The Gospel of Christ Belongs Primarily to the Jews

And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. (Isaiah 51:16)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

"To the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

The Gentile religionists have not understood the Apostle Paul, who viewed the Jewish Gospel from the standpoint of a righteous Jew.

The Gospel of the Kingdom is for the Jew first, and only the righteous Jew can understand it properly.

First of all, the devout Jew is waiting for the Kingdom of God, and so a gospel of a kingdom has meaning for him far beyond that which is true of most Gentiles.

Second, and even more important, is the fact that the redemption that is in Christ is a response to the Law of Moses. Since most Gentiles have no background in the Law of Moses they are prone to misunderstand the new covenant. Let us proceed to explain why the redemption that is in Christ is a response to the Law of Moses, and why Gentiles are likely to misunderstand God’s grace under the new covenant.

When the Law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, sin became sin.

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. (Romans 7:7)

But this knowledge of sin came only to the Israelites.

Before the Law came, sin was a matter of conscience and guesswork. The recognition of sin comes by the knowledge of the Law. Perhaps the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of the garden of Eden, was the Law; for it is by the Law that we understand what God regards as sin.

The Jews had the Law, the moral light. Meanwhile the Gentiles had only their conscience and the things of nature to guide them in the knowledge of God.

Among the Jewish people there always have been many individuals who have striven to please God by obeying the Law and its accompanying statutes, or the interpretation of the Law set forth in the Talmud. The devout Jew is seeking righteousness in terms of the precepts that have been given him.

The Apostle Paul was one such devout Jew. The desire of Paul’s heart was to please God by keeping the Divine Law. But Paul found that forces hostile to the Law of God were dwelling in his flesh.

Paul cried out in his misery, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24). This is the voice of a person whose desire is to please God, who esteems righteousness above all else.

The redemption that is in Christ was Paul’s answer to his concern over the demands of the Law.

First of all, through Christ the load of condemnation was lifted from Paul’s back. The guilt of Paul’s sins was removed in a moment as he received forgiveness through the perfect atonement made by the blood of the Lord Jesus.

Second (and more importantly in terms of Paul’s cry in Romans 7:24), the Spirit of God was given to Paul so he could gain victory over the forces of sin.

Third, the blood of Jesus provided a continuing covering while Paul was overcoming sin by the Spirit of God, insuring that Paul remained without condemnation, that he always was eligible to approach the Throne of God and receive help in his hour of need.

We understand, therefore, that the grace of God that came to Paul provided an alternative to his attempt to obey the letter of the Law by means of his own will power. The Law had served as a servant that had brought Paul to Christ. Christ then proved to be the only means by which Paul could satisfy the eternal moral law of God.

The alternative that Christ provided was not that Paul could then forget about living righteously (as so many Gentiles teach). Rather, it was true that the moral behavior the Law sought to enforce by commandment could now be enjoyed by Paul as he followed the Spirit of God into victory over the world, over the lusts of his flesh, and over his self-will, thus proceeding to eternal life.

Basic to acquiring moral victory was the crucifixion of Paul’s first personality (his identification with Christ on the cross), and the development of a new nature, a new creation that was nourished daily by the body and blood of the risen Christ.

Paul now had a perfect conscience before God through the atonement made by the blood of Jesus on Calvary, and also the satisfaction of experiencing continual growth in righteous and holy behavior. Paul’s objective became the redemption of his body so that his entire personality would be dwelling in the righteous, holy Presence of God in Christ.

And not only they [the material creation], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)

Paul’s supreme goal was to attain the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. The Law had served Paul as a temporary device until the eternal Word, Covenant, and Law of God, which is Christ, was made available to him.

The Jew who has sought to gain the Kingdom of God and His righteousness is in the best position of all to appreciate the provision God has made for him to keep the eternal moral law of God, of which the Ten Commandments are a shadow. The righteous Jew is able to perceive the new covenant as the placing of the Torah, the Law, in his personality in such a manner that he can obey its commandments in their most complete form. He can see the grace of God as being salvation from the power of sin so he can live righteously in the Presence of God. Meanwhile his sins are forgiven through the blood of Christ. They no longer are remembered against him.

One can see immediately the disadvantage of the Gentile when it comes to understanding the Divine redemption. He does not have a tradition that looks for the restoration of the Throne of David. He does not, in most instances, have a background of striving to be righteous in terms of the Law of Moses.

When someone makes an effort to convert a Gentile to Christianity he informs the Gentile that all people are sinners. He shows the Gentile a few verses of the Scriptures to prove all people are under condemnation and cannot please God by their own efforts. Such an effort to create an awareness of the need for righteousness is contrived when compared with the heart cry of the Apostle Paul for deliverance from a sinful body.

The evangelist then presents Christ as the sin-offering by which the Gentile can make Heaven his eternal home. The goal of gaining the Kingdom of God and His righteousness is nowhere in sight. The goal has become eternal residence in the spirit paradise after the Gentile dies. Thus the Gentile version of the Gospel of the Kingdom is far removed from the preaching of John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and the Apostle Paul.

The Gospel of the Kingdom is to the Jew first. The Gentiles do not understand the Gospel of the Kingdom and have made the Christian religion a chaos of contradictory doctrines and practices. The Gentiles are not seeking righteousness but paradise in the spirit world. They are looking for mansions and golden slippers in Heaven where they can rest for eternity.

The Gentile is not, in the majority of instances, given the promise by his teachers that by following the Lord Jesus he can become righteous in behavior. To the contrary, he is advised that he now is under "grace," meaning that however he behaves he will go to the paradise in the spirit realm to dwell forever. Since he has no tradition of a kingdom on the earth, the promise that Jesus will sit on the Throne of David means little or nothing to him.

The Gentile understands the term salvation to mean, "go to Heaven when you die." All of his arguments over doctrine, faith versus works, eternal security, the keeping of the Law, predestination, and so forth, are presented against the backdrop of the definition of salvation as "going to Heaven when we die." His arguments are irrelevant and meaningless in terms of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

The scriptural definition of salvation is, "to be completely delivered from sin in spirit, soul, and body, to be created in the moral image of Christ, and to be made one in the Father and the Son." To be "saved" is to be saved from sin and rebellion and made one with God.

The truly saved (in the above sense) individual will be restored to the Presence of God, to Heaven because his transformed personality makes him fit for Heaven. But His goal is not primarily Heaven, it is to please God. He is a righteous person who loves and fears God, and to him, pleasing God is an end in itself.

The goal of the Gentile Christian is to go to Heaven when he is so unfortunate as to die; not necessarily that he may be in the Presence of God but in order to escape Hell. He is seeking to get to Heaven by using "grace" as a ticket for admittance, not by using the Divine grace as the means of transforming his personality and thus making him fit for the Presence of God and the elect angels. Instead, he is looking for a fire escape, not for fellowship with God in righteousness and holiness.

Rightly understood, to be established in grace means God has forgiven the individual and now is helping him overcome the evil in his personality.

To the Gentile believer, to be established in grace means God has forgiven all of his actions of the past, present, and future, and although he ought to try to please the Lord there is no serious penalty if he does not. He will escape Hell and go to Heaven when he dies because the "grace of God" is an eternal amnesty that cannot be affected by his behavior.

Every time he reads the dire warnings of the Epistles concerning the consequences of walking in the flesh, he relaxes. He believes that none of them should be taken seriously, at least not that seriously! In fact, it is taught commonly that the warnings of loss of inheritance found in the New Testament are directed toward the non-Christians—so abysmal is the ignorance prevalent in our day. Through his Christian teachers, Satan has whispered to the believer, "You shall not surely die." The nominal Christian continues his carefree way until he meets the Lord Jesus.

There are seeds of spiritual death in Christian teaching. The Gentile Christian churches are in doctrinal confusion. The day is upon us when God will restore the Gospel of the Kingdom to the Jews, to the rightful recipients. When that takes place, the remnant of Gentile believers who truly know the Lord will rejoice and do all in their power to assist the reconciliation of Christ and His brothers.

The majority of Gentile Christians, including the historic denominations, will rise up in satanic fury when they see the Jews claiming their own bread and not joining the Gentile organizations. These Gentile "believers" will join together in one huge Babylon (man-directed Christianity). They will turn in their rage on the Jews and on the Gentile remnant who are assisting the Jews.

But the Jews and the elect Gentiles are not to fear. The Holy One of Israel, Christ, will cover us under His almighty hand until His glorious appearing. Then God’s chosen people will rejoice in His Glory, but the wicked will be brought into judgment.

The terms Christianity and Christian have been employed historically to describe the Divine salvation proclaimed by Jesus of Nazareth. These terms are offensive to Jews. But to use names other than Christian and Christianity, in this booklet, runs the risk of perpetuating the myth that God’s salvation through Christ is a Gentile religion and that God has some other program for the Jews; or that the various Jewish Messianic congregations are somewhat acceptable splinter groups of the great "Gentile Church."

In spite of the risk of suggesting (by the omission of the name, Christian) that the Christian religion is Gentile and we now are speaking of some other plan of redemption for the Jews, we will minimize as far as possible the use of the terms Christian and Christianity in deference to the feelings of Jewish readers. Let it be very clear, however, that we are speaking only of the one Divine salvation that historically has been named "Christianity."

The name "Christian" indeed is hated by many Jews, and rightfully so. However, the time has come for the Jewish people to realize the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, announced by Jesus of Nazareth, is their bread, and that Gentile believers are "strangers" whom God has seen fit to add to the one Jewish olive tree.

But he [Jesus] answered and said, It is not right to take the children’s [Jews’] bread, and to cast it to dogs [Gentiles]. (Matthew 15:26)

One of the greatest misunderstandings of all time is that the religion having to do with Jesus of Nazareth is a Gentile religion.

In actuality, there is no such thing as a Gentile Church—Christian or otherwise.

Later on we will be stressing that there is only one Kingdom, one Church, one Body of Christ. In connection with the oneness of God’s elect, let us emphasize two concepts:

When referring to the one Church, the one new Man, we are not speaking of a great "Gentile Church" to which a few Jews have been added. Jews are never added to a so-called Gentile Church. Never! Never! Never! The Church is the "commonwealth of Israel." The truth is, a few Gentiles are added to the great Jewish Church. Believing Gentiles are grafted on the Jewish olive tree.

The second concept has to do with the integrity of the land and people of Israel. God has chosen the land and people of Israel in a manner that is not true of any other area or race. The Kingdom of God began with the Jews and will end with the Jews.

The prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures concerning the Kingdom of God refer to God’s elect whether Jewish or Gentile by race. However, some of the prophecies of the Scriptures are pointed at physical Israel and are not to be "spiritualized" so as to refer to the Church.

It is also true that other prophecies have a double meaning, such as the "dry bones" of Ezekiel. The uniting of the bones portrays both the restoration of physical Israel and the restoration of spiritual Israel. The two restorations are on a converging course and finally will become one.

Still other prophecies, such as Isaiah, Chapter 53, refer only to Christ, the Lord Jesus, His work of atonement and final vindication.

The Kingdom of God includes only those who are born again through the Spirit of Christ. The inner spiritual kingdom is of first importance, and when it has been perfected in the saints it will be revealed in paradise on earth. The spiritual kingdom is of the Jews first, and after that of the elect Gentiles.

Until the new Jerusalem, the spiritual-physical Kingdom of God, has descended to the new earth, the physical race of Jews will enjoy a special role in God’s plan. It will continue to be true that he who blesses natural Israel will be blessed and he who curses natural Israel will be cursed.

It is time today for both Jews and Gentiles to realize the salvation proclaimed by Christ is primarily a Jewish salvation. The salvation that proceeds from Jesus is the giving of eternal life and eternal form to the teachings, symbols, and hopes of biblical Judaism.

The continuity from Judaism to Jesus can be seen in the following verse:

God, who in many instances and in various ways spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:1,2)

The "fathers" the "prophets" and "us" are all Jews. The Divine salvation is for the Jew first. The Jew is the elect, the chosen, by Divine decree.

There is no such thing as a "Gentile Church." The Church began with five thousand Orthodox Jews, all zealous concerning the Law, and will end with the Jews.

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