Teachers: the thoughts and scriptures used in this lesson are familiar. The points made are familiar. Most of the New Testament was written to people or Christians who were not Jews. There are reasons for concluding Matthew, Hebrews, and James were written to Jewish readers. All Paul's letters to congregations had a significant number of Christians who were not Jews.
Commonly our personal study in the New Testament occurs without thinking about the original recipients of a specific writing. We tend to read and study New Testament writings as though the original recipients were insignificant to the messages.
Most of us are not Jews. Jewish history, heritage, lineage, practices, and customs are strange to many of us. We more likely identify with the thinking and mind set of first century Christians converted from idolatry than with first century Jewish Christians.
Because much of our spiritual training is based on writings to Christians who were not Jews, we are "comfortable" with the messages of those scriptures. Those messages are [from our perspective] "universal."
As these messages from "comfortable" writings are considered, help students understand there is one avenue for universal salvation in a universal Savior. That avenue is God's grace. Our salvation is possible only because God is merciful.
By God's design, Christianity was to be a world religion. It provided all people a Savior. It made forgiveness available to all people through Jesus Christ's blood. Anyone could be God's son or daughter. The person's faith in Jesus Christ combined with God's grace revealed through Jesus would place anyone among the saved.
The biblical documentation that salvation in Christ is "for the world" is overwhelming. John 1:29; 4:42; 8:12; 12:32,47; Matthew 5:13,14; 13:38; 25:32; 28:19; Mark 14:9; Luke 24:46,47; Acts 10:34,35; Romans 1:16; Galatians 3:26-29; and Colossians 3:11 provide verification.
A salvation extended to all people cannot be based on heritage. All people do not share the same heritage. A salvation extended to all people cannot be based on meaningful rituals. Meaningful rituals are based on the significant experiences of a people. All people do not share the same significant experiences. A salvation extended to all people cannot be based on one people's customs. Customs relevant to one people are not relevant to another people.
Create your own illustration of this fact: it is extremely difficult for anything to benefit all people in all the world regardless of culture, educational level, or opportunities.
Prior to Jesus Christ, Judaism was an exclusive religion. God designed Judaism to function as an exclusive religion. It's exclusiveness shaped and molded Abraham's descendants [through Isaac]. That enabled God to work and to achieve His purpose through them. His purpose was to produce a forgiveness that was available to all people.
God's intention: Israel was to be exclusive (Leviticus 18:24-30; Deuteronomy 7:1-5; Ezra 9 and 10). Only in this manner could Israel maintain its identity and relationship with God. From its beginning, Israel had great difficulty in destroying their love affair with idols (Exodus 32:1-6; Joshua 23:6-8; Judges 2:10-13; 1 Kings 12:25-33.)
Why could people from all religious backgrounds be accepted by God? How could people who had known the living God for centuries and people who had just learned of the living God become Christians in the same church? How could people taught God's ways for generations and people who had been ignorant of God's ways become Christians in the same church? How could Christianity be God's "great divine melting pot?"
All the "whys" and all the "hows" were and are answered by understanding God's grace. It was essential for people converted from idolatry to understand grace. They had not been God's people for centuries. They had not received God's revelations. They had not possessed God's scriptures. They did not hear God's prophets. Why should they place confidence in God's love for them? They could have this confidence only if they understood and trusted God's grace. Only through an understanding of God's grace could they comprehend God's desire to save all people.
Only God's mercy expressed through His grace could make people with no historical background in or experience with Him become His family, body, church.
Christians converted from idolatry must understand and trust God's acceptance.
Read Romans 5:6-11.
While "we" were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly.
God demonstrated His love for "us" by allowing Christ to die for "us" while "we" were still sinners.
While "we" were enemies, "we" were reconciled to God through Jesus' death.
Read Ephesians 2:1-10.
They were dead in their trespasses and sins.
"We" all formerly lived a life controlled by lusts (strong desires) indulging our physical desires and thinking. "We" were by nature children of wrath.
God was rich in mercy because of His enormous love for "us."
When "we" were dead in our trespasses, God used His grace to make us alive together with Christ. God resurrected "us" with Christ and seated us with Himself in Christ Jesus.
In that yet to be experienced by "us," God will show "us'" the surpassing riches [riches that cannot be counted] made possible by His grace. These riches will be expressed through God's kindness to "us" in Christ Jesus.
Salvation is produced by God's action, not by human achievement. Salvation is a gift from God. Human salvation can exist because of God's grace.
"We" were saved to be God's workmanship [hand-crafted creatures spiritually made by God]. "We" were created in Christ Jesus to do good works. God prepared those good works before Christians existed in order that Christians would live their lives doing those good works.
Read 2 Corinthians 5:20,21 [written to Christians with religious backgrounds in idolatry]:
Paul begged them to be reconciled to God. Note: these people were Christians, but their reconciliation was not complete.
It was possible for Christians to be God's righteousness in Christ because God made Jesus [who had not sinned] to be sin. Note: God made Jesus to be sin for the benefit of Christians. See 1 Peter 2:24.
Read Galatians 3:23-29.
The law's purpose: to lead "us" to Christ so that "we" may be justified by faith.
Every Christian is a child of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
God clothes the person baptized into Christ with Christ.
The distinctions destroyed included the distinction between Jew and Greek [all people who are not Jews], between slaves and free persons, and between men and women.
God makes that person a descendant of Abraham, one who has a right to inherit God's promises to Abraham.
Read Ephesians 4:17-32.
Such Christians no longer lived life in the manner of those who do not believe in the living God. People who did not believe in the living God were guided by futile thoughts, darkened understandings, ignorance, hard hearts, the callousness produced by a sensual lifestyle, and an impurity based on greediness.
They would understand that they had changed as people [the change was individual]. They were newly created persons. They refused to live as they formerly lived. The former way they lived was produced by the "old self." The spirit of their minds was renewed when the "new self" came into existence. Now God was the symbol of the qualities they wanted to characterize their lives. They understood the "new self" existed because God created them in the holiness and righteousness of truth.
They spoke truth instead of lying. Anger did not control their lives. They did not provide the devil opportunities. They stopped stealing, worked, and shared. They watched what they said and used their words to encourage people. They did not cause the Holy Spirit grief as it worked in their lives. They rejected bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. These were replaced with kindness, tender-heartedness, and forgiveness. They forgave as God in Christ had forgiven them.
Note that the foundation for all transformation and change was [and is] what God did in Jesus Christ.
Paul cautioned Christians who were not Jews against assuming that God loved them more than God loved the Jewish people. Read Romans 11:11-24. The human spirit thrives on these attitudes: "If you like me, you do not like them; if you accept me, you reject them." We experience difficulty in relating to and accepting people very different from ourselves. That difficulty increases if "those people" previously rejected us. While that is extremely difficult for humans, it is not difficult for God.
People who follow God are tempted [powerfully] to think that God prefers them, their decisions, and their actions to other [different] people who follow God.
Paul taught Jewish Christians that they were not the standard who determined the people God accepted or rejected. Paul cautioned Christians who were not Jews against arrogantly assuming they were the standard. God could and did accept Christians who were Jews and Christians who were not. God could and did accept Christians who descended from followers of God and Christians who descended from followers of idols. A Christian challenge is accepting what God accepts. That challenge is as old as first century Christianity.
Christians must be very careful not to measure others spiritually by themselves. When they do, they generate all kinds of ungodly problems. See 2 Corinthians 10:12.
Link to Student Guide
Quarter 1, Lesson 11