I gotta have my orange juice.

Jesu, Juva

Hagar redux

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(Building on my Hagar bricolage.)

The weaving together of Israel and the nations is one of the central themes of the New Testament.

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, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. (Eph. 2:14-18)

Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:46-48)

This is in fact what it means for Israel to be redeemed. As we see time and time again, the older brother is saved by his incorporation into the younger:

“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.” . . . Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:21, 25)

There is no such thing as a promise that does not actually accomplish adoption:

For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, . . . and the promises. . . . [T]hose who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God . . . (Romans 9)

The New Testament has a name for someone who wishes to preserve the old man: Judaizer. And as we see with Peter and the great sheet, to preserve the old man is to despise the new man.

Written by Scott Moonen

August 18, 2024 at 8:00 am

Posted in Biblical Theology

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