:) Agree with this last statement.
Was not Paul a Jew? Was not Abraham an Israelite/Jew, how about Peter, John, James, Andrew, Thomas, etc. Did they not recieve the blessing?
The title 'Jew' comes from the tribe of Judah. Is there only one Israelite tribe per God's Word? No, of course not. That title of Jew began to be used for the kingdom of the "house of Judah" at Jerusalem/Judea. The Jewish historian Josephus (100 A.D.) said the word Jew first began with the returning remnant of the house of Judah after the 70 years Babylon captivity. Per 1 Kings 12:19-21, the tribe of Benjamin became included with Judah to form the "house of Judah", a southern kingdom.
Apostle Paul was an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin (Rom.11). He was also known as a Jew because of his tribe Benjamin being joined with Judah after God split old Israel into two separate kingdoms per 1 Kings 11 forward.
After God split Israel into 2 kingdoms:
1. Southern Kingdom called "Judah" at Jerusalem/Judea ="house of Judah" = tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi = Jews
2. Northern Kingdom called "Israel" at Samaria in the north ="house of Israel" = ten tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Simeon, Reuben, Zebulun, Issachar.
ALL those ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom with Samaria as its capital city were not known as nor called Jews. The Northern Kingdom of Israel made up the majority of the people of Israel. God scattered them out of the land never to return, even to this day. But a remnant of the Southern Kingdom of Judah returned to Jerusalem after the Babylon captivity to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem, which is the subject of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. It's those of that Kingdom of Judah that called themselves Jews. And that was the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, as it still is today.
Abraham was not a Jew nor an Israelite, simply because the name Jew started from Judah three generations later. Same for the name Israelite, since God gave Jacob the new name of Israel two generations past Abraham. Abraham was a Hebrew, since Eber was Abraham's ancestor, and that's where the name Hebrew comes from. All this is simple Bible history from God's Word.
15 Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed, meaning one person, who is Christ. 17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
Right, God's Promise of Salvation by Faith, first given through Abraham was always first, before the giving of the law through Moses. God's Salvation through His Son has always been about Faith and His Grace that saves us. God's law can't save anyone. That still doesn't mean God's laws are no more though, even as our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5. Per Apostle Paul in Galatians,
IF we walk by The Spirit, then we are no longer under the law. That is... IF... we walk by The Spirit. If we walk by our flesh then we place ourselves back under bondage to the law, as Paul showed in Gal.5 with the list of flesh sins that he said those who do such shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul said the law was not made for the righteous, but for the lawless and disobedient (1 Timothy 1:8-9). This is why when we sin even after having come to Christ, we are to repent and ask forgiveness, which that petition is included in part of the prayer our Lord Jesus gave us to pray.
Reminder; Jesus redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us.
John 3:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
This gift has been given to all who believe(faith) in Christ**** God shows no favortism.
God bless,
Mercy
I agree totally with Christ's Ministry, but not with any idea that we now have a license to sin like some think. It's about our walk with The Father and The Son by The Holy Spirit. This is why Christ also showed us about the five foolish virgins in Matt.25 whom He will close the door upon at His return, because of their doing works of iniquity. Following Christ's commandments today is still very important.