The Root of the Gospel Message:
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
This brief three-part series has focused on one of the most contentious verses in Scripture and part three deals with perhaps the most argued and sometimes the most ignored portions of the Word of God. For the question which must be asked and answered is this – did Paul mean first in priority or first in privilege or first in time, place and rank?
The word in Greek for “first” (prwton) is tied directly to the Greek word for the Jewish people. So while commentators are correct in stating that this phrase should be understood as a whole (in other words, salvation is not exclusively the property of the Jewish nation but as was discussed last week to all who believe), the phrase begins with the Jewish people because that is by whom and through whom salvation was made possible for everyone. In other words, the Jewish nation is first in priority, privilege, time, place and rank.
Systematic theologian, James Leo Garrett, wrote in volume two of his Systematic Theology (pp. 493-494) that the Pauline missionary strategy began first in the synagogue (Acts 9:20-22; 13:13-52; 14:1-5; 18:7-11; 19:8-10). Paul was the missionary to the Gentiles but he always remembered the root of the salvation experience began with his own ethnic family.
For while it might easier to view this verse and the concept of priority as Donald Grey Barnhouse did in his epic work on Romans that “The gospel in this age is never to be addressed to any man in the framework of his race, but in the universality of his membership in the human race,” the truth is that first means first and we as the church must decide what we are going to do about it. Franz Delitzch, a 19th century German theologian, phrased it best when he stated, “for the church to evangelize the world without thinking of the Jews, is like a bird trying to fly with one broken wing.”
If we truly want to reach the whole world with the Gospel message, we must first begin with the Jewish people. For if we are reticent to share the Gospel with the brothers and sisters of Jesus, why do we think we will bother to tell anyone else about the Messiah’s love? Hudson Taylor of the China Inland Mission understood this truth of priority, privilege, time, rank and place because he began every New Year by sending a gift to the Hebrew Christian Testimony mission in Europe with these words, “to the Jew first.” David Baron of this European Jewish mission would send a gift to Hudson Taylor every New Year with these words, “and also to the Gentile.” (See David Larsen’s Jews, Gentiles and the Church for an excellent thesis on the entire subject of priority and purpose of evangelism).
Therefore, is it not time that we as Christians, both Jew and Gentile, return to the priority of evangelism and begin again in Jerusalem and to the House and children of David? The answer is obvious because the answer is given in Scripture.
Back to part two
Back to part one
Next Series Romans 9:1-5
