PAUL'S LOVE
FOR THE JEWS
The apostle Paul grew up in the city of Tarsus in the province of Cilicia, a region in southeast Asia Minor. His parents
named him Saul, but he later adopted the name "Paul." From his youth,
he was a deeply patriotic Jew. He had become quite influential in the first
century Jewish community. He provided the Galatian
Christians with some insight into his background. "For you have heard of
my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I
persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: and profited in the Jews' religion
above many of my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the
tradition of my fathers" (Gal. 1:13-14).
The book of Acts includes three accounts of Saul's conversion—one given
by Luke, the author of Acts, and the other two by Saul himself. Saul was
convinced that Christ was an impostor and Christianity was a false religion.
When some Jewish zealots martyred Stephen, a devout follower of Christ, Saul
gave his consent to his death. In fact, the vicious murderers of Stephen laid
down their clothes at the feet of Saul (Acts 7:58). Saul consented to the death
of Stephen—not because Stephen was a criminal—but because he was a Christian.
"As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and
haling men and women committed them to prison" (Acts 8:3). The persecution
against the Lord's church was so great that all the Christians in Jerusalem—
except the apostles—"were scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria" (Acts 8:1).
Saul was so zealous about destroying the church that
he went to the Jewish high priest to obtain permission to bring Christian men
and women to Jerusalem to be tried for their criminal behavior. But the Lord
Jesus Christ had other plans for Saul. As Saul was traveling on his mission to
persecute Christ's disciples, he approached the city of Damascus. A great light
from heaven shined round about him. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice
saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are persecuting me?" Saul asked,
"Who art thou, Lord?" It surely must have been the greatest shock of
his life to hear, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting: it is hard for you
to kick against the pricks." Saul further inquired: "Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do?"
Before we examine
the Lord's answer to Saul, I must comment on the little word "do."
Have you ever wondered why the Lord did not tell Saul, "There is nothing
for you to do?" Have you ever heard preachers say, "We should not use
the word 'do.' We must use the word 'done.'" In other words, according to
some preachers, men have nothing to do in their salvation. God has already done
it all. That is not the answer inspired preachers ever gave when men asked,
"What must I do to be saved?" When Saul asked Christ what he wanted
him to do, the Lord responded: "Arise, and go into the city (Damascus),
and it shall be told you what you must do" (Acts 9:1-6).
Saul was struck
blind. The men who were with him led him by the hand, and brought him to
Damascus. Saul was deeply troubled and did not eat or drink for three days. God
sent a preacher to tell Saul what he had to do to be forgiven of his sins and
become a member of the
Remember that Jesus told Saul: "Go into the city of Damascus and it
shall be told you what you must do" (Acts 9:6; 22:10). And what did Ananias tell Saul to do? "Arise, and be baptized, and
wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." How did Saul (who
became the apostle Paul) preach on the subject of baptism? He told the
Corinthians: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to
drink into one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13). He
informed the Galatians: "For you are all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ" (Gal. 3:26-27). Do you believe we must put on Christ to be pleasing in
the sight of God? If we must put on Christ to please God, we must be baptized.
It is in baptism, according to the Holy Spirit, that we put on Christ.
When Saul (or
Paul) was baptized and became a member of the body of Christ, was he still
committed to keeping the law of Moses? In his
beautiful letter to his brothers and sisters at Philippi, the apostle Paul
outlined his prior commitment to the Mosaic covenant. He was "circumcised
the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of
Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the
church; touching righteousness that is in the law, blameless" (Phil.
3:5-6). He sacrificed all those worldly advantages for the cause of Christ.
Please listen. "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for
Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win
Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is
of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and
the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by
any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Phil.
3:7-11).
Since Paul left Judaism and became a New Testament Christian, what was
his attitude toward his fellow Jews? Did you know Paul has actually been
accused of being anti-Semitic? Paul's critics cite what Paul wrote of some of
the Jews. "What then? Israel has not obtained that which he seeks for; but
the election has obtained it, and the rest were blinded, as it is written, God
has given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears
that they should not hear, unto this day" (Rom. 11:7-8). If God did not
give some of the Jews an impenitent heart, then Paul was prejudiced. If he did,
then Paul was not being biased toward his own people. He was simply telling the
truth.
Paul's love for the Jews could hardly be more emphatically taught than
these words from Paul's letter to the Romans. "I say the truth in Christ,
I lie not, my conscience also bearing them witness in
the Holy Spirit, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
For I could wish myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen
according to the flesh: who are Israelites; to whom pertains the adoption, and
the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of
God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the
flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever" (Rom. 9:1-5). No
honest student of the word can accuse Paul of being anti-Semitic, of not loving
his kinsmen according to the flesh. He would have gladly given his life if only
the Jews had turned to the Lord for the salvation of their souls.
There
is one other passage from Romans I shall read and discuss as time permits."Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God
for
We know that Paul's major mission was to the Gentiles. He explains to
the Galatians the assignment God had given to him. They (the apostles) "saw
that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed
unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter. For he who wrought
effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was
mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James, Cephas,
and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me,
they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go
unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision" (Gal. 2:7-9). Paul does
not mean that he and Peter were assigned exclusive territories. The apostle
Peter preached the first gospel sermon to the Gentiles (Acts 10). And Paul
often preached to the Jews. Since he was a Jew, he was often permitted to speak
in Jewish synagogues. For example, while he was in the city of
It is almost
universally agreed among Bible students that Paul was the greatest missionary
who ever lived. He devoted virtually every waking moment to preaching and
teaching. He reminded the elders of the church at Ephesus of the work he had
done among them. "You know, from the first day I came into Asia, after
what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all
humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the
lying in wait of the Jews: and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto
you, but have shown you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to
the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:18-21). Wherever he traveled, he always
devoted his time and talent to telling men and women, Jews and Gentiles, bond
and free the greatest story ever told.
While Paul's major mission was to preach to the Gentiles, he was deeply
concerned about the spiritual welfare of his Jewish kinsmen. "Brethren, my
heart's desire and prayer to God for
Paul desired and prayed that the Jews would obey gospel. Tragically,
some of the Jews were blind to the fact that their long-awaited Messiah was
actually Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He was not the kind of Messiah some of the
Jews thought he would be. So they rejected him. John affirms: "He came to
his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on his
name" (John 1:11-12).
Paul
knew that many of the Jews were devoutly religious. They gave themselves
wholeheartedly to what they believed, just as Paul himself had done throughout
his life. Unfortunately, they lacked the right understanding of what God hand
done and was doing through Jesus Christ. Paul wrote:
"For I bear them record that they have a zeal of
God, but not according to knowledge" (
Paul makes us aware that knowledge can make us haughty (1 Cor. 13:2,8). But he and other
Bible writers stress the absolute necessity of knowing the will of God. Jesus
himself said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free" (John 8:32). The apostle John continually emphasizes knowing the
truth and obeying it. A few verses from John's first epistle will confirm that
observation. "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his
commandments" (1 John 2:3). The tenses of the verbs are very important in
this verse. The Greek literally reads: "Hereby we do know that we have
known him and still know him, if we keep his commandments."
Please listen to other verses from 1 John. "He who says, I know
him, and keeps not this commandments, is a liar, and
the truth is not in him. But whoso keeps his word, in him verily is the love of
God perfected: hereby we know that we are in him....I write unto you, fathers,
because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young
men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little
children, because you have known the Father" (1 John 2:4-5, 13). The ideal
arrangement for every Christian is zeal and knowledge and love. Zeal and
knowledge can be powerful, but without love they are meaningless.
Many of the Jews in Paul's day were ignorant of God's righteousness.
Does that mean the Jews did not know that God is righteous? Some of them may
not have known that truth, but that is not what Paul had in mind. The
expression, "God's righteousness," appears many times in the Roman
letter. The term refers to the way God makes men righteous, that is, the gospel
plan of salvation. Paul wrote: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes; to
the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein (that is, in the gospel of
Christ) is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith" (Rom.
1:16-17). The only plan that God has for making men righteous is faith in Jesus
Christ and obedience to his word.
But
if obedience is essential for our salvation, then salvation is not by grace
alone through faith alone, is it? Have you carefully examined what Paul wrote
in the Roman letter about obedience? In the book of Romans, Paul speaks of the
"obedience of faith" (Rom. 1:5; 16:26). But words cannot be plainer
than these from Romans. God will "render to every man according to his
deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and
honor and immortality, eternal life: but unto them who are contentious, and do
not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness," they will be given
"indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man
that does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile: but glory, honor, and
peace, to every man who works good, to the Jew first, and also of the Gentile:
for there is no respect of persons with God" (Rom. 2:6-11). How can any
person read these words and conclude that we do not have to obey the gospel to
be saved? Besides, Paul criticized some because "they have not all obeyed
the gospel" (Rom. 10:16).
The Jews, Paul
affirmed, were "going about to establish their own righteousness,"
and "have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." Do I
need to tell you that many religious groups have decided on their own what men
and women must do to become members of their denominations? The plan of
salvation they offer is not the one taught in the scriptures. For example, one
of England's most capable evangelical scholars, Dr. Michael Green, promotes
what some men call "the sinner's prayer." In his book, Avoiding
Jesus: Answers for Skeptics, Cynics, and the Curious (Grand Rapids: Baker Books,
2005), Dr. Green concludes his book by urging the unsaved to pray: "Lord,
here and now I accept in faith the gift of Jesus to me personally. Please never
allow me to go back on this decision, and please enable me to live worthy of it
in your strength, wherever future circumstances take me" (p. 184). Why did
not Dr. Green tell men and women: "Repent and be baptized for the
remission of sins" (Acts 2:38)?
Winford Claiborne
The
International Gospel Hour
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