All Christians are Jewish

This blog entry is not part two of the series on hypocrisy. That'll happen later. Today's writing is inspired by my scripture readings from Jeremiah and Galatians. Also, I'm in a small group of men (life group) from my church where we discuss sections of scripture from the shared 2-year Bible reading plan. I'm knocking off two birds with one stone by writing this blog post. This doubles as a blog entry and preparation for the small group. Hope you're blessed by all the Bible references.

The Prophet Jeremiah

There's a wonderful prophecy in Jeremiah 31:31-34, "31 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

This is certainly a messianic prophecy about the the new covenant that would be established when Jesus came to Earth, died for our sins, rose again and sent the Holy Spirit to seal the deal in our hearts. There is a problematic aspect of the prophecy in verses 31 and 33. The new covenant seems to apply only to Israel and Judah. Gentiles aren't mentioned.

Ah, but Gentiles are included. This prophecy is repeated in the New Testament, in Hebrews 8:8-12. The Hebrews author precedes the prophecy by writing, "6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second."

So, from Hebrews we see that Jeremiah's prophecy of the new covenant refers to Christ as the mediator of that covenant. So how does this apply to Gentiles? And how can Gentile Christians be Jewish? Read on.

In Galatians 3, we see how Gentile Christians, because of their identity in Christ, have become adopted children of Abraham. "7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." (Galatians 3:7-9 ESV).

Then, in Galatians 3:16, "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ."

And in Galatians 3:26-29, "26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise."

So here's the progression: Jesus was a Jew and a biological descendant of Abraham. All Christians are one in Christ. Those who are Christ's are Abraham's offspring. Gentiles are Abraham's offspring through Christ.

So, Gentile Christians are Abraham's offspring (therefore Jewish) in a spiritual sort of way. Let's look at Romans 11:17, "But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,"

In this passage, the olive tree represents the blessings and promises inherent to belonging to the nation of Israel. The broken branches are those Jews who have rejected the Messiah. The grafted wild olive shoots are Gentiles who have accepted the Messiah. So, Gentile Christians are grafted into the blessings of Israel.

Here's the clincher for my argument that all Christians are Jewish. Romans 2:28-29 (ESV) says, "28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God."

Douglas Moo is one of the best evangelical scholars on Paul's epistle to the Romans. Moo writes the following about Romans 2:28-29, "...here for the first time in the chapter also hints that it is the Christian, circumcised in the heart by God's Spirit, who is the 'true' Jew (v.29)." Later, Moo writes, "But Paul goes beyond any first-century Jewish viewpoint in suggesting that physical circumcision is no longer required and in implicitly applying the term 'Jew' to those who were not ethnically Jews."

There you go. All Christians are "true Jews" because their hearts have been circumcised by the Holy Spirit. Blessings.