What New Testament connections exist regarding inclusion in God's covenant community? The original boundary around the Passover table (Exodus 12:43–48) • Exodus 12:43: “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘This is the statute of the Passover: No foreigner is to eat of it.’” • Participation required covenant membership, demonstrated by circumcision (vv. 44, 48). • The restriction safeguarded holiness, underscored identity, and pointed to a yet-future fulfillment. Christ, the definitive Passover Lamb • 1 Corinthians 5:7: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” • Jesus’ death satisfies the typology: He is the Lamb whose blood delivers from wrath. • What was once a national meal becomes universal in scope because the Lamb is of infinite worth. Circumcision of the flesh becomes circumcision of the heart • Romans 2:28-29: true circumcision “is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.” • Colossians 2:11-12 links this heart-circumcision to union with Christ, signified in baptism. • Acts 15 settles the Jerusalem debate: Gentiles enter without physical circumcision, yet with full covenant standing through faith. From excluded foreigners to fellow citizens • Ephesians 2:12–13, 19: once “excluded from the commonwealth of Israel,” now “brought near by the blood of Christ,” becoming “fellow citizens with the saints.” • Galatians 3:28-29: “There is neither Jew nor Greek… you are all one in Christ Jesus… heirs according to the promise.” • The covenant community now comprises all who trust in Christ, regardless of ethnicity. Guarded participation continues • 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 warns against eating the Lord’s Supper “in an unworthy manner.” • The New Covenant meal, like the original Passover, still carries boundaries—self-examination and faith replace circumcision as entry qualifications. • Revelation 19:9 pictures the marriage supper of the Lamb reserved for those clothed in His righteousness. Signposts of inclusion in the New Testament • Faith in Christ (John 1:12; Romans 10:9-13) • Sealing by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) • Public identification through baptism (Acts 2:38-41) • Ongoing fellowship in the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42) Living out covenant belonging • Unity across former divisions (Colossians 3:11). • Holiness that matches new identity (1 Peter 1:14-16). • Proclamation of God’s mercy to the world (1 Peter 2:9-10). In Exodus 12:43 God drew a firm line around His table; in the New Testament He redrew that line around His Son. Entrance remains exclusive—only through Christ—yet gloriously open to all peoples who come to Him in repentant faith. |
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