The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture
90 which could not be subdivided at will. It would be impossible for one part of the Law to have been terminated and the rest to have remained. Scott recognizes that "The issue is not just foods and associates, or even the whole of kasrut, but the entirety of the system that both maintained Jewish distinctives and separated them from Gentiles. " 102 Thus if the food laws had indeed been abrogated by this vision, then the rest of the law had been terminated by it as well, including the Temple and sacrifices, tithes and offerings, the feasts and celebrations and in short, the distinctive way of life as prescribed by Moses. This is not an unthinkable situation, and indeed we would hold it to be true-from God's point of view. However , the issue to be determined here is what did Peter and Cornelius understand about the end of the law? And, once again, as we seek to determine the answer to this question the later revelation about the incompatibility of the Old and New Covenants from Hebrews can not be projected back upon the understanding of earlier generations without good reason. This incident could be the revelation from God to Peter that the Old Covenant has been abrogated but it might also simply be revelation from God to Peter that the doors of salvation are now winging open to Gentiles. 103 Our point in this context is that if God was speaking to the i ue of the abrogation of the food laws then any Jew would have immediately realized the unmi takable implications for the entire law . It is difficult to overestimate the gravity of thi tea hing and the effect it would have had on the Jeru alem church. It would have effectivel tak n th Jewi hne out of being Jewi h . It would have been judged a th h ight f ap ta b th 102 cott ' he ' orneliu lncid nt in the Light f it J wi h ttin " under tand the ari u , 'If th i i n impli th t th 1 iti al di tin ti cle n nd un l an h implI d Lu primaril s Wit on, Luk k d th n a r di 1 d p rtur fr m th n t pur u thi m tt r b u h p r bl b ut th pr bl m m1 m nd tin Lm , 9. 1. Wil n n 10 ur nc 1n ar thi pomt i Id to int rpr t ith n 1t1 It r ch h1 t n and lit rar nt t of t . W unpl 1d theolo I al mformmg t th t 1
Made with FlippingBook
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=