Rightly
dividing Israel
It was
only after I was helped to clear
Many
Christian denominations today see the Christian Church as a continuation of
After
several attempts at this subject I think I have found a model that works as an
illustration of the God-directed transition from
The
ISRAEL Ltd. employee rebellion
In
my model
The
Owner made one final bid for control of ISRAEL Ltd. by sending his Holy Spirit
as an internal, invisible presence among his loyal employees on earth. The
rebellious employees instigated a persecution of the Spirit-filled employees
and declared their rejection of the Owner’s Holy Spirit by killing one of his
brightest lights.
The
new recruit - masterbuilder of CHRISTIANS Ltd.
The
Owner’s glorified Son then manifested from heaven to forcibly recruit the
rebellion’s point man and give him the role of masterbuilder of a new
corporation – CHRISTIANS Ltd. He was to go offshore and hire a foreign
workforce. The Owner revealed to this new recruit that through his
foreknowledge he had always planned the establishment of the new multinational
corporation and that the death, burial and resurrection of his Son was not a
setback but was really a great victory - secretly planned from the outset. His
Son’s work had made it possible for each employee to have a direct link with
him and his Son in heaven via the internal presence of his Holy Spirit – the
ultimate in a ‘flat’, non-hierarchical management structure. The Owner also
revealed that a small remnant of the staff of ISRAEL Ltd. had been kept on by
the new corporation.
ISRAEL Ltd. employees had gone
about establishing their own righteousness by obeying an array of laws and
ordinances.
“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about
to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the
righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to every one that believeth.” (Romans 10:3-4 AV)
CHRISTIANS Ltd. employees submit
themselves unto the righteousness of God when they believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. .
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God
which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for
there is no difference:” (Romans 3:21-22 AV)
Scriptural
basis – ISRAEL Ltd. employee rebellion
The
scriptures regarding
“Ye
stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy
Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have
not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of
the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and
murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not
kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and
they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy
Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened,
and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with
a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And
cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid
down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned
Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to
their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:51-60 AV)
With
the stoning of Stephen, the nation
“Then Peter
opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no
respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh
righteousness, is accepted with him.” (Acts 10:34-35 AV)
God
currently does not have a ‘most favoured nation’. He has only his new creature
– the Church, the body of Christ, which in my model is represented by the new
multinational corporation under the headship of his Son in heaven with each
employee directly joined with him via the indwelling Holy Spirit.
“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.” (1Cor
“For
through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” (Eph
God has a long-standing covenant
with his beloved
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is
happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all
Scriptural
basis – the new recruit, the wise masterbuilder
Saul
(later Paul) was the zealous point man of ISRAEL Ltd.’s rebellion against the
Holy Spirit. He was consenting to the death of Stephen and on his way to arrest
other Spirit-filled employees at
“And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against
the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him
letters to
The
Lord gave Ananias at
“Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man,
how much evil he hath done to thy saints at
The
Church at Syrian Antioch with its large Gentile membership was the first branch
of the new multinational and where it got its name - CHRISTIANS Ltd. Saul did
not plant this Church but ministered there in partnership with others.
“And some of them were men of
Paul
(Saul’s Greco-Roman name) got the extremely hazardous task of going further
abroad and setting up more branches of the new multinational corporation with a
foreign workforce, (we heathen, pagan Gentile dogs 
) in the face of hordes of hostile
employees of the shut down ISRAEL Ltd. who did not believe for a moment that he
was acting upon orders from their God. Paul was initially in partnership with Barnabas
but later became the ‘apostle of the
Gentiles’.
“Now there were in the Church that was at Antioch certain prophets
and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of
Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and
Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate
me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they
had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them
away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto
“And he said unto me,
Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.” (Acts
“For I speak to you
Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:”
(Rom
“For we are labourers
together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to
the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid
the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how
he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,
which is Jesus Christ.” (1Cor 3:9-11 AV)
“But when the Jews saw the
multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which
were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.” (Acts
“And there came thither certain Jews from
“And that because of false brethren
unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have
in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:” (Gal 2:4 AV)
To Paul
was given the revelation of ISRAEL Ltd. being temporarily shut down.
“What then? Israel hath not
obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the
rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit
of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;)
unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap,
and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened,
that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. I say then, Have they
stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall
salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if
the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the
riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?” (Rom 11:7-12 AV)
Paul was
also given the revelation of the mystery – God’s plan of salvation kept secret
since the world began. (See the study - ‘Progressive Revelation and the
Revelation of the Mystery’.)
“Now to him that is of power to
stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the
world began,” (Rom 16:25 AV)
Which employees of ISRAEL Ltd. were
absorbed into CHRISTIANS Ltd.?
Most of the
employees of ISRAEL Ltd. did not find employment in the new multinational
corporation - only a remnant according to the election of grace. Those employees of ISRAEL Ltd. who
continued to go about establishing their own righteousness were not eligible
for employment in the new multinational corporation.
“But
“For they being ignorant of God’s
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (Rom 10:3-4 AV)
The above scriptures declare that the criteria for
ISRAEL Ltd. employees to be kept on in CHRISTIANS Ltd., was not merely whether
or not they believed that Jesus Christ was their Messiah. It was whether or not
they also ceased from ‘going about to
establish their own righteousness’ by the works of the law.
James and his ‘thousands of Jews’ never left Judaism
The above criteria would exclude James’ multitude in
“And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said
unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands
of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: And they are informed of thee, that thou
teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying
that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after
the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for
they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We
have four men which have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with
them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and
all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are
nothing; but that thou thyself
also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.” (Acts 21:20-24 AV)
Paul chose not to do battle with James over the issue
of his continuing reliance upon the law for righteousness. He perhaps sensed
the hopelessness of overcoming such deep-seated and widespread ignorance of the
new dispensation. Imagine the uproar if Paul had immediately responded to the
above comments by James with what he had already told the Galatian Churches.
“I do not frustrate the grace of
God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
(Gal
I am
fully aware that it is most likely this James that wrote the book of James in
our King James Bible. I am not suggesting that James was unworthy to do this. I
am merely following the evidence of the scriptural trail. In doing this it
becomes clear that James and his multitude never left the Jewish religion –
they clung fast to
Jews
prior to
This is
not to say that James and his people never made it to heaven and have not become
glorified saints. God has the final say on that regardless of one’s actions on
earth. But if you insist that James was a member of the Christian church ON
EARTH then you are opening up a real can of Judaising worms. JAMES AND HIS
PEOPLE NEVER LEFT JUDAISM.
Paul’s doctrine of the grace of God is the bridge to Christianity
– the Church of the risen glorified Christ.
By the word of God in the book of Acts it is quite clear that James and
his people were not impressed with Paul’s doctrine and never left the Jewish
religion. They remained within the corporation called ISRAEL Ltd. and never
became employees of the new multinational called CHRISTIANS Ltd. Although they
fully believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah to
“Even so then at this present time
also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace,
then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of
works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” (Romans
11:5-6 AV)
Paul called them ‘false brethren’ - those who tried to
reintroduce the law to the Churches he planted. From a Christian point of view,
James and his ‘thousands of Jews’ were indeed false brethren. From the point of
view of Judaism, they were saints.
“And that because of false brethren
unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have
in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into
bondage:” (Galatians 2:4 AV)
I believe Paul is speaking of the bondage of trusting
in the law. Paul knew that
“For this Agar is mount Sinai in
“That I have great heaviness and
continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:” (Romans 9:2-3 AV)
“And as we tarried there
many days, there came down from
Peter, John, Barnabas and many others became Christians
As with any major corporate restructuring there was a
period of transition and confusion. Although I am swimming against the tide of
opinion of many highly esteemed mid-Acts teachers, I believe that a small group
of Peter’s little flock at
It is clear that Peter kept up to date with Paul’s
epistles and went so far as to class them with ‘the other scriptures’ in his
second epistle, written several years after Paul wrote Romans.
“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even
as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath
written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are
unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their
own destruction.” (2 Pet 3:15-16 AV)
It is also clear by the word of God in the book of
Acts that several Jews who had been members of Peter’s little flock were
present at
“And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is,
being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of
Barnabas and several other members of Peter’s little
flock were among those who were ‘first called Christians’ at
“And when he had found him, he brought him unto
John’s gospel, written long after Paul had been
martyred, is overwhelming evidence that John had also come to understand that
belief or faith in Christ was the ‘end of the law for righteousness’.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John
1:12-13 AV)
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ.” (John
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so
must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” (John 3:14-16 AV)
After Paul was well down the road of establishing the
new corporation, he declared in his epistle to the Romans that the employees of
the shut down company ISRAEL Ltd., now fell into one of two categories: they
were either among the remnant according to the election of grace or they were
blinded.
Who would dare include Peter, John and many of the
other saints at
“Even so then at this present time
also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace,
then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of
works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then?
Who would
dare tell Peter that he was not a Christian?
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or
as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let
him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” (1Pet
Why did Paul rebuke Peter
at Antioch
Paul’s action in rebuking Peter for his dissimulation
(hiding his true feelings) at
“But when
Peter was come to
Paul’s rebuking of
Peter would not have been necessary if he considered Peter to be in a separate
Church, or body, to the Church, the body of Christ. But Paul strongly opposed
Peter’s actions thereby revealing that he considered Peter to be a member of
the same Church as he and the Gentiles - the Church the body of Christ.
Note that Paul did not
rebuke the “certain Jews who came from James”. Why not? I believe it was for
the same reason he did not argue ‘law vs grace’ with James on the occasion of
his direct encounter with James and his multitude of believers in Acts 21. Paul
was “walking circumspectly” and choosing his battles. James and his multitude
were virtually indistinguishable from unbelieving
“See then
that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time,
because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what
the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17 AV)
Is Christ divided?
The Church, the body of Christ, is constituted of all who have
received the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, regardless of whether or not
they had hands laid on them or were water baptized before or after receiving
it. If these Jewish rituals are the determining factors then our apostle Paul
does not qualify as a member of the body. Paul received the Holy Spirit through
water baptism and the laying on of hands – not on the road to
“And Ananias went his way, and
entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the
Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest,
hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy
Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he
received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.” (Acts 9:17-18 AV)
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:9 AV)
We are right to believe that the grace dispensation did not begin
until some time after
“But what saith it? The word is
nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of
faith, which we preach;” (Romans 10:8 AV)
“Well; because of unbelief they
were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:”
(Romans
“O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus
Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I
learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing
of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made
perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3 AV)
The ministry of the Spirit changed over the time between Acts 2
and Acts 28, as establishment
“See then that ye walk
circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days
are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the
Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17 AV)
The supposed division of Peter’s Jewish remnant from the Church,
as taught by most mid-Acts teachers, would have been in effect at the time Paul
first wrote to the Corinthians, some of whom were ‘Peter’ Christians and some
of whom were ‘Paul’ Christians. I will let the apostle have the final say on
this matter. (No doubt most of you are aware that Peter is also referred to as
Cephas in the NT.)
“For it hath been declared unto me of you, my
brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are
contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of
Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?
was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor