Note that Jesus of Nazareth said: “… salvation IS of the Jews” (John 4:22).  The word “is” denotes that the subject exists at the time that the statement is made.  A rule of thumb is that “is always is.”  Whether stated in the Garden of Eden during creation week (which it was) or next week in Manhattan (which it will be) or at any point in time between those two dates, the word “is” refers to the state of existence at the time the word is spoken or written.  Note that Jesus said approximately 2000 years ago that salvation IS of the hated, despised and loathed Judahites, nicknamed “Jews” by King James translators.  Large segments of professing Christendom reject the Jews and deny that they are God’s people.  Gentiles, they claim, have replaced them as His chosen people.  This theory is called “Replacement Theology.”  Read the series by that name.  Use “Replacement” as your key word.  How can the salvation of man be “OF” such Christ-rejecting people NOW?  How can a people who not only are not Christians, but who reject the Son of God and the church He founded, possess the very thing that is needed in order to receive salvation?  And just as importantly, what is that thing that is needed?

The word OF in the context of the series heading means “from,” as in “Jesus of (from) Nazareth.”  In another context, “of” can mean ownership.  For example, “the Word of God” means God’s word.  In the situation referred to the series title, “of” means both “from” and “ownership.”  The Jews have it, own it and have owned it for centuries.  Salvation is OF the Jews because they have a certain thing.  Whatever this “thing” IS it has been in their possession and OF them since before the time of Christ’s walk on earth.  It still IS in their possession and OF them because He preserved His statement for those who would be living during the final days of the age–the age in which we now live.  So what “IS” this “THING” that is “OF” THE Jews TODAY that one must possess in order to qualify for salvation?

The Apostle Paul answers the question in his epistle to the church at Rome.  In the first chapter he writes about faith (believing God’s Word–Rom. 10:19) and how man commits spiritual suicide by not believing It.  In 1:16 Paul states outright that only in the gospel of Christ can be found the power one must possess in order to be saved.  He then notes that salvation was offered to the Jews first, then to the Israelites scattered throughout the world (Mat. 10:6,7).  Following the Word/Law/gospel/Truth being offered to Israelites, Gentiles would then be the “thing” that could be possessed by them which would allow them to qualify for salvation.

Jesus came to remind the Jews (tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi) that they were a tiny component of God’s chosen people, and that they, and only they had access to the Holy Spirit.  The other Israelite tribes had been scattered throughout the world and had become spiritual “Gentiles.”  Those Israelites called themselves “Gentiles”; ironically, the hundreds of millions of Israelites living today, not knowing who they are, also call themselves “Gentiles.”  Read Who and Where is Israel Today?  Use “Who” as your key term.  In the following series we will learn how this situation came to be.

In chapter 2 Paul addresses the Rome church and chastises the Jewish leaders for not obeying the “thing” necessary for salvation. This was the “thing” that the Jews and the church Jesus would soon establish had that the rest of the world did not yet have.  By not obeying this “thing” these Jews were causing the Gentiles in the church to go astray by following their example.  In Romans 3:1 Paul identified the “thing” that enabled both Jews and Gentiles to be converted and to then live lives that would result in salvation upon Christ’s return to earth.  Paul asked the Jewish leaders of the church if the Jews had an advantage over the Gentiles in that regard?  He then answered his own question by stating “Yes,” and that their advantage was GREAT IN EVERY WAY.  What gave them the advantage was the fact that the Jews possessed the “thing”– “THE ORACLES (WORDS/LAW/GOSPEL/TRUTH) OF GOD” which they have possessed since Mt. Sinai.  The  problem the Jews had during Christ’s earthly walk, the problem that continues to plague them today, is that they did not then and do not today believe that the God of their Torah and the writings of the prophets was Jesus of Nazareth Who, as the Word (Jn. 1:1-4,14), was the God of the Old Testament who created the universe, created man, spoke face-to-face with men, led Israel out of Egypt, gave them the Ten Commandment Law from atop Mt. Sinai from whence He spoke to them audibly, came to earth as a lowly carpenter and died on a stake.  Read The God of the Old Testament and Did Jesus Die on a Cross?  Use “Old” and “Die” respectively as key words.  What the reader will learn from this series is that the God of the Old Testament (Jesus Christ of the New Testament) has not changed.  His will is the same now as it was in Eden.  His rules of engagement remain the same.  In Him there is not so much as a shadow of turning.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He is from the beginning and knows the beginning from the end.  Through His Holy Spirit He reigns supreme in the hearts (minds) of His Scripture-believing, Scripture obeying saints (holy ones) whose lives are sanctified unto Him through obedience to His Father’s Word, which He calls Truth (Jn. 17:17).  To the Lord’s true people, He is not the main thing, He is the only thing.  Relative to Him, nothing else matters, not even life itself.  L.J.