The Gentiles arent the other sheep
[John 11:51 KJV] "And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;"
[John 11:52 KJV] "And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad."
The other sheep were Jews scattered by persecution
Joh 10:16 And I have
other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Couldn't it be the case that all the Jews were in same fold and Gentiles and Samaritans were in another or two other folds?
Mat 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Mat 25:32 Before him will be gathered
all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Mat 25:33
And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (ESV)
So, to be consistent, at the final judgement you're saying all the sheep from "all the nations" are only Jews?
Rev 7:9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number,
from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
...
Rev 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
Rev 7:17 For
the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (ESV)
It seems most likely to me that "other sheep not of this fold" refers to everyone outside of the Jewish fold--all nations, all tribes, all peoples, all languages. It is all those sheep who are brought before Christ at the final judgement and which he puts on his right.
If you say there is one church then please answer these questions
As far as there being one church please answer these questions:
If there is one true church then the teachings of Jesus and the twelve and Paul are all for us.
If there is only one true church then the teachings of Jesus and the twelve apply to us. If this is so then some verses need to be addressed.
[Luke 12:33 KJV] "Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth."..........This verse would apply to whoever says there is one church. If there is one church then this command from Christ applies because ALL teachings and commands do. HAVE YOU SOLD ALL, IF NOT, WHY DOESNT THIS APPLY TO YOU?
Is that really all that Jesus taught on the subject?
Luk 18:25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
Luk 18:26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”
Luk 18:27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” (ESV)
But what does what Jesus taught in Luke 12:33 look like in action by believers in Christ? That is, how did they understand Jesus's teaching?
Act 4:32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and
no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
Act 4:33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
Act 4:34 There was not a needy person among them,
for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold
Act 4:35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
Act 4:36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus,
Act 4:37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. (ESV)
It doesn't say that those who had property sold everything they had, but that as people had need, they would sell something and bring the proceeds to the apostles.
We even see during Jesus's ministry that he and the twelve were provided for by women "out of their means":
Luk 8:1 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,
Luk 8:2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Luk 8:3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means. (ESV)
Again, not selling everything, but still providing out of their means.
[Matthew 24:14 KJV] "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."...........are you preaching the gospel of the kingdom? Are you preaching the prophetic kingdom on earth is at hand? Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom and commanded the twelve to preach it. The gospel was the prophetic Davidic kingdom on earth in which believing Israel will reign with Christ for a thousand years was at hand. It demanded repentance and water baptism. This command applies if there is one true church. ARE YOU PRECHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM?
Do you really think that in the 8 or so years between this statement of Jesus and Peter's vision in Acts 10 that "the gospel of the kingdom," as you seem to be defining it, was preached "to all nations"?
[Acts 2:38 KJV] "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."..........If there is one true church then this command applies. To have sins forgiven (remitted) water baptism is required, otherwise sins aren't washed away. DID YOU GET WATER BAPTIZED? IF SO DID YOU ACKNOWLEDGE IT WAS TO WASH AWY YOUR SINS?
Of course I was baptised in water; that's something all Christians are supposed to do. However, whether or not it washes away sin has been disputed for a very long time. The Greek allows for the understanding that one is to be baptised on the basis of having received forgiveness of sins by repenting and turning to Christ.
[Matthew 6:14 KJV] "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:"
[Matthew 6:15 KJV] "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."........This teaching applies to the one true church. Ones sins can't be forgiven unless one forgives others. THIS COMMAND CAUSES A DILEMMA. The one true church requires us to apply all the teachings of Jesus and the twelve, but Paul is an apostle in the one church as well and his teachings and commands apply as well. Paul teaches we are forgiven ALL trespasses..........[Colossians 2:13 KJV] "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;"...........How do you reconcile this?. The twelve would have to teach we need to forgive to be forgiven. Paul teaches we have all forgiveness. Who's teaching on this do we follow? The way to reconcile this is to acknowledge there are two churches with different commands and teachings.
WHOSE TEACHING ON FORGIVENESS SHOULD YOU FOLLOW? DO YOU FOLLOW JESUS AND BELIEVE YOU MUST FORGIVE TO BE FOREGIVEN OR PAUL WHO SAYS YOU HAVE ALL FOREGIVENESS?
There is no difference. Jesus isn't talking about forgiveness in relation to salvation, but how we are to treat others. Paul completely agrees with that:
Col 3:13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (ESV)
And John makes it clear that as believers we still sin and need to seek God's forgiveness:
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (ESV)
I only gave a few scriptures as examples, but all of the teachings of Jesus, the twelve, and Paul would require application if there were only one church.
There is nothing inconsistent between the teachings of Jesus and the twelve and Paul. This is the kind of erroneous doctrine that comes from proof-texting, which seems to be endemic in online forums such as this.
In order for there to be two churches, there would have to be two gospels, but there is and always has been only one church and, therefore, one gospel. If you look at the context of Acts 2:38, such as 2:22-32, you will see that Peter preached the same gospel that Paul later preached. In Acts 8:30-35, Philip preaches the same gospel to the Ethiopian. Then in Acts 10:34-43, Peter once again preached that same gospel, to Gentiles.
