Pastor David B. Curtis
Pastor David B. Curtis
Now that we have finished Romans, we are spending a couple of weeks hitting the highlights of what we have studied. I wanted to go over the texts that changed my thinking in one way or another as I taught through this book. We hit the highlights of the first six chapters last week, and today we are going to cover chapters 7 thru 11, which means we’ll be spending three weeks going over the highlights.
We start this morning with Romans 7, which has been a battleground for interpreters and theologians and expositors of Scripture. One of the biggest disagreements over this text is who this man is. Whose experience is Paul describing? Is this the experience of Paul, the believer? Or is this the experience of Paul, the unbeliever? Is this a Christian or non-Christian? Who is Paul talking about in Romans 7? Christian scholars remain divided in answer to this question:
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. Romans 7:18-20 NASB
Does this sound like your experience? We come to church, we hear the Word of God taught, we worship our risen Lord, we spend time reading our Bibles, and ministering to others, and we feel like we are walking within fellowship with God, and then we find ourselves saying things or doing things or thinking things that plunge us into despair.
Do Christians have the type of struggle that we see in our text? Sure they do. Do Christians struggle to live for God and yet often fail? Yes, we see this in the Scripture. Does this mean that this passage is talking about the Christian experience? No!
Paul uses “I,” but who does the “I” represent? Paul uses “I” as a rhetorical device, personifying both Adam and Israel. In Romans 7:7-12 we see the arrival of Torah in Israel, and in 7:13-25 he speaks of Israel’s life under Torah. This is not about Christian experience.
In the section that runs from 5:20 thru 8:11, Paul is speaking specifically to Jews, those under the Mosaic Law. Notice the context:
The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, Romans 5:20 NASB
God gave the Law, the Mosaic Law, so that the sin of Adam would increase. Just like Adam was given law and broke it, so also Israel was given Law and broke it. So Adam's sin was duplicated by Israel and thus increased.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in the sin so that grace may increase? Romans 6:1 NASB
"The sin" is the sin of Adam. If sin increases the grace of God, shouldn't we continue to live in the sin? To put it another way, shouldn't we continue to live under the Law? It increases sin, which increases grace. So the question being asked here is, “Shall we continue to live under the Mosaic Law, so that sin will increase and therefore grace will increase?” Paul’s answer is, “NO! You are no longer under the Law.” Which brings up their next question:
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Romans 6:15 NASB
I see the question being asked as: Doesn’t that make us sinners? Isn’t it a sin for us to not keep the commandments of the Law? Isn’t it a sin not to keep the Sabbath? Am I going to be a sinner just like the Gentiles if I stop obeying the written code? Paul again says, “No!” The next question is:
What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know the sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET." Romans 7:7 NASB
Paul’s answer to the question, “Is the Law sin?” is found in verse12:
So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Romans 7:12 NASB
The Law is an expression of the character of God, it is not sin. The Law is not sin, but the Law reveals sin. Paul’s argument is that the Law has made Adam/Israel know what sin is. In 7:7-12, Paul is describing the arrival of Torah in Israel and saying when Torah came, Israel recapitulated the sin of Adam:
I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; Romans 7:9 NASB
Was Paul ever alive apart from the Law? This can only be true of Adam. We know from 5:12 that all men are born dead in Adam. No one since Adam was alive in the theological sense.
Something that is very important to our understanding of this text is that Paul’s argument is typically Semitic. Conceptually, he thinks in corporate terms. Understanding this, we should call into question individualistic interpretations about Paul battling with his own sins. This passage is introduced using a corporate illustration (Rom 7:1-6). Paul uses the example of marriage and remarriage to show how a new relationship can come into existence. The analogy of marriage is regularly used throughout the whole of Scripture to depict the relationship of God with His people. This analogy is never used for the relationship of an individual with God. It is always corporate, describing the experience of the covenant community.
Notice how the NIV translates verse 18:
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. Romans 7:18 NIV
The NIV translates sarx as: "sinful nature," this is a bad translation. The Greek word "sarx," directly translated means: "flesh." This idea of a sin nature reflects more of a Greek dualism than a Hebraic understanding of Scripture. To translate sarx as “sinful nature” assumes that the argument is about individual human experience and leads the reader in the direction of an inherited human nature rather than to a federal understanding. Because of this unfortunate misinterpretation of sarx, the doctrine of the sinful nature has been propagated.
For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. Romans 7:19 NASB
This is not Paul, it is Israel under Torah:
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Romans 7:24 NASB
He uses a present tense to describe a present reality of wretchedness. “Wretched man that I am,” not “I was” or “I used to be.” Would Paul call himself a “wretched man” and then cry out for someone to rescue him? Is he looking for a second work of grace?
“...The body of this death”—sadly, most Christians see this as a reference to the physical body. So what is the body of this death? The argument continues to address the corporate aspects of sin. “This body of death” is nothing less than the body of Moses, which was a body of sin. So Paul’s cry could be interpreted: “Who will deliver me from the kingdom of darkness?”
The majority of teachers and commentators see this passage as Paul's autobiography. They see this as Paul as a mature Christian. They see this as the normal Christian life. There are some serious problems with this view. The main one being that it teaches us falsely that the body is evil, which is a Greek, not a Jewish, idea. There is no suggestion in the Tanakh that the body is in any way sinful or unclean. This view also teaches us that we have two natures fighting each other.
Let’s move to chapter eight. One thing that really stands out in chapter 8 is the number of times that the spirit is mentioned. The term "spirit" is mentioned only five times in the preceding seven chapters of Romans and only once in Romans chapter 7. But when we turn to chapter 8, we have the Holy Spirit mentioned about twenty-one times. This chapter contains the greatest concentration of references to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, an average of one almost every two verses.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Yeshua. Romans 8:1 NASB
“...Now no condemnation...”—reading this in the original text the emphasis rests upon the word "no." "There is now therefore no condemnation," that's the emphatic word in the Greek text.
The Greek word that Paul uses here for “condemnation” is katakrima (katakrima is the normal word for condemnation). Katakrima is only used three times in Scripture, all of them by Paul in Romans. Paul uses katakrima twice in Romans 5:
The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. Romans 5:16 NASB
We see here that Adam’s sin resulted in judgment, which is the Greek word krima, a sentence, or a decision on the part of a judge. This sentence from the judge resulted in condemnation, katakrima. Katakrima is defined by Suttor in his Lexicon as the punishment following the sentence. It is in a passive formation in the Greek and it is not likely to refer to the sentence as an edict from the judge, but rather to the punishment. Adam's sin is imputed to all, this is condemnation, which is spiritual death, separation from God. So “no condemnation” in Romans 8 is no “spiritual death.”
Who are those who can lay claim to “no condemnation”? There are parameters to that claim. This promise is only “...to those who are in Christ Yeshua”—only those "who are in Yeshua have life." Some are in Him and some are not. Paul assumes this everywhere in his writings. There are those "in Christ" and there are those "outside." Paul is not a universalist. He says explicitly in Romans 9:3, with grief, that there are those who are "accursed, separated from Christ." And we see in Matthew 25 that there are sheep and goats.
The Bible does not teach universalism. Yeshua doesn’t love, and He didn’t die for everyone. When a man or a woman believes in the Lord Yeshua the Christ, they are placed in Christ. That is their position. And being in Him, they now are free of eternal judgment because the penalty has been paid by a substitute. The Lord Yeshua came and bore that judgment, and because our penalty has been paid, it is impossible for us to have that penalty laid upon us.
If you are in Christ, what happened to Him, happened to you. Union with Adam, the first man, led to our condemnation/death. Union with Yeshua the Christ, the Last Adam, secured our righteousness/life. And this idea of our union with Him, who is our representative, is really the heart of the Pauline Theology.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Yeshua, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1 KJV
There is a textual problem with this verse; depending on what translation you use, you might get different ideas of who it is that has no condemnation. The NKJV has the phrase, “...who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” The NIV and the NASB do not.
Is our not being condemned a result of our daily walk? All of a sudden this is not such a comforting verse. Which of these translations is right? Should we just pick the one we like? Or shall we pick the one that fits our theology best?
The majority of texts have the phrase “...who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” in them. I’m sure you would all admit that if not being condemned is based upon our daily walk, we are all in trouble. Yet the better manuscripts say that, so now what? The problem lies in our understanding of the phrase, “...who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Most Christians would define “walking after the flesh”as doing sinful things. I think that if we understand how Paul uses these words, it will clear up the difficulty. To walk after the flesh is to seek to live under the Law.
The phrase “...who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” is not a qualifying phrase: it is a descriptive phrase. A Christian is one who does not walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit. “After the flesh” is being under the Old Covenant, which is death, and “after the Spirit” is being under the New Covenant. To walk in the Spirit is to trust in Christ and His finished work on Calvary.
so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:4 NASB
“So that...”—is hina and expresses the divine purpose, which is, “...the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us”—the righteous requirements of the Torah are fulfilled in us.
We have already seen that “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”—doesn’t have anything to do with how we act. It is about being under the Old Covenant, which is death, or being under the New Covenant, which is life. This verse doesn’t say that we might fulfill the Law, but that it might be fulfilled in us. We are passive; God is the actor. The requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us by God. What is it the Law requires? Righteousness! Covenant faithfulness.
Walking after the flesh was not a problem only faced in the first century. Many today are walking after the flesh, they are trying to gain favor with God by their works. They are trying to please God by the things that they do. For example, Catholic theology says: “By my deeds I can not only earn merit for myself, but if I earn more merit than I need to get into heaven; my extra merit goes into the treasury of merit to be applied to someone else to get them out of purgatory.” What that says is not only can I by my merit earn my own salvation, but I can over earn it and apply what is left over to someone else’s salvation. That is walking after the flesh. And to walk after the flesh is to be condemned. If you are trusting in something that you’ve done to get you into heaven, you’ll never get there. To walk after the Spirit is to trust in Christ and Christ alone. To trust in Christ alone is to receive the righteousness of God and thus never face His punishment.
In Romans 8:18-25 we have the discussion of the redemption of creation. Many take this text to be teaching a renovation or redemption of planet earth. They see this as a refutation of Preterism. They say that the earth was not renovated in A.D. 70, so Preterism is wrong.
The arguments in the commentaries boil down to whether this text is dealing with rational creation or irrational creation. The majority of commentaries see this as referring to irrational creation. They say that creation is seen here in a metaphorical way, that this is apocalyptic language. But what we must see here is that whatever is true of the creation is true of the saints.
For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. Romans 8:19 NASB
What is “the creation”? The majority view here is that Paul is talking about the physical creation. Is it possible that Paul is not talking about the physical creation in this verse? The context here leads me to believe that he is talking about Israel. Israel is the “creation.” The Greek word used here for “creation” is ktisis, which occurs 20 times in the New Testament and can be translated as either "creation" or "creature," depending upon the context. At times it is used for the physical creation, but it is also used for mankind.
The eighth chapter of Romans discusses the role of the Spirit in setting believers free from the Law to serve God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It compares the actions of those indwelt with the Spirit to those who do not have the Spirit. In looking at the overall context, one would have to ask why Paul would interject an allegorical passage about the creation in a chapter that is otherwise devoted solely to a discussion of the role of the Spirit in the life of believers versus unbelievers. Therefore, the overall context of the chapter suggests that Paul was not talking about the non-rational creation.
Is the non-rational creation really waiting for the revelation of God's children? Obviously, if this passage is really referring to the creation, this verse would have to be anthropomorphic rather than literal:
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope Romans 8:20 NASB
“...Subjected to futility...”—the word futility is from the Greek word mataiotes, which means: “the inability to reach the goal of its intended design.” It cannot achieve what it was intended for. It is not able to fulfill its purpose. It can't be what God intended it to be. Can this be talking about the planet? Is the planet not achieving its intended purpose?
that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Romans 8:21 NASB
Here, speaking of the “creation,” he uses three Greek words: eleutheroo, meaning: “set free”; douleia, meaning: “slavery”; and phthora, meaning: “corruption.” All of these words are tied to Israel and its bondage to sin and death. Why would he do this if the creation was the physical planet?
Verse 22 talks about, “...suffers the pains of childbirth,” this was imagery that became known as the “Messianic birth pangs.” We see from Scripture that it was Israel who was in labor pains. This text is loaded with connections to Israel. This “whole passage” is about Israel and not the physical planet.
And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:23 NASB
Then Paul says, “our adoption as sons, that is, the redemption of our body”—the full manifestation of the adoption is identical with the redemption of the body. The body talked about here is not our individual physical bodies. The “our” is plural and “body” is singular. This is referring to the corporate body of Christ. Some translations have “bodies” here, such as the NIV (“the redemption of our bodies”). But Paul says, “body,” not bodies. It is referring to the body of Christ. This is what we talked about in 7:24, the body of death. This is Christ’s body being redeemed at the Parousia. This is the eschatalogical redemption that Paul cried out for in Romans 7:24. This is all those who have trusted Christ being brought into the presence of God. This is the fullness of salvation. This is eternal life. And this happened 2,000 years ago. This text has nothing to do with physical creation, it is talking about the fullness of salvation that happened at the end of the Old Covenant period. “Our body” is “the body of Christ,” and it has been redeemed!
Let’s move to chapter nine. I believe that the Scripture’s greatest theodicy is found in Romans 9-11. This is the greatest vindication of God’s righteousness and justice found anywhere in the pages of Scripture. In light of what Paul had taught in the first eight chapters of Romans, a vindication is necessary. You may say, “Why?” What has Paul said that causes a need of God being vindicated? Over and over in Romans 8 Paul has been applying to the Church the blessings originally promised to Israel. Israel was promised the Holy Spirit, but this promise has been received by the Church. Israel was promised a future resurrection, but Paul speaks of the resurrection of believers. Israel was God’s son, but now believers are God’s adopted children. Israel was promised an inheritance, but now it has come to the Church. Israel was God’s chosen people, but now believers are called chosen. With the application of so many of Israel’s promises being received by the Church, the question arises, “Has God gone back on His promises to Israel?” We see in 9:3 that Israel is accursed and cut off from Christ. In Romans 9-11 Paul shows that the promises made to Israel are true, and the Gospel is true also.
Now, think about this; this is where it gets real practical for you and me. If God rejected the nation of Israel, if they did not receive the promises made to them, what assurance do we have that He will keep His word to us? What security do we have? If God set aside Israel, couldn’t He set aside us? Without spiritual security we live in fear of spiritual death, fear of your sins being held against you and coming under the wrath of God. How could we possibly have security if God broke His promise to Israel? Did God break His promises to Israel? No! His promises were misunderstood, they were to true Jews, not to national Israel:
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; Romans 9:6 NASB
The “...word of God...”means: “anything which God has spoken.” Here, from the connection, it should be understood in a more specific sense. It is the word of promise in the covenants alluded to in verse 4. It refers to the great promises God had made to Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob; conferring blessing upon their seed.
The phrase, “...has failed” is from the Greek word ekpipto, which means: “to fall out of, to fall down from, to fail, to be without effect.” Paul is going to teach us that God’s promises have not failed, they were misunderstood! Can you imagine someone misunderstanding God’s promises?
In the last half of this verse Paul explains how they were misunderstood. “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” I can’t emphasize how important this verse is; we must understand this. This verse is the key to understanding Israel and the promises of God.
When most Christians hear the term “Israel,” all they think of is national, physical Israel. But Paul tells us in our text that there are TWO Israels. We know that one of these Israels is national, physical Israel, Jacob’s sons. There is no disagreement here. But who is the other Israel? This is where the disagreements start. We have here physical Israel, those who descended from Jacob, and then we have true Israel. So we have physical Israel and true Israel.
Paul is saying that God’s promises haven’t failed, because God never promised unconditionally to each offspring of Abraham covenant blessings. God never intended that all of the nation Israel would be redeemed. Within national Israel is “True Israel” or “spiritual Israel.” So one could be an Israelite without truly being an Israelite. The promises were to “true Israel,” not national Israel.
So who is true Israel? Is it the Church? Yes, but what is the Church? It is the Body of Christ! And what I want us to understand is that Yeshua is the true Israel! It is in Him, and Him alone, that the promises of God are fulfilled. We could say, “They are not all ‘in Christ’ who are physical descendants of Jacob.”
What Paul preached does not speak against the promises of God. Israel is God’s people by faith, and all who believe in Christ receive the promises that God made to Israel. The Church, those of us who have trusted Christ, are the Israel of God. Believers, and only believers, are “true Jews.”
If Yeshua is the True Israel of God, and if the New Testament writers apply to Yeshua, those First Testament prophecies referring to Israel as God’s son and servant, then what does this understanding do to the Dispensationalists and the Zionists, who believe that the nation of Israel is God's chosen people, the sole inheritors of God's promises; and that to be a part of Israel, one must be of the proper lineage and nationality?
This is one reason this text is so important, because it destroys Zionism. Zionism is a political movement built on the belief that the Jewish people deserve by right to possess the land of Palestine as their own. Christian Zionism is essentially a Christian prophetic support for Zionism; seeing the modern state of Israel as the equivalent of the biblical Israel. God does not have two peoples. He has one body made up of Jews and Gentiles and the only people in that body are those who trust in Yeshua.
As we went through chapter ten I had a paradigm shift. Do you know what it was? It was realizing the significance of the name Yeshua:
for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." Romans 10:13 NASB
This is a quote from:
"And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls. Joel 2:32 NASB
The context of this passage is about covenant renewal. This text was fulfilled when? Pentecost, in the last days of Israel. What does it mean to "...call upon the name of the Lord?" Calling on the name of the Lord in the Tanakh is an interesting phrase. It primarily refers to worship, it refers to calling out to God in terms of adoring wonder and praise, speaking of His majesty, extolling His virtue, humbling yourself beneath His sovereign power. It is an Old Covenant expression of true hearted worship.
So calling on the Lord is an act of worship and in our text the LORD is Yeshua. It is to believe that Yeshua is the God of Israel, the Savior Yahweh.
for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." Romans 10:13 NASB
“...Whoever...”—that is any and all who believe that Yeshua is the one true God Yahweh, will be saved from the wrath of God. It was in my study of this text that I began to use the name Yeshua instead of Jesus:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means `ADONAI saves,'] because he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 CJB
Our Savior's name when He walked this earth was Yeshua. Matthew 1:1-16, makes it clear that He came from Hebrew decent through the tribe of Judah. In other words, He was Jewish. He was born to and raised by Jewish parents, who raised Him under Jewish culture. He spoke Hebrew. The name Yeshua is literally a transliteration of the Messiah's name. When one says, "Yeshua" he is speaking Hebrew. This is the name that all the apostles would have known Him by and what His mother would have called Him.
To the Jews of the Second Temple period almost all Hebrew names had a literal meaning. The name Yeshua literally means: "Yahweh's Salvation, or Salvation from Yahweh.” The English name “Jesus” derives from the Late Latin name “Iesus,” which transliterates the Koine Greek name “Iesoûs.” In the Septuagint and other Greek-language Jewish texts, such as the writings of Josephus and Philo of Alexandria, Iesoûs is the standard Koine Greek form used to translate the Hebrew name “Yeshua.” Prior to being transliterated from the Hebrew Bible, the name “Iesous” did not exist in Greek. In the 17th century the "J" replaced the "I" to make our familiar "Jesus."
I understand that to many of you Jesus is the name that refers to your Savior, but once I saw the evolution of the name Jesus and saw what the name Yeshua means, I was compelled to use my Savior’s real name.
Alright, let’s go to chapter eleven:
and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." Romans 11:26 NASB
There is nothing in this text about "national" Israel. The context teaches that those who are not chosen are hardened, and that is the end of it. Many commentators see an insoluble contradiction between chapters 9 and 11. This is because they see chapter 9 insists that salvation is promised only for spiritual Israel, but they see chapter 11 arguing that ethnic Israel will be saved. Yes, this would be a contradiction if Paul was in fact saying that all ethnic Israel would be saved, but he is not saying that. It is only a remnant that is saved.
Other scholars, I use that term loosely, have suggested that Paul did not realize what he would write in chapter 11 when he wrote chapter 9. As you can see making "all Israel" mean ethnic national Israel causes huge problems with this text.
After all the time Paul spent in Romans teaching that nationality doesn't matter, it is faith that matters; does he now contradict all he has said and say that someday nationality will be everything? No, he does not!
I see "all Israel" here as referring to the remnant of the house of Israel and the remnant of the house of Judah and all the believing Gentiles. The "all" here is the all of:
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; Romans 10:12 NASB
This is "all Israel," it is all who call upon Him, it is all who share the faith of Abraham:
For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, Romans 4:16 NASB
The "it" refers back to verse 13, "the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world" It is the promise that is by faith. What is it that guarantees the promise that you will be an heir? The answer is: God's grace. The only way that our eternal future can be guaranteed is if it rests on God's grace. Grace is the free and undeserved work of God to bring His people to glory.
The last part of this verse sounds a little confusing, but the intent is to say that the inheritance is available to both Jewish believers and Gentile believers who share the faith of Abraham. It was always God's plan to have a single worldwide family; a single seed, Messiah and His people.
"All Israel" is all of true Israel, all of spiritual Israel, all of those who are united to Christ by faith. It is all of those who are in the olive tree.
Verse 26 begins with "and so" which is the adverb houto and can be translated: "in this manner" all Israel will be saved. Houto can refer to what precedes or to what follows. It seems logical here to connect it with what follows. In this manner all Israel will be saved by the Deliverer who comes out of Zion.
As to the question “When?”; this happens at the Parousia: "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB"--this text is conflated from Isaiah 59:20 and 27:9. It is a reference to the Second Coming. This is one of those places where if you don't know what time it is you will miss-interpret Scripture. All Israel being saved is not future to us. It happened at the return of Christ, which happened in A.D. 70.
Eternal life was a condition of the age to come! So at the return of Christ, Israel, both houses, receive their salvation, their fullness, and the Gentiles also receive their salvation in its consummated form, in its fullness!
In the Tanakh "the deliverer" is clearly Yahweh, but for Paul it is Yeshua. Because as we have said over and over, Yeshua is Yahweh! The God of Israel.
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