Must a Person be Jewish to Be Saved?

The congregation had from the beginning believed and realized that only Jews who believed in Jesus Christ would be saved in the end. All of the early congregation were Jews, so when they were told to go to "the uttermost part of the earth" they understood this command of their Lord to mean that they should preach Christ to the Jews and Jewish proselytes scattered throughout the nations.

When the Spirit descended on Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, those with Peter, all Jews, were utterly dumbfounded at the scene described: "And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God" (Acts 10:45- 46). God had "by-passed" the entirety of what they knew as "Jewishness" - the patriarchal language, circumcision, Moses' Law . . . and had given his precious holy Spirit to "dogs"! Remember - up to that moment, the body of Christ was exclusively Jewish. Every person who had received the baptism of Christ had either been born Jewish, or had been converted to Judaism; but at Cornelius' house God was showing Peter and the saints a new thing.

Peter, John, James, and the other leaders in the congregation were spiritually discerning enough to recognize the meaning of Cornelius' baptism in the Spirit. It did not make what they understood before to be error, but it proved that in order to receive the Spirit, one would not have to be "Jewish" as they understood "Jewishness" to be. They understood in part, but God had chosen a man to explain the mystery of this new relationship between Jews and Gentiles, and that man was the Apostle Paul.

Paul was chosen, and given an anointing by the power of God to tell the congregation then, and us now, what being a "Jew" means to God: "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote afore in a few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ..." (Eph.3:1-8).

Try to imagine the radical nature of Paul's doctrine to the orthodox ear of his time. To the Jewish congregation, the Gentiles were considered "unclean", yet Paul was declaring, contrary to everything every good Jew had been taught, that spiritually there was now "no difference between the Jew and the Greek" (Rom.10:12). For Paul to say that uncircumcised foreigners were now one with the saints in Christ - fellow citizens of Abraham's blessing - was the purest heresy to much of the Jewish congregation. In their minds NO uncircumcised person would have a hope of ever pleasing God. EVERY person who did not submit to the ceremonial Laws would be damned. Yes, this new revelation was just that - revelation. Only those seeking God, and open to the leading of the Spirit could, or would receive what would be viewed by most Jews as "heresy".

But Paul, inspired by God, and empowered by God, was now explaining who GOD was really seeing as a Jew: "For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Rom.2:28-29) Paul's teaching in essence, was that ". . . 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.12:13).

Add to this doctrine the fact that Paul taught the end of the Law's ceremonies, and you can imagine the opposition Paul faced from within even the Jewish "Spirit-baptized" congregation! Prior to Paul's revelation from God, Jewish believer's taught that if they would receive the baptism of the Spirit, they had to be circumcised, and submit to the Law of Moses, including John the Baptist's water baptism in Jesus' name. In other words, any new convert had to "become Jews". That is what they understood a person needed to do to be saved in the end: be a Jew.

Paul agreed - but it was his "definition" of a Jew that got him into trouble! God had showed him what a "Jew" really was: "For we are the circumcision [Jews] which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Phil.3:3).

So the answer to our question "Must a Person be Jewish to Be Saved?" is YES. Only those who are made Jews by the Spirit of God will be saved (in the end - for that is when we are saved!) Now, the question must be asked, "how does one become a Jew today?"

Same Wrong Message

In the light of these things, consider the traditional doctrine of the congregation today concerning the baptism of the holy Ghost. As a whole, the congregation is adamant that sinners must be converted before the baptism may be received. Some Pentecostals additionally insist on an experience called "sanctification" between conversion and baptism of the Spirit. Still others insist, as the early Jewish congregation did, on water baptism before receiving the holy Ghost baptism.

So the message which sinners receive from the congregation today is practically the same message that the Apostle Paul spent his life opposing! And that message is that sinners must become God's people in order to be candidates for baptism in the Spirit (with the evidence of speaking in other tongues). But the revelation that burned within Paul's soul was that the holy Ghost baptism was not for the saints - that this baptism cannot possibly be for people in the body of Christ - for it is by this "baptism" that one becomes a member of the body of Christ! In other words, it is the baptism of the Spirit that is the "circumcision" that makes one a "Jew inwardly", whose praise is of God. Baptism of the Spirit does not follow conversion - it IS conversion! It is an experience which can only be for people inside the body of Christ, because no one in the body of Christ is without it!

In other words, when we require a person to become a "Jew", we better require what GOD requires of them to become a Jew - the baptism of the holy Ghost! At present, after so long a time, the congregation is still "drawing circles" around the baptism of the Spirit which God has not drawn. These errors cause men to lead sinners through all sorts of admissions, confessions, ceremonies, and initiations before instructing them to receive the baptism. And God is still surprising those who cling to such things, just as He did to those who came to Cornelius' house. God will baptize those who are hungry for righteousness, and who will seek His face, with the holy Ghost despite what men will try to require of them! The fundamental problem of requiring physical "circumcision", "water baptisms", and other "ceremonies" of the Law, was that the use of these works of the Law implied that Christ was not sufficient. Jesus Christ had been made of no effect if there was any other requirement made once a person had received the holy Ghost in order to be glorified with Jesus upon his return.

The only prerequisite to "becoming a Jew" now (which is receiving the holy Ghost baptism), is repentance in the name of Jesus Christ. Anything else added by anyone is a godless tradition. There is not one example of anyone in the scriptures being "born of the Spirit" prior to being "baptized by the Spirit" (with the evidence of speaking in other tongues). There is not one example of any person being baptized with the Spirit who was not receiving the Spirit for the first time.

And though there be many thousands testifying today of being born again before receiving the holy Ghost baptism, not one of them is with understanding. They may have experienced a change of mind and heart, and may be in the process of repenting toward God; yes, they may have good feelings from the Spirit, and even been touched by God's love - delivered from sinful habits and many other diseases . . . But if they have not received the holy Ghost, they have never been converted. They have not yet been made "Jews" inwardly. There is no such thing as a "non-Spirit- baptized" converted individual. For the only one genuine experience of "New Birth" is the Pentecostal Baptism. It is, in the apostles' words, "the operation of God" - the circumcision which makes one a Jew in God's eyes - and what else really matters?

And so, friends, be a good "Jew" - and follow the timely advice of your Lord:"RECEIVE YE THE HOLY GHOST!"

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