Today’s discussion is entitled, “Jews Before Gentiles?  How Does that Work?” And the biblical basis for our discussion this evening is found in Romans 1:16 which reads: 

¹⁶ 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 Greek. ¹⁷ For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Rom 1:16 KJV)

One of the keys to understanding some of Paul’s most challenging and difficult passages is to also examine all of his other related passages, in addition to related tanach and Yeshua teachings. When all of these related passages are brought together, especially when brought together under the light of responsible biblical contextual understanding, we stand a much better than average chance of accurately understanding the apostle’s most challenging and difficult to understand passages. Which, of course, is what we’re attempting to do in this series. 

We must always keep in the back of our minds that Bible must always interpret itself. And then we must apply this understanding to all our biblical studies. 

It is imperative that we resist the natural urge and tug to grasp biblical isolated, soundbites and create an understanding or doctrine on a loose understanding of those isolated soundbites as so many folks have done over the centuries. 

Case in point:  

³⁴ Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. ³⁵ And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. (1Co 14:34-35 KJV) 

Now, if we were to simply base our understanding of this curious yet extremely controversial passage from an isolated baseline reading of it without taking into account history, context, culture and other related passages, the meaning of this scriptural soundbite (if you will) would clearly suggest that women cannot teach, preach, publicly pray or prophesy in Messianic Assembly gatherings. But as we saw in our extensive examination of this passage where we  employed the very study techniques I just mentioned above, Paul was not in the least excluding women from leadership roles in our Faith Community. Far from it in fact. 

The same thing applies to this and all the other passages we’re going to look at in this series. 

So with that in mind, let’s get into Romans 1:16 and see if we can figure out what Paul means by “to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

For most of us with any appreciable degree of true biblical understanding (not talking doctrinal nor denominational understanding mind you), especially when that biblical understanding is from a Hebraic perspective, our focus passage may not be that difficult to understand. For those of us that fall within this category, the challenge is understanding the fullness of what Paul is writing about; the applicability of Paul’s statement to our day-to-day walk with Messiah (I.e., why any of this should matter to you and me); how to explain the meaning of this passage to those who may ask us for an explanation of the passage. 

Obviously, those who find themselves in denominational Christianity, a true understanding of this Pauline passage may be hidden beneath layers of tradition and false teachings and doctrine (e.g., the false doctrine of replacement theology). 

Thus, our aim here this evening is to work through these interpretive issues so that we may reap the spiritual benefits (I.e., the spiritual gifts) that Paul sought to bring to his Roman readers back in the day (verse 11). Indeed, the fullness of this content-rich passage is too good for any true believer in Messiah to simply read over and ignore, hoping that it somehow goes away because it doesn’t support our biases and understanding of how the Kingdom of God is supposed to work.

Quick Review of What We’ve Learned Thus Far in our Studies of Romans

Let’s first step back and quickly review what we’ve learned about Paul and his letter to the Assembly of Roman Messianics up to this point:
The letter was written to a devout assembly made up of both Jewish and Non-Jewish Messianics.
Paul deeply admired the Roman Messianic Assembly and desperately desired and planned to visit them as quickly as the opportunity presented itself.

Paul’s admiration for the Romans was spiritually deep and abiding, leading him to refer to them as saints and praying on their behalf to YHVH through Yeshua constantly.

Despite Paul not being the “Founder” of the Messianic Assembly of Rome, it is apparent that the apostle still saw himself as the assembly’s overseer or spiritual father (so to speak).

Paul preached and taught the Gospel of God throughout the Roman Empire: the very same Gospel that Yeshua taught. That gospel was inclusive of both Jew and Non-Jew alike. And Paul desired to share this inclusive gospel with the Messianic Assembly in Rome.

Rome Without Paul’s Presence

So now we’re at the place in Paul’s letter to the Romans where the apostle explains to his readers that his decision not to visit them up to this point had not been based upon an oversight nor was the decision not to come made because he couldn’t fit extremely tight evangelical schedule. For we find much later on in this letter the reason why Paul had failed to visit Rome up to this point:

19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation: 21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. 22 For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you. 23 But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; 24 Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company. (Rom 15:19-24 KJV)

It seems relatively evident from this passage that Paul felt the Roman Assembly had already been firmly established by the time he had begun his missionary and evangelistic work in various places throughout the Roman Empire. Remember, we had established early on in our study of this letter that the Roman Assembly had likely been established by Roman Jews who had been a part of the very first Pentecost where the Holy Spirit filled the 120-disciples of Yeshua on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem just 10-days after Yeshua’s ascended to His Father in heaven. So the Roman Assembly had likely already been established long before Paul began his evangelistic ministry.

Thus, as far as we can tell from Romans 15:19-24, Paul seemed to recognize Rome as having been taken care of in terms of evangelism and was not in need of his ministry in those years leading up to this letter. Despite the fact that Rome may not have been in need of Paul’s evangelistic/missionary services, the apostle clearly had an unquenchable desire to visit there. At least one commentator I consulted suggested a reason for Paul’s earnest desire to visit the Roman Assembly: that it is conceivable that Paul envisioned Rome as the “strategic hub of his work, for it was the center of the Gentile world in Paul’s time” (Tim Hegg; Romans Commentary).

Understanding “Gentiles” From Paul’s and the Messianic Assembly’s Perspective

Paul chose to use the Greek term “ethnos” (I.e., in English Gentiles 19-times in the KJV) throughout the Book of Romans to distinguish between non-Jews/non-Jewish nations and Jews/Israel. So much was riding on Paul’s distinction between the two given the mixed population of the Messianic Assembly there in Rome.

The Faith of the Romans Was Not a New Faith

Why is this important to our understanding of the focus passage: “…to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Well simply this: The Faith that Yeshua and His anointed disciples turned apostles brought to the world began with the Hebrews. That Faith was not a new Faith by any stretch of anyone’s imagination. In fact, that Faith was an extension of the Hebraic Faith that was initiated through the covenant that the Creator of the Universe made with Abraham. YHVH honored that covenant which He passed down to Abraham’s children: Isaac and Jacob; on through Jacob’s 12-sons, whose children numbered as the sand which is upon the sea shore (Genesis 22:17; 32:12).

The Almighty built upon that original Abrahamic covenant with what bible scholars have tagged as the “Mosaic Covenant.” He established the Mosaic Covenant between Himself and the children of Jacob/Israel. Both covenants aimed at bringing Jacob’s children into an eternal relationship with Him with the promise of restoring paradise that was lost when Adam fell (I.e., the Kingdom of God). In a sense, these covenants formed the very first iterations or versions of the Gospel—the basis of the Gospel that Yeshua and His disciples turned apostles taught and preached. Unfortunately, Israel failed to live up to her end of the covenant and thus she ended up temporarily forfeiting many of her covenant promises (e.g., divine protection; possession of the Land; overall prosperity, etc.)

But true to Father’s undying love for His people, Father did not entirely abandon Israel. In fact, Father continued to honor provisions of His original covenant with the nation, even to the point of establishing a new or a renewed covenant with His people. Father built into this everlasting extension of the original covenant enhanced provisions for salvation, restoration and redemption of his wayward and stiffnecked people. This renewed covenant was inaugurated and established by His Son, Yeshua Messiah. For the Kingdom that Yah was supposed to establish through Israel had not been scrapped. In fact, that promised Kingdom was still coming whether Israel was ready for it or not. The Creator would bring about this Kingdom where He would ultimately dwell in the midst of His elect own His terms and through means that only those with eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts and minds to receive could fathom and understand.

And oh by the way, the nation-peoples of the world (I.e., the “ethnos”) would have the divine opportunity to partake in those eternal covenant promises which include having a true and substantive relationship with the Creator of the Universe and be a part of the Creator’s coming Kingdom through the provisions the Creator factored into His Gospel. The “ethnoi” would not supplant and replace Israel as those who hold to the false doctrine of “replacement theology” teach. Instead, the “ethnoi” would simply come alongside her Hebrew and Jewish counterparts and reap the glorious, eternal benefits of YHVH’s Plan of Salvation, Restoration and Redemption.

A central truth that we must always bear in mind when discussing or studying Paul’s teachings on the Gospel is that without Israel, there is no Kingdom of God and no salvation for the non-Jewish peoples of this world.

So the bottom line thus far in our discussion is that the Faith of the Roman Messianics was not a new or separate religion and Faith. It was an extension of the original Hebrew Faith that began in great part with Abraham.

The High Potential for Messianic Conflicts

Therefore, let us not overlook the potential for conflict between Messianic Jews and Messianic Non-Jews in the synagogue in Rome. Regardless the Messianic Jews’ acceptance of the gospel, the conventional wisdom in Rabbinic Judaism in Paul’s day put paramount importance on Jewish identity as the central requirement for one partaking of the covenant of Israel. The “ethnoi” were viewed then as being “outside the covenant” and as “other.” Paul tangentially echoed this understanding in Ephesians 2:12 where he described the non-Jewish peoples of the world as being those who “were without hope and without God in this present world.” But through the ministry of Yeshua and the power of the Gospel that He and Paul taught and preached, non-Jewish people were no longer a people without hope and without God in this world. Unfortunately, the uninformed Jew of Paul’s day (and for that matter, even the uninformed Jew of our day) believes that for non-Jews to share in the promises of Yah’s covenantal promises to Israel, they must convert to Judaism and live as a Jew. But as I just stated, that understanding is baseless. For the Creator never established Judaism. Jews established Judaism as their chosen religion. Judaism stands in stark contrast, and at times, total opposition to Father’s Torah. Father’s requirement of both Jew and non-Jew alike is that they accept Yeshua as their Messiah, turn from their wicked ways, and be in covenant relationship with Him through an obedience of Faith: not, however, obedience to man made traditions and laws.

Paul was Not Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ (I.e., of Messiah)

In our focus verse Paul declares to the Romans that he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ (I.e., The Gospel of Messiah). Interestingly, “of Christ” is a late addition to the Greek text (I.e., it is not found in earlier Greek manuscripts of our text). The ESV then, having taken this fact into account, correctly translates the text as follows: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel.” 

Paul declares that he is not ashamed of the gospel which he realizes is dimly viewed by the known world. The apostle recognized that the world was naturally hostile to the gospel. That natural aversion to the Gospel makes the unconverted mind and heart incapable of understanding and appreciating the gospel.

Indeed, the gospel requires the unconverted person to honestly see themselves in the state in which the unrepented and unconverted fallen man presently exists: in a depraved and hopeless state and in need of what the gospel can offer as the only solution to his/her desperate situation. Only the Gospel has the power to reveal to the would be convert just how foolish and pointless the world’s wisdom truly is in light of Messiah’s expressed wisdom and truth.

Paul more than any other person living in his day could appreciate and competently explain to the truth-seeker just how foolish the wisdom of men is (that being his life as a Pharisee married to Judaism and the Oral Traditions) compared to the wisdom and truth of Messiah that he’d received on that road to Damascus on that fateful day several years before the writing of this letter. Indeed, he had come to “know the reality of the gospel, and the manner in which God takes what is foolishness to man and turns it to proclaim and establish His greatness” (Hegg). To Paul, the Gospel was very real, very powerful and needed by every man, woman and child. And he stood ready to do any and everything in his power to deliver the gospel to any who would receive it.

Paul and The Power of the Gospel

Paul then extols the tremendous virtues of the gospel, which he describes as THE ONLY thing that can lead one to salvation. In fact, Yah established the gospel as the only means by which people may be saved. Thus the gospel, despite the world’s inability to understand it on their own cognizance, is derived from God. It is simply the manifest power of God to rescue fallen man from eternal destruction.

In looking at the gospel from a “dunamis” (i.e., power) perspective, Paul declares that the spoken Words of the Gospel message that can powerfully bring salvation to fallen mankind is the very same power that brought creation into existence and raised Yahoshua HaMashiyach from the dead.

Paul and Salvation

Now, when we look at “salvation” (soteria) from Paul’s perspective, it is all about people establishing a true and substantive relationship with YHVH. Paul saw salvation and the Gospel as that which rescues fallen mankind from the just wages of sin, which we know to be eternal death (Romans 6:23), and providing in its stead eternal life. Salvation, according to Paul, cannot be earned nor purchased by anyone. In fact, salvation is a free gift of Yah to any who would receive it in faith in Yeshua Messiah. Thus, “the gospel is the power of salvation to all who believe” (pisteuo). The object of this pisteuo is Yahoshua. For mankind on his/her own is incapable of obtaining salvation; she/he are hopelessly lost and damned to death. That’s why the gospel is good news. For it provides man a way out of his/her eternal death sentence.

Jew and Gentile Worshiping as One Body

To “all who believe” highlights one of the central themes of Paul’s letter to the Roman Messianics. And that theme has to do with immediate accessibility of salvation to any who would come to Faith in Messiah Yeshua. For now salvation would know “no ethnic, gender, economic or cultural boundaries.” In making the emphatic statement that salvation was accessible to everyone that believes, the apostle was clearly taking a jab at mainstream Rabbinic bias towards all non-Jews. That bias essentially held that the eternal promises of God’s covenant promises (which included salvation and entry into the Kingdom of God) were only accessible to Jews and those who would become Jewish converts. Interestingly enough, however, the Roman Messianic Assembly had become the proof-positive example showing that the Rabbinic bias was no longer a valid doctrinal belief system. For Rome was home to a thriving Jewish-Gentile Messianic Community of Faith worshiping as one Body the God of Avraham, Yishak and Ya’achov.

To the Jew First and then the Gentile

Verse 16 finds us at a place that traditional and fundamental Christianity is not at all comfortably equipped to deal with. For here, the great Apostle to the Gentiles gets real with his readers, revealing, as Tim Hegg (Messianic author, commentator and Torah scholar) states, his “modus operandi.” For Paul saw and understood the Plan of Salvation-Redemption-Restoration from a 35,000 foot view that few of us today are comfortably willing to match. And Paul not only understood the Plan of Salvation-Redemption-Restoration at that elevated vantage point, he also practiced and executed that which he’d received and been instructed on. For Paul routinely began his evangelistic outreach to the Jewish community first (with rare exceptions if any known ones), and then on to the non-Jewish communities.

J.K. McKee (Messianic teacher, commentator and author) goes directly to the juggler in comparison to Hegg on this issue and simply states, ” Paul…does demonstrate a ministry preference to go to the Jewish community first (Acts 13:5, 14; 14:1; 17:2,10; 18:4,19; 19:8).” And then McKee echoes Keener by writing, “Paul’s evangelistic prioritization of ethnic Israel fits Jesus’ teaching (Mark 7:27) and the portrayal of Paul’s own ministry in Acts (e.g., 13:5; 28:17), yet he will argue that God saves both Jew and Gentile by the same means.”

You see, the driving force behind Shaul’s modus operandi of evangelizing the Jew before Gentile was the apostle’s dogged belief in the promises the Creator had made to his forefathers:

26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. (Rom 11:26-28 KJV)

Proof is in the Prophetic Pudding

How can Paul make such a statement? Wasn’t he the illustrious apostle to the Gentiles?

For Paul, the promises made to his ancient fathers had to be fulfilled. And the apostle knew and believed with every fiber of his being that YHVH is not a liar (Deuteronomy 32:4; Romans 3:4).

Paul, being the penultimate Torah scholar that he was knew better than anyone breathing air in his day the depths and significance of those ancient promises:

17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. (Isa 45:17 KJV)

Zec 9:16 And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.

33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jer 31:33-34 KJV)

The Salvation of the Jew is a Requirement of the Gospel

The Jew coming to Faith and salvation is a requirement of the Gospel. Despite that which is erroneously taught both within and without our Faith, the Gospel is not only about the Gentile. In fact, nowhere in Scripture can one find a covenant that the Almighty made with the Gentiles directly. Instead, the promises that were given to Israel had built into it provisions for the Gentile to partake in the blessings and commonwealth that is to come to Israel. But without Israel, the Gentile doesn’t have a covenantal leg to stand on.

Paul brilliantly expounded upon this essential Truth when he later on in this very same letter to the Romans how this Jew-Gentile thing is supposed to work in Plan of Salvation-Restoration-Redemption:

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. 25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” 28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. (Rom 11:13-32 ESV)

The Jew Was Paul First Priority For Evangelism

So wherever the apostle went to deliver the gospel, his first stop was always the local synagogue as a matter of priority. And as part of his outreach to the Jew, Paul would preach to them about the salvation that has come to the Gentiles. This evangelistic approached was used for purposes of creating within the Jew jealousy that would lead the Jew to Yeshua as his/her Messiah. 

So Paul’s use of “first” (or in the Greek, “protos”) in our focus verse must be viewed from the perspective of priority. Paul is not at all suggesting that the Jew is superior biologically nor spiritually to the non-Jew. Jew and non-Jew are in fact equal in every respect in the overarching scheme of the gospel (which is the power of God unto salvation for the believing Jew and believing non-Jew, both on equal par).

Despite the Jew and non-Jew being on equal par as it relates to the Gospel and the Plan of Salvation, Paul brings to the Roman’s attention that the Gospel that he preached did have factored into it a significant degree of focus on the Jewish condition. Paul saw this as absolutely critical given that Israel was the cultivated olive tree that would receive the wild olive tree branch through a spiritual grafting process. So the Jew had to be taken care of, if but for the overall sake of the incoming Gentile (Romans 11:24).

Israel–The Liberal Christian’s Stumbling Block

This righteous and accurate understanding of the gospel that Paul possessed is a stumbling block to the liberal Christian who sees him/herself as Israel under the false doctrine of “Replacement Theology.” Replacement theology, in rejecting any future salvation of the Jew, for all intents and purposes denies the power of the gospel to bring about salvation to the Jew. Not to mention, any doctrinal thinking that usurps and replaces the Jew with the Gentile nations as being God’s only elect peoples fundamentally calls YHVH a liar by insinuating that Yah does not honor His covenants with Israel. 

Action

What does this understanding of “to the Jew first and also the Greek” mean for the modern Messianic? First and foremost, there can be absolutely no room for antisemitism in the Body of Messiah. Secondly, if we are to take the Apostle Paul’s example at its face-value, the Hebraic Roots/Messianic Community must consider some level of outreach to the Jewish Community in her evangelistic work.

Shaul, as I’ve repeatedly made the case throughout this entire series, was hands down, the best man on the planet at the time to fulfill the role as the apostle to the Gentile with the modus operandi of evangelizing the Jew first and also the non-Jew. That being said, most of us who are members of this Faith are ill-equipped to effectively evangelize Jews. Yet, evangelism of the Jew requires uniquely qualified, Spirit-filled individuals to effectively communicate the Hebraic, Torah-based Gospel message to the Jew.

I do believe there are souls who, like the Apostle Shaul, Father has and is currently preparing to evangelize the seed of Jacob. Furthermore, I believe that Father has already laid out in His mind how and through whom He will bring Jacob to faith in His Son Yeshua Messiah. So I believe the question we must ask Father as it relates to our respective ministry outreaches, how, if at all, He desires us to deliver the Gospel to the Jewish Community.

I like what McKee says in totality regarding this passage. He states something that is poignant, yet accurate in my opinion by saying that the gospel belongs to both Jew and non-Jew alike (my words) and thus there must be a significant degree of Jewish ministry factored into any Messianic outreach and evangelism.

Indeed, the promises of Yah were first rendered unto Israel and it would be asinine to think even today that those promises no longer apply to the Jew today. Yet when all is said and done, there remains equal access to the gospel across the board of humanity and we must do our part—whatever you and I have been called to do—in the Great Commission.