Alright. This is my last post on this topic. I know it’s long (equivalent of a 10-page paper), but you can read it easily in under 10 minutes. I felt like this topic was important enough to invest a considerable amount of time this week on the topic of race and the gospel, and I hope you find it half as rewarding as I personally have.
In my fourth and final post on “Hometown Hatred and the Gospel of Inclusion,” I want to focus on the Scriptural account. An excellent resource which I have been reading this week is a book by J. Daniel Hays entitled From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race.[1] The concluding section of this post will have the summary of Hays’ superb treatment on this subject. While I would love to talk about race in the Old Testament (especially the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 and the ethnic makeup of the Ancient Near East), I am going to specifically address race in the New Testament.
Gospel Inclusion in the Gospel of John
Beginning with the Gospel of John, one can quickly see that Jesus explaining that his purpose for coming is to dwell not only in a geographic region of the world but in the hearts of the redeemed from every corner of the planet. He came to his own (Israelites), but his own did not receive him. But to all who did receive him and believed on His name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:11-12). When Jesus first enters the scene during the ministry of his cousin John the Baptist, John exclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Indeed, from the very introduction of his gospel account, John wants his readers to understand that the right to becoming a child of God was not due to inheritance, lineage, or deservedness of man (John 1:13), but through the universal scope of God’s redeeming purposes, saving grace comes to sinners regardless of geographic location, ethnicity, and background.
In John 1-3, we see Jesus ministering in Jerusalem and Judea; however, in chapter 4, Jesus states that he “had to pass through Samaria” (John 4:4, KJV reads “must needs”). This necessity was precisely because salvation was intended to come not only to the Jews, but to the Samaritans as well. These half-breeds and outcasts of Israel were despised by the Jews, but the King of heaven overthrew the cultural, racial, and societal norms with a new kingdom ethic which embraces not only Jews but Samaritans as well. Finally, in John 12:12-26, we pick up on the scene where Jesus makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem just prior to his death. The Evangelist notes that “among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks” who told Phillip, “We wish to see Jesus” (John 12:20-21). When word got to Jesus, he replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). What is the relationship between the Greeks seeking Jesus and Jesus’ response? Throughout the gospel account, Jesus continues to say, “My hour has not yet come . . .”, but here we see it being inaugurated. Jesus, receiving word that the whole world (Greeks) have sought him, knew that the worldwide redemptive mission had received the cosmic scope of including all races and peoples such that John 3:16 would have its soteriological fulfillment in the hour of his glorification and atonement for sinners through the cross.
Gospel Inclusion in the book of Acts
Now let’s turn our attention to the book of Acts. Prior to Jesus’ ascension, he left these parting words: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Analogous to the Great Commission found in Matt. 28:18-20, Jesus gives his followers the mandate to make disciples and be His witnesses throughout the whole world. The same Samaria that was a place of geographic necessity would soon become a missiological necessity of the early church. The Gentiles who came seeking Jesus would soon hear the message of reconciliation and good news of Jesus Christ to the Jew and also the Greek. The account of the early church begins at Pentecost, where in Jerusalem the church began through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-41). After Stephen is martyred and Christians scattered through persecution, we find Christians in Judea and Samaria “going about preaching the word” (Acts 8:1-4). As Phillip “proclaimed to them the Christ,” God began to work miracles among the Samaritans, leading eventually leading to salvation and receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-17). Later in this chapter we see Phillip telling “the good news about Jesus” to an Ethiopian eunuch under the divine leading of the Spirit (Acts 8:26-40). Already we can see the gospel advance overcoming racial barriers and geographic lines from Samaritans to Ethiopians (Africans).
The missionary work of the Spirit through the early church continues in Acts 10 where we find the gospel advancing to “the ends of the earth,” fulfilling the promise made in Acts 1:8. Peter preaches the good news to the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-43) and “the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles” (Acts 10:45). The issue of Gentile inclusion became the central issue at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. Peter’s proclamation was startling but also gospel sweet. He declared,
“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. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:7-9).
There you have it. No distinction between Jews and Gentiles. Every barrier and division between Jews and Gentiles were torn down through the advance of the gospel and the evangelistic work of the Holy Spirit.
Gospel Inclusion in the Pauline Epistles
Galatians
In the book of Galatians, we see that the gospel of justification by faith carries social and ethnic implications. To be made right with God through the reconciling work of the cross leads to being made right with your redeemed brother through the reconciliation of Christ’s love and our union with Him. R.B. Hays writes,
“Paul holds forth the vision of a community of faith in which all are one in Christ (2:11-21; 3:26-29). This is not merely a matter of an isolated slogan in Gal. 3:28; it is a central theme of the letter as a whole. Jews and Gentiles are no longer divided because Christ’s death brought us together. Therefore, all manifestations of racial and ethnic divisiveness are betrayals of ‘the truth of the gospel.’ Galatians is one of the canon’s most powerful witnesses against a culture of imperialism that excludes anyone from fellowship on the basis of criteria not rooted in the gospel.”[2]
Paul explains to the church in Galatia that the Abrahamic promise was “practically synonymous with the New Testament gospel” when he quotes Gen. 12:1-3 in Gal. 3:8.[3] J. Daniel Hays explains,
“This equation of gospel and Abrahamic promise is significant for our study of race because we found the Abrahamic promise running like a scarlet thread throughout the Scriptures, surfacing especially when the biblical authors are stressing the universality of God’s plan, his call, or his people.”[4]
In Gal. 3:14, we come to see the new aspect of the Abrahamic promise as it is now identified with the promise of the Spirit. Indeed, it is through God the Evangelist (Holy Spirit) that we have seen the gospel advance and include all the nations and peoples of the earth. Later understand that being justified in Christ means that we all have a new identity whereby the major barrier-divisions of culture, viz. ethnicity, societal status, and sexuality, are torn down (Gal. 3:26-29). Hays notes, “This was radical theology for Paul’s day because it flew in the face of all traditional cultural norms. It continues to be radical theology today because it conflicts many of our cultural norms as well. The question for us today is whether we will follow our culture or follow the teachings of Paul on this issue.”[5] The bottom line in Galatians is that justification in Christ brings a union to the body of Christ which incorporates the people of God together as a redeemed community with a new identity.
Ephesians
The case for the social and racial implications of the gospel is conspicuous in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. We are all quite familiar with Ephesians 2:1-10, especially verses eight and nine. However, what follows (Ephesians 2:11-22) is nothing short of culture-transforming. Paul proclaims “not only that the cross produced an organic unity among the various groups in the Church, but that it also eliminated the points of hostility between the groups and reconciled them to one another.”[6] For what we see is those who were separated, alienated, strangers, with hope and without God in this word, and “far off” have been “brought near” through the cross of Christ. Whether Jew or Gentile, “far off” or “those who were near,” Jesus preached peace to all so that in him we can have access to the Father as members of the household of God. Consider these piercing words from Klyne Snodgrass.
“Nowhere is this theology more important for modern Christians than in dealing with racial hostility. Christians of other races are part of us, and divisions cannot be allowed to continue. The racial barrier is like a festering wound in the body of Christ . . . Sunday is the most segregated day of the week, for Christians worship along segregated lines . . . The perversion of both active and passive racism must be challenged and stopped . . . Racism will have to be treated on two levels, both as a general societal problem and specifically within the body of Christ. Racism in an form is prohibited by the equality of all people before God and by his unrestricted love. But the theology of the body of Christ deals with the issue at another level. The point is not merely that all Christians are equal; rather, the point is that all Christians have been joined, which has far more significance and impact.”[7]
Colossians
To the church at Colossae, Paul explains that “here” is a place Christians, whether Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, all find equal standing at the foot of the cross and at the heart of God’s redemptive purposes (Col. 3:11). So where is exactly “here” that Paul is talking about? Context reveals that Paul is calling the believers to put away the old self and all of its practices and put on the new self which is being renewed in the image of its creator (Col. 3:9-10). Hays concludes, “Thus the call for destroying barriers is presented in the context of exhorting believers to leave their old ways of the world and move to the new ways of Christ. Racial prejudices and divisions belong to the old man, the worldly culture inherited in the flesh.”[8] Putting on the new self means that there can never be an “us versus them” or insider-outsider mentality to the kingdom. All who have called upon his name are saved by sheer grace and are accepted in the Beloved by sovereign mercy.
To the churches of Galatia, Ephesus, and Colossae, Paul declares to the believers that being in Christ and justified in Christ brings a new identity and a new outlook through the lens of the gospel-a gospel of inclusion which is proclaimed to all, inviting all to the banqueting table of God’s grace. It is clear that Paul’s understanding of God’s call and mission as it related to the progress of the gospel.[9] This mission that drove Paul to do all things for the sake of the gospel, all for the glory of God, and all for the sake of the elect, was grounded in God’s purpose from the beginning of time to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among the nations (Rom. 1:5).[10]
Gospel Inclusion in the book of Revelation
Lastly, we must look at the fruition of the gospel of inclusion as seen in the book of Revelation. One of the important aspects of the Revelation is its relationship to the book of Genesis. Hays notes that “Genesis 1-11 presents the initial blessing of God in the garden, followed by the rebellion of sin and of mankind, followed by separation and scattering. The Abrahamic narratives (Genesis 12-22) then present the divine solution to this problem: redemption through the Abrahamic promise.”[11] That divine solution entails the blessing of “all the families of the earth” (Gen. 12:3) and “all the nations of the earth” (Gen. 18:18). Now fast forward to the end of the story where Scripture gives us this vision (Rev. 5:9):
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”
At the conclusion of history, we see that there will be the worship of Jesus Christ from the redeemed comprised of “every tribe and language and people and nation.” This fourfold formula (tribe, language, people, and nation) occurs seven times in Revelation (5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6; 17:15). Richard Bauckham points out that
“in Revelation, four is the number of the world, seven is the number of completeness. The sevenfold use of this fourfold phrase indicates that the reference is being made to all the nations of the world. In the symbolic world of Revelation, there could hardly be a more emphatic indication of universalism.”[12]
The universalism that Baukham speaks of is the completion of gospel inclusion where everyone with distinction (contrary to everyone without exception!) will be in the company of those purchased by the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world. Hays summarizes the heavenly scene, writing:
“The consummation of God’s plan for human history includes a reversal of the judgmental aspects of Genesis for those who trust in Christ. The curse is removed; they return to the garden to enjoy fellowship with God; and the scattered ones (every tribe, language, people, and nation), once separated from God, are now brought together under the reign of the Lamb, finding God’s blessing as promised to Abraham.”[13]
Conclusion
After having taken a brief tour through the Gospel of John, the account of the early church in Acts, the Pauline epistles, and finally the book of Revelation, the evidence is more than compelling to rejoice in the gospel of inclusion that brings the horizontal imperative of racial reconciliation and relational harmony for those united in Christ. I find the words of Hays well stated as he concludes his excellent treatment on a biblical theology of race.
“The inclusion of all the nations of the earth into the people of God was not an afterthought by God, or a shift in his thinking, but rather was part of his eternal plan from the beginning. Thus the mission of Paul to the nations was the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise as a redemptive solution to Genesis 3-11.
Furthermore . . . the individuals from all tribes, languages, peoples, and nations who believe are all justified in the same manner and are thus co-heirs of the kingdom and equal members of the body of Christ. However disparate we may be culturally, we are nonetheless joined together in organic unity by the Spirit. The cross of Christ demolished all barriers between people and God, reconciling people who believe, both to God and to each other. This horizontal reconciliation applies in particular to those Christians who differ from each other and between whom there exists traditional culture-driven hostility. Finally, the ultimate climatic view of Christ’s triumphant kingdom portrays people of all races gathered together around the throne worshipping the Lamb together.
The New Testament teaching of Paul and Revelation has direct application to the racial division in the Church today. All believers, regardless of ethnicity, are equally a part of the body of Christ, and it is important for all believers to think in this way and to come to grips with the theological implications of this reality. Furthermore, God desires unity and reconciliation between his children. This desire of our Master is not an obscure doctrine hinted at on the fringes of Scripture, but rather a central theme that is stressed continuously throughout the New Testament. Individual prejudices and cultural-societal structures that divide Christians into groups based on skin color or other ethnic distinctions are contrary to the teaching of the New Testament. . . . The New Testament teaches equality of all believers in regard to status and value, but it also teaches that the believer’s identity should be based on Christ and not on culturally driven differentiations such as skin color. Finally, the New Testament teaches reconciliation between Blacks and Whites and an end to the hostility between racial groups in the Church. In place of hostility, the Church is to celebrate unity in Christ through fellowship and worship.”[14]
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[1]J. Daniel Hays, From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race. (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity), 2003.
[2]R.B. Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians” in The New Interpreter’s Bible. vol. 11, ed. L.E. Keck. (Nasville: Abingdon, 2000), 195-96.
[3]J. Daniel Hays, From Every People and Nation, 184.
[4]Ibid.
[5]Ibid., 186.
[6]Ibid., 190.
[7]Klyne Snodgrass, Ephesians (New International Version Application Commentary). (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 150-51.
[8]J. Daniel Hays, From Every People and Nation, 189.
[9]For instance, see Romans 1:14-16; 5:15-21; 1 Cor. 9:19-23; Gal. 1:16; 2:2, 8; Eph. 3:7-12; Col. 1:24-26; 2 Tim. 4:17.
[10]Cf. Rom.3:29-30; 9:22-26; 10:12-13; 11:11-12, 25; 15:8-12; Gal. 3:8, 13-14; 5:6; Eph.3:6; Col. 1:27; 1 Thess. 2:14-16.
[11]J. Daniel Hays, From Every People and Nation, 193-94.
[12]Richard Baukham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies in the Book of Revelation. (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993), 336. Hays adds, “The fourfold formula clearly recalls the division of the world’s peoples in Genesis 10, while the rest of the verse, including the stress on ‘every nation’ and the mention of the uncountable number of people, connects with the Abrahamic promise: that is, the answer to Genesis 10” (J. Daniel Hays, From Every People and Nation, 198).
[13]J. Daniel Hays, From Every People and Nation, 196.
[14]Ibid., 199-200.
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