Apostle Paul’s Understanding and Vision for a New Nation – The New Jew Theology! Chapter 43

 

Apostle Paul’s Understanding and Vision for a New Nation – The New Jew Theology! 

Apostle Paul, understanding the prophecies of Isaiah that God is calling out a new group of believers scattered among the Gentile nations, brings the message of salvation to them and begins to call them, the new Gentile converts, the people of God.[1] In writing to the Christian believers in Rome he says,

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.[2]

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul likens the new Gentile believers to Isaac, the seed of Sarah, or the seed of faith. He likens the physical Jewish nation to Ishmael, the seed of Agar, the father of the Arab nations, and the seed of the flesh.

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are two covenants; the one from mount Sinai, which genders to bondage, which is Agar.[3]

For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice thou barren that bears not; break forth and cry, thou that travails not: for the desolate has many more children than she which has an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.[4]

Paul was receiving persecution from the non-Christian Jews, but also criticism from the converted Jews who still thought it necessary to keep the Laws of Moses. In Galatians, Paul talks about the incident which happened in Antioch where Apostle Peter had been eating and drinking with the converted Gentiles. However, upon the arrival of some of the converted Jews from Jerusalem who still also kept the Law, Peter withdrew himself. We will read from Galatians:

But when Peter was come up to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James (in Jerusalem), he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision (which had come from Jerusalem), and the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried with their dissimulation.[5]

But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, lives after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compel thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?[6]

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.[7]

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.[8]

Paul is very strongly telling us that if we could save ourselves by obedience to religious laws, then Christ died for nothing. Paul was strongly against the circumcision movement in Jerusalem, which believed in keeping the Law, while accepting Christ. It was Paul’s compromise with Apostle James on this very point which led to his arrest in Jerusalem, which we can read in the book of Acts. Even though various prophets have warned Paul about the dangers that await him in Jerusalem, Paul is set on the visit.

And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou sees, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are zealous of the law: And they are informed of thee, that thou teaches all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.[9]

Paul was actually teaching the law of Christ instead of the Laws of Moses, and should have stood his ground and defended his stand. But in this case, even the great Apostle Paul shows himself to be as human as Peter. Under the pressure of James, the brother of Jesus, who was then the head of the Jerusalem church, Paul compromised and agreed to show that he also walked orderly according to the Law.

Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed of thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walks orderly, and keeps the law.[10]

Perhaps Paul was hoping that by doing so he would have more of a chance to share the truth of the Gospel with the Law-keeping Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Like he confessed later:

And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.[11]

But he never gets the chance in person. Paul’s compromise leads to a riot and eventually to his arrest by the Roman authorities. How could Paul get it so wrong when he had been warned twice on his trip to Jerusalem to not continue, and the last time he had been in Jerusalem his enemies had to sought to kill him?[12] Why did Paul continue on to Jerusalem when God seemed to saying “don’t go?” Here’s what had happened.

When he arrived in Tyre on the coast of modern Lebanon the disciples there

said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.[13]

But Paul is intent on going to Jerusalem, so he doesn’t listen. Finally landing at Caesarea on the coast of northern Israel another disciple bound his own hands and feet with Paul’s belt and said,

Thus says the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews in Jerusalem bind the man that owns this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.[14]

Immediately Paul’s companions and friends beseech him not go up to Jerusalem. But Paul insists and they yield to his desire, committing him to the Lord’s will.[15]

Why did God allow Paul to make such a mistake, a mistake that will cost Paul his freedom and eventually his life? Did God have a greater purpose and he allowed Paul to get it wrong in order to accomplish that purpose?

What has been Paul’s greatest ministry over the ages? Were his witnessing events in Asia Minor his greatest accomplishments? Surely they were great events and their recording in the book of Acts has been a motivation to followers of Christ through the ages to get out and do the same. So why did God let Paul get it wrong and end up with his head on the chopping block?

In the end, what was Paul’s greatest ministry? Could it be that God wanted Paul to spend more time writing, to save his experiences for all eternity in the written word? As long as Paul was a freeman, he wouldn’t stay put. He was constantly witnessing, preaching, teaching, and instructing wherever he went. He had no time to put it down on paper for all prosperity. He barely had time to sleep.

God had to let Paul mistakenly go back to Jerusalem, where he already had had problems. He had to let him compromise with James and agree to show that he was still obedient to the Law, which Paul had consistently preached against. Why did God let it happen? The answer is God had a greater purpose.

God gets some of His greatest victories out of seeming defeats and He often brings us along the neglected path of praise in the process. Paul’s capture and imprisonment pushed him into a new ministry, a ministry that until then he was leaving for Luke to fulfill.

God knew the future and knew that Paul’s writing ministry would be his greatest and most important legacy. Paul’s ministry of the written Word resulted in much of the New Testament and was an impetus for Matthew, Peter and John to get their Gospel stories down in print. Could that have been God’s final purpose in allowing Paul to blow it, because He wanted to get Paul to write? God knew we today would be encouraged, strengthened and edified by His Word through Paul. God knew the power of the written word and he needed Paul to sit down and write.

To summarize this chapter on Paul’s “New Jew” theology, we see in Galatians Paul likening the Jewish nation after the flesh to the sons of Agar, the bondwoman of Abraham who brought forth the Arab nations. He likens the newly-converted Gentile Christians to the sons of Sarah the freewoman and real wife of Abraham who brought forth the seed of faith.

Nevertheless what says the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free.[16]

The Gentile Christians who are not keeping the Laws of Moses but Christ’s law of love, and are justified only by faith in Christ, are the children of Abraham, the children of faith. As Cain persecuted Abel, as Esau with Jacob, the false church has always persecuted the true believers.

But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.[17]

Paul goes on to say,

And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heir’s according to the promise.[18] For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love. For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this; Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.[19]

But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law.[20]

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have told you in times past, that they that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.[21]

Paul is calling us not to be rule-keeping religious people, but Spirit-filled believers motivated by Jesus’ law of love. Which will we be, rule-keeping religious people, or love-filled Children of God?

Before going on to the next chapter, I need to discuss another aspect of Paul’s “New Jew” theology. According to Paul, the Israel of God is no longer the Jew after the flesh, but the new Jew, the reborn child of God, the true Christians who follow Jesus with heart, soul, body and mind. Many Christians, especially in America, have not seemed to have gotten the point, that the Israel of God, the people of God, are the true believing followers of Christ. I have heard many pastors and Christian leaders quote God’s Promise to Abraham from Genesis:

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.[22]

In this promise we see God wanted the Jewish people to be a blessing to the world. He wanted them to be an example of a nation that loved and followed God’s Ways and Laws. He wanted them to help other nations to learn of God and prepare their hearts and minds for the coming of the Redeemer, Christ our Lord. But as a nation they failed. Though a remnant became the new believers in Christ and started Christianity, their nation’s leadership rejected Christ and taught the people the same. They therefore lost their position as God’s people.

Most American pastors still assume that God is talking about flesh-and-blood Israel in the above quote, and He was, until the time of Christ. With Christ’s coming and with many of the Jewish leadership rejecting His message, God had to call out a new group of believers, those who would accept and follow the teaching of Jesus Christ. As Paul has so convincingly argued, the true believing Christians are the new Israel of God.

If the nation of flesh-and-blood Israel is no longer God’s chosen nation, then they should not have special privileges or allowances. American foreign policy should not be so over-handedly pro-Israeli. However, American pastors, using Scofield’s Reference Bible, which I will comment more on in a later chapter, have been deceived into believing that even though the Jewish nation rejected Christ, they have still somehow kept their privileged status. Politicians have also accepted the pro-Israeli position.

This promise is for real Christians. Real Christianity is what blesses the world.

It is true that Paul mentioned in Romans that the time would come when a remnant of the flesh-and-blood Jews who have been in blindness to Christ shall be saved.[23] No doubt, it will take the horrific period of the Great Tribulation with the Antichrist’s persecution of religious peoples to turn the Christ-rejecting Jew to Jesus. But some have already accepted Christ and they make great disciples. Their extraordinary natural gifts often make them head-and-shoulders above their brethren for both good, when they yield to God’s spirit, and bad, when they do not.

Jesus called the religious leaders who rejected His Message the children of the Devil.[24] Jesus said they did not hear His Words, because they were not of God.[25]

In His last discourse before His Passion, Jesus blasts the scribes and Pharisees over and over again, calling them hypocrites, avarice, fools, blind, legalistic, superficial, serpents, and vipers; who seek the praise of men more than the praise of God.[26]

In the book of Revelation Jesus calls them “the synagogue of Satan.” He says,

I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.[27]

When talking to the body of Christian believers in Philadelphia, which means brotherly-love, Jesus makes the following comment,

Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.[28] 

Here we see Jesus confirming all that Paul has so methodically explained to us. They are both teaching the same message. The Christ hating, Christ rejecting Jew has no special place in God’s Kingdom unless, or until, he changes, humbles himself and receives the life giving love of Christ. All who humble themselves before Christ and call upon His name shall have the gift of eternal life.[29]

To go to the previous chapter click HERE

To go to the next chapter click HERE

To go to the index of the chapters for the book go HERE

To go to another article on The Mystery of All Israel Being Saved click on link.

Notes:

[1] http://www.messiahrevealed.org/all-people.html 
[2] Romans 2:28-29
[3] Galatians 4:22-24
[4] Galatians 4:25-29
[5] Galatians 2:11-13
[6] Galatians 2:14
[7] Galatians 2:16
[8] Galatians 2:21
[9] Acts 21:17-21
[10] Acts 21:23-24
[11] 1Corinthians 9:20-22

[12] Acts 9:29 And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.

[13] Acts 21:4

[14] Acts 21:11

[15] Acts 21:12-14 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

[16] Galatians 4:30-31
[17] Galatians 4:29
[18] Galatians 3:29
[19] Galatians 5:6-14
[20] Galatians 5:18
[21] Galatians 5:19-23
[22] Genesis 12:2-3

[23] Romans11:25-26 For I would not, brethren, that ye be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in…

[24] John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do…

[25] John 8:47 He that is of God, hears God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

[26] Matthew 23:1-39
[27] Revelation 2:9
[28] Revelation 3:9
[29] Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.