Romans 3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles (All non-Jewish people) also? Yes, of Gentiles also.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (of Christ)—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
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.
Colossians 3:5-11 (A letter to Christians), 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here (In Christ) there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, Barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all (believers).
A Great Multitude from Every Nation
Revelation 7:9-17, 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
As we can see, the Scriptures are chock full of passages about division and separation. Racism, and social separations are nothing new, but has been a part of every culture throughout history. However, Christ died in order to abolish such things. One main factor of the cross was meant to put away hatred for others and to accept all believer’s, regardless of sex, skin-color, social upbringing. The point being, that once a person is redeemed by Jesus, He puts a new heart within us and we begin to see others through His eyes, not our own. Therefore, we gladly call all true Christian brothers and sisters in Christ. See, the gospel, or the way of Christ brings absolute unity to all who follow the biblical Jesus. And that is the message of real hope and true peace that we Christians must be preaching, because the fact is, God and the gospel is the only thing that can change a sinful human heart.
Ponder for a moment the ministry years of Jesus. In that time and culture, women were second class citizen’s, who really had little to no voice in society. It was so bad that often times a woman’s own husband or son wouldn’t even talk to or acknowledge her in public, let alone any other man show her respect. However, this wasn’t God’s way of doing things, but the culture’s way. Yet, how does Jesus respond to women? He comes to the defense of a woman caught in the act of adultery, as the Jewish leaders publicly pick up stones to execute her (without bringing the man caught with her) which the stoning of both was commanded in the Old Testament. So, Jesus says, “Whoever has never sinned cast the first stone.” In response, all the Jewish leaders drop the stones and leave. Jesus also had women join His followers during His 3-year ministry. He also goes into Samaria and shares the truth about Himself to a sinful woman that is drawing water from a well. These are things that the Religious ruler would never be caught doing.
Next, Jesus openly goes into Samaria and shares biblical truth with a mongrel race (in the eyes of pure bread Jewish people) called the Samaritans who had intermarried with the Assyrians during their 50 years of captivity in Assyria. Therefore, these pure bread Jews thought the Samaritans to be unclean Gentiles. Yet, Jesus reaches out and accepts them.
Lastly, The Jews thought of themselves as better than all non-Jews, because God had given them the Scriptures (though they didn’t obey God’s commands) and called them His chosen nation. They were swollen with pride, even to the point that they called Gentiles dogs. Now in those days, no one had dogs as pets, because they were wild scavengers, and dangerous, much like wolves. Yet again, what do we see Jesus do? He crosses the Jordan River and goes into Tyre and Sidon (among others) and ministers and speaks of the Kingdom of God to these communities. Again, Jesus shows a desire to save them from their sins, and to fellowship with them.
Though these are but a few passages in the Scriptures, I hope you get my point. With a focus on the above Bible passages, all this to say, if we’re going to fight for a cause, let’s fight for one that actually changes lives, which is the biblical gospel of the biblical Jesus Christ. If we’re going to fight for a better world, let us preach of God’s eternal Kingdom where all believers are united in Christ, without sin, in the very presence of a Holy and Righteous God. Now, in honesty, we can continue to scream out for world peace, co-existence, equal rights, and total acceptance, but we will NEVER see 100% buy in, because we live in a fallen and sin filled world. The fact is, the only peace some will ever see is in the eternal Kingdom of God. Therefore, the only hope of change is in the person of Jesus Christ. The only truth that has proved to brings people who are worlds apart together into harmony and peace, under the Head of the Church (Jesus Christ), as God draws and calls His people to Himself and to a cause greater than their selves, which is the great salvation of God. This, dear brothers and sisters is the only hill we must be willing to die on. So, look vertical, think eternal, and long for the return of Christ, when He will make all things new. A day with no more death, pain, sin, or sorrow, just the unity of the saints with their Savior.
By: Daniel C. Rodgers