There are people who show compassion and do good things to help others. Some are Christians, others are not. Some do it from a loving heart, others do it to try to earn points with God or to be seen by others for recognition.
When abiding in grace, what is the motivation to give to others who may be in need of help? Is it based on duty and obligation? Trying to avoid guilt? Feeling required to do so? Fear of 'the principle' of sowing and reaping? Banking some sort of eternal rewards? Or does it stem from a heartfelt desire to freely do so, rooted in the love that we have received from God?
An inheritance is something gifted by one who dies. As children of God, this is what has been given to us through Christ. It's not something we earn. It is not something that will fade away based on what we do or don't do. If the inheritance is based on works, it is no longer based on a promise. (See the context around Galatians 3:18).
Anyone can read the pages of the Bible repeatedly and still miss many themes and chunks of valuable information. One of these subjects which is found threaded throughout, especially in the New Testament, is the matter of two groups of people—those who are Jewish and those who are not ... referred to as Gentiles. Although Jesus came to minister primarily to Jews under the Mosaic law during His time on earth, He would drop some hints that salvation would not be limited to the people of Israel. Of course, the book of Acts and epistles that followed revealed even more about this within the message of the gospel.
One example is the parable known as the prodigal or the prodigal son. Just who was this guy? He was left for dead and came seeking life without needing to lift a finger to do anything to earn it ... even though he felt obligated to do so. And then there is the older brother who worked so faithfully and diligently, declaring he never neglected a command while refusing the Father's invitation to a celebration. How offensive that the younger brother be treated as an equal!
In the previous chapters leading up to this parable, Jesus alluded to some things about Jews rejecting the Messiah, turning down an invitation to an eternal fellowship with free food, and then ordering that the unwanted and ignored from the city be invited. But that wasn't all ... the invitation would also extend to those far off, beyond the highways and the hedges. The hedges? The prodigal was described as being far off. All of this is carefully planted evidence, providing us with exciting answers from Ephesians chapter 2 ... and it's worth celebrating.
God established a covenant with Israel after delivering them from slavery in Egypt, and it included a law which came through Moses containing 613 commandments that they agreed to follow and that they would be required to keep. It was generally exclusive for the Jewish people. The rest of the world (gentiles) were outsiders and were unfamiliar with the covenant, without hope, and without God in the world. The Jews attempted to (unsuccessfully) pursue righteousness through the works of this law, while gentiles were doing no such thing—but would still attain righteousness.
Some will chop up the context found in the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Romans. It's easy to misunderstand or misinterpret a comment such as "doers of the law will be justified" ... or that gentiles had the Mosaic law written on their hearts before the cross (and the Jews did not?). Recommended: Do not read Romans 2 without at least reading Romans 3—and Paul continues to expound further from there.
Having a basic understanding of the position of Jews under the law, and gentiles who never had that law ... will help us recognize who Paul was directing comments towards when it came to the people to whom he was writing. They were usually a mixed audience of both groups, and his language will often reveal whether his comments are to be contextualized for believing Jews who previously were under the law, or if it was for gentile outsiders who came to faith in Christ. But both groups would receive life by grace through faith, apart from the law, and be brought together into one new man—where there would no longer be the issue of Jew or gentile.
In Ephesians Chapter 2, Paul talked about a dividing wall which brought a separation from Christ. It kept us from the covenants of promise while leaving us without hope and without God in the world. What was this wall of separation? Many might be surprised to find out that Paul revealed it was the law of commandments contained in ordinances.
Jesus broke down this barrier and it resulted in us who were far off being brought near by His blood. It ended with both Jew and Gentile being brought together into one new man (Christ). For centuries, the religious business has attempted to rebuild this wall which Jesus leveled… leaving people in a place of covenant confusion and uncertainty.
When God gave Israel the law through Moses, and the Jews agreed to keep those many commands established in the Old Covenant, it was meant only for that race and nation who would be called God’s people at that time. The law had never been given to us Gentiles, who were considered unclean, far off and separated from God without a covenant. After the New Covenant was established by Jesus Christ, Gentiles were coming to God by faith in Jesus, and the leadership from the church in Jerusalem agreed that Gentiles would not need to be troubled or burdened with what their fathers had been unable to bear under that heavy and impossible law. Plus, the Jews who had been under the law were made free from it, and became dead to it as they married another and became the bride of Christ. You can’t live by something that doesn’t give life. That’s why the old way had to be removed completely and replaced with a better covenant.
In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul explains the gospel in the context of two different groups: Those who were born of the Jewish race, and the Gentiles who were born from another tribe or nation, outside of Israel. The Jews were under the law and had a hope within their (first) covenant with almighty God. We who would have been considered Gentiles were without a covenant, without hope, and without God in the world. The Jews were near, Gentiles were far off. What is it that divided or separated these two groups? It was the law of commandments found in ordinances. The Jews pursued righteousness through their works under the law but could not attain it, because “the law is not of faith.” Jesus broke down this wall of separation (the law and commandments) and brought the two together as one man, into one body (the body of Jesus Christ). Instead of works, it is through faith that Jews are made righteous, and we Gentiles are no longer far off or strangers and aliens, but are now members of the household of God.
Continuing with our look at the Prodigal/Lost Son parable, we find some interesting things that Jesus shared in the chapters leading up to this. He gave examples of how Israel would turn down the invitation to come to the heavenly dinner table in the house of God. This would lead to the Lord extending a welcome to those who had been far away in all other directions (Gentiles). Even the older Jewish son declined to join the celebration when the younger Gentile son had become a part of the family. God demonstrated His love by pursuing us when we were lost and without hope.
This is Part 2 of a look at The Prodigal Son parable. Last week we brought out that the parable isn't just about two individual sons but two groups of people, the Jews and the Gentiles. The younger Gentile son had been "far off" when the Father ran to him. Ephesians Chapter 2 describes how we Gentiles were formerly "far off" but have now been brought near by the blood of Christ. We Gentiles became part of the same household with the same Father. God proclaimed peace and reconciled both Jew and Gentile into one body, together into one new man. The older Jewish son struggled with the truth that the Gentile brother would be invited in without having to pursue righteousness by the commandments. Instead it was righteousness that pursued him!
