial’ by them and other Sabbatarian churches.

They love the law. In Worldwide, there was even a hymn about this theme: “O How Love I Thy Law” with a statement to that effect in the Psalms. Ironic then that the same people had little love of God, if any, for they place the law above God, claiming that even Christ Jesus; God Incarnate, was subject to it.

The very concept of having a total dedication to God without the law is anathema, and where those same people do not see the inconsistency and cognitive dissonance with their belief; claiming a singular love of God AND a love of the law, serving two masters.

Jesus came to reveal the faith that was being established by Him where the Hebrews were held captive under the law UNTIL this revelation. Jesus gave the people HIS commandments which He even contrasted to old covenant commandments such as what you can read in Matthew chapter 5. And yet, people will read that and still conclude the old covenant commandments are not only still relevant, they claim them to be Jesus’ commandments.

The choice is either Jesus, following Him and abiding by what He said, as recorded by the apostles and Luke, or what Moses recorded in the book of the law of God, specifically affecting the Hebrews who had already demonstrated a faithlessness and disbelief in what all God spoke to them prior to the giving of the law; a blood covenant law that condemned them all as a result.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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The Two Trees

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil images the way of qualifying through our own efforts under the law. The Tree of Life images Jesus and total reliance on His merits that come to us by faith alone. Yet, some still insist the law is the path to life. It is a path, sure enough, but not to anything good.

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This topic has been staring everyone in the face now for millennia. It is right there in the earliest commentary of Genesis, in plain sight, overlooked, ignored by generations. Recorded and presented through typology regarding perhaps the greatest deception that exists. It is the contrast between law and faith. A law of faith versus a law whose fruit is death. All represented by two trees in the garden of Eden.

There was a tree of Life and a tree of death, curiously titled 'The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil'. No one seems to ask the important questions:
“What does this tree represent, topologically”
“What does the other Tree of Life represent?”

"How is it, after God’s explicit command that Adam and Eve must not eat of its fruit or even so much as touch the tree, did they so readily decide to do so?"

(Matthew 13:35)  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

(Revelation 13:8) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the dragon; v4], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The sin of Adam and Eve was reflected, through typology, by their nakedness and unwillingness to come before God. God in turn covered their nakedness with the skins of animals. Dwell a moment on that. Animals were sacrificed in order to ‘cover their sins’ even as the sacrifices in the law were a temporary covering of sins that could not forgive sins. This was a form of a “stay of execution”; a temporary respite from the death penalty imposed on them for having disobeyed God - but with one interesting departure which carnal people overlook: their motive for having partaken of that tree and its forbidden fruit.

This is not to overlook what God said regarding how they would, in the day they partook of that fruit, they would die, for there was indeed a death; a spiritual death.

(Ephesians 2:1-6) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

The choice between the two trees is the same choice today, between the law, represented by that tree of death, and faith in the author of Life, represented by that Tree of Life. Access to the Tree of Life had been cut off, which was the price of disobeying God and abandoning faith in Him, but access is now being reopened as a result of the perfect sacrifice for sin and man’s reconciliation with God.

How do you get people to choose that which condemns over that which saves from condemnation? This question - and an observation of what happened in Eden, and what happened at Sinai, and what happened when Jesus arrived, and what presently happens today - is a testament to just how susceptible mankind is to deceptions. For there could hardly be a broader spectrum between the law that kills - the law that produces wrath; the law that makes all guilty before God - and the God Himself that rescues mankind from the ravages of his own sins, and from the law they embrace which condemns them to death for their sins, due to the wiles of that serpent, the devil.

Why do people still choose the law? Why do people still opt for the law that admittedly condemns sinners, where all have sinned?

They, like Eve, were convinced there was something to be gained by partaking of that fruit of the tree that represents the law, and it boils down to ego… a desire to sate the flesh and mind. It is like a rat-trap with pride as the bait. In order to acquire what is offered, all you have to do is not set off the trap; don’t sin! But we have all sinned already. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. With no concept of the pervasiveness of sin that encompasses the fleshly desires of the mind which, being a carnal mind, desires to elevate the self above others; to gain bragging rights that glorify the self, while castigating others who do not measure up to their elevated status; vainly imagining they are something to look up to and that they can and have achieved their lofty status based on their own efforts and merits. So strong is the pull of the flesh and mind that they are willing to risk the death demanded by the law against sinners, where they raise themselves up as having conquered sin by "keeping" the law so as to qualify for a greater position, role, and status in the kingdom of God.

There is a glorification of the self, not unlike what God revealed to be the sin of Satan, who sought to elevate himself and be like God is God. Law-keeping is an attempt to do the same; to elevate the self; to become “perfect” and sinless as a result of your own efforts. And like the devil, they seek to try and convince others to join them in their vain attempt at transforming themselves into superior beings. Wouldn’t it be ironic if a third of mankind followed this path to their own destruction.

The law is designed to ‘weed out’ those with a love of their own selves and a hatred of others that refuse to do as they do. The Pharisees and other ‘religious people’ of Israel hated Jesus and the Father in heaven, replacing their dedication to God with a dedication to law; viewing the law as ‘giving them an advantage’ they otherwise would not have among men. They saw it as a pathway to being superior to others, and the bragging rights that goes with it. God is relegated to the back pocket, to be presented whenever they need forgiveness for failing miserably at the game of law-keeping.

(John 7:49) But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

This was the view of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin - that no one knew the law like they did, and the ignorant masses were accursed. Those following the very Lawgiver “didn’t know the law” and didn’t keep the law according to their dictates and interpretations. The ignorant didn’t keep the law and were cursed as a result, and it was their job as the administrators of the law to see they were punished. They thought they knew the law - they thought they were the law - yet they neglected the weightier matters of the law.

It isn't those who are unfamiliar with the law who are cursed, it's those who don't understand the Messiah.

How is the behavior of the Pharisees any different than the condemnation you see spewed out by Adventists and other Sabbatarians, like Armstrongism, against those who have left their groups and headed out the exits? They discovered "keeping" the law was not following Christ Jesus; the Way, the Truth, and the “Tree of Life”.

Also see:
Two Trees - Two Covenants

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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Dead To Sin; Dead To The Law

When we are crucified with Christ Jesus, we are dead to sin and dead to the law which empowers sin. How can those things hold power over us any longer?

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The legalists among us, that includes Sabbatarian legalists, are quick to charge others who refuse their interpretation of sin with being antinomian… against law.

It would almost be funny if it were not so incredibly pathetic.

These same people who claim to be followers of the law - obedient to God through the law - sanitize the law into something unrecognizable to the law; making a new version of the law which they see as “do-able.”

(Romans 3:23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

(Romans 5:12) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Deciding to keep the law, especially the truncated versions created by modern day legalists and Sabbatarians, does not undo one’s guilt, once guilt is established. Nowhere does scripture state or indicate that just deciding to keep the law absolves you of sin. There is a price to pay for sins, and that price is your death.

(Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The law requires a death due to sin. In order for God to justly give you that gift of eternal life - to rescue you from the clutches of sin, whose power to condemn you to death comes from the law - God had to transfer your guilt and your condemnation prescribed by the law to another, which happened to be God Himself in the personage of Jesus Christ who was God Incarnate. He took your death upon Himself.

(Isaiah 53:4-9) Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Do not neglect to read this, even if you believe you already know it; even if you have read it a thousand times before. Make this fresh in your mind.

The penalty for sin is death. You have sinned. The power for sin to demand death comes from the law. The law demands your death. Christ Jesus stepped in to pay your debt to sin, prescribed by the law, with His own death.

Perhaps the greatest insult you can make towards God is to make light of His sacrifice for you. Consider the agony, torture, and ridicule He was put through in order to accomplish that for you while you were still an enemy of God.

For the legalist and Sabbatarian conclude they should "keep" the law which they were taught defines sin, citing 1 John 3:4 partially, in an early English translation that does not reflect the Greek it was originally written in. The law does not create sin, per se. It condemns the sinner.

Sin is not some item you can put in a small box and store away; that box to many being the Decalogue; the Ten Commandments located IN the law.

We are born sinners. We start out life the children of Adam.

(Romans 5:17-21) For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christ removes you from the condemnation of sin and the law that gave strength to sin. This is one of the great truths of Scripture that people are deceived over, so that they choose to place themselves back under the law, which can only result in coming back under its condemnation.

Christians are dead to sin (Romans 6:2).

Christians are dead to the law (Romans 7:4; Galatians 2:19).

Christians are dead to sin and the law because their debt to sin, prescribed by the law, has been  paid by another, resulting in them being LEGALLY dead to the law and sin, as though they themselves had paid the debt owed the law. If you are dead to sin, the law can no longer empower sin. The law can never require you to die, again, to the law. Sin has lost its power. The believer is forever dead to sin and dead to the law, yet now alive to God.

(Galatians 2:19) For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 

(Romans 7:4) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

No one could bring forth fruit unto God while under the law; subject to the law. The only fruit you bring forth by and through the law is death; the fruit of the law; the just result of the law, always.

(Romans 4:15) Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

You could just as easily word this to say and mean the law produces wrath, like a plant produces it yield. The natural produce of plants is crops, and the natural produce of the law is wrath; a death sentence. The law “produces” nothing else. It does not produce life. If it did…

(Galatians 3:21) Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

I know that many will read this and conclude I am just using clever argumentation to fool them, to deceive them, when in fact you have already been fooled and deceived into believing lies because, deep down inside of their carnal souls, their heart of stone, your teachers have no real love of truth, and those with no love of truth are further condemned as a result (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). They have taught you a lie, and you believe a lie that you think is of benefit to you, and that lie which they have taught you is  that law is the answer -- that law-keeping is the obedience God wants of you, that you are still under the power of the law, and that law defeats sin rather than empowers it; that the law which you don't really keep will result in blessings and avoid the curses that come because of sin, such as the sin of unbelief where you insult God Himself, claiming He didn’t truly and completely remove believers from the law and the condemnation inherent within it.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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What About the Gentiles? - Part II

Some say the Covenants and the Savior were for Israel only. This series explores one of the Bible's biggest themes: how God called Israel to reclaim all people through Jesus Christ. Along the way, we'll ask what that means for the covenants, the law, the Gentiles, and Israel itself.

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I've seen it thrown at Christians many times in the past, by a very small but vocal minority, that the Biblical covenants were made with Israel only. The conclusion we are supposed to reach form this is: therefore Gentiles are rejected unless they become Jews first in order to become Christians. (Or, to be more precise, unless they become like the people who are making these kinds of accusations.) And so we end up hearing questions like, "Is Jesus the Messiah of the Gentiles?" and "Are the Gentiles even called?"

In the last post, we went over the backstory to see why the world needed reclamation in the first place. We found the Bible story is all one big loop. And it turns out, we owe quite a bit of thanks to God for what He accomplished through Israel to bring Jesus Christ to us, and through Jesus to draw us back to Him. He wanted it so badly that He was willing to die for it.
In this post, we are going to look at the Bible verses throughout the Old Testament and the New which predict the reclamation of the Gentiles.

The challenge we set for ourselves is, we have to do this post without relying on Paul. And so we shall.

The next section is going to be verse-heavy. I am going to try to make this as easy for everyone as possible. I will put a few lists of verses for you to check out later on. Don't feel obligated to read these now (unless you really want to). This is a handy place to keep these for when you're ready. After that, I have chosen a few select verses which really emphasize the points we are trying to get at.

FOUNDATIONS

Let's get started with the Old Testament first.

OLD TESTAMENT

Here are two lists of verses about the inclusion of the Gentiles:

Universal worship for the nations:
GEN. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14.
PSA. 22:27-28; 67:2-7; 72:17; 86:9; 96:3, 7-10; 98:2-3; 102:15; 117:1.
ISA. 2:2-4; 11:10; 25:6-8; 40:5, 22; 42:1-4; 45:22-23; 49:6; 52:10; 60:1-3; 62:2; 66:18-19.
JER. 4:2; 16:19; 3:17.
DAN. 7:14.
MIC. 4:1-3.
HAB. 2:14.
ZEP. 2:11; 3:9-10.
ZEC. 8:20-23; 9:9-10; 14:16.
HOS. 2:23
MAL. 1:11.

Inclusion of Gentiles into redemption:
GEN. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14.
DEU. 32:43.
ISA. 11:10-12; 19:23-25; 42:6; 49:6; 56:3-8; 66:19-21.
JER. 12:14-17.
AMO. 9:11-12.
ZEC. 2:11.
ZEP. 3:9-10.

And now, I have chosen some interesting selections for you.

(GEN. 12:3b) [speaking of Abraham] And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

(GEN. 22:18) [speaking of Abraham] In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.

(PSA. 67:1-7) 1 God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah. 2 That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. 3  Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. 4 Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth. Selah. 5 Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. 6 Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. 7 God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

(ISA. 19:23-25) 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

(ISA. 42:1,6) [speaking of Jesus (MAT. 12:17; LUK. 2:32)] 1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; ... 6 He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles.

(AMO. 9:11-12) 11 “On that day I will raise up the  tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; 12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” says the Lord who does this thing.

(ZEC. 2:10-11) 10 “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” says the Lord. 11 “Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.

(ZEP. 3:9) “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord.

This is perhaps my favorite selection of all:

(ISA. 49:6) [speaking of the Jesus and the Apostles (ACT. 13:47)] Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’

Does that sound to you like the Gentiles are not saved? Doesn't sound like that to me.
The prooftexts from the first post were not by any means the only material we have on this subject. Reading the Bible did get us a bigger picture after all. The reclamation and salvation of the Gentiles was prophesied in the Old Testament. They were to become His people and be called by His name. It was to happen through the Messiah. The prophets and writers expected it. They waited and hoped for it.
What are people going to do now, rip out Isaiah, Zechariah, the Psalms, and Abraham from their Bibles?

Now, let's look at this from the New Testament.

NEW TESTAMENT

Here is a list of verses about the inclusion of the Gentiles:

MAT. 5:14-16; 8:11–12; 12:18–21; 21:43; 26:28; 28:19.
MAR. 11:17; 14:24.
LUK. 2:32; 3:6; 24:47.
JON. 1:29; 3:16-17; 4:42; 8:12; 95; 10:16; 12:32.
ACT. 1:8; 10–11 (all); 15 (all); 21:25; 28:28.
I PET. 2:9–10.
REV. 5:9; 7:9; 14:16; 15:4; 22:2.

And now, I have chosen some interesting selections for you.

(MAT. 2:28)  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

(MAT. 28:19) [Jesus giving commission to the Apostles] Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

(LUK. 2:29-32) [Simeon speaking about Jesus] 29 “Now, Lord, You are letting Your bond-servant depart in peace, according to Your word; 30 for my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 which You have prepared in the presence of all the peoples: 32 A light for revelation for the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

(LUK. 24:45-47) [Jesus, after His resurrection, to the Apostles] 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, “So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

(ACT. 10:34-35, 42-45) [Peter to Cornelius] 34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. ... 42 And He ordered us to preach to the people, and to testify solemnly that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify of Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. 45 All the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles.

(I JON. 4: 14) And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.

(REV. 5:9) And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation.

(REV. 21:24-26) 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; 26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;

The New Testament did not invent this. What was predicted in the Old is fulfilled in the New. At the exact same time as God set His mind to reject the Gentiles and build Israel, God planned and promised salvation, forgiveness, justice, and regathering for all the peoples of the earth, both Jew and Gentile. That promise has been fulfilled. By Sabbaths and meats? No. In the person of Jesus Christ by faith. Before He died, while it was yet in the Old Covenant period, He told His Apostles to go to the Jews only. After His death and the coming of the New Covenant, the orders He gave them were very different. He sent the Apostles to spread the good news to the ends of the earth - starting at Jerusalem. Because it was time. "To the Jew first, and then to the Gentile." And even to us. As Jesus said, "for many."

CIRCLING BACK

Everything in these two posts tell the same story. What was predicted in Eden has come to pass. What was broken at Babel is now healed. The Gentiles who were disinherited are now reclaimed. He who was not our God is again our God. We who were not His people are again His people. Jesus is the Savior of all mankind, everyone who believes in Him, to the glory of God the Father, so the entire earth can be filled with the knowledge of God (HAB. 2:14).

How can anyone look at this and still wonder if the Gentiles are included in the New Covenant? Because the Jesus never says the exact phrase "The New Covenant hereby includes the Gentiles"?? Did Jesus not say His blood is the New Covenant, shed for many for the remission of sins? Did Jesus Himself not say that He has cleansed the Gentiles? And did Peter not say the Gentiles who believe in Him have remission of sins? How can that happen without His blood, which is the blood of the New Covenant? It is a miserable, desperate argument to dismiss a thing only because it isn't worded a certain way.

But this is where the Gentile needs an extra helping of humility and thankfulness. God was not required do any of this. We certainly did not get here on our own. Thank God we were reclaimed from that hopeless condition ...by the Messiah who came through Israel from Abraham. Glad you are saved by faith in the Messiah? Consider thanking a Jew for Israel's part in the coming of the Messiah.

PAUL

Notice something. We have now gone from Abraham, through Moses, the Psalms, Isaiah, Amos, Zechariah, the Gospels, Acts, Hebrews, and Revelation... without needing Paul. 

Only after establishing all of this would we need to mention Paul. Paul didn't invent the inclusion of the Gentiles. He plainly says as much (GAL. 3:8). Notice that the narrative about Cornelius, the first Gentile to receive the Holy Spirit, technically begins in the same chapter of Acts where Saul is converted (ACT. 9). You can't blame that on Paul! By now, we've long since demonstrated the point: Paul did not invent Gentile inclusion. All he did was read his scriptures. He is one witness among many to a plan that runs from Eden to the New Jerusalem.

I ask, do some people reject Paul because he preached something contrary to the Bible, or does the Bible itself teach something contrary to these people's own narrative and agenda? Hopefully you can plainly see the answer for yourself. So, which should we reject?

(II PET. 3:16) as also in all [Paul's] epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

Now, let's include Paul into the mix --

In Jesus, the blessings promised to and through Abraham have come. Abraham is the father of us all (ROM. 4:13-16), spiritually speaking, through our joining to Jesus (GAL.3:14), the rightful heir of the promises and the one through whom all the promises come. Gentiles are no longer required to join the physical nation of Israel in order to join the covenant. Instead, we all - Jew and Gentile - join Jesus, the true Israel of God. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches (JON. 15:5; ROM. 11:17-24). Gentiles are grafted into this "olive tree", as Paul metaphorically puts it. The two peoples are made one (EPH. 2:14-18). In Him, we are no longer what we were, but a new creation (GAL. 6:15; II COR. 5:17; REV. 21:5). We are born again (JON. 3: 3-8; I PET. 1:22-23; II COR. 5:16-17; TIT. 3:5).

Remember this from the last post? All mankind → Abraham → Isaac.  Abraham → Messiah → All mankind.
Now, read Galatians 3:7-9.

It all fits together.

CONCLUSION

What have we seen about Jesus saving the Gentiles?

1. The Old Testament promises it (the list of prophetic passages).
2. Jesus announces it and commands it (the Gospels).
3. Luke records it happening (Acts, especially Cornelius and the Jerusalem Council).
4. Peter and John affirm it (1 Peter 2; I John 4).
5. Revelation shows its consummation (especially the vision of every nation worshiping God).
6. Paul preaches it (reframing everything in the light of Christ).

Were the Covenants (plural) made with Israel? Yes.
Is Jesus the Savior of the Gentiles? Yes.
Is the New Covenant extended to the Gentiles? Yes.
Do we need Paul to demonstrate this? No.

I put six verses in the first post to build the case against Gentile inclusion. There is so much more to this than just, "Here is a verse about the Covenants being made with Israel, so how can the Gentiles be saved?" For the people who say the Gentiles are not reclaimed, or that Jesus is not the Savior of the Gentiles, I say try reading the whole Bible. It explains everything.

Does any of this mean Israel is now rejected the way the Gentiles once were? No!! Israel is not at all rejected. The two have been made one. Of course we still need Israel. Israel is not abandoned now that the Gentiles are reclaimed. Israel was the first one invited into the New Covenant. Gentile inclusion does not lessen what was done through Israel, it fills it up. And, by the way, believing Jews don't need to stop being who they are in order to join.

But that is for another article.

I leave you with a prayer, dear reader and beloved by God. I pray the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ looks on you with mercy and love and opens your heart to the wonderful story of salvation, which is for all peoples, and was thousands of years in the making. And that in this salvation, achieved and secured by Jesus Christ for all of us who believe, you find true rest.

(PSA. 40:9-10) 9 I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord, You Yourself know. 10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.

To help you move forward, I suggest these articles:
Once And Future Kingdom - Part I
Once And Future Kingdom - Part II
Just What Do You Mean 'Gospel'?
What Is The Gospel?
'Born Again' and the Kingdom of God
Gennao: Just What Does It Mean?
Two Trees - Two Covenants
My Opinion Is God's Truth

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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