Now that we have established that Jehovah brought many different nationalities into His kingdom here on earth of which we are one! What are the critical verses that have caused such a division within the ‘Protestant’ religion? We should now start to understand why there is such confusion? Jehovah is not the GOD of confusion, but Satan is! Satan will deceive, divide, deny, and create divorce among families and communities of faith. I will introduce a few of the many verses that cause concern.
Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
2:29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.
Galatians 3:6 Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
3:7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.
3:8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU."
3:9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
Romans 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;
9:7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED."
9:8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
1:8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight
1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him
1:10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him
1:11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
1:12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
1:14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Revelation 3:9 'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.
We will not go into depth on these verses today, but I want you to contemplate just what is said in all of them. I will summarize a few very important statements.
First, Romans 2 -Jew is known as a term that refers to being from the tribe of family of Judah. We, being in Christ, are really the ‘true’ Jews.
Second, Galatians 3-Again, the true ‘sons of Abraham’ are not related thru the flesh but by faith are solely related thru the Spirit.
Third, Romans 9-The true ‘sons of Abraham’ come thru the promise to Abraham not the physical flesh of Abraham.
Fourth, Ephesians 1-We were chosen by Jehovah before Abraham or Jacob were born. We are by faith all part of God’s chosen people and will enjoy the inheritance of being heirs.
Fifth, Revelation 3-Satan has deceived the entire world into believing that the only true, uniquely chosen people of God are those who self-identify as being a Jew. Jehovah says they are many are lying about their being a Jew.
As you can know see, this is a very difficult and controversial topic to study. It has been caught up in the rhetoric and defense of a variety of false beliefs to the extent that the ‘church’ no longer truly goes to the Word of Jehovah to find the truth about which they so vehemently proclaim, defend, and support.
We will continue let the Word of Jehovah be our sole guide in truth.
More next Saturday.