Answers In Bible

Tag: Ephesians 2

  • Who Are the Gentiles in the Bible?

    Who Are the Gentiles in the Bible?

    “Gentiles” is the Bible’s term for anyone who is not Jewish, and understanding the word unlocks one of the biggest turning points in the whole biblical story. From the Old Testament’s focus on Israel to the New Testament’s message going out to “every nation,” the story of the Gentiles is really the story of who gets included in God’s promises.

    Who Are the Gentiles?

    In scripture, “Gentiles” (from a Hebrew and Greek root meaning “nations” or “peoples”) refers to anyone outside the physical descendants of Israel. In the Old Testament, Israel was set apart with its own covenant, law, and calling, while the Gentile nations around it worshiped other gods. That distinction shaped centuries of Jewish identity and religious practice, and it is the backdrop for nearly everything that changes in the New Testament.

    Once Far Off, Now Brought Near

    Paul describes the Gentiles’ former standing bluntly in Ephesians 2:12: “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” But he immediately follows it with the change Christ brought: “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). This is the heart of the Gentile story in the New Testament: people who had no covenant standing with God are brought into one.

    The Gospel Opens to “Every Nation”

    This shift is not a quiet footnote. Paul states the gospel’s reach plainly in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” The book of Acts records the moment this became undeniable to the early Jewish church, when Peter, after a vision and an encounter with a Roman centurion named Cornelius, declared, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34-35). From that point forward, the church understood its mission as reaching Gentiles and Jews alike, not one group at the exclusion of the other.

    Key Bible Verses

    Ephesians 2:13
    “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

    Romans 1:16
    “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

    Acts 10:34-35
    “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Is “Gentile” used as an insult in the Bible?

    No, it is simply a descriptive term for non-Jewish peoples, though attitudes between Jews and Gentiles were often tense historically. The New Testament’s overall direction is toward removing that division in Christ rather than reinforcing it (Galatians 3:28).

    Does the Old Testament ever include Gentiles in God’s plan?

    Yes. Even though Israel had a unique covenant role, the Old Testament includes Gentile individuals like Ruth and Rahab within God’s story, and passages like Genesis 12:3 promise that all nations, not Israel alone, would ultimately be blessed through Abraham’s line.

    Related Bible Topics

    How Can I Be Saved According to the Bible? | What Is the New Covenant in the Bible? | What Is the Greatest Commandment in the Bible?

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  • Notable Quotes From Paul in the Bible

    Notable Quotes From Paul in the Bible

    Paul wrote more of the New Testament than any other author, and some of his lines have outlasted the centuries to become part of how Christians describe faith, love, and perseverance today. Best known as the apostle who carried the gospel across the Roman world through missionary journeys and letters to young churches, Paul wrote with a directness that still speaks plainly nearly two thousand years later. Here are some of his most quoted words, in their own context.

    Paul’s Words on Grace and Salvation

    Paul’s central theme, especially in his letter to the Ephesians, is that salvation is God’s gift rather than something earned. In Ephesians 2:8-9, he writes, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” This one sentence anchors a large share of Christian teaching on grace, and Paul returns to the theme again and again throughout his letters.

    Paul’s Words on Love

    Paul’s description of love in his first letter to the Corinthians is quoted at weddings and funerals alike, by believers and skeptics both. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 he writes, “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” “Charity” here translates the Greek word agape, self-giving love, the same word most modern translations simply render as “love.”

    Paul’s Words on Strength in Weakness

    Paul wrote from real hardship: imprisonment, shipwreck, and an unnamed “thorn in the flesh” he asked God three times to remove. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 he records God’s answer, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” That same confidence shows up in Philippians 4:13, written from prison, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Read in its full context, the verse follows Paul describing how he had learned to be content whether he had plenty or little, not a promise of success in any endeavor a reader chooses.

    Paul’s Words on Finishing Well

    Near the end of his life, writing to his protege Timothy, Paul looked back with a settled confidence rather than fear. In 2 Timothy 4:7 he writes, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” That same sense of a life fully given over to Christ appears earlier in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

    Key Bible Verses

    Philippians 4:13
    “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

    2 Corinthians 12:9
    “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

    2 Timothy 4:7
    “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Who was Paul in the Bible?

    Paul, originally named Saul, was a Pharisee who persecuted the early church before encountering the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19). After that encounter he became one of the most influential missionaries and writers in the early church, planting churches across the Roman Empire.

    How many books of the Bible did Paul write?

    Paul is traditionally credited with writing thirteen New Testament letters, from Romans to Philemon, addressed to churches and individuals he knew personally.

    Related Bible Topics

    What Are the Epistles in the Bible? | What Does Philippians 4:13 Mean? | What Does Faith Without Works Mean?

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  • What Does “Once Saved, Always Saved” Mean in the Bible?

    What Does “Once Saved, Always Saved” Mean in the Bible?

    “Once saved, always saved” is one of the most debated questions among Bible-believing Christians. Sincere, scripture-loving believers land in different places on it. Here’s what the relevant passages actually say, from both sides, without picking a winner for you.

    What Does “Once Saved, Always Saved” Mean?

    “Once saved, always saved” (often called eternal security or perseverance of the saints) is the belief that a person who is genuinely saved by faith in Jesus Christ can never lose that salvation, no matter what happens afterward. The opposing view, sometimes called conditional security, holds that salvation can be forfeited through unbelief or ongoing unrepentant sin. Both views are held by Bible-believing Christians who take scripture seriously, and both draw on real passages to make their case.

    The Case for Eternal Security

    Christians who hold to eternal security point to passages like John 10:28-29, where Jesus says of His sheep, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand,” and adds that no one can snatch them from the Father’s hand either. They also point to Romans 8:38-39, where Paul lists death, life, angels, and “any other created thing” as unable to separate believers from the love of God in Christ, and to Ephesians 1:13-14, which describes the Holy Spirit as a “seal” and a “guarantee” of a believer’s future inheritance.

    The Case for Conditional Security

    Christians who hold to conditional security point to passages like Hebrews 6:4-6, which describes people who were “once enlightened” and “partakers of the Holy Spirit” who then “fall away,” and to Galatians 5:4, where Paul warns believers pursuing justification by the law that they have “fallen from grace.” They also point to 2 Peter 2:20-22, which warns that a person who escapes the world’s corruption and is later entangled by it again ends up “worse” off than before. On this view, these passages describe a real possibility, not just a hypothetical.

    Where Both Sides Agree

    Whichever view a believer holds, both sides agree on the fundamentals: salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not personal effort (Ephesians 2:8-9); genuine faith produces a changed life over time (James 2:17); and assurance of salvation is meant to be a source of confidence and peace, not anxiety. The disagreement is specifically about what happens, if anything, when someone who once professed faith later walks away from it entirely — a question scripture doesn’t answer with a single, uncontested verse.

    Key Bible Verses on Eternal Security

    John 10:28-29
    “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

    Romans 8:38-39
    “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

    Hebrews 6:4-6
    “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit… if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance.”

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Do all Christians believe in eternal security?

    No. This is a genuine, longstanding disagreement among Bible-believing Christians across different traditions, not a settled question. We’d encourage studying the relevant passages directly and talking with a pastor or teacher you trust.

    Is doubting my salvation the same as losing it?

    No. Scripture treats doubt and struggle as a normal part of the Christian life (see Mark 9:24, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”). Both eternal-security and conditional-security traditions distinguish between a believer wrestling with doubt and someone who has fully and finally rejected faith in Christ.

    Related Bible Topics

    How Can I Be Saved According to the Bible? | What Does the Bible Say About Sin? | What Does Faith Without Works Mean?

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