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Introduction to Personal Bible Study - Videos (2007)

4 short introductory video studies First recorded in 2007, posted to GodTube in 2010  These short videos were made nearly 14 years ago. ...

Monday, October 21, 2024

No More Jew or Gentile AND No More Male or Female?

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek... And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

-Galatians 3:27-29 (edited) KJV


This passage is often trotted out to tray and make two related arguments.

  1. The middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile noted in Ephesians 2:14 was removed at Pentecost
  2. All believers of all ages (including the current age) are Abraham's seed


The first should be readily rejected when on simply reads the entire 28th verse.


There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.


I don't know anyone who we would consider a Bible-believing Evangelical believer who would hold to the idea either Pentecost or even the removal of the middle partition means we no longer should make distinctions between men and women. 


That this privilege of being the children of God, and of being by baptism devoted to Christ, is now enjoyed in common by all real Christians. The law indeed made a difference between Jew and Greek, giving the Jews on many accounts the pre-eminence: that also made a difference between bond and free, master and servant, and between male and female, the males being circumcised. But it is not so now; they all stand on the same level, and are all one in Christ Jesus; as the one is not accepted on the account of any national or personal advantages he may enjoy above the other, so neither is the other rejected for the want of them; but all who sincerely believe on Christ, of what nation, or sex, or condition, soever they be, are accepted of him, and become the children of God through faith in him.

-Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible 


Matthew Henry, for example, makes the case in his commentary that the reference to the difference between male and female is a reference to circumcision. Whereas I would agree that has an application, it is surely deficient as the Law make other distinctions between males and females.

But the greater point is that the Law still applied in the Acts Age, but it was no longer a hindrance to Gentiles receiving the blessings of the promises to Abraham and to Israel. This idea cannot be a universal statement about all believers of all ages. Do we believe Adam, Abel, and Noah are "Abrahams's seed?

In John chapter 8 the Lord is addressing unbelieving Jews who are seeking to kill him. In his response he affirms that even though they are trying to kill him, they are "Abraham's seed." So let's break this passage down.


Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you remain in My word, then you are truly My disciples. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s seed and have never been in bondage to anyone. Why do You say, ‘You shall be set free’?”


Remember, the Lord's earthly ministry as King was to Israel alone (Matthew 15:24) and his disciples were sent to Israel alone (Matthew 10:5-7). The Son of David came unto his own and the King was rejected (John 1:11). The Kingdom he offered was then again offered to "Ye Men of Israel" in Acts 3. We make careful note here that Acts 3 follows Acts 2 (Pentecost). That offer came by the lips of Peter, an Apostle to the Circumcision. Unironically, we turn back to Galatians chapter 2 and note this distinction.


On the contrary, they saw that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, as the gospel to the circumcised was to Peter. For He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles.

-Galatians 2:7-8


But let's continue in John 8.

 

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. Now a slave does not remain in the house forever, but a son remains forever. Therefore if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s seed. But you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I am telling what I have seen with My Father, and you are doing what you have seen with your father.”

No Gentile, believer or not, would be called Abraham's seed and no gentile would be called a "son of the Kingdom," but unbelieving Jews are called both by the Lord. Here in John 8 he acknowledges the position of the Jew and in Matthew 8 the Lord states, juxtaposing the faith of gentile dog, that the "sons of the kingdom.


“Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say to you that many will come from the east and west and will dine with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

-Matthew 8:10-12


The plan of blessing and redemption was always available to the Gentile. Abraham himself was a Gentile when justified.


Does this blessedness [the forgiveness of sin by faith] then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? We are saying that faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it credited? When he was in circumcision? Or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith that he had while being uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them also...

-Romans 4:9-11

Romans 15 also lays out the argument from the Hebrew scriptures that the gift of Life (resurrection) was always intended for Gentiles. Adam was in uncircumcision. Abel was in uncircumcision. Noah was in uncircumcision. And Abraham was in uncircumcision when their faith was rewarded. In the context of the gift of life beyond the grave, all who have faith, whether under the law or not, whether circumcised or not, whether bond nor free, whether Jew of Gentile, whether man or woman, ALL had the same free gift of justification.

But we would never conclude from that that all, in every age, have Abraham as a father. We could not apply that Adam or Noah. The Lord does not apply it to the Roman Centurion or the Canaanite woman in his earthly ministry. As the Son of David, as the coming King in the line of David, the Lord says he was "sent to none but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel."  

Paul is addressing the gift of justification in Galatians. Now, what is also there is the grafting in of Gentiles. Were Gentiles grafted into "justification?" No. As we have seen, Gentiles since the beginning have believed. The gift of justification has always been available to Gentiles. Jonah did not preach the Law to Nineveh (as the Law was never given to Gentiles), but he did offer them forgiveness  by faith.

Paul, in very plain terms, tells us the grafting in (which started with Cornelius in Acts 10, who was already a believer) was for the expressed purpose of making a very real Israel "jealous" (Romans 10:19; 11:11). God was not trying to make some nation that ended at Pentecost jealous. He certainly was not trying to make some "Israel Church" jealous. As we also see in Romans 11, the Lord warns Gentile believers (still making a distinction) not to become "arrogant" against the root (Israel) lest they (Gentile believers) be "cut off." Cut off from what? A free gift of justification? No, cut off from the kingdom blessings of Israel.

For I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I may make my kinsmen [Jews] jealous and may save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the first portion of the dough is holy, the batch is also holy. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and became a partaker with them of the root and richness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. If you boast, remember you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you. You will say then, “The branches were broken off, so that I might be grafted in.” This is correct. They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God—severity toward those who fell, but goodness toward you, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you [Gentile believers] also will be cut off. 
-Romans 11:13-22

We have to see the context of God's dealings. With Adam, for example, the Lord was not dealing the promise of land or a Kingdom. The Lord was not telling Noah that he would be given a land from the Euphrates to the Nile. Noah was not told of a throne or a temple. And for those who had that hope, they still "looked for a city whose builder and maker is God," (Heb 11:10) that is, "the New Jerusalem which comes down from heaven"(Rev 21:2) to the earth. 

Now let us look back to where we started in Galatians 3:27.

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Could this company of believers have been baptized into the same body as the believers who entered by faith into Paul's revelation in Ephesians 3? No.  The identification (baptism) of the believers in Galatia in that age would be part of the a body known and revealed as Paul witnessed in Acts 26:22. Paul testified there that he taught nothing that was not known by Moses and the Prophets.

For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one spirit.

-1 Cor 12:13

The aforementioned Romans 15 quotes from the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophet Isaiah. Paul was explaining there a mystery, but a mystery that has been revealed, jut not understood. Paul explains:

Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy... 
-Romans 15:8-9a
Note the distinction in that age. The promises were made to Israel's fathers (not to Gentiles). Paul had affirmed in Romans 9 that the promises and covenants pertain to Israel (not some Israel-Gentile-Church). There was very much an Israel still in God's plan at the time of the writing of Romans.

They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. Amen. 
-Romans 9:4-5
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed and through the prophetic writings is made known to all nations [Gentiles], according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

-Romans 16:25-27 (the end of the book)

God was still calling out to a real Israel (see our study on Acts 3 in The Gentile Twelve Tribe Heresy). Gid was working his earthly plan. That is the reasoning for the grafting of Gentiles into the blessings of Israel. That is the reason Gentile believers were put under the Law in regard to the "necessary things" quoted from Leviticus in Acts 15 and Acts 21. 

In Galatians we are under the earthly plan and the plan for Israel. Entrance into the Kingdom blessings for any Israelite (Jew) of any age was faithfulness. This is clearly expressed in the parables. But we note again that even the unfaithful are called "sons of the kingdom," "children," "masters," and "servants" by the Lord while even faithful Gentiles are called "little dogs" until the grafting in.

With this context in mind, our passage becomes clearer. In Christ, in justification, there is no Law to impose differences between Jew or Greek, Master or Servant, Man or Woman. Justification does not vary. And in the Acts age, with Gentiles being grafted in, while the difference was still recognized under the Law in terms of order, there was not difference in justification or blessing. In the gospel age and prior, a Gentile might have life by faith, but he had no access to promises of the Kingdom.

As we have seen in many other studies, the final revelation to Paul revealed in Ephesians and in the Post Acts epistles eliminates any differences, temporarily sets Israel aside, and the hope is no longer a restored kingdom in Israel, but a hope in the far above the heavens. The entire setting changes.

Let us go back and finish the exchange in John 8. The Lord had affirmed that the unbelieving Jews he was addressing were in the children of Abraham, (I know that you are Abraham’s seed.), but the condition of faith and faithfulness was still part of the covenant God has with that earthly people.

They answered Him, “Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father.” 
-John 8:39-41


This speaks to the "two seeds" principle which goes back to the very beginning of the ages ("I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed" Gen 3:15). We see the two seeds in the parables. Abel was of God, Cain was "of the wicked one" (1 John 3:12). This distinction does not change by one's race. The wicked ones of Israel who rejected the Lord and questioned even the story of his birth were nevertheless "Abraham's seed" in the flesh and could still obtain the promises if they would come to the Lord by faith in that age. This could never be said of a Gentile before the grafting in.

Do you see the distinction? The Gentiles referenced in Galatians were indeed children of Abraham by faith, but that was only possible because of the grafting in. The purpose of which was to make Israel jealous (and it made believing Jews jealous as well). As we have seen, there is no distinction in justification between Jew and Gentile (and there never was), but in the Acts Age Paul was explaining that because of the grafting in of Gentiles into Israel which started in Acts 10, there was now no distinction in the kingdom blessings.

But that condition did not apply in the gospel age (age of  the Law) and it does not apply in the current age of  the revelation of Paul in Ephesians which concerns, not earthly blessings, but blessing in the far above the heavens.

======================

The Apostles made clear distinctions between Jewish and Gentile believers in practice (notably in Acts 15 and 21) and among believing Jews and unbelieving Jews (would we preach Peter's message in Acts 3 today?) in their ministries, but never in terms of Resurrection Life which, from Adam, has always been a gift by grace through faith.
 
The middle wall between Jew and Greek (Gentile) did not come down until after the Book of Acts and that truth was revealed to Paul alone. Paul witnessed that he was in chains for the hope of Israel (very much at the center of God's plan) as late as Acts 28 and the stated that was imprisoned for Gentiles post-Acts in Ephesians

Paul testified that he taught nothing that was not taught by Moses and the Prophets in Acts 26. While the blessings in the land and the Kingdom were made known to the sons of men, the revelation of the "one new man" of Ephesians was kept hidden from before the ages; unknown to the Prophets. The apostles anticipated the Kingdom in a restored Israel in the Acts (as the risen Lord taught the Apostles to the circumcision in Acts 1 who will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes in a restored Israel one day). Paul taught blessings in the far above the heavens, unsearchable riches, as the hope for in the current age.

Not essential for fellowship, but rightly dividing these distinctions will bring the different hopes and plans of God into clearer view (as best we can in these failing bodies and minds). Rightly dividing the hopes must be applied when reading the lack of distinctions laid out in Galatians.