When did the New Covenant and the Kingdom of God begin?

[armylngst]

Your bold and enlarged, colored letters seem to indicate anger. Just because someone disagrees with you does not mean that you need to display anger.

So how was it possible for those under the Law to have their sins forgiven, since Jesus had not yet literally offered His blood and His body? Isn't there a record in the gospels of Jesus forgiving people of their sins, even though He had not died yet? He told the man on the stretcher: "Your sins are forgiven." He told the woman who wiped His feet with her hair: "Your sins are forgiven. He told Zaccheus: "Today salvation has come to this house." Did that not include forgiveness of sins? David said in Psalm 32:1 "How blessed is the man who sins have been forgiven", also quoted in Romans 4:7-8.

How was it possible that every disciple of Jesus during His lifetime could have their sins forgiven, even though Jesus had not yet been crucified?

In fact, isn't one of the provisions of the New Covenant to have our sins forgiven? - Jeremiah 31:34

Do you not see that what Jesus did on the cross - forgiving our sins - was retroactive all the way back to Adam and Eve? What about the OTHER parts of the New Covenant? Were they also retroactive? I believe they were, but ONLY back to the point that the scripture allows, which was the beginning of the New Testament.

"The Law and the Prophets (were proclaimed) until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached." Luke 16:16
"For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John." Matthew 11:13
"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Mark 1:1
"For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." John 1:17

So the preaching of the Law came to an end just before John appeared on the scene. (At least the preaching that God sanctioned. God wanted the gospel of Jesus to be preached at this time - not the Law. John started that process by proclaiming One who was greater than him.) Then grace and truth came with the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ - i.e. the New Covenant.

So what new or different thing occurred when John appeared on the scene? The New Covenant. The preaching of the Kingdom of God with Jesus as the KING. The gospel of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 26:28 "for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins."

Jesus DID NOT say that forgiveness could not happen before His death. He in fact forgave sins BEFORE His death, which was a provision of the New Covenant.

Luke 22:20 "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My blood."

Jesus DID NOT say that the New Covenant could not begin until He died. His death ratified the New Covenant but forgiveness of sins was already happening before that.

1 Cor.11:25 " ... This cup is the New Covenant in My blood ..."

Again, Jesus DID NOT say that the New Covenant could not go into effect until His body and blood was literally offered. You are misreading those verses.

The covenant was made when Christ died on the cross. What Christ did was indirectly written into the Abrahamic Covenant. In you shall all the nations of the world be blessed. It is speaking of Christ, Abraham's seed, as Paul says.

Christ's death saved all believers for all time, including all the Old Testament saints. So any forgiveness Jesus gave before His death is on par with God crediting Abraham's faith as righteousness. Jesus could forgive because of what He was going to do. This is the kind of issue that develops whenever there is a crossover episode. Where eternity crosses over with the temporal world. It's not worth trying to delve to deep into it, because it is more than we could ever hope to fully grasp. Jesus said this cup is the New Covenant. Okay, it is the New Covenant. In His blood spilled for us. That points to the moment of His crucifixion as being the blood sacrifice that enacts the covenant. However, it is an ETERNAL covenant, so in that is the crossover. The covenants made with Abraham and Israel are temporal, since this universe is temporal. What Jesus did is eternal.

 

[jeremiah1five]

The covenant was made when Christ died on the cross. What Christ did was indirectly written into the Abrahamic Covenant. In you shall all the nations of the world be blessed. It is speaking of Christ, Abraham's seed, as Paul says.

Christ's death saved all believers for all time, including all the Old Testament saints. So any forgiveness Jesus gave before His death is on par with God crediting Abraham's faith as righteousness. Jesus could forgive because of what He was going to do. This is the kind of issue that develops whenever there is a crossover episode. Where eternity crosses over with the temporal world. It's not worth trying to delve to deep into it, because it is more than we could ever hope to fully grasp. Jesus said this cup is the New Covenant. Okay, it is the New Covenant. In His blood spilled for us. That points to the moment of His crucifixion as being the blood sacrifice that enacts the covenant. However, it is an ETERNAL covenant, so in that is the crossover. The covenants made with Abraham and Israel are temporal, since this universe is temporal. What Jesus did is eternal.

There were thirteen Jewish men there at the last Passover.
What? You don't believe Jesus who told the twelve representing the twelve tribes of Israel:

19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Luke 22:19–20.

4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Galatians 4:4–5.

You obviously do not believe Jesus.
Or Saul.
Or God.

The Bible/Scripture is a love letter from God to Israel.
On Pentecost three thousand Jews were born again and NO GENTILES.
Every day after that thousands of Jews were born again and NO GENTILES.

 

[Behold]

The KOG was always there, because God amd Son are the KOG.
This is why when you are born again, you are born again "IN Christ" amd "ONE with God"... and are "translated from Darkness TO Light".

See that "Light"?

That is the KOG..... or "GOD exists IN LIGHT".........and it can be also understood like this.....when you become "the Temple of the HS" then.... "the KOG is within you".....Jesus explains, because HE is in you......as "Christ in you".

And, the New Covenant began with The Cross of Christ that birthed the NT Church.

 

[jeremiah1five]

The KOG was always there, because God amd Son are the KOG.
This is why when you are born again, you are born again "IN Christ" amd "ONE with God"... and are "translated from Darkness TO Light".

See that "Light"?

That is the KOG..... or "GOD exists IN LIGHT".........and it can be also understood like this.....when you become "the Temple of the HS" then.... "the KOG is within you".....Jesus explains, because HE is in you......as "Christ in you".

And, the New Covenant began with The Cross of Christ that birthed the NT Church.

The birth of the New Covenant Church Christ promised to build began with the advent of the Holy Spirit of Promise on the Jewish Feast of Harvest (ca. AD 34.) On this day three thousand Jews were baptized into the Body of Christ with thousands being born-again daily such as should be saved.

47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Acts 2:46–47.

 

[Jim]

Strictly speaking, the sins of those who believed, lived and died before Christ's death, burial and resurrection were forgiven. Even so, the debt owed for those sins still remained. In order for them and the rest of us to obtain eternal life it was necessary that the debt for those sins be paid. That was actually what was accomplished at the cross. That is precisely what Christ meant when He said, just before dying, "It is finished". He meant that the debt for all the sins of the world had been paid. The only thing now remaining is for the believer to have his sins forgiven.

 

[armylngst]

There were thirteen Jewish men there at the last Passover.
What? You don't believe Jesus who told the twelve representing the twelve tribes of Israel:

I dont' get why Paul said there are no distinctions in the body of Christ, but you immediately call for distinctions. I looked it up, and Paul apparently wrote using Paul because he was going to the Gentiles (Paul being his Gentile name/latinized). God had him write as Paul to make the distinction you refuse to accept.

19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Luke 22:19–20.

His disciples are the foundation of the church. This was passed on to the church, by which we remember what Christ has done. If you really want to see how things went, look at the early history of the church. It really is quite something.

4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Galatians 4:4–5.

John 1:29: "29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Jesus died for all men... without distinction. He did not die for all men without exception. Who you are, what you have done, etc. does not matter. No distinction. Faith is all. Consider this verse in Galatians 4:
" 29 But as at that time the son who was born according to the flesh [a descendant of Abraham] persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit [descendant of Abraham through Isaac], so it is even now.

So it is even now, here, everywhere. Jesus death is for all without distinction. That does not mean all without exception. It means it doesn't matter who you are, what you have done, what you look like, etc. If God chose you before the foundation of the world, before covenants were even a gleam in His eye or a thought on His mind, you are His, and Jesus came to die for you. Israel had first dibs. They rejected as a nation. It went out to the Gentiles, who, considering how it worked with Israel, accepted. Those who had no law, but of which some were a law unto themselves. No longer unclean, as God showed Peter in a vision. Understand, what Peter said about being around people from another nation was a made up rabbanical thing. There were foreigners and strangers all over Israel who more than fit that law, who did business and even lived with and among the Israelites. (That is within their nation.) Some proselytized, but not all.

Consider Abraham's slaves, who were not Hebrews at the time of the covenant. They became a part of the covenant through circumcision. Everyone in his household was to be circumcised. Consider Melchizedek who was not a Hebrew, but was both a king and a High Priest of the Most High God. Who was he?

You obviously do not believe Jesus.
Or Saul.
Or God.

I do, however, I question you. Jesus spoke to a "Gentile" who was a Gentile. He did as she asked. Why? She got the gospel in a nutshell and believed it. Even the dogs eat crumbs that fall from the masters table. Jesus wasn't insulted by her saying that the dogs also get the crumbs of salvation. He said her faith was great to believe such a thing, and state it.

The Bible/Scripture is a love letter from God to Israel.
On Pentecost three thousand Jews were born again and NO GENTILES.
Every day after that thousands of Jews were born again and NO GENTILES.

Salvation as first to the Jew. Afterwards it went to the Gentiles, due to the rejection of Israel of Christ. And, Paul preached earnestly to the Gentiles hoping to stir up jealousy within his own people, that they too would be saved. (The jealousy was that God was Israel's God, yet now God was going out to the Gentiles and not to Israel. Instant jealousy, or not.) It was to the point that there were Gentiles out there who hated (I think that term applies here) Jews, and would openly brag. Paul did not have kind words for them. In fact, he said that God would cut them out, and put those Jews in their place. A total lack of humility, of which Paul wrote extensively to one church.

Salvation is for all mankind without distinction. It is not for all mankind without exception. (Universalism is a heresy.) The church is made up of every tribe and nation whom God chose to save for Himself. Here is another place where Jesus tries to explain this to the Jews:
Matthew 22:
" Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven [a]is like a king who [c]held a wedding feast for his son. 3 And he sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his own [d]farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them. 7 Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. 8 Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 So go to the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with [e]dinner guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look over the [f]dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ 14 For many are [g]called, but few are chosen.”

Who were the one's originally invited into God's kingdom and to the wedding? Covenant Israel. Am I saying Israel is shut out? No. However they are who believe their place is in the covenant. Those who believe their place is in who they are. Both Jesus and Paul attacked those notions, as did others. Faith is what matters. It matters so much that when a Gentile woman, who Jesus wouldn't even speak to because He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, spoke out in faith, Jesus was visibly moved. I'm not sure He would have done the same if she just spit out memorized 10 commandments.

 

[jeremiah1five]

I dont' get why Paul said there are no distinctions in the body of Christ, but you immediately call for distinctions. I looked it up, and Paul apparently wrote using Paul because he was going to the Gentiles (Paul being his Gentile name/latinized). God had him write as Paul to make the distinction you refuse to accept.

Of course there are distinctions in the body of Christ. Here is one example laid out by the apostle Saul:

28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28.

After naming the various offices in the body of Christ, Saul identifies the distinctions by asking in the negative:

29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? 1 Corinthians 12:29–30.

Here we have various offices in the body of Christ but we do not all have the same gifts in which to accomplish these offices:

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 1 Corinthians 12:4–6.

Here, we see the Trinity of God involved in each distinct identification of a believer in Christ (Spirit, Lord, God.)
It is the Holy Spirit that provides the gifts, the Son (Lord) who as Head of the Church directs each gifts administration, and God [the Father] who directs its overall operations of each administered gift by the Spirit directed by the Son [Lord.]
In other words, Saul is saying that everyone in the body of Christ might be in service to the One God, it is each gift of the Spirit that is administered by the Son in service to the One God. By making these distinctions known to the body of Christ we learn that each believer is not the same, that there are no "cookie-cutter" Christians. Saul further makes these distinctions understood by identifying that it is the "same God which worketh all in all" (verse 6.)

Another distinction in the body of Christ separates the hierarchy of authority.
The spiritual order:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28.

By naming "Christ" before the human name of "Jesus" Saul is addressing the spiritual order of authority in the body of Christ ("Christ" English for the Greek "Christos" transliterated from the Hebrew "Messias" which means "Anointed.") In other words the hierarchy of authority in spiritual matters is Christ--->then, everyone else in the body of Christ.

The natural order:

3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 1 Corinthians 11:2–3.

The hierarchy of authority in the natural order is God--->Christ---> man--->woman.

God is a God of order and God rules both realms - spiritual and natural - but there are distinctions of authority in each realm so that God's people operate within that established order so that there be no confusion for confusion is not of God.

His disciples are the foundation of the church. This was passed on to the church, by which we remember what Christ has done. If you really want to see how things went, look at the early history of the church. It really is quite something.

The foundation is Christ, NOT the disciples:

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11.

John 1:29: "29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Jesus died for all men... without distinction. He did not die for all men without exception. Who you are, what you have done, etc. does not matter. No distinction. Faith is all. Consider this verse in Galatians 4:
" 29 But as at that time the son who was born according to the flesh [a descendant of Abraham] persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit [descendant of Abraham through Isaac], so it is even now.

So it is even now, here, everywhere. Jesus death is for all without distinction. That does not mean all without exception. It means it doesn't matter who you are, what you have done, what you look like, etc. If God chose you before the foundation of the world, before covenants were even a gleam in His eye or a thought on His mind, you are His, and Jesus came to die for you. Israel had first dibs.

The covenant is made by God and it is made with a man called "Abram the Hebrew" (Genesis 14:13.)
By identifying Abram as a Hebrew we can now track the covenant and its scope (who it covers.)
In this covenant God is identifying which Abram is being addressed out of the more than millions of people alive at the time. By identifying Abram's family line ["the Hebrew"/of Eber) God makes distinction between Abram the Hebrew as opposed to others who may also be named "Abram."

The narration continues through the five books authored by Moses who recorded the history of this one family of Abram, and the covenant that is passed on to the son, Isaac, and later, Jacob, with each son dying without God fulfilling said covenant. Thus, the covenant God made with Abram the Hebrew is passed to the next generation through his biological seed:

21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Genesis 17:20–21.

They rejected as a nation. It went out to the Gentiles, who, considering how it worked with Israel, accepted. Those who had no law, but of which some were a law unto themselves. No longer unclean, as God showed Peter in a vision. Understand, what Peter said about being around people from another nation was a made up rabbanical thing. There were foreigners and strangers all over Israel who more than fit that law, who did business and even lived with and among the Israelites. (That is within their nation.) Some proselytized, but not all.

God declared that everyone shall bear the burden and punishment of their own sin:

30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: Jeremiah 31:30.

Scripture declares that EVERYONE rejected Jesus at His time of need, everyone except God the Father:

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. John 1:11.

But thankfully we are taught that salvation is OF THE LORD and that while EVERYONE rejected Christ, Christ died for the ungodly, that the salvation in Christ is given to "HIS PEOPLE" (the Jews.)

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21.

"His people" are identified as the Hebrew people as a whole. Non-Hebrew Gentiles are NOT "His people" for Christ was prophesied as coming (being born) from among the Hebrew people to and for the Hebrew people (Deut. 18:15, 18.)

Your error is that the Scripture has God as the center and the Jews who through covenant are related to God and the Bible records that relationship through the centuries and through the "books" of the Bible, but you take everything God promised the Jews and apply it universally, which is not true. That teaching is called "Universalism" and it is not taught in the Bible. God made covenant with ONE people through Abram and the Scripture records the history of not only that one people and their descendants but records their relationship with the God who gave them the covenant they now 'enjoy.'

Consider Abraham's slaves, who were not Hebrews at the time of the covenant. They became a part of the covenant through circumcision. Everyone in his household was to be circumcised. Consider Melchizedek who was not a Hebrew, but was both a king and a High Priest of the Most High God. Who was he?

The text identifies the covenant God was making with Abram was to and for Abram and his biological seed.

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. Genesis 17:7.

I do, however, I question you. Jesus spoke to a "Gentile" who was a Gentile. He did as she asked. Why? She got the gospel in a nutshell and believed it. Even the dogs eat crumbs that fall from the masters table. Jesus wasn't insulted by her saying that the dogs also get the crumbs of salvation. He said her faith was great to believe such a thing, and state it.

The "Gentiles" in the NT are identified as mixed heritage Hebrews (Hellenized Jews.) These are the Jews who did not return with Hezekiah and Ezra but remained in the Gentile lands where God scattered them. This number is in the millions through 29-35 generations of Jews that grew up in Gentile lands heavily influenced and assimilated into Greek culture having lost their own heritage as Jews.

Salvation as first to the Jew. Afterwards it went to the Gentiles, due to the rejection of Israel of Christ. And, Paul preached earnestly to the Gentiles hoping to stir up jealousy within his own people, that they too would be saved. (The jealousy was that God was Israel's God, yet now God was going out to the Gentiles and not to Israel. Instant jealousy, or not.) It was to the point that there were Gentiles out there who hated (I think that term applies here) Jews, and would openly brag. Paul did not have kind words for them. In fact, he said that God would cut them out, and put those Jews in their place. A total lack of humility, of which Paul wrote extensively to one church.

The New Covenant is between God and the House of Israel and the House of Judah. The New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah shows that there are no requirements in this covenant of the Jews and instead shows God as the one who arbitrarily "forgives the Jews" (in covenant) and remembers their sin no more.

34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the LORD:
For they shall all know me,
From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD:
For I will forgive their iniquity,
And I will remember their sin no more.
Jeremiah 31:34.

God required nothing from the Jews of both houses as conditions for being forgiven. It simply states "[God] will remember their sin no more." This is their atonement and the mechanism that brought about their salvation is through the Mosaic Covenant sacrifices commanded by God.

Salvation is for all mankind without distinction. It is not for all mankind without exception. (Universalism is a heresy.) The church is made up of every tribe and nation whom God chose to save for Himself. Here is another place where Jesus tries to explain this to the Jews:
Matthew 22:
" Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven [a]is like a king who [c]held a wedding feast for his son. 3 And he sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his own [d]farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them. 7 Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. 8 Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 So go to the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with [e]dinner guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look over the [f]dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ 14 For many are [g]called, but few are chosen.”

Who were the one's originally invited into God's kingdom and to the wedding? Covenant Israel. Am I saying Israel is shut out? No. However they are who believe their place is in the covenant. Those who believe their place is in who they are. Both Jesus and Paul attacked those notions, as did others. Faith is what matters. It matters so much that when a Gentile woman, who Jesus wouldn't even speak to because He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, spoke out in faith, Jesus was visibly moved. I'm not sure He would have done the same if she just spit out memorized 10 commandments.

Then what you believe in is called "Universalism" and this is not taught in Scripture.

The Abrahamic Covenant was made by God and included Abram the Hebrew and Abram's Hebrew seed.
The Mosaic Covenant was made by God and includes God and the children of Israel.
The New Covenant is made by God and includes God and the House of Israel (ten northern kingdom tribes), and the House of Judah (two southern kingdom tribes.)

God saves through covenant and God's covenants are with the Hebrew people through Abraham and his biological Hebrew seed.

God made no other covenant than the ones He made with Abram and his descendants, whom Scripture identifies as the children of Jacob (Israel.)

God made no covenant with non-Hebrew Gentiles. None.
And there is NONE recorded (in Scripture.)

 

[armylngst]

I left out the first part because of length. You are mostly correct, yet the word "faith" seems anathema to you. You left it out completely. Just as you said that you do not outright except the whole idea of faith with Abraham, even though it says that God credited his faith as righteousness. That is, even Abraham's salvation was by faith. Even the promise made was by Abraham's faith.

"15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your [f]seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your [g]seed shall possess the gate of [h]their enemies. 18 And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall [j]be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Why because he obeyed God's voice? It was by faith that Abraham obeyed God's voice. He truly believed God when He said that it was through Isaac that the promise would be fulfilled. However, that couldn't be if Isaac was dead. He believed God would raise Isaac up from the dead, because that is what would need to happen for God to fulfill His promise. Abraham never doubted that God would. He just didn't realize that all God really had to do was stop him right before he killed Isaac. That is why it is faith. He never thought/knew/believed God would stop him. He was actually going to do it.

The foundation is Christ, NOT the disciples:

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11.

You missed my meaning, but it is difficult to convey everything one is thinking. They built the church on Christ, but they are the beginning. The first. Well, include the 120 that were with them according to Acts. Consider what scripture says next:

5 Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own [e]language. 7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “[f]Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own [g]language [h]to which we were born? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and [j]visitors from Rome, both Jews and [k]proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own [l]tongues of the mighty deeds of God.”
Why weren't any of the Jews called Gentiles, since you said that these people would be consider Gentiles. Not only that, they are said to be devout. It's nice when God defines terms for us. So apparently your take on "Gentiles" is... well... wrong.
To whom did God reach out, specifically in each of their native tongues? EVERYONE. If it wasn't God's intent to save "Gentiles" at this time, then why did God allow them to hear the message of salvaiton in their own native tongue? It has been said that the miracle wasn't so much that Peter spoke in many different languages, but that many languages came from one set of vocal cords. It wasn't one language at a time, but all at once.

"14 But Peter, taking his stand with the other eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, [n]know this, and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is only the [o]third hour of the day; 16 but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:

‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all [p]mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
And your young men will see visions,
And your old men will [q]have dreams;
18 And even on My male and female [r]servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days,
And they will prophesy.
19 And I will display wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, fire, and [t]vapor of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Now, all mankind kinds of lays it out. ALL MANKIND. Now, it doesn't mean every single person, so it isn't without exception. It is all mankind without distinction. So... Jews, Gentiles, slaves, non-slaves, etc. It doesn't matter... without distinction. Any who are God's. And at the very end it is clear, everyone [without distinction] who calls on the name of the Lord [defined] will be saved.

Now, since you have been telling me that these kinds of people would be known as "Gentiles", coming from areas where you say that that is what they are known as, why were they baptized? You will note that none of them spoke in tongues, even after salvation. Yet, in order to enter the church back then, one had to be baptized. It is clear from Peter that if the actual Gentiles, so defined by Peter and his statement of not being allowed to have any dealings with them, did not speak in tongues, or show any sign of the Holy Spirit, they would not have baptized them into the church. They would be considered a different church, separate and distinct from the Jewish church.

"44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the [ae]message. 45 All the [af]Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded, 47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” 48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days."

Why did Peter respond as such if they were Jews of any king? Baptism is just an extension of a Jewish ritual ceremony. Why would Peter talk as though if the idea had come up, they would have rejected them, except for God showing that they are all the same by them speaking in tongues when the Holy Spirit came down. That didn't happen with the crowds in Jersualem. It wasn't required because all those people who came from all nations were Jewish, not Gentiles. Even those non-Jewish people who were proselytes were included, and Cretans and Arabs. The people with Cornelius were not proselytes.

The covenant is made by God and it is made with a man called "Abram the Hebrew" (Genesis 14:13.)
By identifying Abram as a Hebrew we can now track the covenant and its scope (who it covers.)
In this covenant God is identifying which Abram is being addressed out of the more than millions of people alive at the time. By identifying Abram's family line ["the Hebrew"/of Eber) God makes distinction between Abram the Hebrew as opposed to others who may also be named "Abram."

The narration continues through the five books authored by Moses who recorded the history of this one family of Abram, and the covenant that is passed on to the son, Isaac, and later, Jacob, with each son dying without God fulfilling said covenant. Thus, the covenant God made with Abram the Hebrew is passed to the next generation through his biological seed:

21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Genesis 17:20–21.

God declared that everyone shall bear the burden and punishment of their own sin:

30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: Jeremiah 31:30.

Scripture declares that EVERYONE rejected Jesus at His time of need, everyone except God the Father:

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. John 1:11.

That is speaking of the Israelites. As you made very clear in your last comment, Jesus was a Jew, so there were 13 Jews in the upper room. He came to His own (Israel/Jews) and they received Him not.

But thankfully we are taught that salvation is OF THE LORD and that while EVERYONE rejected Christ, Christ died for the ungodly, that the salvation in Christ is given to "HIS PEOPLE" (the Jews.)

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21.

While this is true, everyone missed that salvation is for all without distinction. You have to follow the whole context of scripture. They rejected Christ, so therefore He was not (at that time) saving them from their sin. The elect of Israel throughout time are saved, at their appointed time, but God is dealing with the Gentiles right now. There is a gap in the 70 weeks prophecy where God is not dealing with His children, but He has for 69 weeks, and He decreed for 70, so that last week must be on hold. A commercial break/half-time of sorts. Then God comes back and finishes His decreed 70 weeks with Israel, and that is when Paul's "and all Israel will be saved" is fulfilled. When the realities of what is to come when God is done dealing with Israel, comes to pass. (Such as everlasting righteousness in Jerusalem... I don't see that right now, do you?)

"His people" are identified as the Hebrew people as a whole. Non-Hebrew Gentiles are NOT "His people" for Christ was prophesied as coming (being born) from among the Hebrew people to and for the Hebrew people (Deut. 18:15, 18.)

Yes. If you want to know who the non-Hebrew Gentiles are, they are the sheep of a different fold that He will gather and make one flock. Jesus mentioned that. Different from the Jews from every nation mentioned in Acts 1. ALL Hebrews/Jews/Israelites are of the house of Israel. Jesus said He came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.When they rejected Him, such as all those who turned down the wedding invitations, the gospel went to the Gentiles, who accepted. However, that is all without distinction, not all without exception. Hence the one guy who was kicked out of the wedding.

Your error is that the Scripture has God as the center and the Jews who through covenant are related to God and the Bible records that relationship through the centuries and through the "books" of the Bible, but you take everything God promised the Jews and apply it universally, which is not true. That teaching is called "Universalism" and it is not taught in the Bible. God made covenant with ONE people through Abram and the Scripture records the history of not only that one people and their descendants but records their relationship with the God who gave them the covenant they now 'enjoy.'

7 For if that first covenant had been free of fault, no [g]circumstances would have been sought for a second. 8 For in finding fault with [h]the people, He says,

“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,
When I will bring about a new covenant
With the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
On the day I took them by the hand
To bring them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not continue in My covenant,
And I did not care about them, says the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, declares the Lord:
[j]I will put My laws into their minds,
And write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
11 And they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen,
And each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For they will all know Me,
From [k]the least to the greatest of them.
12 For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings,
And their sins I will no longer remember.”

The text identifies the covenant God was making with Abram was to and for Abram and his biological seed.

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. Genesis 17:7.

"15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your [f]seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your [g]seed shall possess the gate of [h]their enemies. 18 And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall [j]be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba.

All the nations of the world shall be blessed. You understand that Abraham was not even a nation yet? So all the nations of the world, to Abraham, meant all the nations of the world. And I believe Hebrews says that in this instance, the seed is Christ. God just lifted Abraham way up by saying all the nations of the world would be blessed in His seed because He obeyed God. This is a PROMISE, this was not a covenant. Salvation, at this time, was extended to the world by Abraham's faith, and salvation is by faith. By faith Abraham obeyed God.

The "Gentiles" in the NT are identified as mixed heritage Hebrews (Hellenized Jews.)

No they are not. The Gentiles are identified as "uncircumcised". The hellenized Jews were circumcised because they were Jews. Acts defined Jews as :

5 Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.

"7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “[f]Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own [g]language [h]to which we were born? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and [j]visitors from Rome, both Jews and [k]proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs"
(All descendants of Abraham except the proselytes, who as proselytes would have entered the covenant through circumcision.)

These are the Jews who did not return with Hezekiah and Ezra but remained in the Gentile lands where God scattered them. This number is in the millions through 29-35 generations of Jews that grew up in Gentile lands heavily influenced and assimilated into Greek culture having lost their own heritage as Jews.

Acts is clear that they are still JEWS, not Gentiles. Also, apparently Cornelius was not there...hmmm...

The New Covenant is between God and the House of Israel and the House of Judah. The New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah shows that there are no requirements in this covenant of the Jews and instead shows God as the one who arbitrarily "forgives the Jews" (in covenant) and remembers their sin no more.

34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the LORD:
For they shall all know me,
From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD:
For I will forgive their iniquity,
And I will remember their sin no more.
Jeremiah 31:34.

That will happen... end of time. See Zechariah.

God required nothing from the Jews of both houses as conditions for being forgiven. It simply states "[God] will remember their sin no more." This is their atonement and the mechanism that brought about their salvation is through the Mosaic Covenant sacrifices commanded by God.

If they know of Christ, then they are saved, right? What does it say? "For they shall all know me." In Galatians and Hebrews it states that the Law is nothing for salvation, if you live under the law, you will die under the law, and the sacrifices availeth nothing. However, Jesus sacrifice availeth everything. You are teaching another gospel, a person of which Paul said is accursed of God (anathema), or the meaning from the Catholic church... damned to hell. Even in Isaiah it is clear "For by His stripes are we healed." That is after speaking of sin as an "infirmity" a weakness or sickness.

Then what you believe in is called "Universalism" and this is not taught in Scripture.

The Abrahamic Covenant was made by God and included Abram the Hebrew and Abram's Hebrew seed.
The Mosaic Covenant was made by God and includes God and the children of Israel.
The New Covenant is made by God and includes God and the House of Israel (ten northern kingdom tribes), and the House of Judah (two southern kingdom tribes.)

No. Apparently you do not know what Universalism is. When it says All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (God tells us through Paul), it is All without EXCEPTION. However, when it says that salvation is for ALL, it is all without DISTINCTION. The Bible is clear that all will not be saved without exception. The Bible is clear that all who are saved are saved without distinction. From every tribe, tongue and nation. It doesn't matter. It is without distinction. However, it is FROM every tribe, tongue and nation because it isn't without exception. Yet there is still Israel and the church, because God is clear that He is not done with Israel yet. Their ultimate salvation is yet to come.

God saves through covenant and God's covenants are with the Hebrew people through Abraham and his biological Hebrew seed.

God saves through the blood of the lamb, through Christ's sacrifice. That covenant of sacrifices was violated and broken by Israel long ago, and the Bible is clear. Even in Hebrews it says that if the first covenant had not been broken there would be no need for a second one.

God made no other covenant than the ones He made with Abram and his descendants, whom Scripture identifies as the children of Jacob (Israel.)

Ah so you deny a New Covenant made by the blood of God's only Son? Covenants are made in blood. So God made a covenant to Abraham when He and He alone passed through the sacrifices that Abraham made. If it were a two party covenant, Abraham would have also passed through. That is how covenants were made between God and man, and, for instance, between Jacob and Laban.

God made no covenant with non-Hebrew Gentiles. None.
And there is NONE recorded (in Scripture.)

Consider this one verse from Peter, the leader of the apostles:
11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

 

[jeremiah1five]

I left out the first part because of length. You are mostly correct, yet the word "faith" seems anathema to you. You left it out completely. Just as you said that you do not outright except the whole idea of faith with Abraham, even though it says that God credited his faith as righteousness. That is, even Abraham's salvation was by faith. Even the promise made was by Abraham's faith.

I never said Abraham didn't have faith, I said that in Genesis 12, 15, and 17, faith is not a requirement in this covenant.
Nor is faith a requirement in the Mosaic Covenant or the New Covenant.

"15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your [f]seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your [g]seed shall possess the gate of [h]their enemies. 18 And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall [j]be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Why because he obeyed God's voice? It was by faith that Abraham obeyed God's voice. He truly believed God when He said that it was through Isaac that the promise would be fulfilled. However, that couldn't be if Isaac was dead. He believed God would raise Isaac up from the dead, because that is what would need to happen for God to fulfill His promise. Abraham never doubted that God would. He just didn't realize that all God really had to do was stop him right before he killed Isaac. That is why it is faith. He never thought/knew/believed God would stop him. He was actually going to do it.

Abram was already someone who worshiped God and was in a positive relationship with God when we first pick up the narrative in Genesis 12.

You missed my meaning, but it is difficult to convey everything one is thinking. They built the church on Christ, but they are the beginning. The first. Well, include the 120 that were with them according to Acts. Consider what scripture says next:

5 Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own [e]language. 7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “[f]Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own [g]language [h]to which we were born? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and [j]visitors from Rome, both Jews and [k]proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own [l]tongues of the mighty deeds of God.”
Why weren't any of the Jews called Gentiles, since you said that these people would be consider Gentiles. Not only that, they are said to be devout. It's nice when God defines terms for us. So apparently your take on "Gentiles" is... well... wrong.
To whom did God reach out, specifically in each of their native tongues? EVERYONE. If it wasn't God's intent to save "Gentiles" at this time, then why did God allow them to hear the message of salvaiton in their own native tongue? It has been said that the miracle wasn't so much that Peter spoke in many different languages, but that many languages came from one set of vocal cords. It wasn't one language at a time, but all at once.

These named locations in Acts 2 are all places where these Jews lived. First and foremost, Gentiles were never under the Law as they were idol worshipers. Jews were enemies of the Gentiles and Gentiles were the enemy of the Jews. The locations are Gentile locations in the Roman Empire. Gentiles do not attend Jewish Feasts and neither do they observe Jewish holydays. They are all idol-worshipers, uncircumcised, and not in any of the three major Hebrew covenants described in Scripture.

My position is reasonably studied and held.
The Abraham Covenant in Genesis 12, 15, and 17 does not mention or include non-Hebrew Gentiles.
The Mosaic Covenant mediated by Moses does not mention or include Gentiles either.
And a look at the New Covenant prophecy by Jeremiah it is clear with whom God made this covenant with. He made it with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. There are no Gentiles named, mentioned, or included in this covenant. So WHY do supposed Gentiles add Gentiles into this covenant when there are no Gentiles named or identified. God is clear, any adding or subtracting from His Word is a sin and the person(s) that do this God calls "LIARS!"

Jesus says He did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill. What does it mean to "destroy" the Law and what does it mean to "fulfill" the Law? Jesus didn't change the Law. There is no record of Him doing this in the gospels or in the epistles, nor does John say such a thing in his prophecy (Revelation.) But many in our past see the word "Gentile" in the New Testament writings and the first thing they do is identify "Gentiles" as non-Hebrews. But if we look at the three Hebrew covenants God does not include Gentiles in these covenants. And if "Gentiles" in the New Testament are in fact actual non-Hebrews, then SOMEONE changed the Law and by changing the Law they destroy the Law. Not even God Himself changed the Law. Jesus didn't do it, so who did? The answer is NO ONE changed the Law. But that's not entirely true. It is the interpretation of "Gentiles" that has changed the Law, but that only applies to Gentiles, NOT to Jews. I don't discount non-Hebrews are not mixed in with the twelve tribes. They are. What was the nationality of Bilhah and Zilpah? Bilhah was the mother of Jacob's children (Dan and Naphtali), and Zilpah was the mother of Jacob's other children (Gad and Asher.) Jacob married Rachel and Leah and both were his cousins, so he married in the family. Was Bilhah and Zilpah of mixed heritage? Were they Hebrew and Gentile birth? It doesn't say. But according to their culture under which Jacob married Rachel and Leah, both Bilhah and Zilpah are given by Laban as "handmaidens" and part of the dowry and as such any children born to these handmaidens would be seen as sons (or daughters) of the husband, or in this case, Jacob.

I also accept that Ruth was a Moabite and not Hebrew. Yet she is NOT a biological ancestor of Jesus. She was biologically an ancestor of Joseph, but Joseph was not Jesus' biological father. But for the sake of legality these things are established that certain non-Hebrew women (Rahab, Tamar, and Ruth) are connected legally to Jesus being a descendant of David.

Now, let's talk about Samaritans. Samaritans primarily identify as descendants of the Northern Kingdom's tribes (and Ephraim, Manasseh, and Levi) who remained in the land after the Assyrian exile. They maintained a distinct religious and ethnic identity separate from the Jews (Judah and Benjamin.) And yet Jews call them "Samaritan" and not Israelites of the ten northern kingdom tribes with Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph with an Egyptian mother, but they are mixed heritage Israelites. Why is that? But what about the two southern kingdom tribes of Judah and Benjamin? Where in the New Testament are these descendants of Judah and Benjamin mentioned or identified? On the face of it they seem to be missing. Why doesn't the New Testament mention the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and the mixed heritage Jews of their ancestry? Surely, not all the two tribes taken in the Babylon conquest returned to Israel and none remained in Babylon, right? Is this correct? And that none of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin intermixed with Babylonians, whether through marriage, rape, concubinage, or slavery? I find that most unusual and highly improbable. Let's see...the Jews call the descendants of the ten northern kingdom tribes mixed with Gentiles "Samaritan" and not Israelites, right? And Jews had no dealing with Samaritans, right? But Jesus crossed that prejudicial line in John 4. Jesus accepted these mixed heritage Israelites as still descendants of Abraham and also heirs of his promises from God. Maybe the two southern kingdom tribes are mentioned in the New Testament writings. Maybe they are mixed heritage Jews of Gentile descent and are the "Gentiles" of the New Testament. These Gentiles of the New Testament can very well be mixed heritage Hebrews of the two southern kingdom tribes and Gentile. Jesus said, Scripture cannot be broken. If these "Gentiles" in the New Testament are non-Hebrew Gentiles would Judaizers seek to circumcise the males who became born-again? Would Jews try to compel these non-Hebrew Gentiles to obey the Law of Moses and to be circumcised? If so, then this is Scripture being BROKEN.

"14 But Peter, taking his stand with the other eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, [n]know this, and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is only the [o]third hour of the day; 16 but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:

‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all [p]mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
And your young men will see visions,
And your old men will [q]have dreams;
18 And even on My male and female [r]servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days,
And they will prophesy.
19 And I will

You do know that Peter's sermon in Acts 2 was addressed to the twelve tribes of Israel? That Peter was not addressing non-Hebrew Gentiles for if Peter was addressing non-Hebrew Gentiles in the crowd of Hebrews, then this, too, is Scripture being broken. If there are no non-Hebrew Gentiles in any of the three Hebrew covenants - Abraham, Mosaic, and New - then anyone seeking to add Gentiles in these covenants would be breaking Scripture.
The Holy Spirit of Promise was promised to Israel by the prophet Joel. Nowhere in Joel's prophecies does he claim the Holy Spirit of Promise was promised to Gentiles. It doesn't exist. So, if the Holy Spirit of Promise was not promised to Gentiles and yet today Gentiles who claim to be Gentile who also claim to be born-again by a Spirit never promised to Gentiles, then someone is trying to break Scripture. Now answer me this:

1. Where in the Hebrew Scripture does God make covenant with non-Hebrew Gentiles and what is this Gentile's name.
2. What are the particulars of this God-Gentile covenant?
3. Where in the Hebrew Scripture does it record the names and persons of Gentiles that are in this God-Gentile covenant and what are the names of important (prophets) Gentiles who claim inclusion in a God-Gentile covenant?
4. Where in the Hebrew Scripture is there record of holy days and holy feasts that accompany a God-Gentile covenant as it does a God- Hebrew covenant which is written up and down the Hebrew Scripture?
5. Where in the Hebrew Scripture does God promise His Spirit to non-Hebrew Gentiles?

Provide Scripture and answer these important questions and then you'll have an argument for the inclusion of non-Hebrew Gentiles having a salvation covenant with God.

Go for it.