Gentiles – Page 2 – Ministry of Grace Church

Tag: Gentiles

Romans 15:9 – Body Composition

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Will

Romans 15:9 – Body Composition

and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.”

Truth to Learn

All Christians are members of the same body.

Behind the Words

The Greek word translated “Gentiles” is ethnos, which refers to “a group of people belonging together and living together.” In classical Greek this word is also used in reference to a flock of sheep or a swarm of bees. In New Testament Greek (Koinē Greek), however, it generally refers to a race of people and is often translated as “nation.” When used by Jews it almost always refers to the all people who are not Jewish, thus the term “Gentile.”

“Confess” is from exomologeō, which is made up of ek, meaning “out” but used here as an intensifier and homologeō, meaning “to have the same mind about something.” Homologeō is usually translated “confess.” Thus, exomologeō means “to express complete agreement” or “to profess.”

Meaning Explained

Whereas the Jews received the fulfillment of their promises in the incarnation of Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross (see previous verse), we Gentile believers did not have those promises made to us. We have been brought to God through Jesus Christ, not because He was promised to us but because of His mercy in forgiving our sins through the blood of the spotless Lamb of God. As a result of that mercy, we Gentile believers now glorify God. Before we received this mercy, we were unable to glorify God because we did not know Him. But because of His mercy, and through His grace, we are now also partakers of the intimate fellowship with Almighty God, which results in our own proclamation of glory and praise to God.

At this point Paul quotes a passage from the Psalms:

Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name. (Psalms 18:49)

In the Psalms the praises of God come among the Gentiles as well as among the Jews; hence, the Jewish converts in the church in Rome should not look down upon the Gentile converts because God has included both in His family and has made both part of His body and His bride. Paul expresses it this way in his letter to the Ephesians,

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, (Ephesians 2:13-15)

So if God has made the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers one through the blood of Christ, then we should accept each other as fellow heirs and not be concerned that we celebrate this marvelous salvation in different manners.

Application

There is no room for racism or ethnic discrimination among Christians. We are all nothing more than sinners saved by grace, and we are all part of the body of Christ.

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to:

Romans 3:29 – Non-Exclusive God

Posted on December 1, 2009 by admin

Romans 3:29

Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,

Truth to Learn

No group of people has exclusive rights to God and His truth.

Behind the Words

“Only” is translated from the Greek word monon. This is probably derived from the verb menō, meaning “to remain” or “to stay.” Hence, monon means “that which remains, alone, or only.”

The word “not” is translated from ouchi, which is derived from ou, the absolute “not” in Greek. However, ouchi is a stronger form meaning “not at all” or “no way!”

“Yes” is from the Greek word nai, which implies strong affirmation. We could reasonably translated this as “yes, certainly.”

The word “Gentiles” is from ethnos, meaning “a group of people belonging together and living together, a race, or a nation.” It has been used historically by Jewish writers (as it is here) as a reference to those people, or nations, who are not Jewish.

Meaning Explained

Paul has just stated in conclusion that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law. To a Jew this would imply that the Law is void, otherwise why have they been working so hard for all these centuries to satisfy the Law through works.

Paul is saying that if justification could come from the Law (and only from the Law, as the Jews thought) then He must only be the God of the Jews since they are the only ones who had the Law. That’s why Paul asks the question, “Or is He the God of the Jews only, and not also of the gentiles?” He then immediately answers the question, “Yes, He is the God of the Gentiles also.”

The apostle is not making a casual statement here. The use of ouchi and nai indicate that he is making a couple of very strong statements: “Is He not at all also the God of the Gentiles? He most certainly is also the God of the Gentiles!”

The Jews knew that Jehovah is the God of all mankind, but they also knew that only the Jews had the Law. This made them selfish about the Scriptures and their relationship with God. They began to believe that Jehovah was their God exclusively, but Paul is bursting that bubble. Not only is He the God of both the Jews and the Gentiles but, as he will state in the next verse, He justifies (declares as righteous) both the Jews and the Gentiles. That would have come as a shock to many Jewish Christians who believed that God only justifies those who keep the law. It also may come as a shock to Christians today who believe we have to keep a lot of “rules” to be saved or to stay saved.

Application

Once again, we can see a strong parallel between the attitude of the Jewish people at the time of Christ and the attitude of Christians today. The Jews believed they had exclusive rights to God and were unwilling to share Him with Gentiles, building a wall between Jews and Gentiles. Since Christians have been given the Great Commission, we are commanded to share the Gospel with the whole world. But many denominations believe only they have “the correct” truth, thus building walls between Christians.

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:

Romans 3:9 – Sinners All

Posted on October 25, 2009 by admin

Romans 3:9

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

Truth to Learn

None of us is better than any other sinner.

Behind the Words

“Are we better” is translated from a single Greek word, proechomai. This is a compound word made up of pro, meaning “before, or in front of”’ and a form of echo, meaning “to have, or to be.” Figuratively, this word means “to have preference or preeminence,” that is, “to be superior.” The difficulty with this word is that the way Paul wrote it, it could be interpreted as either in the passive voice or in the middle voice. So it could mean “are we excelled (by the Gentiles)” or “are we excelling ourselves (above the Gentiles).” Based on what Paul has said in the previous verses and what he will say in the following verses, the middle voice makes more sense. Hence, we could paraphrase this as “Do we (Jews) think that we are better than everyone else?”

The words “Not at all” are translated from ou pantōs. Ou means “no” or “not” and pantōs means “all the parts” or “entirely.” So we could translate this as “Entirely not.”

Meaning Explained

Paul now poses the final rhetorical question in this line of reasoning. You will recall that he is talking about the advantage of being a Jew, yet he is trying to point out to the Jewish Christians in Rome that not only is it not necessary to be a Jew to become a Christian, but being a direct descendent of Abraham has no bearing at all in whether a person is a Christian or not. Nonetheless, Paul demonstrated that the Jews were special because God entrusted them with the writings of the Old Testament.

Having argued that God will judge sin and will glorify Himself in doing so, and having shown that Christian doctrine does not teach that we should all sin greatly so that God will be greatly glorified when He either judges or pardons such sin, Paul now addresses the final objection: “Are Jews better than everyone else then?”

This is the root question that Paul has been trying to get to for this entire section of his argument. However, he could not have done so without guiding his readers along step by step. He then immediately answers this question, “Not at all.”

Now he says, “we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.” In fact, almost the entire first chapter of this epistle was dedicated to proving we’re all sinners and we have no excuse before God.

All of this groundwork has been laid so that Paul can make one of the most profound and revealing declarations in the entire Bible. He will do so by quoting the very “writings” that the Jews have been entrusted with, beginning in the next verse.

Application

Today, some Christians have the same attitude that the Jews of the first century had. Since Christians are saved, and we have the Holy Bible as our guide, we feel like we are just a little bit better than everyone else. However, we need to keep in mind that we are just sinners saved by the grace of God. And, without God’s grace we would be destined for the same lake of fire as every other sinner. That should not make us proud, it should make us humble!

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Romans 2:14 – Moses’ Law vs. Natural Law

Posted on September 22, 2009 by admin

Romans 2:14

for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,

Truth to Learn

Even those who don’t know the Law can do some good.

Behind the Words

“Gentiles” is translated from the Greek word ethnos, which generally refers to “a tribe” or “a nation.” In Jewish writing it nearly always refers to “non-Jewish people” or “Gentiles,” though it is sometimes translated as “nations.”

The word translated “by nature” is the Greek word phusis, derived from the verb phuō, meaning “to produce from seed.” Phusis refers specifically to “natural birth” and has come to mean “that which is part of a person’s nature.”

Meaning Explained

Paul is now showing the Jewish Christians in Rome that having the Law and living by it is not sufficient reason to feel confident. As he said in the previous verse, simply hearing the Law is not good enough to demonstrate a person’s righteousness; instead one must be a doer of the Law.

Lest we get confused here, Paul is not claiming that any of us can be justified by obeying the Law. As he will point out later, there is no one who keeps the whole Law, and if we break one of the commandments, then we are guilty of all of them. The only one to keep the whole Law is Jesus Christ. For that reason, he is righteous. In the next chapter of this letter Paul will quote from Psalms 14 as he informs his readers:

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;” (Romans 3:10)

Yet, somehow the Jews believed that it was possible to keep the Law. This is precisely the notion that Paul is in the process of systematically proving false. To the Jew, and therefore to most of the early Christians, the Law was supreme and keeping the letter of the Law was paramount. That’s how they gauged how good they were.

What Paul is saying in today’s verse is, even though the Gentiles do not have the Law (the Old Testament), they still do some good things. And by doing so they demonstrate that there is a natural law that governs man independent of the revealed Law in the Old Testament. In the next couple of verses Paul will proclaim that the Great Judge will judge the Gentiles according to that natural law, and their consciences.

But salvation (being righteous) can only come by faith. Man is capable of doing good things, but not enough to satisfy a perfect, righteous, holy God. Whether it is the Law of Moses or the natural law, man is incapable of satisfying it completely. And Christians today sometimes develop a mindset that we are good Christians if we keep all the rules of the church. That really is no different from the early Christians believing that they could be saved by keeping the Law.

Application

Obeying God is good. It’s what He wants us to do. It’s what we ought to do, but it won’t save us because we can never be good enough. That’s why we need the grace of God, and that’s why salvation can only come through faith. As Paul will tell us later in this letter, God does not look favorably on the Christian who lives by all the rules; He looks favorably on the Christian who lives by faith.

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –