The Bible Without Paul – Part 3 of 10

Is John 3:16 the Hope of the Gentiles?

A key to proper Bible study and interpretation is that we must note to whom the words recorded are spoken and about whom these words concern. As students of the Bible we can learn and gain from ALL God-breathed Scripture, but not necessarily all that is written is about us or to us as Gentiles.

We've noted that the coming of Jesus was first to and for Israel only. Matthew 15:24 …I (Jesus) am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Jesus also instructed His disciples to do the same – to exclude the Gentiles.

Matt 10:5-6 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them… Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

So, John 3:16 was spoken to and about the initial coming rebirth available to the children of Israel first. Why would this be? It is because God's blessing to all the families of the earth was to eventually come through Israel.

Deuteronomy 14:2 For thou (Israel) art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

The usual connotation of a Jewish person is that he or she belongs to 'the chosen people', but in actuality according to our Scripture the Jewish people are not only 'chosen', but they are also 'holy' and 'special'.

In Zechariah 2:8 we read that The LORD Himself tells us, "for he that toucheth you (the Jewish people) toucheth the Apple of His (The LORD's) Eye."

In The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 10 and verse 6, we read that our LORD Jesus Christ spoke of the Jewish people as "the lost sheep of the house of Israel", and He commissioned His disciples to "go" and "preach" saying, "the kingdom of (from) heaven is at hand."

The Roman Jewish "Apostle to the Gentiles" (Rom 11:13), Saul-Paulus, Paul, was sent by our LORD to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) to preach and witness of God's love, said: "For I am not ashamed of The Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of GOD unto salvation to every one that believeth; 'to the Jew first', and also to the Gentile" (Romans 1:16).

Knowing God's promise and plan, Paul went to the synagogue of the "Jew first" with His new grace "gospel of the grace of God" (Act 20:24).

In speaking of the new birth, Jesus told the Jews, who claimed Abraham as their father (Jn 8:39), they needed God as their "Father." Thus He spoke in terms of birth, being "born of God." Paul never uses the word new birth or born again, but rather what it actually is, "regeneration" (Titus 3:5) by the "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus."

Where, what, and to whom did Jesus preach?

Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

It's plain to see here above that Jesus taught the Jews in the synagogues and preached the kingdom of God to come to earth as promised to Abraham. Jesus did not preach the cross or any sort of Christian gospel, which was ye to come via the Apostle Paul.

We must view even the Christian's most quoted John 3:16 as a verse within the Gospel account of what Jesus spoke to the Jews ONLY, when He came and announced that the Messianic Kingdom of heaven for the Jews was now at hand. The Messianic Kingdom was to come to the earth as had been promised to Abraham, as to be everlasting inheritance on earth. Nearly every word of Jesus in regard to His purpose was spoken to the Jews, and exclusive of the Gentiles, with only a few exceptions. (E.g. Samaritan women at the well, Pilate, etc.)

John 3:16 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.

Most Christians will say, "See, John 3:16 says whosoever believeth. That means everyone and anyone who believes can be saved". But this simply is not true to the context of the Bible or the time in which Jesus was speaking. The first rule of Bible interpretation (hermeneutics) is to determine to whom the speaking party is speaking – Jesus was only speaking to the Jews. So long as there is a distinction between Jew and Gentile then "whosoever" does not apply to everyone. It is only for the "whosoever" of Israel.

The only all-inclusive "whosoever" was to come later through Paul's gospel is for both Jew and Gentile who make up the one body of Christ. This is the only Bible gospel that is without distinction by race.

Galatians 3:27-28 For as many of you as have been baptized (placed) into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

So far, we see "no hope" for the Gentiles who had been set aside with the call of Abraham.