Category Archives: Connection of Church with Israel

(Mat 3:3-6 ESV)  3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”  4 Now John … Continue reading →

To a First Century Jew raised on the Torah, a central text was — (Deu 30:6 ESV)  6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD … Continue reading →

On the other hand, the non-biblical literature is very limited and we really don’t know how typical, say, the Book  of Jubilees, was of the Jews of its era. We have the Talmuds — the Oral Law now in written … Continue reading →

Try to picture First Century Judaism just before the arrival of the John the Baptist. In fact, the Jews were saved — if they were saved at all — by faith. The Law was, to the Jews, much as the … Continue reading →

We start with just a little bit of context — (Rom 3:29-31 ESV)  29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,  30 since God is one– who … Continue reading →

Now, this claim raises the obvious problem. If the Law of Moses could not save, why have a Law of Moses? What was its purpose? (Gal 3:19 ESV) Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the … Continue reading →

So if I’m right — and I’ll admit that the evidence is sparse — my understanding of Jewish salvation should fit well within Gal 3 and Rom 4, the two chapters in which Paul argues that salvation by faith in … Continue reading →

Now, I had to explain that in order to explain this. Chapter 11 is a list of the faithful heroes of the First Testament. It begins with Abel and continues to — (Heb 11:35-38 ESV)  35 Women received back their … Continue reading →

While Paul touches on the salvation of the Jews under the Law of Moses, Hebrews deals more thoroughly with the question, although the point of Hebrews is to demonstrate the superiority of the covenant under Christ to the Mosaic covenant. To … Continue reading →

Ponder for a moment this passage — (Rom 5:20-21 ESV)  20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,  21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might … Continue reading →