The Far Off Brought Near

There’s a lie that flies in the face of Biblical literacy.

It insists that the Lord God has yet to somehow restore His nation Israel, complete with a physical temple, housing what is already a defunct Levitical priesthood in order to re-establish an insufficient practice of animal sacrifices—all of which either challenge or seriously distort the veracity of a new covenant our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ has made with the world and died for to bring to fruition.

That’s not to say God has no plan to deal with His people through whom He first chose to reveal Himself. [see: Rom. 11] But if anyone claims to be overly enlightened about the details, I’d grab the salt shaker.

Because salvation and inheritance have always been about belief—not lineage. [see: Gal. 3; Heb. 8:7-13]

So the best line of defense against false teaching is to study the Bible inductively. Because, If I’m doing that, I force myself to focus on the texts which accurately convey what the good news is actually all about and who it applies to.

And, in the process, I’m able to recognize a phrase that confirms God’s need to establish a new covenant. The apostle Peter said:

“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” [Ac. 2:39] [my emphasis

And, using the exact same word in his letter to the congregations in Ephesus, the apostle Paul described exactly how Jesus Christ eliminated every distinction between Jews and Gentiles when He fulfilled that promise originally given to Abraham:

“…remember that you were, at that time, separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.” [Eph.2:12-16] [my emphasis]

[μακράν: (mâ-crân’) far, far off, at some distance]

The Greek adverb μακράν was idiomatic in the sense that it was clearly inclusive, having a non-exhaustive time frame, and referring not just to all people then, but also to all people even now. It defined a new creation— a distinct category of people for whom the promise has been made available to with further clarification about to whom it was originally made. [see: Rom. 2:28-29]

Today, we live in a time “far off” from that of ancient Palestine.

Yet Scripture is clear. The Lord God’s New Covenant places everyone on an equal footing before Him. There’s no longer a distinction:

“There is not Jew nor Greek, there is not slave nor free [man], there is not male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are of Christ, then you are [the] seed of Abraham—heirs according to promise.” [Gal. 3:28-29]