Another Great Dialogue with Gene

So the comments in the post entitled "Should a Non-Jew Aspire to be a Pharisee Like Paul?" were pretty enlightening.  In that thread, we saw Gene offer the following test for how one can know which commands apply ONLY to ethnic Jews:

Dan, if you want to know which commandments apply specifically to Israel, just look up any commandment (or a section of commandments) that starts with G-d saying "Say to the children of Israel" and you'll know who G-d meant them for.

And then Zion pointed out a flaw in Gene's test:

Gene, in 1 Peter 2:9-10 We have Peter calling gentiles a "chosen race", "priesthood", "holy nation"...etc etc. The point is, he is quoting Exodus 19:6 concerning gentiles, and the verse in Exodus 19:6 says: 

These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. 

Since Peter applies a verse that directly applies to the sons of Israel to gentiles who now trust in the Messiah, where does your understanding come into this?"

But Gene responded:

Zion, my friend, you've made a lot of assumptions about the First Epistle of Peter. Neither its authorship (most scholars today consider the work to be pseudographical) or its the target audience (which many scholars believe were assimilated Helenized Jews living in Diaspora that Peter as the Apostle to the Jews was trying to reach) is a settled thing. Far from it.

 To break it down:  Gene is advocating that 1 Peter is deceptive when it purports to be written by Peter (1:1).  He's also advocating that the consensus of scholars are wrong to say that the addressees were predominantly non-Jewish.  But let's pause to hear what the scholars are saying.  First, was Peter the author or is 1 Peter pseudographical:

"If the evidence traditionally used to point to a late date and pseudonymous authorship is actually inconclusive because it could pertain to any period of the Christian church in the first century, then it becomes more difficult to avoid a more direct association of the letter with the apostle Peter himself.  And there is substantial evidence that would point to a very close association of the apostle Peter with the letter.  

First, the letter indisputably claims to be from the apostle Peter (1 Peter 1:1).  In today's scholarly milieu, this may seem a naive point.  But under the assumption that epistolary pseudonymity was frequently practiced and widely accepted in antiquity, the text's own claim is sometimes not given its due in favor of inferred evidence of questionable weight."  [1 Peter (Baker Exegetical Commentary) by Jobes]

Second, who were the addressees of 1 Peter:

"On the basis of 1:18, most modern commentators disagree that the audience was primarily Jewish Christian; that verse refers to the 'useless way of life you inherited from your ancestors'…" [ibid]

So I just think it's funny to watch how the Exclusionists attempt to get around Scripture.  They have a big problem with Ephesians 2.  But they have an even bigger problem with 1 Peter 2!  With Ephesians 2, they desperately try to redefine "politeia" to mean something other than "citizenship" because if it means "citizenship" then non-Jews are FULL members of the New Covenant along with Messianic Jews.  And they desperately try to argue that 1 Peter isn't written to non-Jews because if 1 Peter 2 is about non-Jews then we're forced to conclude that Apostle Peter believed that non-Jews had been incorporated into the People of Israel.  

One last thing:  what is the implication if non-Jews have been incorporated into Israel?  I think McKee says it best:

 "James affirmed Peter's testimony before the Council about God concerning Himself with the nations, and integrating these new Believers into the community.  Interestingly enough, Peter himself would later write to a large group of Jewish and non-Jewish Believers, and would apply many Tanach concepts of Israel equally to them.  Not only would these concepts serve to inform who they were to be as transformed Believers, but also how they would all be living out the Divine mandate as originally given to Israel together:
     '[Y]ou are CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY' (1 Peter 2:9-10; cf. Deuteronomy 7:6; 10:15; Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 61:6; 43:21; Deuteronomy 4:20; 14:2; and Hosea 2:23).
We can safely assume that James, brother of Yeshua, would have agreed with this later assessment of Peter.  It is not enough to just be a part of Israel or God's chosen, as one must live forth the special calling upon Israel,"  (pg. 57 "Acts 15 for the Practical Messianic" by J.K. McKee)

CONCLUSION

If you are a non-Jew then you need to realize that Yeshua has brought you into Israel, that this is a humbling responsibility given so that you will help Jews come to know the Messiah (because it's a gospel to the Jew first), and that you must "live forth the special calling upon Israel" which involves following Sinaitic Torah and showing respect for the Jewish traditions that conform to the spirit and letter of the Law.  

[P.S.  I've got to go to work now so I won't be able to check back until probably tomorrow.  Shalom!]