The Ethnic Division Principle
This is the principle by which the Word of Truth is rightly divided in relation to the three classes of which it treats, the Jew, the Gentile and the Church.
- Learn I Cor. 10:32-“Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God.”
(a) God, while not a respecter of persons, is a respecter of classes.
(b) Three is the number of completeness.
(1) There are 3 in the Godhead-Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
(2) There are 3 places-Heaven, Earth and Hell.
(3) There are 3 classes-Jews, Gentiles and Church of God.
- Explanation.
(a) The greater part of the O.T. has to do with the Jews,
separated from the rest of mankind and entered into a covenant with God.
(b) The Church is the “called out assembly,” and has a distinct relation to God, having received definite promises.
(c) Gentiles not so often mentioned, but are found in both Old Testament and New Testament.
Sometimes called the heathen, or the nations.
(d) In the beginning, from Gen. 1: 1 to Gen. 11:9 we have the united race, one people, one language. From
Gen. 11:10 through the Gospels we have the Jews primarily, with the Gentiles mentioned. In the New Testament we find the book of Acts, the book of transition, with both Jews and Church in view. In the Epistles, the Church is in view, and the Jews temporarily set aside. In Revelation the Jew is in view, with the Gentiles mentioned.
B. Questions which one must ask in dividing truth:
- Who said this?
- To whom was it said?
- Under what circumstances was it said?
- This concerns whom?
- Ancestry of each division.
(a) Jews traced to Abraham.
(b) Gentiles traced to Adam.
(c) Church traced to Christ, the last Adam.
- The Jews are the chosen race through which all nations are blessed