indissolubly to their Jewish counterparts in the family of faith; both groups share in the Holy Spirit of messianic promise (1:13; 4:30). The point seems to be that Gentile Christians, who were streaming into the church, were adopting an easygoing moral code based on a perverted misunderstanding of Paul’s teaching (cf. Rom. 6:1–12). At this same time, they were boasting of their supposed independence of Israel and were becoming intolerant of their Jewish brethren and forgetful of the Jewish past