To the Jew First

 

 

In two Bible references

You will find this phrase,

Go to Romans 1:16 and 2:10

And thereupon gaze.

 

To the Jew first

But what does it mean?

When examined in its context,

What can we glean?

 

Quite a lot, you’ll see
If you but take a look

But it is important my friend

To read the whole book.

 

Therein is the context

Re the saints at Rome

Made up of Jews and Gentiles

As a diverse one.

 

 

Distinct, yet unified,

By faith in Jesus Christ:

Both Jew and Gentile redeemed

For the same price.

 

And this is critical

As we look to the future,

For we must examine this past

To get a right picture.

 

To the Jew first:

Chronological or priority?

A study of the book of Romans

Will help you see.

 

Who’s more important:

The Gentile or the Jew?

Neither of them is more important;

I thought you knew.

 

 

For in Father Abraham

Both were to be blessed

And in the Lord Jesus Christ only

Both find their rest.

 

Not one way for Jews

And another for Gentiles,

The contrast, I will dare say,

Is one of Satan’s wiles.

 

It’s one of Satan’s tricks

For which many still fall

Believing that Israel’s ethnicity

Is Israel’s all in all.

 

A special gathering in

Is yet reserved for them

Since God did make a promise

Re Abraham’s children.

 

Every promise of God

God does indeed fulfil

And He does so in accordance

With His divine will.

 

 

Some have been fulfilled

And some are ongoing

Like the millions of souls saved

Through evangelizing.

 

And what is more

As I am hoping you see,

This is the promise to Abraham

Given in prophecy.

 

Yes, to the Jew first:

The very first evangelists,

Also, the Gentile, no after thought

But always on God’s list.

 

For in Abraham

All nations are blessed

And their faith in Jesus, the Christ,

Is the utmost test.

 

For since Pentecost

Christ has made all one

And the dividing wall of partition

Is eternally gone.

 

 

 

No difference now

Between Gentiles and Jews

Though it was to the Jew first

That carried the news.

 

 

The blessed news

Of the glorious gospel:

The gospel of so great salvation

Which they did tell…

 

To the Gentiles afar off

Who were brought near

And now before the throne of God

We can all appear…

 

With our sins forgiven

And all iniquities pardoned

And God’s law written on hearts

That were once hardened.

 

 

To the Jew first

Was inclusive by intent

In that the first gospel message

Was for all to repent.

 

The early church

Was both Jew and Gentile,

No afterthought as some esteem

But prophecy all the while.

 

To the Jew first

Was merely the beginning

Of God’s glorious salvation to all

Without ending.

 

One salvation and baptism,

All one in Christ!

No two peoples, as some believe,

No dividing splice!

 

No ethnic division

In the kingdom of God,

All heirs and joint-heirs in Christ!

Shout this abroad.

 

 

To the Jew first

And also to the Greek,

Is the power of God unto salvation

Even as we speak.

 

To the Jew first

And to the Gentile also,

To every man that worketh good

And God’s mercy show.

 

To the Jew first

And to you and me,

Sealed by the blessed Holy Spirit

For all eternity.

 

Stewart Russell © July 11, 2025