Paul is letting both the Jewish and Gentile converts to Christianity know that they are equally saved by Jesus. He is also telling us that no matter who we are or where we're from we are all equally heirs of the Kingdom.
I have a tough time with people who try to say that if you don't follow their way, then you are doomed.
I once knew a woman who had been convinced to join a "Christian" church. I am using the quotation marks for a reason!
She was told who she could associate with, how much she should be giving to the church and how she needed to obey if she wanted to be saved. There was nothing there that looked like love.
She met a man who was a Methodist minister and fell in love. Even after they were engaged, and she had left the group, she still was afraid that she was going to hell for leaving this church. She had been brainwashed!
I knew another couple who were great parents and worked very hard who had also been seduced into belonging to what I call a cult, and begged me to come to their Bible study group. With many misgivings, I finally went.
According to the leader of the group, unless a person could quote chapter and verse from Scripture, and could give the "correct" wording from the "correct" translation, they were suspect and you probably shouldn't believe anything they say!
Really???? I guess that if you didn't speak English and didn't use the correct Bible, you, too, were doomed!
Paul reassures all of us that in Christ we are all one. Anyone who says differently is suspect in my book.
Jesus isn't the one who wrote the Gospels, his disciples did. He spoke; and he didn't speak English.
But what he did say is that we need to love our neighbors and also our enemies. He also warned us to avoid false prophets.
We have been called to a life of love, and of gratitude to the God who saves.
