The Kingdom of Promise and ProphecyWhiteside, Robertson L.
Religion
The Kingdom of Promise and Prophecy
Whiteside, Robertson L.
Bible -- Prophecies
In the New Testament the word _flesh_ does not always have the same
significance. Sometimes it refers to our material bodies, and sometimes
to the bodies of other living things. (1 Cor. 15:39.) It sometimes
refers to that state or condition in which the gratifying of the
appetites and passions of our bodies is our chief concern—strictly a
worldly life. (Romans 7:5, 8:6-9.) It is to mind the flesh—a contrast
with a spiritual life. And some times the word _flesh_ refers to a race
or nation, as distinguished from another race or nation. Paul speaks of
the Jews as “my flesh”. (Rom. 11:14.) “As concerning the flesh”, Christ
was of the fathers of the Jewish race—that is, as to his flesh he was a
Jew. After stating that Christ died for all, Paul adds, “Wherefore we
henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now know him so no more.” In Christ there are no
fleshly distinctions—no race discriminations. “For there is no
distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of All.”
(Rom. 10:12.) And as Christ is the savior of both Jew and Gentile, and
is Lord of all—king over all, we can no longer regard him as a Jew—we no
longer think of him as a Jew, or in any way identified with fleshly
Israel. Yet the future Kingdom advocates still identify him with fleshly
Israel and speak of him as “Israel’s Christ,” “Israel’s Messiah,”
“Israel’s King.” They encourage the Jew to glory in the fact that he is
a Jew. They would have the Jew to believe that the Jewish nation is even
yet God’s chosen people, a nation with glorious future, exalted above
all others subservient to them. But not so with Paul.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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