COGR – Are All Believers Jews and All Unbelievers Gentiles?
February 22, 2024
Good day! I am writing a series of short reviews of abbreviated COGR video clips. I am looking for input and comments. If it makes it easier, I will gladly supply a Word document so comments can be put in the document, and we can communicate directly. My email address is lattema@icloud.com. I hope you find these reviews helpful.
Transcript:
He says, “But there’s a part of this temple you’re going to leave out because it’s a court that’s without; it’s given to the Gentiles and they shall tread it underfoot forty-two months. Who do you think treads? Who do you think he’s saying treads it underfoot for forty-two months? Let’s read again.
But the court, which is without the temple, leave out and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months. Who is ‘they’? The Gentiles? I thought you said the Gentiles are coming in, not in this sense. Ok? So let’s quickly get that someone read. And this can be anybody. You get your Bibles ready. Very read. Fast Romans 2 verses 28-29, someone else, Ezekiel chapter 40, verse three. Someone else gets Psalm 23, verse four. And don’t wait until the stars align. Just sit up and read it.
He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh. He is a Jew which is one inwardly, says, out of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, praises on men, but not of men, but of God. So, according to that, who’s a Jew? Believer. A believer is all who believe in Jesus Christ.
If you believe in Jesus Christ and you’re Abraham’s seed, does that include Jews and Gentiles? If the Gentiles, if the Gentiles fulfill the law without circumcision, how to say that, are they not a Jew? I’ll say it that way. Yes. There’s you. So it doesn’t matter where you came from, Jew or Gentile; we all are Jews who are saved. If you believe in Jesus Christ, if you have the faith of Abraham, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs, according to the promise. He that is a Jew is one who is one inwardly.
We still believe that all Israel shall be saved, and all the physical Israel that shall be saved shall be saved in this manner, all spiritual Israel shall be saved, but they’re not all Israel, which are of Israel, right? Just because you’re a physical Jew does not make you a Jew, according to the promise; you can be a Jew according to the flesh but not be a Jew according to the promise. We are not antisemitic, but we do believe the Scripture that Jews and Gentiles must both come to the same means to be saved through Jesus Christ. And when you believe on him, your heart becomes circumcised. You become a Jew.
So all the saved people are who? Jews. So, who are all the unsaved people, spiritually speaking? Gentiles. Now we got it. Thank the Lord. And the nice Brother Bolvers helped us out tonight. But I like you. Yeah, those that claim that they got now behind themselves in their unsaved condition yes, and the Gentiles that came into the church are now called Jews. They are now called Gentiles. Now I want to say, how does it feel? That’s a very Brother Bover’s way to say things.
How did we so that they, which were last, became first, right? I’m just trying to build on the foundation that was laid. So the Gentiles here represent the society of unbelievers. The Gentiles represent those who identify with Cain and his city and have been a part of this system. Those who have opposed the order of Melchisedek down throughout the years. The society of unbelievers, ok? Now the unbelievers shall tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. There’s that time period.
Commentary:
The speaker makes the claim that Gentiles who believe in Jesus become Jews. That is an error that developed when the speaker failed to understand that Romans 2:28-29 was written to Paul’s Jewish audience. From Paul’s perspective, it was an opportunity to define what a true Jew was. It was never intended to be understood as a passage telling Gentiles that if they believed in Christ, they would become a Jew. The speaker has failed to consider the context. Nowhere in the New Testament is it indicated that Gentile believers become Jews.
The speaker’s theological stance blurs the distinctions between Jewish and Gentile identities based on a selective interpretation of biblical verses. It fails to acknowledge the unique identity and historical context of the Jewish people. In addition, equating salvation exclusively with being a Jew misrepresents the broader biblical teachings on salvation, which are inclusive of both Jews and Gentiles through faith in Christ.
The distinction between Jews and Gentiles:
The following verse simply points out that the two New Testament categories (Jews and Gentiles) exist and are not interchangeable.
Ephesians 2:11-13 (NIV): “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
What is a Jew:
Paul, speaking to the Jewish portion of his audience, describes what a true Jew is. It does not tell us that someone who believes in Jesus becomes a Jew.
Romans 2:28-29 (NIV): “A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people but from God.”
Inclusivity of Salvation:
The following verses show that salvation is available to both Jews and Gentiles and that those who are saved become one body. Believers do not change their ethnicity when saved.
Romans 3:29-30 (NIV): “Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.”
Galatians 3:28 (NIV): “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 10:12 (NIV): “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,”
Believers are referred to as both Jews and Gentiles.
Galatians 2:15-16 (NIV): “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So, we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”
Ephesians 3:6 (NIV): “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 3:11 (NIV): “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
Believers are called Gentiles after their conversion, negating the speaker’s argument.
Romans 11:13 (NIV): “I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry.”
Acts 10:45 (NIV): “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.”
Acts 15:23 (NIV): With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
So, these scriptures affirm the unity of believers in Christ, irrespective of their ethnic background, and emphasize salvation by faith. They challenge the speaker’s view by highlighting God’s impartiality in offering salvation to both Jews and Gentiles and emphasize that true Jewish identity is defined by faith, not just physical lineage.
The argument that Gentiles become Jews by belief in Christ fails in light of the above passages where we see that both Jews and Gentiles come to faith in the same manner, once they have become believers the become part of the body of Christ but do not shed their ethnicity. This is demonstrated in verses that address believing Gentiles as Gentiles, not Jews.
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