1049. The Common Clash Between the Gospel and the Red Letters

There is a common misconception within the Christian mindset that the words Jesus spoke to His disciples and others should also be considered as if He was speaking to all future believers. But the primary mission of Jesus was to minister to the lost sheep of the house of Israel ... Jewish people who were under a different religious system of the Mosaic law which could not bring them life or righteousness.

While there are some demonstrations, blips, and words looking forward to a new and different covenant, there is very little good news contained within the chapters and verses in those books about the gospel of grace.




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1035. Like the Apostles, We Don't Know Everything

It's easy to look at "Bible characters" such as the apostles and assume they were some type of spiritual super-humans who understood everything there is to know about God.

In their writings, there are references to growing in various ways when it comes to Jesus, our knowledge of the truth, His grace and love, etc. We'll always be learning, otherwise, eternity might get rather dull.

Regardless of how God chooses to use people in extraordinary ways, it doesn't change the fact that we're all humans who depend upon God to reveal truth and enlighten us to grow in our spiritual understanding. This week, we'll look at just one example which left many Jewish believers and apostles divided due to a lack of understanding when it came to the first covenant and the new one that replaced it.



   
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1009. Accepted Freely as Righteous Children vs Working Righteousness (Growing in Grace)

Paul offered some gems in the opening segment in his letter to the Ephesians, explaining that as adopted children, God made us accepted in the beloved and brought redemption through the blood of Jesus, according to the riches of His grace.

And let's not forget this reminder in Titus chapter 3: "But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

However, if we don't skim past it, we'll notice a bit of a clash with a recorded statement as quoted from the Apostle Peter in Acts chapter 10. The point is ... the Jewish apostles were human—as we are—and nobody knows everything, not even close. They were also growing in their understanding of the grace of the gospel, and we should take it into account as we read the writings in the New Testament.



   
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1008. Was Rahab Justified by Works and Not by Faith Only?

There was a significant lack of knowledge in the early years of the church. The cross and resurrection changed everything, resulting in the elimination of a covenant that had been in place for centuries. Consider if a Jewish person who believed in Jesus after the cross ... but still also believed the law of Moses was still to be applied for all Jewish people ... just exactly what did that mean for them? How did the blood of Jesus fit into that compared with the continued attempts to be doers of that old word? And what did it mean for Gentiles who never had the law?

When encouraging them to work at fulfilling that law, faith alone would be considered insufficient for salvation and justification. Righteousness would continue to be pursued by works plus faith. It formed a mindset that people such as Abraham and Rahab were not justified by believing, but by works being added in order to make faith perfect. How is this much different from the legalistic mumbo jumbo many of us have heard in works-based churches for so long? Let's take a closer look at the Rahab factor in the context of being justified.



   
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996. Changes After the Cross: Believing Jews Struggle With the Gentile Welcome Mat

As we read the pages of the Bible, it can be a very difficult thing to put ourselves in the shoes of the people living during the time of Jesus and those first decades after the cross. But becoming more aware of the historical aspects of that time as it relates to the gospel message may help us to understand some of the writings better. Otherwise, we may skim past significant information that has relevance for us today.

For example, Jewish people who had been working for generations under the burden of the Mosaic law and were coming to believe in Jesus ... might have struggled greatly with Gentiles (non-Jews) receiving the same Spirit of God by believing in Christ. After all, Gentiles had been viewed as outsiders, sinners, and unclean, and had no part of their previous covenant as the Jewish people who were considered exclusively set apart as God's people. It caused some division even among apostles and their companions, and would impact how the gospel would be spread and shared.



   
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978. God's Long-Term Plan for the World: A Better Covenant

The New Covenant is far better and more glorious than the old and obsolete one established with the people of Israel initiated during the days of Moses. In other words, the ministry of JESUS is superior to the first covenant containing the law. Why? The old way required the people to hold up their end of the agreement (they said they would do it—but they didn't). The new way of Jesus would be based on an oath God made—swearing to Himself—because he could swear by no one greater.

A covenant is generally agreed upon by two or more parties. But this new way was established by God—between Father and Son—so that it could not fail and fault could not be found. It would be a covenant made available to all people—both Jews and Gentiles ... because the scripture has confined everyone under sin. In other words, everyone has fallen short and is in need of Jesus—the Savior who takes away the sins of the world.



   
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977. Jews, Gentiles and the New Covenant

Many who have attended a church for most of their lives can attest that they seldom or never heard teaching that revolves around the concept of the New Covenant. They may have been taught to view the Bible as one book, and in doing so, have been confused with a combination of two very different covenants that don't always translate into the true gospel.

There are also some who don't believe there is a New Covenant available except to those who are Jewish. Paul spent a good deal of time explaining to Gentiles (in the flesh) the changes that took place since the cross and resurrection ... opening the gate to both groups to receive salvation and life by faith ... while leaving the old ministry of law in the dust.



   
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971. Jews Redeemed From the Curse So Gentiles Might Receive the Promise of the Spirit

Continuing in Galatians Chapter 3, Paul was providing these believing Gentiles with a hard-hitting explanation of why they do not want to pursue works of the law—which they were never under—in order to perfect themselves. They began in the Spirit and were being coerced into thinking they needed Jesus plus works in order to be justified. This was a common mindset among believing Jews in the early church. After all, it wouldn't be "fair" for believing Jews to be required to continue in the law while non-Jewish people were let off the hook regarding that burdensome ministry.

Redemption for both Jews and Gentiles came by a promise, through faith ... and the law was not of faith. It came by inheritance, gifted to us who have received the promise of the Spirit through faith.



   
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956. "The Great Commandment" According to Jesus (But That You Were Never Under)

In Matthew 22, Jesus had just silenced the Sadducees at one of His press conferences. After seeing this, and after a quick huddle with his co-workers, a reporter for the Pharisees couldn't resist a follow-up question in the attempt to test Jesus when it came to the subject of something near and dear to their hearts. "What is the great commandment in the law?"

Jesus answered: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

The corporate church world has generally made this a foundation for the Christian life. But the key words in the question that Jesus answered was "in the law" ... referring to the law of Moses which was still in effect at that time for Israel. But it is a law Gentiles were never under and was made obsolete for Israelites after the cross and resurrection. It is a commandment no one had ever kept nor has anyone successfully fulfilled it since. The "great commandment" is not the message of the gospel as suggested by those who blend the Bible into one book as if two very different and incompatible covenants were meant to be mixed together. Love is still the answer—but in a very different context.



   
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943. Paul Arrested - But Still Proclaimed Salvation for Gentiles (Series Conclusion)

We're concluding our series on salvation coming to the Gentiles (this is the 10th program). After the endeavor by James and the church leadership in Jerusalem of trying to convince Paul to deny what he was teaching and to participate in an Old Covenant cleansing ceremony in the attempt to make peace with Jews who were zealous for the law ... Paul was nearly killed by the zealots — many of whom believed in Jesus — and ultimately he was arrested. His course was now completely changed for the rest of his earthly days, living in chains. Having been warned twice by the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem, Paul could have avoided all of this, but he wanted to go and was prepared to be bound and even die on this journey.

Ultimately, Paul would end up under "house arrest" for a couple of years in Rome, where he invited leaders of the Jews to come to him — who were unfamiliar with "the sect" of the Jesus movement other than they knew it was spoken against everywhere. Perhaps Paul's former reputation as a Jew devoted to the ministry of the law from his younger days still carried weight among some of the unbelieving Jews ... because Paul gained an audience with them ... sharing and persuading them of Jesus from morning until evening by using the writings from the law and the prophets. Some believed, others did not.

Paul warned those Jews who refused to believe, using words from the prophet Isaiah and then this follow-up regarding their rejection of the Messiah:

Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it! And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him (Acts 28: 28-31).



   
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