One frosty evening in January 1980, Paul McCartney and his band Wings landed at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport for a planned 11-city concert tour in Japan.
However, the concert never happened.
Why?
Because McCartney was arrested on the spot and sent to jail for possession of marijuana.
Now you’d think that a superstar of McCartney’s clout and stature would be given some slack for carrying a widely used recreational drug that’s even legal in many countries.
Turned out no such thing.
Japan has a no-nonsense policy when it comes to possession of drugs.
McCartney was imprisoned in a Narcotics Detention Center in Tokyo.
And nine days later, the whole tour was cancelled and McCartney and his entourage were sent back to England.
The whole fiasco cost the band a huge chunk of change.
So why do I bring this story up?
To illustrate one important point.
THUMBING YOUR NOSE AT A NATION’S LAWS CAN BE A DANGEROUS PROPOSITION!
Whether it’s the laws in your country…
The laws of another country you may visit…
Or the Biblical Laws.
To drive my point home further, consider this.
When you obey your community’s posted speed limits, are you committing legalism?
When you properly file your taxes by April 15th, are you committing legalism?
If you do NOT go around with a gun murdering people left and right, are you somehow a slave to the law?
If you decide NOT to sleep with your neighbor’s wife or steal someone’s wallet, are you being a legalist?
Get my point here?
Here’s the thing.
If you consider yourself a disciple of Yeshua, your standing with God is based on the legal covenants the Lord has only made with Israel.
Period.
There is no other basis.
At Mount Sinai, the God of Israel established for all time and forever the non-negotiable, eternal and LEGAL stipulations any human being on the planet needs to abide by in order to maintain a harmonious relationship with Him.
And this relationship includes laws and a justice system (courts of law) that enforces those laws.
Here’s what gentile Christianity seems to have forgotten.
God established and maintains (yes, present tense homies) a legal relationship with one only people group on planet earth.
And that people group is Israel.
Of course, this legal relationship continues with those who are spiritually grafted into the commonwealth of Israel through their faith in the Jewish Messiah (whether Jew or gentile).
Are you with me here?
Your salvation is based on the LEGAL RELATIONSHIP God has ONLY made with Israel.
There ain’t no arguing your way around this point homie, so don’t even try.
You’ll end up falling flat on your face and being arrested just like Paul McCartney was on that cold night about 40 years ago in Tokyo.
We don’t really know what was going on in McCartney’s head when he decided to carry about half a pound of marijuana into a country that OUTLAWED such a thing.
Maybe he said to himself…
“I’m a gentile (foreigner), so their laws don’t apply to me”.
Sorry that ain’t gonna fly Mr. McCartney.
Think about it.
If you’re an American citizen living in California for instance…
Do you have a legal relationship with France?
No you don’t.
But if you travel there will you be expected to obey the laws of that nation?
Oh hell to the yes you will!
Or let’s say you’re American but possess dual citizenship with another country like Singapore for instance.
You know what that means?
That means you have established a LEGAL RELATIONSHIP with both nations and are subject to the laws of each nation.
Of course, you get the benefits and protection of each nation’s laws…
But if you break those laws, you’ll also suffer the consequences.
So this is a key aspect of your salvation you shouldn’t overlook.
When you trusted in God’s Son, Yeshua of Nazareth as your personal Lord and Savior, you in effect entered into a legal relationship between God and His People (Israel)…
Which means you are subject to the laws, ordinances and commandments of that legal relationship…
I never really understood that Christian argument which says you don’t have to obey the Law because it was only given to Israel.
Listen homie, by definition, your salvation means you WERE grafted into Israel and are now one with Israel.
Got it?
You don’t have some kind of weird gentile green card that allows you to partake of all the benefits of your salvation without having to obey the laws connected to your salvation.
Ya feel me?
Of course, if through falling into temptation or whatever, you sin and break God’s Laws (it happens to all of us)...
You do have a legal advocate with the Father…
Because Yeshua the Messiah perfectly fulfilled all the Biblical legal requirements…
That means he did not sin…
And when I say Yeshua did not sin, I mean he did NOT break God’s legal code (the Torah).
So generally speaking, the grace provided through trusting in Yeshua covers your penalties so you don’t suffer eternal death.
But that doesn’t mean you can or should deliberately abuse that privilege by willfully sinning.
Obeying all of God’s laws perfectly doesn’t make or keep you citizen in the Kingdom…
But understand there are different degrees of consequences you’ll pay when you disobey the Torah’s clear commands.
So think about that the next time you decide to order a cheeseburger with bacon inside of it.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Then I will tell them plainly,
‘I never knew you; depart from Me,
you workers of lawlessness!’”
-Matthew 7:23
“Therefore, remember that formerly
you who are Gentiles by birth and
called “uncircumcised” by those who
call themselves “the circumcision”
(which is done in the body by human hands)—
remember that at that time
you were separate from Messiah,
excluded from citizenship in Israel
and foreigners to the covenants
of the promise, without hope and
without God in the world.
But now in Messiah Yeshua you who
once were far away have been
brought near by the blood of Messiah.”
-Ephesians 2:11-13
Consequently, you are no longer
foreigners and strangers,
but fellow citizens with God’s people
and also members of his household,
built on the foundation of
the apostles and prophets,
with Messiah Yeshua himself
as the chief cornerstone.
-Ephesians 2:19-20
“I was sent only to
the lost sheep of
the house of Israel.”
-Matthew 15:24
Quote: “Listen homie, by definition, your salvation means you WERE grafted into Israel.”
Exactly!
We have told evangelical American coverts for 100 years, “When you accept Jesus into your heart, two things happen: (1) You are immediately forgiven of all sings you have ever done, (2) you become part of the universal and local church.
But Eph. 2 makes it clear: At salvation we join spiritual Israel’s commonwealth, and stop being alienated from “the covenants” – plural. Why don’t we tell everyone who converts — now you are part of the “Israel of God”?
Yup!
You can’t have the God of Israel or Israel’s Messiah without being part of Israel.