Gentiles were not raised in that system of Law, works and zealousness for the Law. The Lord chose a mystery to be revealed ONLY through Paul whereby the Gentiles were saved through grace. If you will recall:
Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
When the Lord set aside Israel because of their rejection of Him, Gentiles could only acquire salvation through grace since Israel, having rejected and crucified the Lord were not about to remain the light to the world, because at that time, Gentiles had to become Jews in order to acquire salvation. Israel failed and fell, and so the Lord revealed what He knew would have to come to fruition what was hidden in Him from the creation of the world.
Wisdom is precisely the definition of "mystery," of which was revealed only to Paul. If we were to walk in the shoes of the Jews at that time, what Paul spoke was indeed hard for them to understand the mechanism by which Gentiles could be filled with Holy Spirit apart from becoming a Jew. Yes. They were shocked and amazed, as is indicated in the Acts of the Apostles, the Book of Acts.
[1Jo 2:27 KJV] 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Yes, there were many Jews scattered abroad, who were also His sheep. If you recall, the northern ten tribes, which comprised Israel, with Judah being the remaining tribes in the south, were still scattered abroad after having been conquered and taken captive by the Assyrians in about 722 BC. They were not of the two tribes of Judah after the split in the kingdom.
It transcends all physical affiliations.
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