Conclusions

The Jewish-Christian response to how Gentiles become a part of God’s people was central to the various issues described above. Related to this question of the Law’s function were other issues such as the saving operation of faith (Gal 2:16–3:29), the inauguration and reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 1–2; 10:45; 11:15), and God’s elective purposes for Israel (Rom 9–11). Christianity’s Jewish beginnings manifested at least three basic responses as witnessed by the New Testament:

1. Following the apostolic example, some Jewish Christians lived in harmony with Gentiles, recognizing that the Mosaic law’s function was limited. Although these Jews continued to retain many of the culturally distinctive elements that characterized them as Jews, such as dietary habits (Rom 14), they lived without socially separating from the Gentiles (e.g., Paul). This theme is developed particularly in the early chapters of Acts.

2. Some Jewish Christians separated themselves from Gentile Christians for reasons associated with Jewish purity laws and social distinctions (e.g., Peter, the Galatian confrontation (Acts 10; Gal 2:11–14). Entrance into the temple precincts and seasonal feasts played a significant role in this, particularly before the destruction of the temple in ad 70.

3. Some Christian Judaizers (e.g., many of Paul’s opponents; the Jewish teachers of Acts 15:1) imposed the requirements of the Mosaic Law—primarily but not exclusively circumcision, Sabbath-keeping, and dietary laws—on Gentile Christians, insisting that salvation, or being a member of the people of God, rested on obedience to the Mosaic law.

In post-Pentecostal Christianity, the Jewish Christian, introduced to God’s unexpected and presently unfolding program in Jesus Christ, had to reckon with the purposes of the Mosaic law, particularly as it related to Gentile inclusion in the people of God, and how the Law functioned in salvation history and in this newly inaugurated messianic age.