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To: bibletruth
I think that there is a lot of misinformation here, and it is late and time consuming to correct all of it; but let's start with this:

If the church began with Paul's commission to the Gentiles, who was he ravaging in this passage:

But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
16 posted on 01/14/2012 8:55:25 PM PST by Engraved-on-His-hands
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To: Engraved-on-His-hands

Sorry, I forgot the citation. That’s Acts 8:3


17 posted on 01/14/2012 8:57:17 PM PST by Engraved-on-His-hands
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To: Engraved-on-His-hands
Acts 8:3: As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

This reference to the 'church' in Acts 8:3 does not reference Gentiles. FOr the Church in Acts 8:3 was not the Body of Christ of which Paul speaks about later in Romans, etc. It was simply the group of Jewish believers in the Kingdom of God program for Israel where were assembled at Jerusalem. It was no more the Church of our present dispensation that was the church in the wilderness, of which Stephen spoke about in Acts 7. After the stoning of Stephen a great persecution arose against this group of Jewish believers who had acknowledged Jesus as Messiah - no Gentile acknowledged Jesus as Messiah - Messiah was onl y prophesied for Jews, not Gentiles. Saul was the chief leader of the persecution of this Jewish group, going from house to house, identifying Jewish believers in the Kingdom of God and putting them into prison. Most of these Jewish believers fled from this city and were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. However, the Jewish 12 Apostles remained in Jerusalem. The 12 Apostles remained in Jerusalem because they knew that the Kingdom of God must first need to be established in Jerusalem - and it could not be established in Jerusalem until the Jews repented and were water baptized. Therefore they did not carry out the great commission to go to the Gentiles until Jerusalem had first accepted it Messiah. These 12 Apostles were waiting for the repentance of Israel in order for the Kingdom of God to be established and they would then reign as judges over Israel (Matthew 19:28, 21:43). They did not know the times and seasons (Acts 1:6,7), but they know that Jerusalem had rejected God's offer of their Messiah - Jesus. They know that Jerusalem and Israel would only repent only after they see Messiah (Zechariah 12:10):

Zechariah 12:10: And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

46 posted on 01/14/2012 9:21:29 PM PST by bibletruth
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