Both Jews and Gentiles

The equality of Jews and Gentiles before an impartial and just God is pivotal to Paul’s Gospel. They stand or fall before Him on the same basis.

Paul wrote his Letter to the Romans with two purposes. First, to prepare the ground for his visit to the city and his planned missionary trip to Spain. Secondly, to deal with conflicts between Jewish and Gentile believers. In the Letter, Pual explained his Gospel, and he then discussed the status of the Jewish people and the conflicts troubling the Roman Church.

Paul planned to take the Gospel to the Iberian Peninsula. Support from the Roman Church would have been crucial to this effort. He had not been to Rome in his previous missionary activities - someone else established the faith in the city, therefore, Paul must establish his credentials with the congregation.

[Photo by Juliana Kozoski on Unsplash]

The church of Rome was experiencing internal tensions, including disagreements over dietary restrictions and calendrical observations. Based on his years of dealing with Jewish and Gentile believers, Paul was certainly qualified to deal with such matters.

• “I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome… For I am not ashamed of the gospel, it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” - (Romans 1:10-12, 15-16).

In his first paragraph, Paul points to the role of the Gospel for both Jews and Gentiles. By the term “first” he does not mean that Jewish believers have special privileges over Gentiles as his subsequent stress in the Letter demonstrates. There was an obligation to present the Gospel first to the Jewish people in a city or province. The Book of Acts documents how Paul would first introduce his message to the local synagogue when he arrived in an area for the first time.

The conflict between Jewish and Gentile believers is key to understanding the Letter. Those conflicts influenced how Paul presented his Gospel message. He stressed how the Gospel provided salvation for all men regardless of ethnicity. There is no distinction based on nationality regarding anyone’s standing before God.

Paul warned, for example, that “tribulation and anguish will befall every man who works evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek” – (Romans 2:9-10).

Israel certainly received a great privilege offered to no other nation, especially possession of the Law or Torah. However, that also came with special responsibilities and heightened penalties for failure to keep it. It was not the “hearers of the law” who were justified before God, “but the doers of the law.” Though they may not possess the Mosaic Law, many Gentiles “by nature do the things that are required by the law.”

ALL MEN UNDER SIN

Both “Jews and Greeks are under sin.” The one God of Israel is also the “God of the Gentiles.” Both the men who sin “within the law” (Jews) and “without the law” (Gentiles) will find themselves judged by the one God of all who will not show partiality on the “Day of Wrath.” Obedience counts, not ethnicity or nationality.

Paul was certainly not suggesting that believing Gentiles are better off than Jews. “Are we better than they? No, certainly not; for we before charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.” All men and women are in the same predicament due to their rebellion against their Creator.

All have “sinned and therefore lack the glory of God.” Likewise, all will be saved in the same way - “through the faith of Jesus Christ for all that believe, for there is no distinction” – (Romans 3:1-26).

This issue becomes prominent in Chapters 9 through 11 when Paul responds to the challenge, “Has the word of God failed?” Despite possessing the legal ordinances and covenant promises, collectively, Israel rejected her Messiah. So, did God likewise reject the Jewish people? Paul declares most emphatically, “No!”

Moreover, “not all Israel are of Israel, neither because they are Abraham's seed are they all children.” Biological descent does not determine membership in the covenant people. Responding faithfully to the Gospel does.

FAITH NOT BIOLOGY

Paul’s life demonstrated that God had not rejected the Jewish people since he was Jewish and a follower of Jesus. Likewise, other Jews had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Messiah.

The many “wild branches” (Gentiles) were “grafted into the olive tree,” singular, because of their faith. Unfortunately, many of the “natural branches” (Jews) were “cut off” from the one olive tree “because of their unbelief.”

However, the “natural branches” may yet be grafted back in if they come to faith in Jesus, just as the “wild branches” previously grafted onto the tree may yet find themselves “cut off” in the future if they succumb to unbelief. Faith is the determining factor, not biology.

Jesus was sent to Israel to “confirm the promises to the Fathers.” But those promises always envisioned the inclusion of the Gentiles in God’s one covenant people. Abraham would become the “Father of a multitude of nations,” and his offspring would be more numerous than the “stars of the heavens” - (Genesis 17:4, 22:17, Romans 15:8-12).

In all this, Paul refers to only one Church which is comprised of believing “Jews and Gentiles” who have been justified “from the faith of Jesus Christ.”  The Gospel he preached was the “power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

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