Romans 15 (Lecture 53) Paul & Yeshua -- Ministries Differ. Here's Why!

[Rebbe]

PAUL'S LETTER TO THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS (53)
Analytical Commentary on Romans

 ROMANS 15
 PAUL AND YESHUA -- MINISTRIES DIFFER:
HERE'S WHY!

Copyright © BRI/IMCF 2018 All Rights Reserved Worldwide by Les Aron Gosling,
Messianic Lecturer (BRI/IMCF)

Audio Lecture is now available for members: Paul's letter to the Roman Christians: Lecture 53
http://www.bripodcasts.com/Romans/Lecture53.MP3

"Ideas cannot be fought except by means of better ideas. The battle consists not of opposing, but of exposing; not of denouncing, but of disproving; not of evading, but of boldly proclaiming a full, consistent and radical alternative" -- Ayn Rand

Romans 15 is one of the most ignored chapters in the whole Bible which is evidenced by the dearth of sermons and expository references relative to it. In fact, over six decades I have sat in innumerable churches, denominations, and sects (and other religious associations) and have hardly ever heard a single text quoted from it. Some might think I am exaggerating but this is hardly the case. The reason for so much silence is not due necessarily to pastoral indifference but rather Paul's inclusions and thoughts in the passage are all so evidentially self-explanatory and his instructions so clear that no sermon needs to be spent clarifying or explaining the obvious details or the importance of his instructions.

Yet, what I would focus on in this lecture is Paul's statements about his ministry. The reason I will seek to examine Paul's ministry compared to the ministry of Yeshua --is due to the fact that especially since the late 18th century and right up until this writing in 2018 many believers have held that Paul's ministry was not merely spiritually inconsistent in relation to Yeshua's, but that Paul even went diametrically against the teachings of the Lord in many areas of service. The conflict, they claim, is paramount and they are adamant that Paul was indeed "the wolf" whom Yeshua had warned the Church to be on guard against.

I have a very tattered copy of a rare booklet on my shelves (published in 1946) by Rev Vincent Arthur Holmes-Gore entitled Christ or Paul? Holmes-Gore states in his booklet,

"Let the reader contrast the true Christian standard with that of Paul and he will see the terrible betrayal of all that the Master taught.... For the surest way to betray a great Teacher is to misrepresent his message.... That is what Paul and his followers did, and because the Church has followed Paul in his error it has failed lamentably to redeem the world... The teachings given by the blessed Master Christ, which the disciples John and Peter and James, the brother of the Master, tried in vain to defend and preserve intact were as utterly opposed to the Pauline Gospel as the light is opposed to the darkness." And further still, "The triumph of Paul's Gospel is all the more remarkable in view of the Master's repeated warnings that false teachers would arise immediately after his 'going away'. Thus we read in Matthew: 'Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing. but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them.... Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit... Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom, of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.'"

"This warning fits Paul. who taught that entry into the kingdom of Heaven depends upon faith, i.e. by calling Jesus 'Lord. Lord', and did not teach the pure way of life by which alone man can enter the kingdom. And if we apply to Paul the test 'by their fruits ye shall know them' it is abundantly clear that he was a false prophet. We have seen that it was he who founded the Pauline Church in spite of the true Apostles' opposition. It was he who formulated its doctrines... The Christianity which the nations claim to follow is the religion of Paul who is admittedly the chief and almost the only theologian that the Church recognizes. Because of his betrayal of the Master's teachings the vision of true Christianity has been so dimmed that men have been able to defend war and a host of other evils, such as flesh eating and slavery, on the authority of the Bible. Had the teachings of the Master come down to us in their true form such misinterpretation would have been unthinkable."

I might just add that some of the early Ebionites never wavered in their conviction that the apostle Paul was indeed a renegade and agent of the Dark Lord. So we really need to take a good hard look at both ministries.

 And so we begin our trek into Romans 15. Let us consider the text.

THE TEXT
"So we who are strong have a duty, a moral obligation, to bear the infirmities of those who are not strong, rather than to be pleasing ourselves. Each of us should seek to please his neighbor and act for his interests, thus edifying him. For even the Messiah did not please himself; rather, as the Scripture says, The insults of those insulting you fell on me.[Psalm 69.9] For everything written in the past was written to educate us, so that with the encouragement of the Scriptures we might patiently hold on to our hope. And may God, the source of encouragement and patience, give you the same attitude among yourselves as the Messiah Yeshua had, so that with one accord and with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. So welcome each other, just as the Messiah has welcomed you into God's glory. For I say that the Messiah became a servant of [or, had a ministry to] the Jewish people in order to show God's truthfulness by making good his promises to the Patriarchs, and in order to show his mercy by causing the Gentiles to glorify God as it is written in the Scriptures, Because of this I will acknowledge you among the Gentiles and sing praise to your name. [2 Samuel 22.50; Psalm 18.49] And again it says, Gentiles, rejoice with his people. [Deut 32.43] And again, Praise Adonai, all Gentiles! Let all peoples praise him! [Ps 117.1] And again, Isaiah says, The root of Yishai will come, he who arises to rule Gentiles; Gentiles will put their hope in him. [Isaiah 11.10] May God, the source of the hope, fill you completely with joy and shalom as you continue trusting, so that by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh you may be super-abounding with hope. Now I myself have reached a settled conviction, my brothers, concerning you, that you are full of goodness, filled with every knowledge and well able to counsel each other. But on some points I have written you quite boldly by way of reminding you about them, because of the Grace God has given me to be a servant of the Messiah Yeshua for the Gentiles, with the priestly duty of presenting the Good News of God, so that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, made holy by the Ruach HaKodesh. In union with the Messiah Yeshua, then, I have reason to be proud of my service to God; for I will not dare speak of anything except what the Messiah has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by my words and deeds, through the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the Good News of the Messiah. I have always made it my ambition to proclaim the Good News where the Messiah was not yet known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation, but rather, as the Scripture puts it, Those who have not been told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. [Isa 52.15] This is also why I have so often been prevented, indeed hindered, from visiting you. But now, since there is no longer a place in these regions that needs me, and since I have wanted for many years to come to you, I hope to see you as I pass through on my way to Spain, and to have you help me travel there after I have enjoyed your company awhile. But now I am going to Jerusalem with aid for God's people there. For Macedonia and Achaia thought it would be good to make some contribution to the poor among God's people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, but the fact is that they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared with the Jews in spiritual matters, then the Gentiles clearly have a duty to help the Jews in material matters. So when I have finished this task and made certain that they have received this fruit, I will leave for Spain and visit you on my way there; and I know that when I come to you, it will be with the full measure of the Messiah's blessings. And now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying vigorously to God on my behalf that I will be rescued from the non-persuadable in Judah, and that my service for Jerusalem will be acceptable to God's people there. Then, if it is God's will, I will come to you with joy and have a time of refreshment among you. Now may the God of the shalom be with you all. Amein."

THE BACKGROUND TO THE DIVERGENT MINISTRIES OF YESHUA AND PAUL
The entirety of the text covering Romans 15 is self-explanatory. But what I would focus on, for our further enlightenment, are verses 8,9,17-21:

"For I say that the Messiah became a servant of [or, had a ministry to] the Jewish people in order to show God's truthfulness by making good his promises to the Patriarchs, and in order to show his mercy by causing the Gentiles to glorify God... In union with the Messiah Yeshua, then, I have reason to be proud of my service [or, ministry] to God; for I will not dare speak of anything except what the Messiah has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by my words and deeds, through the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the Good News of the Messiah. I have always made it my ambition to proclaim the Good News where the Messiah was not yet known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation, but rather, as the Scripture puts it, Those who have not been told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand" [Isa 52.15].

Many believers, especially those of a Gentile Christian background, would read over this section through rose-coloured glasses without any seeming stress concerning what Paul has penned, preferentially considering Yeshua and Paul as engaged in ONE UNIFIED ministry wherein lay absolutely no conflict, either in tone, tenor or even message. But, such is not the case as I will verify in a moment. In the meantime bear with me.

Yeshua began his ministry a short time subsequent to his own baptism at his cousin John's hands in the Jordan River. John (Yochanan) had come suddenly on the scene out of the Judaean desert dressed as Elijah, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the Jewish people (Mt 3.1-6). Yeshua submitted to immersion and adopted the message of the Baptist but with a number of applications modifying a few of Sinai's restrictions and adding some of his own. The baptiser said the kingdom was near. Yeshua stated it was here. In essence they were both correct, for when we take the phrase The kingdom of God has come near unto you (Lk 10.9,11) the word near in English intends that the kingdom is on its way now or it's about to manifest. But this is not what the Jewish thoughtform explicates. The Greek word for has come near is engiken or "almost realised, very close." Yet if we take that phrase back to Hebrew its karav meaning "Arrived!" or "It's here right now."

Certainly, when Yeshua heard that John was arrested and imprisoned at Herod's fortress at Machaerus in Jordan, Yeshua knew he had to get out of the region pronto. He retreated to Galilee of the Gentiles (Mt 4.12; Mk 1.14,15). Luke informs us that John was finally executed because the prophet had condemned the marriage of Herod to the twice divorced Herodias. The contentious relationship issue further constellated around the prohibition by the Essene Community at Qumran against niece marriage for Herodias was the sister of Herod Agrippa 1 (See Josephus, Ant., XVIII, 5.1,2 and especially Slavonic Josephus. Recall John's Qumran connection).

Herod, it is noted in Mark's Gospel, was in terror of John for a twofold reason: (a) because of the prophet's Messianic prophetic witness and emphasis on the imminentness of God's Kingdom in lieu of Rome's Pax Romana (b) the massive crowds that were attracted to the wild ascetic prophet which would turn out to listen to his teachings and agitations (Mk 6.20 cf Josephus' account of John). Mark informs us further that in his imprisonment Herod visited John to hear his views on a wide variety of issues (Mk 6.17-20 esp v.20). While he lived, it appears that John remained a vital threat to the established Judaeo-Roman Pax Romana. After all, if Herod let John alone and ignored his ministry he could launch a likely insurrection and yet if he had him killed the incident could incite the very thing he wanted desperately to avoid. John had railed against Herod's sin publicly hence the charge of sedition brought against him with his consequential arrest and imprisonment.

So, for a time John languished in prison in Herod's fortress at Machaerus. John lamented...

"My spirit is imprisoned with the dead
For [my life] has reached the pit;
My soul languishes [within me]
Day and night without rest.
My wound breaks out like burning fire
Shut up in [my bones],
Whose flames devour me for days on end,
Diminishing my strength for times on end,
And destroying my flesh for seasons on end.
The pains fly out [towards me]
And my soul within me languishes even to death.
My strength has gone from my body
And my heart runs out like water;
My flesh is dissolved like wax
And the strength of my loins is turned to fear.
My arm is torn from its socket
[and I can] lift my hand [no more];
My [foot] is held by fetters
And my knees slide like water;
I can no longer walk.
I cannot step forward lightly,
[for my legs and arms] are bound by shackles
Which cause me to stumble.
The tongue has gone back which Thou didst make
Marvelously mighty within my mouth;
It can no longer give voice,
[I have no word] for my disciples
To revive the spirit of those who stumble
And to speak words of support to the weary.
My circumcised lips are dumb..." (Qumran Hymn 14).

John also reflects, in his Hymns, of his early years. His recollections correlate with the record given in the Gospels, including his early abandonment by his family and his being reared in the Judaean wilderness (at the monastery of Qumran). Note that the Teacher of Righteousness differentiated between his mother that bore him and the woman who reared him. Without any argument it is plainly stated that his birth mother abandoned him to God (meaning she handed him over to the monastery at Qumran).

"Thou (God) hast known me from [the time of] my father,
[and hast chosen me] from the womb.
[From the belly of] my mother,
Thou hast dealt kindly with me,
And from the breast of her who conceived me
Have Thy mercies been with me.
[Thy grace was with me] in the lap of her who reared me,
And from my youth Thou hast illumined me
With the wisdom of Thy judgment....
Thou wilt care for me
For my father knew me not
And my mother abandoned me to Thee..."

John was executed for promulgating his central message of the imminence of the Kingdom of God a treasonable offense in the eyes of Rome and Rome's puppet kings of Judaea. John's startling message and his commanding uncompromising voice struck fear into the ruling class and his days were therefore numbered. The ministry of John the Immerser ended in monumental tragedy, but the mantle of the Messenger of the Covenant fell onto the shoulders of the One whose Way he had prepared and John knew that his cousin was God incarnated because he spoke of him ahead of time as the Lord (Gk., kurios Mt 3.3 It is used of Yeshua in the NT 750 times).

So many can memorise certain inspiring passages of the Bible and still somehow overlook and miss significant elements accompanying that same text. I am not merely referring to John's use of the expression "Lord" which some would lay claim to its meaning as purely "Sir" but also of the mention by Mark in his Gospel account of John's death on Herods' anniversary during which celebration among those present (and especially honoured) were the chief military commanders of Herod's armed forces (Mk 6.21). We might well ask, what of it? It's interesting that Mark references them at this circumstance, for the particular reason that Josephus later mentions in his writings that the Jewish people viewed his miserable defeat in an ensuing war with an Arabian threat as a consequential judgment of God over the murder of His Messenger. When Mark wrote his account of this event some years later his readers would have reflected back no doubt on the association of Herod's Arabian miscalculation and humiliating defeat by the Nabataeans and the existing general view that it was all due as karmic retribution for John's death (Josephus, Ant., XVIII.116).

John's ministry culminated and was swallowed up in the ministry of his student Yeshua the Messiah of the New Covenant. Yeshua came preaching The Kingdom of God and its present manifestation in Himself as the Isaiatic Covenant in fulfillment of this prophetic Word: "I, Yehovah, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles..." (Isa 42.6).

AND YET... while most Christians believe that Yeshua (or, Jesus) came to specifically minister to all humanity, as a human being he did nothing of the sort! This fact STUNS people who first hear it stated. They cannot believer their ears. It sounds horrible, too shocking to be true. But it is the unmitigated truth of the matter. Yeshua came unto his own (Jn 1.11) and to NO ONE ELSE. He came to the Jewish nation, not any Gentile nation and not even to nations that may think they could be Israelites of the lost ten tribes. Let's put that myth completely to rest!

To whom did Christ come?

Consider:

MESSIAH'S MINISTRY EXCLUSIVELY TO THE JEWS
In Matthew 15.24 Yeshua made his mission clear. "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Yeshua is not adopting his course of action in accord with 19th and 20th century pamphlets and booklets of the British-Israel World Federation, or the Worldwide Church of H.W. Armstrong (and their innumerable breakaways since their beloved founder croaked it) in their promotion of mythological claims concerning the lost ten tribes of Israel. No, Our Lord Yeshua is speaking of the spiritually lost not physically lost. Yeshua came during the Second Temple period, at the perfect timing of the living God, to save those Jewish people who were in dire need of a salvation. Yeshua's worldview concerned Israel and Israel alone. There was no hint of a global mission in his earthly ministry. None at all.

Let me explain.

When Greeks came to see Yeshua he frankly ignored their presence. "Sir, we would like to see Yeshua," they politely asked (Jn 12.20-24). Even though it appears that these were Greek proselytes to Judaism, Yeshua's strict command concerning Gentiles gave hiccoughs to the disciples. We are told that Philip went to Andrew and they both then went to Yeshua. What did Yeshua do? Why, he saw the window of opportunity to talk to the two of them about spiritual matters and thus totally neglected the poor Greeks outside awaiting his response. He certainly gave a response -- he ignored them! Had Dale Carnegie been around then it would have devastated him and he would never have penned How to Win Friends & Influence People. They were thus rebuked (yes, in Jewish thoughtform it certainly was a rebuke) by the apostles on Yeshua's orders.

In another situation a short time prior to his crucifixion, Yeshua traveled north of Galilee into the ungodly region of Tyre and Sidon. As he went on his way he was accosted by a Syro-Phoenician woman desperately wanting healing for her child. "She cried out, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely obsessed with a melancholic demon. But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, Send her away! She continues crying after us. He replied, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. She came and grovelled in the dirt before him saying, Lord help me! And he answered, It's not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs! She responded, Yes Lord, yet the little puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table! Then Yeshua answered her: O woman great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire! And her daughter was healed instantly" (Mt 15.21-28 cf Mk 7.24-30).

We might assess that the Lord Yeshua was a bit rude and crude when he spoke of Gentiles of this region as dogs. Interestingly enough if we take a journey through the pages of the NT (which we will not do on this occasion) we find that such language was a current form of use during the Second Temple period and therefore to speak of some human beings (particularly those who did not know God) as dogs, pigs, etc. Still, we should see that at least Yeshua used the Greek word kynaria meaning "little puppies" in the sense of household pets and not ravenous wild beasts. Note too, that the Syrophoenician woman did not take offense but rather took advantage of his words and argued Yeshua into a corner.

Moreover, true to form, he ignored her pleas to heal her daughter as she pitifully cried out "Lord, Son of David." Clearly she knew of his healing powers and awesome miraculous abilities. His fame had gone ahead of him everywhere he went. But, true to form, Yeshua simply ignored her heartache and grief. Why? The answer is as simple as it is remarkable. Simply put, the Gentiles had no part in the Son of David. He is Israel's King, Israel's alone! This is precisely how God the Father wanted it before the cross of Christ. There can be little doubt that Yeshua's heart of hearts was touched and that he was internalising his own grief for this poor woman. But she eventually out-argued the King of kings! The bottom line is that she was knocking on the wrong door. Yeshua was the servant of, and ministering to, the Jewish people (Romans 15.8) and to them alone he was commissioned. God was beginning to reveal in a progressive way the Gospel in its ultimate fulfillment. First Christ comes to Israel. Then to the Gentile proselytes to Israel. After them, Christ turns to the Gentiles themselves. Thereafter, the universe.

I might just also add a couple of pertinent thoughts at this juncture about Yeshua's dealings with Gentiles concerning his healing work. There are only two incidents of Yeshua healing Gentiles in his entire ministry. One was the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman, and the other was the healing of a Roman centurion's servant. Intriguingly, neither sick person was present at the time we read that Yeshua healed them both at a distance (this certainly includes the sick daughter episode, if we read Mark's account, for so many erroneously assume the ill child is present with her mother), and both cases were brought to the Lord's attention by someone else. It has not gone unnoticed that in both cases the Lord Yeshua extolled their faith in him.

Indeed, Yeshua's earthly ministry was very much in conflict with his heavenly ministry. He appointed his twelve apostles to minister to the Jewish villages and towns, but plainly told them to absolutely avoid Gentile centres of interest. "These twelve Yeshua sent out, instructing them, Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel... When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes" (Mt 10.5,6,23).

It was paramount in the mind of Yeshua that in all he personally achieved was to be for the glory of God. When he tentatively ventured into Gentile regions (an extremely rare event when we consider the entire ministry of the Lord) it brought glory to the God of Israel. "The crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel" (Mt 15.31). It was all about bringing glory to God, you see. It yet remains the case!

Paul understood that this was assuredly the case in the matters of God relative to His Salvific will. God very rarely deviates from His perfect intentions. He notes,

"Now I say that Yeshua the Messiah was a minister of the Circumcision [i.e., a servant of the Jews] for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the Fathers" (Rom 15.8).

FROM THE JEWS TO A SERIES OF RACIAL CATEGORIES & CLASSES
The Gentiles were (at that time) outside the sphere of God's (character of) Grace which He directed (virtually) exclusively in the form of mercy to Israel. Even when the occasional Gentile was blessed by God's goodness it was invariably in respect of Israel. All that began to change shortly after the short Pentecostal Revolution period. A great persecution broke out against the Jewish Christians and they were scattered throughout Judaea and Samaria. It was as a consequence of this scattering throughout Samaria that Philip began evangelising the Samaritans which was forbidden by Yeshua during his ministry and this had dire consequences when one of his converts turned out to be the magician Simon (Acts 8) which proved to be detrimental to the early history of apostasy in the Messianic Movement -- the negative effects of which we are still recoiling from in these latter days. It was this same Philip who was commanded by God's angel to draw up beside the chariot of the chief eunuch and treasurer of Candace the Queen of Ethiopia, a convert to a form of Judaism of the day. (Incidentally, Candace was not a personal name, but was a title for a dynasty of Ethiopian Queens, much like Pharaoh of Egypt and Abi'melech in ancient Philistia.). So we here see in the Lukan Acts a progressive plan of God unfolding. To the Jews first, and then to the Gentiles. Samaritans (who were Judaeo-Gentiles) were followed by an African proselyte and then the Gospel went through Peter to the Roman centurion who happened to be (not a proselyte to Judaism) but an actual "God-fearer."

Luke devotes eleven passages in his Acts to God-fearers -- those who reverence God among the Gentiles (Ac 10.2,22,35; 13.16, 26,43,50; 16.14; 17.4,17; 18.7). Those who gave reverence to the God of Israel were not circumcised but observed the so-called Noachian Laws and by so doing became "a stranger within the gate" a friend and brother indeed, but not a fellow Israelite (Hugh Schonfield, The Original New Testament, 1985, 237 n.7).

Luke classifies the Jews of his day and age as being composed of Jews and proselytes (Ac 2.9). They are to be differentiated from God-fearers. In fact, we find the proselytes (as distinct from God-fearers) comprising the Jewish ekklesia BEFORE Peter took the Gospel to the Gentiles (Read Ac 6 carefully). Clearly, the proselytes were not to be identified with Gentiles and they were not denoted as God-fearers by Luke. This distinction is maintained by Paul as well (Ac 13.16,26). The Pharisaic Circumcision Party in Jerusalem was fiercely indignant that Gentile God-fearers were associating with Jewish believers and were uncircumcised (Ac 11.1-3).

Today, we would call such people Jewish sympathisers and they are usually found worshiping in "Clayton's" Jewish-Christian fellowships and churches, the Jewish fellowship cells when you do not have enough (or any) believing Jews with whom to fellowship. These believing Gentiles may follow some of the dietary regulations (especially avoiding contact with pork and pork products) and light candles on Sabbath evenings. They may even fast, and make use of Hebraisms and advocate sacred names in "talking the walk." They may even call their fellowship group a synagogue. Be all this as it may, these latter are not Jews, have not submitted to the mikveh in order to become one, and could only be classified in the first century sense of being supportive of Israelites.

And so we have God's Grace offered to the Jews (who largely rejected it) and thence to the Samaritans (Gentile Samaritan-Jews), then to the African proselyte, from thence by Peter to Cornelius the Roman God-fearer, and finally to the Gentiles by the conversion and later ministry of Rav Shaul of Tarsus.

God did not achieve a global mission all at once and overnight, but rather accomplished it all in developmental stages. Simple and straightforward as a revelation in the NT but a disclosure hardly understood and grasped at all by intellectual academics. This has tended to confuse the biblical narrative in the minds of many unfortunately.

PAUL'S MINISTRY TO THE GENTILES
When Mashiach Yeshua came exclusively to Israel ("I am sent to none but the lost sheep of the house of Israel" Mt 15.24) he certainly communicated words of life to specific Gentile peoples whom he encountered during his short three-and-a-half-year ministry. And his original Nazarene Messianic Community of Faith (made up entirely of the Jewish people) took Mashiach's New Torah to the outcasts of this world, the disreputable, lost Gentiles. God used Paul (and James, of course) to admit the believing Gentiles INTO the remnant of the Commonwealth of Israel (Acts 15).

When did the Gospel really go into the Gentile world? There are a number of theories being advanced to answer this question, but it is stated clearly and candidly at the conclusion of the Lukan Acts. Here we find the answer out of Paul's own pen.

So they [the Jewish rabbinic authorities] disagreed with each other; and as they were leaving, Paul made one further statement: "The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah, Go to this people and say, You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them. Let it be known to you then that THIS SALVATION OF GOD HAS BEEN SENT TO THE GENTILES; THEY WILL LISTEN" (Acts 28.25-28).

They (the Gentile world) will listen, and they have!

In Christ's day the Syrophoenician woman was relegated to eating the scraps that were tossed to her as one would a little puppy or a household dog by the Jewish Messiah. At the end of the Lukan Acts some years later, Paul takes the Gospel exclusively to the Gentiles. In his second and last imprisonment, God the Father revealed to Paul the enormous extent of HisHer GRACE toward humankind which prompted the apostle to the Gentiles to write his Letter to the Ephesian Christians. The GOOD NEWS, the GREAT NEWS, of that disclosure is an extended, vitalised version, concerning an understanding of the outcome of Infinite GRACE in a universal salvation, to the Gentile world. In this epistle Paul reveals the timing of God's disclosure:

"Yeshua came and preached peace to you [Gentiles] who were afar off and to them that were near [the Jews] for through him we both [Gentile and Jew] have access by ONE Spirit unto the Father. NOW therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the [Jewish] saints, and of the household of God" (Eph 2.17-19).

This ultimate revelation included in this Letter to the Ephesian Christians gives us the timing of God's enlightening disclosure that occurred to, and in, the apostle Paul's mind.

"NOW", he says. This now is not merely the summing up of Paul's argumentative style of writing (as it would appear to be the case in English), but in the Greek it is the timing of the recognition of the meaning of the Grace of God to Paul's evaluation.

In one sense Our Lord Yeshua had a limited effect on people with whom he came into contact during his very short ministry. But he stated "Greater things than you have seen me do shall YOU do!" Paul, James, Peter, John and others wrote their thoughts and memories down on parchment, and 2000 years later we are reading of the events that changed the world two millennia ago. However, it is Paul who continues to speak to the world in a major, comprehensive and compelling way. God has used Paul's writings to accomplish much more than he ever dreamed of effectuating in his evangelistic career and ministry. And this divine accomplishment is still serving its purpose 2000 years later.  

Indeed, Paul's writings -- particularly his later epistles -- majored on the purpose of life concerning humankind and the vast universe and its absorption back into Deity. Paul wrote extensively on God's AIM, INTENT, GOAL and PURPOSE. And that is nothing less than an ultimate UNIVERSAL SALVATION. And with this final revelation, Paul proclaimed in his own words that God had commissioned him to FULFILL and to COMPLETE, in an unexpurgated and unabridged way, the WORD OF GOD. After Paul, there was NO further revelation from God to humankind, only interpretation in ILLUMINATION of that same Word.

"Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, TO COMPLETE THE WORD OF GOD; even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but NOW is made manifest to his saints" (Col 1.25,26).

"Until the timing of God's revelation to His apostle in the prison Epistle of Paul to the Ephesian Christians Gentiles were still guests at Israel's table, if not puppies under it" (A.E.Knoch, Concordant Commentary on the New Testament, 1968, 33).

We are NOW all one in Messiah Yeshua. Gentiles who believe in Yeshua are on an equal footing with Jews who believe in Yeshua and there are puppies in intergalactic civilisations that are also awaiting crumbs from their Master's Table.

We are now being prepared to go where man has never ventured before. May we be prepared as were the apostles of long ago to empty our bowls for their everlasting spiritual enrichment.

THIS CONCLUDES LECTURE 53