Re: For the Bible tells me so.....

Where does it say only those whose tribes were inscribed are admitted. I see only those whose name is in the book of life before the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.


As for the John passage you are correct in that salvation comes from Christ who was of the jews.


Romans 9:4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen

But none of this discounts that the gentiles were grafted into that branch. An that Acts 15 deals with people telling them they had to keep the law and live like the jews.

Acts 15:1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.



Then we get to the heart of the matter

6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?


What is this yoke? is it just circumcision? No circumcision was part of the law. If you break one you break them all. That is why it is such a heavy yoke.It is acknowledged that the gentiles are now saved (v9) and are not thought of differently than the jews.

So what was the conclusion? What is required of the gentiles? Well they thought it so important that a delegation was sent to address the issue

24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:

Here comes the requirements


29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexua| immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.

Then guys from Judea show up in Galatia spewing this same law stuff again. What does Paul have to say about it?

In Galatians 2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—

So are we just talking about circumcision again or the whole law.

Lets keep going

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.



In Chapter 3 Paul drops the hammer. I think at this point he was done with this. He has already apposed peter to his face for his hypocrisy in the matter now he drops the gauntlet


1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness?


10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them. 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for The righteous shall live by faith


By Paul saying it is evident that no one is justified shows that this was not the true argument justification was evident. Now we are talking about sanctification as well.

12 But the law is not of faith, rather The one who does them shall live by them. 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.


The chapter goes on and on, you can read it offline. It deals with the concept of why the law was even needed and why it is no longer required. It is an awesome chapter.

So we see the gentiles even though they were grafted into the vine live under true grace totally free from the law?


Now does this mean we have nothing to live by?

No, the new testament is chock full of great stuff in regards to how we are to live are lives that go way beyond the concept of the law.







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