Faithful on Fridays Blog

Part Two

Paul knew there was disunity between the Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome, he longed to go there and minister, but what was so crucial that he needed to explain?

Clearly, the lack of understanding of the Jewish religion by this Gentile or non-Jewish church caused division and that’s the nutshell. The word Gentile simply means ‘nations’ ethnos, where we get the word ‘ethnic’, which distinguishes all nations from the Jewish nation: they were God’s chosen, His special treasure. Originally He saw only two groups of people in this world, Jewish and not Jewish, until the gift of grace is extended by faith to all Gentiles who believe. Paul needed to address this issue of understanding before he could bring unity, consequently, he taught from the Old Testament, the roots of faith. We saw last week that both the Gentiles and the Jews had some issues, separate worldviews, and apparently a culture clash, but Paul realized the Scriptures (Old Testament) was the path to God’s worldview; it still is. 

How we think about sin, righteousness, justification, and faith along with our views about Israel is something to be addressed even as we watch the news. Many today don’t know the Plan of Redemption as seen in the Old Testament and the promises of God. He declared His people to be a ‘set apart’ or holy people, God’s possession, chosen from out of every nation to be His special treasure (Dt. 7:6-11), and different from the world; that’s a truth all nations or ethnos needs to know today. We’re different. God’s plan from the beginning was for all nations to be blessed by the Jews because of their faith with Abraham as the prime example (Gen. 12:1-3, 15:5). The Abrahamic Covenant was eternal, and now the door is open to Gentiles: you and me. 

It’s no different today, we all need to understand that faith in Jesus Christ as our final sacrifice for sin is why we’re allowed into God’s presence (that’s righteousness) and faith is what declares you ‘not guilty’ (that’s justification). Here’s the kicker; it’s not anything you could possibly do to obtain those gifts, not even circumcision (for a Jew), or good works (for a Gentile): it’s simple faith. Even Abraham was a Gentile when he came to faith, what a great example, and Jewish people needed that reminder. 

When any Gentile understands where faith comes from, or a Jewish person understands it’s not about their heritage, then unity begins to develop. As you read the first four chapters of Romans, hopefully you will, allow this new lens to help you understand faith as Paul moves back and forth from addressing the Gentiles, to the Jews, and then both groups of people as one.

Paul was uniquely qualified to write this message since he was Jewish, and yet God called him to the Gentile world within the church to show that distinction or separation is now gone: they are one new man in Christ (Eph. 2:11-22).