BACK
become Christians from complying with the requirements of the Mosaic law”? Certainly it does do that, as Paul says: “I, through law, have died to law, that I may live to God” (Galatians 2:19). If it did not, then every Christian Jew ought to seek to keep the law. However to do so would serve no purpose, for as Peter says: “But we believe that we (the Jews) shall be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same manner as they (the Gentiles) also” (Acts 15:11). At best the keeping of the law would be a purposeless occupation.

However, so far we have considered how we are to view ourselves and what we have done in submitting to baptism. There is also the fact of being born anew. There is a change in what we are: an actual inward change. It is not that the flesh is improved but there is a change, so that actually we are different from what we were as persons in the flesh. There is an old man and a new one (Colossians 3:9/10). This is to be a reality to us. Christ speaks of this (John 3:3). Paul also speaks of one new man (Ephesians 2:15). Put another way: we are a new race. We are not to think of ourselves as Jews, English, French or whatever. We are to think of ourselves as God’s sons (Galatians 3:26-29). We should not consequently boast in our racial ancestry, whatever that is, or be depressed about it either ! As Paul says: “So that we henceforth know no one according to flesh” (2 Corinthians 5:16). The idea of National Churches is quite wrong; there is only one universal Church (Assembly): the body of Christ.

In practice we find that Peter speaks of Christians as God’s people and not as Jews or Gentiles (1 Peter 2:9/10). Paul speaks of Christians as the household of faith (Galatians 6:10) and as a peculiar people (Titus 2:14). Then in Philippians he speaks of Christians as children of God. Their ancestry is therefore a divine and not a natural one (Philippians 2:15). John similarly speaks of Christians as children of God (1 John 3:2).

However we may think of ourselves, what is really important is how God views us. When persons were baptised God put his seal on them by giving them the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). He would not have done this had he not accepted that the position of dead persons which they had taken up in baptism was according to his mind. He did not in the case of those who had only received John’s baptism. They had to be baptised

NEXT