The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

114 Israel repented at Pentecost or in the subsequent decades of the first century, at the time of the council everyone knew where the mother church was located. The centripetal force of the church in Jerusalem was strong not only because of its numbers and leadership but also because of its historical importance in the history of the nation. That Israel had been replaced by the church would be a hard message to sell in Jerusalem in the autumn of A.D. 49 with Jesus ' brother, James, presiding over the assembly of the Twelve. Finally, the amillennial view does not answer the occasion of the conference of the Gentiles' relationship to the Law of Moses. Perhaps it would be better to say that it answers the question too much. The question was not simply can Gentiles be saved, but more importantly, should Gentiles become Jews in order to share in the blessings of Israel. The amillennial answer has James giving an answer to a different question, "Jews should become Gentiles." The logic would run, "If the Church (which is law-free) has replaced Israel, then ,<' all Jews are also free from the Law." If this were the case then the decision and letter would not have been addressed to Gentiles, but to Jews saying "abandon the Law." 163 A dispensational premillennial answer. At the other end of the pole i the dispensational answer which seeks to preserve the meaning of the Old Testament quotation and to answer the original question posed to the Council. Toussaint under tand Jame ' interest in the Amos passage to be its value a an analogy to hi own time . 'If G ntile ill be aved in the Kingdom Age (the Millennium), why hould they become Jewi h pro el te