What Does THE Church Look Like? Pt. 2 - Various Scriptures

For the majority of my life, until probably the last ten or fifteen years, the most well-known Bible verse in America was John 3:16.  That has changed.  Now, according to experts on such things, the most quoted verse in America is Matthew 7:1.  To be more precise, it is only the first half of that verse that is quoted.  In fact, it’s only two words.  The best known half Bible verse in America is, "Judge not.”  Being judgmental has become the new unpardonable sin.  Unless you’re a gay activist.  If you are a gay activist, you can accuse 70% of the American population of bigotry because we still think traditional marriage between a man and a woman is the only thing that can legitimately be called marriage. Therefore I am a bigot, and I seriously doubt that anyone can change my mind on that issue.  

However, John 3:16 is still the favorite verse to quote among Evangelicals: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.“  We have used this verse so much, and have heard this verse so many times that it has lost much of its impact upon us.  We take it for granted that God loves the world.  We take it for granted that He sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.  We take it for granted that the gospel message is “for whoever”.  

But at the time when Jesus actually spoke those words, they were nonsense.  John 3:16 made no sense to the Pharisee Nicodemus, or to the nation of Israel, or to the Gentile world.  It was foolishness to suggest that God loved the world.  Those words which we don’t give much thought to today didn’t make any sense to anyone when Jesus spoke them, even though His words were absolutely true.

Last week we read from the book of Ezra and we tried to understand the extremely negative attitude of the Jews towards the Gentiles in the first century.  It was the Babylonian Captivity that finally taught Israel to stop intermingling with the Gentiles and their gods.  For millenia, God had repeatedly punished first the northern kingdom of Israel, and then the southern kingdom of Judah for what the KJV calls their “whoredoms”.  The children of Israel had a very bad habit of wanting to be like the pagan nations around them.  They repeatedly committed spiritual adultery by violating the first two commandments and worshipping gods other than Jehovah.

When the Babylonian exiles returned to Jerusalem after spending 70 years in captivity, incredibly, they immediately began to intermarry with the Gentiles once again.  As we read last week, Ezra cried out to the Lord about their flagrant, provocative sinfulness and in a very decisive move on the part of the Jews, they repented and “put away their foreign wives”.  All the men of Israel who had married Gentile women sent them back home.  It was a national divorce ceremony.  They were afraid God’s anger would come against them again and this time He would totally destroy them all.  But the issue wasn’t simply that they married non-Jews.  It wasn’t a matter of racial purity.  The real issue was the danger of worshipping non-gods and idolatry.

That event, when the men of Israel divorced their Gentile wives en masse, was one of the most profound moments in all of Jewish history.  At that moment they drew a line in the sand and decided once and for all to dare any Gentiles to step across it.  In fact, at the Temple in Jerusalem they actually did just that.

“The outermost [court that surrounded the Temple] was the COURT OF THE GENTILES, a huge rectangular area about 35 acres in size. It was paved with colored stones and enclosed by tall, stately columns. Visitors entered through a number of immense double and triple gates, which stood at intervals along the outer court. As its name suggests, the Court of the Gentiles was open to Gentiles as well as Jews, and it was usually crowded with people from many backgrounds and walks of life. On a typical day a visitor would encounter Jewish pilgrims from all over Palestine and the Roman Empire; merchants selling doves, young sheep and cattle for sacrifice; moneychangers converting foreign currency into Jewish shekels; Jewish scribes and rabbis discussing points of Mosaic law; and others simply passing the time of day.

At the center of the Court of the Gentiles stood a second enclosed compound, posted with signs in Greek and Latin warning: ‘No foreigner is allowed within the balustrades and embankment about the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will be personally responsible for his ensuing death.’”¹  The Jews were done compromising with who they perceived to be their arch enemy: the world.  They were intent upon maintaining their religious purity.  Consequently, unless you were a direct descendant of Abraham, you had no access to God.

Some of you recall in Acts 10 when God sent Peter to the home of the Gentile Cornelius.  Do you remember what Peter said to him when he arrived?

25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.  26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I too am a man." 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation . . . .”

The Jews had become completely racially and religiously exclusive.  It was against the law, according to Acts 10, for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation.  Why?  What was it that was  SO bad about us Gentiles?  Look with me at Acts 22:17-21.  The Apostle Paul is giving his testimony to the Jews in Jerusalem about His own conversion experience (which we could read back in chapter 9).  But listen to what he says:

17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

Now if we stopped right there, and if you didn’t already know any better, you’d say, “So?  Jesus sent him to the Gentiles.  What’s the big deal with that?  God so loved the WORLD!  Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles.”  The big deal is the next verse:

22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”

When they heard Paul say Jesus sent him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, they were so enraged they nearly killed him on the spot.  

Do you know what the definition of a bigot is?  It’s right here in verse 22: “a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.”²  Israel had become an entire nation of religious and racial bigots.  But we understand how they got there!  It’s easy to see why they would feel that way after reading the Old Testament.  They were terrified of a repeat performance of the Babylonian Captivity.  Not only that, but they were already living under the thumb of Rome!  

Here in Acts 22, they are ready to kill Paul NOT because he is a Christian.  This crowd did not hate him for being a Christian.  They knew his history.  They understood that he used to persecute Christians.  But by this time, many Jews in Jerusalem had become believers in the Lord Jesus.  In today’s terms, they would have been Messianic Jews.  So they were not angry with him because he is a Christian.  They had become tolerant of Christianity and many had embraced the Lord Jesus.  Look back at chapter 21 and listen to the words of Luke, Paul’s traveling companion:

17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, . . . .

Many thousands of Jews had believed the Gospel at this point.  And when Paul is testifying to the Jews in Jerusalem regarding his calling from God they do not utter a peep the entire time he is talking, up to this word - the Gentiles.  He claims the Messiah came to save Gentiles!  He’s not fit to live!  What is Paul thinking?  What is he teaching?  That God loves the world?  He’s out of his mind!  Kill him!  Does Paul actually believe ANYONE can be saved?”  

That, brethren, is exactly the unacceptable truth Paul believed.  That the Messiah died for the nations is nearly the entire topic of conversation in the whole book of Romans.  It IS the topic of the book of Galatians which was written to all the Gentile churches of that region.

Galatians 3:26 - “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 neither male nor 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.”

Q: Is there anyone here who knows Romans 3:23 from memory?  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Now why were we taught that verse?  What is the point of that verse?  For some of us, that was one of the very first verses we ever memorized.  The reason we were taught that verse was to prove that all people without exception are sinners.  ALL have sinned!  That includes you and me.

But that really isn’t the reason why Paul says that.  He does not say that to convince skeptics of the fact that everyone sins.  When Paul wrote those words, everyone knew without a doubt they were sinners.  He did not have to convince anyone in the first century of the reality of personal sin and guilt.  So what WAS Paul’s reason for saying, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”?  Look at Romans 3 for a moment:

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and [all] are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Paul is not trying to prove the point that all without exception are sinners.  He’s making the point that all are justified in the same way regardless of racial distinction, through faith in Jesus Christ.

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. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

Here are some other verses that continue to make the point:

Romans 10:12 - For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

1 Corinthians 12:13 - For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Colossians 3:11 - Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Ephesians 4:4 - There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

All of this may seem like an academic exercise for theologians that has no practical value for Christian moms raising toddlers in 21st century America.  It is irrelevant.  Give me something I can use, some advice on how to live here and now as a believer in the Lord Jesus.  What does this Jew/Gentile issue have to do with me being a good employee or a better Dad?  Let’s talk about spiritual gifts, or the biblical definition of love, or servant evangelism and posts-modern church growth strategies.  Now THAT would be practical information we could really use!  But all this about Jews and Gentiles and circumcision and such is kinda pointless, isn’t it?  Sounds like we’re straining at doctrinal gnats and splitting theological hairs.

Beloved, this message is just as pointless as the gospel.  If what we are talking about concerning the universal nature of God’s love is pointless and impractical and irrelevant and of no real value in the real world, then the message of the gospel is of no real value.  

Let me ask you a question: According to the television, how many ways are there to get to Heaven?  According to the New Evangelicalism, how many ways are there to Heaven?  And a second directly related question is, Where do kids today get their theological education from?  According to popular culture today, which religions DON’T lead to God?  According to what you read and hear, how many of our children today in America are depraved sinners and subject to the judgment of God?  If we were able to reinstate prayer in public schools beginning tomorrow, who would children in our schools pray to?

Is Islam a false religion?  Does one’s acceptance with God depend solely upon one’s sincerity?  Did God create the world from nothing or did He use evolution?  Is God really necessary as an explanation for how we got here?  Where are we going?  Are we really just insignificant but highly evolved amoebas on a pale blue dot in a dark and meaningless universe?  Does it not really matter how we live?  Is homosexuality really wrong?  Are we not all acceptable to that great, nebulous Higher Power far, far away, just the way we are, if indeed there is such a thing?  Is there such a thing as right and wrong?  Is anything really sinful?

When we look at the New Testament we see something very refreshing, something that is nearly extinct in our day.  We see a pervasive understanding among the nations of the reality of personal responsibility for personal sin.  We see in the preaching of Paul a universal Savior of all who believe, anywhere in the world.  We see the end of an era of regional gods and ethnic gods and multitudes of worthless and hopeless religions based upon fear.  In the New Testament we see a universal God who rules over all men everywhere, a God who commands all men everywhere to repent, and has sent His own Son as the Savior for anyone anywhere, because all men everywhere have the same problem: sin.

Here is the beauty of this: There is no need for political correctness or cultural relevance when we preach the Gospel anywhere in the world.  The Gospel is inherently relevant to all people everywhere.  A few months ago, when most of us watched the movie Ee Taow, we saw some of the most primitive people in the entire world gladly and joyfully embrace the message of the forgiveness of sin in Jesus Christ.  How did they know they had a problem with sin?  Who told them they were sinners?  Why were they so glad to hear of Christ’s sacrifice for them?

Why is it that biblical Christianity has survived for 2000 years against every attempt to eradicate it?  Because the need for a Savior never changes.  Because all the people of the world understand the reality of sin, whether they admit it or not.  What we are saying here is that Christianity isn’t a religion that is suitable to meet the emotional and psychological needs of white Anglo-Saxons in New England, and Heinz 57 rednecks from way down South.  The Gospel which Paul risked his life to preach to Gentiles is the Gospel of salvation to all people everywhere, regardless of race, ethnicity, or the century in which they live.  It is timeless, it is universal, it is perpetually relevant for the salvation of any man, woman, or child on the planet who believes it.

It is amazing to me how popular the word “bigot” has become these days: “a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.”  Fundamentalist Evangelical Christians are regularly accused of being bigoted, and in reaction to that charge, many believers backtrack into this politically correct mindset of tolerance for anything and everything the world throws at us.  We certainly don’t want to be bigots!

True, we don’t want to be utterly intolerant of people who differ from us or with us.  In fact, when we read the New Testament we see in Paul’s Gospel message, as well as in Jesus’ words to Nicodemus, a level of tolerance the world had never seen before.  The Gospel is completely tolerant: Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!  Jews may be saved, Gentiles may be saved, slaves, free men, women, children, any and all are invited to come to God for salvation by means of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Everyone has a Savior in Christ.  Listen once more to how Paul describes this in Ephesians 2:11-22

 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

This is the real United Nations.  This is how we get world peace.  It is by means of this Gospel message to all the world that God will eventually and infallibly draw people to Himself from every tongue, tribe, and nation.  This is how Abram becomes Abraham, the Father of many nations.  This is how Gentiles and Jews both become the children of God.  This is how people from every conceivable background are made into the one holy temple, the one new man, the new creation in Jesus Christ.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  2 Corinthians 5:17

Praise God the old has passed away!  The new has come through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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1. http://www.bible-history.com/gentile_court/TEMPLECOURTpop_Court_of_the_Gentiles.htm
2. bigot. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bigot (accessed: April 24, 2009).