Our past as Gentiles in the flesh

So we're going to do Ephesians 2, 11-13 today and I'm going to wait for a second to read the scriptures in that we're going to go back and look at the first ten verses in a second. So let's begin. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, slash, you are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands. Now notice Notice it's the circumcision made in the flesh by hands, okay? And we're going to come to that in more detail. Therefore, I'll say like J. Bernard McGee, what's it there for? Get out your Bible, Tom, would you? Let's be prepared here. Alright, so it's a remembrance which is present active imperative. In other words, therefore means now. and this is factual, we're going to read 1-10. So who wants to read 1-10? I'll read. Please.

And you, Happy Quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. among whom also we all had our conversation, in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved. and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them. Therefore, okay, so, I mean, that's what therefore is all about. I mean, we're dead in trespasses and sins, by grace are you saved, by faith, da-da-da-da-da-da, therefore, okay, so it relates to our past and brings us into the present.

Now how do you interpret flesh here, and I think this is what I was alluding to when I paused on that verse. There are many definitions of sarx, and here flesh is not the human nature separated from divine influence, although many commentators still interpret it that way. That's not correct, I don't think. But, friends, as the subsequent text shows, flesh here relates to human skin to which circumcision is applied. This is not the old nature we're talking about. Now flesh could be the human existence, flesh could be the skin on our surfaces, that's what it's pertaining to here. Flesh could be the old nature. So it can apply in context to a wide variety of things. I like what we said, and he's quoting expositors.

A further definition of what they were is Gentiles. is suggestive of a low regard in which they were held as members of that class. The name uncircumcision is a name of contempt and was flung at them. So the Gentiles were really second class citizens.

So we got to really put this in perspective. The Jew was to whom God's promises were made. And the Gentiles, oh by the way, you don't have these promises. We're going to come back to putting this into perspective in terms of what the Jewish perception of God's promises were and ultimately how they relate to us today.

Uncircumcision means foreskin. How's that for an uplifting description? It was a crude way of talking about the Gentiles. They were crude people. It's one of our words we would not typically use today is we'll put somebody down, right? We could call them a lot of things. We won't need to go there. But anyway, calling somebody a foreskin really wouldn't be probably a very admirable thing to say, would it, Tom? No. Tom says no too. All right.

So Constable says, the Jew had an immense contempt for the Gentile. The Gentiles said the Jews were created by God to be fuel for the fires of hell. How's that for a statement? We're talking about maybe not even second-class citizens, right? Keep in mind, we're going to see how that's dealt with by Paul. Paul has a different perspective, doesn't he? Let's look at a couple of verses.

Romans 4.11, and he, meaning Abraham, received the sign of circumcision. We could look back at the Genesis passage, but let's not do that now because of time. which was a seal of the righteousness of the faith, which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also." Paul puts this in the historical perspective. Abraham was uncircumcised, but yet the promises to the Jewish nation really arose to Abraham in terms of God's promise of what was to come.

Romans 2.28.29 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. That's what we're dealing with here. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. Paul goes on.

Colossians 2.11, and him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off of the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Neat.

And finally, Philippians 3.3, for we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit Rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Now that flesh there is the old nature. It's not the skin or the foreskin. Randy?

One of the things I think is fascinating about circumcision in the Old Testament is that it's superseded all other laws. So if you had a baby and the 8th day on the Sabbath, you did the circumcision. So circumcision was considered a special token of God's blessing in those lives, and then I love that Colossians passage, circumcision without hands, is a substantial thing because there was ceremony and there was all these things that took place that the Jews would have recognized as special. They still do, right? The Jews still do this. And so God made something even more special.

So if you look here, the flesh down here in Philippians 3.3 does relate to the old nature, whereas in context, in this verse, it's clearly the skin, the foreskin to which it relates. Any questions at all about circumcision, historic or now? I think Randy, the idea that the circumcision preceded the law really is an important concept because those promises related to the circumcision that God made Abraham by faith are those that continue to the Gentile. We'll come back to that in the verses to come here today. Alright, let's go ahead then.

Ephesians 2.12, at that time you were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. So let's look at that verse again, that at that time you, meaning all of us, all the Gentile nations of the world were without Christ, as Israel was also actually, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world. So let's look at that in a little more detail.

Separated from Christ, but what about Christ and Israel? I mean, what's Israel doing with Christ? Could you maybe intonate that a little differently? Christ or Christos here really is the word best translated as the Messiah. Interpreted here in a Jewish sense. So Christ to them was not the Messiah. He in fact was whatever. I mean many people believe that he didn't exist and that the history is incorrect. The Jew clearly missed him in terms of his purpose.

And aliens means to be shut out and that's being shut out as the one that's being shut out from fellowship and intimacy as we were as Gentiles with Christ. Colossians 121, and you who once were alienated, by the way the only other time this term is used in the New Testament is here. We were alienated and enemies in our mind by wicked works yet now we've been reconciled. So the Gentiles really, the Jewish view of the Gentile was really a human view of an existence that was subservient to the rest of the Jewish nation. But in fact, before God, we were alienated and enemies because of our works.

Describe the Commonwealth of Israel. What do you think here? Well, it's different tribes, but they're united in purpose. Okay, other thoughts about the commonwealth. Okay, from Jacob, which by the way remember Jacob's name was Israel. Okay, so Israelites really are named after Jacob and his tradition. From Jacob on, it's this fulfillment of the posterity all the way to the promise of the Messiah. So in other words, I think The commonwealth really related to ultimately that kingdom on this earth that was promised from this Messiah that was actually Christ himself, but in fact they did not accept him as their Messiah.

And if you think about it, commonwealth is a state. How many states do we have that are commonwealth? I can think of one. Now to Israel being a commonwealth, it may have related to divine administration, but was that the Israelites view of the commonwealth? I mean think of the Jew today, what's the commonwealth of the orthodox or very conservative Jew today? Is it the divine state? It's all about the land. Well, it's land related, it's law related, it's related to being a state. If you think about a state, a state is an existence really that expands every aspect of human sustenance. It's politics, it's government, it's law.

So this state that they were in, I think may have had divine roots, but in fact today for sure it's been violated from that. Probably not. I don't think the divine administration here was really what Israel had in mind, although in part it may have been in fact in mind. Macaulay, in Israel there was no separation between civil and sacred.

I like that. had to quote him. I would have borrowed that, but I think we give credit to whom it was due. Psalms 147, 19 and 20, he declares his word to Jacob, meaning Israel, his statutes and his judgments to Israel. Notice statutes and judgments, civil and sacred. He has not dealt thus with any nation, and as for his judgments, they have not known them, praise the Lord. That verse was used by many commentators to refer back to in terms of this situation.

But let's now reflect a little differently on the seed of Abraham. Romans 9, 3 and 4, For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ from my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises.

So is that civil? Or is that sacred if you will, if you use that term? It looks intermingled to me. Okay. Your further thoughts on that, Tom? Well, you can say in two different ways that The adoption means acceptance between tribes that they are all one, or it could mean God has adopted them as his unique nation. Glory, well, you could probably say God has preserved them, but they continue on as a nation, whether it's acknowledged by others or not. covenants well to have a civil covenants mixed in right with the things that God had ordained. I can explain it later, but it looks like there is some commingling throughout. You know, I was at Temple University a couple of weeks ago, and I think I mentioned this in terms of a prayer request.

Kevin John Williams is a very, very conservative Jew, and he and I have discussed things of the Lord before. So we had that opportunity again. And you know, the law came up and he feels that the faithful Jew is keeping the entire law except for the animal sacrifice.

Because the temple has been destroyed, they don't have to do that. But then I just mentioned something, a lot about lusting after a woman in your heart, I mean Christ said that that was, he said well that doesn't make any difference. He said what we need to do is obey not doing things, it doesn't make any difference what we're thinking.

How about that? So the law is prescribed about things one would do. It's not what the intent is. I mean, that's his view of the world. So if in fact you don't commit adultery, you in fact have not violated the law. I mean, that was his view. So the Christians were on a whole different path because the nature, the Adam nature is in all of us. He didn't accept the original sin. I mean, he really believes that the law is there to be obeyed and not an intent, but a deed. Interesting. God invented clothes for a purpose. I wasn't thinking of it quite that way, Tom. That's just to say that God approved of certain things but not of others. Amazing.

So he didn't see, as far as, how about the justice account? Your friend, Adam and Eve, what was his view of Genesis? Well, we didn't get back there. It was an interesting conversation, but you know, Christ of the Jew is just someone they don't have to even think about. I mean, it's just passe. There's no relationship at all to them. We went out to dinner with he and his wife and they ordered everything kosher. It's perhaps a lost opportunity.

But no, God plants seeds, you never know. Galatians 3.17, and this I say that the law, which was 430 years later, like Randy was alluding to, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before God in Christ, that it would make the promise of no effect, for at the inheritances of the law, it is no longer a promise. but God gave it to Abraham by promise. So again, the promises made to Abraham preceded the law, and the Jew could keep the law all he or she wants, but we're told, what's the purpose of the law? To act as a schoolmaster. To do what? To lead a free life. To convict, isn't it?

It has no merit. We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We've been there before in Ephesians. All right, strangers from the covenant of the promise. What's the promise? The Lord Jesus Christ, right? And Gentiles were without knowledge and separated spiritually. That's what the verse says. Having no hope and without God in the world. Now, but did they or is the world system or cosmos that we are in, do they care? What are your thoughts about that? I see the world as their gig and that's all there is. Does the world care about having no hope? They got their thing. It seems not.

And how many times have you heard, you know, we can't judge whether somebody's been saved or not, but you know, they're in a better place now, right? Everybody has this kind of a hope that after death there's something going on that's going to be better for people, right? Maybe it's sparing them the grief of the human disease or illness or whatever else they've gone through, but what kind of hope is that? What's the world's hope? It's all a feel-good thing.

When you go to a funeral or whatever, and I've been to a couple of Jewish funerals, Where, honestly, it's like, where is that coming from? Because they even, I mean, even they talk about, you know, being in a, in heaven. I mean, they talk about being in heaven at these Jewish services. And it's like, really? I mean, they, it was kind of weird. So I guess the extended question was, what creates a hope in someone? The hope that's real.

The evidence of things not seen. OK. We have to have no hope here. I mean, you have to have a desire for the eternal. So let's categorize the Gentile system as alienated from God, which we were historically, but not, of course, now, today. What's the hope? I think the hope is that we're evolutionary in existence and ultimately when we die we're to dust. There's no hope. This is life and that's all there is to it.

Then there's a second kind of class of hope. What's that? What does much of the world system, maybe the mainline church to a large extent, live? What cloud is that? I think it's by how good of a person they are. So it's a self-righteousness kind of perspective, right? And their hope is that their works have been sufficient to merit some sort of ultimately eternal existence. Randy?

They hope for a very lopsided bell curve where they know Hitler's going to go to hell. But everybody who's better than Hitler and some of their favorite villains, they're better than that. Speaking of Hitler, Margaret? Yeah, we watched the Gargis Tower last night. So, how many have seen The Darkest Hour?

It's worth it. It's a well done cheap movie. What I'm saying, it didn't cost that much to produce it, which was really neat. If you've been to London, Churchill's Museum is one thing you've got to do. It's a great place to be. If you've seen The Darkest Hour, you've got to see Dunkirk. Have you seen Dunkirk? A good sequel of The Darkest Hour is Dunkirk. This took place the week before Dunkirk. We're getting off track.

The hope of the world is doing good things. My brother thought he didn't need Christ. He'd lived a good life. The sin nature that's in all of us, people don't want to admit. When you have a conversation with someone, my late father, my first wife's father, he was a Kierkegaardian theologian. Anybody know what Kierkegaardian theology is all about?

There's a one-liner for it. It's called the leap of faith. So what's the leap of faith? Wish for anything hard enough, and it becomes true. Well, there's a leap that's not adequately historically based. In other words, the Bible is just a book that maybe enables the leap of faith. It's kind of just jumping out there, hoping for something to happen.

But anyway, he got saved. He had cancer of the esophagus, which is a fatal disease. And he came to the Lord. Actually, Sharon, his daughter, was saved, and I was saved, and we kept trying to dissuade him from this Kierkegaardian theology that he was in. So after his cancer was diagnosed, he came to the Lord. But he said something profound that I'll never forget.

When you're in a conversation with someone about anything in general, and ultimately it's getting more serious in terms of what you're discussing, ask them a simple question. Is man basically good or bad. And what's the world system say almost always? Everything Aunt Frank said. So man's basically good and yes there are a few things that happen now and then, but man's basically good. You've got no conversation to follow unless you know you have a door that's open. So the world system could care less about what the future bears.

John Davis who was into international ministries is someone Sharon and I were exposed to right after we got to Denver. John said every person asks these questions. Who am I? Where did I come from? and where am I going? I think that's really true. Anyone with any kind of cognitive capability asks those questions. Who are you now? Where did you come from? Where are you going? Ultimately, if you're a human, you ask those questions and the world system is not going to provide any answers for you. No man comes to the Father, but by whom? The Lord Jesus Christ. Onward. A little bit of a pause here. John 15, 19.

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. The world loves its own, doesn't it? Yet because you're not of the world, which is us, and I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. How many people feel hated in here by the world system? Randy, do you feel hated by the world system?

Oh yeah. The whole scheme of today's political correctness is to suppress truth. But do you antagonize people purposely because of your faith? I don't antagonize them purposely. But they hate you. Why would they hate you? Well, they preemptively have policies in place so that you can't have those kinds of discussions. And then therefore they can keep the hate. for Christianity, abstract from the people who actually are believers, and vice versa, where the lies of Satan are promoted so prominently through, I'll call it scientism, not because I don't believe in science, but faith in science as we're saying it. So they may not hate you individually, but they hate who you are and what you stand for.

It's like we walk around with a muzzle on all the time. And you have to guard wherever you are. If you're in a group, it doesn't matter. Even with people that you consider friends, because they have a different belief system, if you really said what you thought, about the world system. The view is you don't talk politics or religion ever publicly. And even with some family members you don't. Oh really? We're not going to go there.

Is that your experience that you feel hated? The hatred isn't directed personally, but it's the hatred to your Lord and Savior, Lord Jesus Christ. That's where the hatred is ultimately carried out and ultimately perceived by us when we go into that space. To some extent, in the self-righteous world system we live in, I think people don't feel like they need any help. They're doing a good job on their own. we all know who are believers that is not God's view of us. I think what I've observed, just coming back to the hatred topic, what I've observed is that there are people who have been set up to believe that if you're religious you fall in the category of religious and all religious people are. and there's often a broad generalization.

You can't go door-to-door anymore because the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses do that. If you do that, then you're like them, and that is not fruitful at this point in time. The culture is callous. They're going to see there's two of you at the door, and they're not even going to answer.

And it's one of those things where there's a callousness there, and then the other side of it is when you engage somebody and their grandma or their aunt or their whomever it is was a legalistic Christian. Yeah. They say, oh, you're a Christian. And they assume immediately you're like my insert relative here. And you have no voice. Well that's the fall of a wrong theology.

I think the freedom we have in Christ gives us a lot of room and I think that the room is not the sin but that freedom to live a life that's positioned above and that condition is conformed to the position we have. And that gives us a lot of freedom in terms of living an uplifted life free of sin. In a few conversations I've been able to actually get past their disagreement that Christianity is always wrong and get engaged in a conversation and when I can explain grace as unmerited and unlimited and thus removing the barriers of legalism that they had observed before often I actually can't get their ear and we can talk still to the Holy Spirit to salvation but it's one of those things where if we can get to the crux of grace we actually have something they've never heard before That's being lost in the world system today. I went to school in, I remember, 4th, 5th, 6th grade. There was a church next to my elementary school and we went over there for an hour once a week to be educated in the Word of God.

That didn't impact me. I hated it actually. But in a sense, if you think about the separation of the world system and the church, I don't need prayer in schools. Right? The world system has eliminated it, really. But do we need prayer in schools to make Christ known to people? Maybe today we do, only because nobody's paying any attention to anything beyond the world system and what their metrics are for a successful life. Don't know.

But anyway, the concept here is that the world system hates the Lord Jesus Christ, and we're part of that. We're the church. And even though you may not experience that personally, The condition based on our position that we hold is hated by the world system. And they look at it as kind of arrogant and we have all the answers and we have to believe that we live in truth. Because we believe what God's revealed. But yet they would take issue with that.

Remember, what's Christ to the Jew? A stumbling block. And to the Gentile? Foolishness. And that's why the Gentile is often a much more difficult individual to share our faith with. And again, I've stated this many times before, forgive me, but I've had many serious conversations with Jewish people. But with Gentiles, rarely is anyone interested in addressing things that relate to the Lord Jesus Christ. All right.

Verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, You who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. What does it mean to now be in Christ Jesus? If you are a Gentile and you suddenly realize that Christ is actually for you and supportive of you in what he has in store for you, then yeah, this is good. What does it mean to be in Christ Jesus? Boy, I did a study decades ago on this and looking at the preposition in Christ or in him versus for him and I think if I recall correctly for Jesus or for the Lord Jesus Christ was used like a handful of times four or five times but in Christ or in him is like a hundred and sixty-five times in scripture so in this class and since position is really what we're teaching here what's it mean to be in Christ Believing in who He is, what He's done, and accepting His gift of what He did for you, and accepting Him into your heart. That pretty much covers all. You're talking about 1 Corinthians 15 Gospel, right? Okay, let's turn to where I think the meat is. Let's turn to Romans 6. Everybody open their Bibles to Romans 6, and I'm going to read this. Everybody ready? Know ye not that as many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Do you reflect on that? That's not simply the forgiveness of sins, that's us being baptized into his death.

Therefore we are buried with him in baptism unto death that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father Even so, we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man, crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should no more serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we receive that we have shall also live with him. Knowledge that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he lives, he lives unto God. Likewise, reckon or consider yourself dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's in Christ.

We could turn to multiple other passages. That's why the new believer needs to start in the epistles of Paul before he or she gets involved in reading 1 John. Romans is such a 1, 2, 3, ABC kind of introduction to the Christian life and many people turn people to the gospel of John and I think That's reasonable, rather than Luke or Matthew. But nevertheless, in Christ, I think, you know, back to the world system and even within the body of Christ, I think one thing that we at Holly Hills, and I'm sure the church globally has the theology of being in Christ and what that means.

I think, and we're going to come to this at the end today, but covenant theology is this merging of Israel with the church. And dispensational theology really is what we're all about. And so this being in Christ really, which is declared by this verse, we were once a far off, but now we have a new nature. Did you or do you continue to see yourself as being a far off? I hope not.

Bob, I wonder if that had something to do with, as a Gentile, you weren't allowed into the temple really, that was the Gentile court. And we're going to come down to that point. Sorry. No, that's fine. Being far off was clearly, remember in context, remember the Gentiles. So I'm just, you know, obviously applying this issue to us. We've been included. We're no longer far off, but the Gentiles were.

And ultimately, notice the qualification, but now we have been brought near by the blood of Christ, and now connects to the salvation of the blood of Christ. Not temporally now. Now it's the blood of Christ that's brought us into salvation, even though the placement of now in the verse seems to put us in Christ, which we are, but now it's by the blood of Christ that we've been, in fact, positionally made in Him. Why is it that Christ Jesus and just not Christ is utilized here, do you think? It's too easy for someone to see. Why is Jesus brought into this? Christ is at the end, the blood of Christ is brought here, but Christ Jesus is whom we're in.

Well, if you're familiar with Jewish backgrounds, but you're still Gentile and you heard about what they had taught, and then they say, is to be, especially if they're, I'm maybe wandering off, but they connect, the Jews connect at that time, they did connect with the coming Messiah, but didn't see Jesus. And so they still have that among conservative Jews. But they say that when he comes down to establish his king, that's the only way it's going to happen. I think you're on the right track, Tom.

And here's what my thought is that this is the perfect God-man. So we're in Christ Jesus because we have a savior not simply a messiah. And the Jew, their perspective is only the messiah. So Christ Christos is the promise of the messiah. But Christ Jesus or Jesus Christ is the perfect God man.

And that's where people have a lot of trouble with with the whole biblical story in the gospel account, that Jesus wasn't just a teacher or a prophet, that he was actually God. And that's really a tremendous stumbling block of foolishness to the Gentile world.

And it's amazing, Margaret and I have talked about this a lot, the Jews only believe certain miracles or none of the miracles, right? And that's the statute, or the state, or the civil application of the Jewish commonwealth. They choose and pick what they want to believe and it's entirely from a self-righteous and not a faith-based view. Because if they acknowledge these miracles and things that were so documented, then their whole faith, the whole Jewish Messiah thing falls apart.

That's why they can't acknowledge. those things but you know as I've said before now with archaeology and technology and all of these things that have happened so many things that they thought were just stories in the Bible and places that really weren't there they were just stories now they're being proven to be there with documented evidence and so this is really hard I think for Jewish people Like the parting of the Red Sea? Pick and choose your miracles.

Which ones can you scientifically explain? There's always some justification. Like the blood and the water coming off the cross and the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. How many interpretations are there medically for that? Garbage. It's what it is. Remember, what's living by faith? Believing what God says. All right, let's move on. In him, verse 7 of Ephesians, chapter 1, we have redemption through his blood, which includes the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Back to the principle of grace. And Randy, if you can explain grace to people, you're doing a great job, right?

Well, I can contrast it from legalism. I'm not sure that they understand what it means, other than that they're always stunned that it would be. be moving towards relationship rather than towards rigidity. You know, the Gentiles being far off is precisely the legalism, the purpose of the law was to separate Israel from all the Gentile nations around them. That being far off was not an accident.

The Jews took God's command to a level beyond what was actually prescribed. Well, like the quote from Constable I put up before, this was a nation that was really ultimately doomed for hell. It reflected everything about eternal life down below, or whatever they believed eternal life was. It's amazing again how the Jew is so concerned about what they do and not what their thoughts or what the source of their actions really are based upon.

That was exemplified last week. But Colley, the words far and near are significant for two reasons. Bonnie, get back to your point. First, they are Hebrew idioms that describe the position of Jews and Gentiles in relationship to God. Far off, the Jew. believe the Gentiles were far off and no relationship to the temple or the annual sacrifices or anything else.

Isaiah 57, 19, I create the fruit of the lips, peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is nigh, says the Lord, and I will heal him. So in a sense, kind of a prophecy there in terms of those that were far off to be healed. you can interpret that way or maybe you could say that that's too much spiritualization of that verse but several commentators referred me to that verse.

Acts 2.39, for the promises to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. I think that was Peter's sermon at the Pentecost. So the promise, and we know Jew and Gentile are all part of the body. You're no longer a Jew, you're no longer a Gentile, but you're one in Christ Jesus. Constable, I like this.

There is obvious continuity between the redeemed people of God in the Old Testament and the redeemed people of God in the New Testament. However, here Paul stressed the differences between these two groups. And I bold this, covenant theology stresses the continuity between the two groups, whereas dispensational theology stresses the differences between them. And many covenant theologians deny these differences.

Why do you think that? Roger? That's great. Well, I mean, you know, you've been pointing it out, you know, that if we don't distinguish, then we don't see the marvelousness of being in Christ. We don't see that's something that's there's no in Christ in the Old Testament. There was no in Yahweh in the Old Testament. That wasn't you couldn't approach him. I mean, it's the whole. The idea of being in Christ and the grace that God's extended is a marvelous new thing that's different for the church-age believer than it was in the Old Testament. So if you try to merge that together, it's not good. Well, how many of us here have been in congregations after having been saved that have a covenant theology? I mean, I have nobody else. I'm the only one that has a relative maybe. Well, no, but I mean, when Sharon and I got saved, we went to a.

Well, some people may not still understand that term. I'd say like Lutheran, Presbyterian. Oh, those are common denominations. How about evangelical free or, you know, the other church? I mean, how about the fact that there's a lot of them? I mean, actually, it's more common.

You know, there's, you know, The Old Testament is there for our education. And sometimes there are sweet verses there you pull out. You know the Psalms have some things that are like soft pillows for a tired head. But nevertheless, we can't live under law in any sense. The beauty of the Old Testament is that it sets forth a structure that shows God's consistent interactions in consistently unique time periods You know, Adam was completely innocent until the fall. And between Adam and Noah, there's a consistent space and God gives them this time of conscience. And then from Noah to Abraham, and from Abraham to Moses, and you get through and God has put forth, and so we as believers in the New Testament, Based on what Randy said, Roger, back to what you asked, how would he have dealt with Adam's and Eve's sin in the garden? I think I would answer for him, we didn't address that issue, I should have gone there. He would have said Adam did the wrong thing, right? It wasn't the intrinsic innocence that fell by his own sinful nature. It was the fact he did the wrong thing. So in other words, even though there was no law, you can look back at Abraham. He did some wrong things. Look at Jacob. My goodness, Israel named after Jacob. Talk about a guy who had his problems, right?

So anyway, I think we here importantly distinguish dispensational theology from covenant theology, and that's so critically important. And I think one of the flaws the church has in this age, not that we all walk in that glory given to God day in and day out, but it's this whole bad theology. And that's position, and really the position we have really allows us to be in Christ and understand everything that precedes it and in which the age we live in.

So we are all one in Christ Jesus. Nobody's a far off anymore. And the promise in Isaiah has been fulfilled in this time and age in which we live. But glory, honor, and peace to every man that works good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. So work of the good really implies being born again. And that's in Romans 2 which precedes actually all the righteousnesses by faith.

But nevertheless, We're all one in Christ Jesus. And I think I didn't take time to look at verses that would have made that equality very clear. But I think later in Ephesians and Galatians also we have verses that make the Jew and the Gentile the same in Christ. No more Jew.

Next week. No more Gentile. Who's up next week? Next week we'll go into that in gory detail. All right. I'll just talk about it. All right. So any any thoughts about today's lesson? OK, I'm going to be gone. Margaret, I'll be gone next weekend. Her 50th high school reunion. Then I'll be meeting the following weekend and then the following weekend were. in Athens, right? So we'll miss the next three weeks, so we'll have to catch up online with all the teaching.

So pray for us as we travel. Let's turn to the Lord in prayer. Roger, could you close us, please? Sure. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time today, Lord. We thank you for the marvels, truths, and learning in Ephesians, Father. Are we being reminded, Father, about our incredible relationship of being in Christ. And that's a place that you placed us, none of our own doing, Lord. We thank you for that. We ask in His name. Amen. Amen. Thank you.