“The Jews, the Gentiles, and the church of God”

1 Corinthians 10:32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: “The language of the Scriptures is of three kinds. Figurative, Symbolical and Literal. The Figurative is explained by the context, the Symbolical either in the context or somewhere else in the Scriptures, and the rest should be taken literally. That is we are to read the Bible as we would read any other book, letting it say what it wants to say, without allegorizing or spiritualizing it’s meaning. While the Bible was written For all classes of people, and For our learning, it is not addressed to all people in general. Part of it is addressed to the Jews, part to the Gentiles, and part to the Church. These three constitute the “Three Classes” into which humanity is divided. 1 Cor. 10:32. It follows therefore that while the whole Bible was written for the instruction of the Church, it is not all written about the Church. The Church is not mentioned in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is mostly taken up with the history of one nation, that of Israel. When we take the Old Testament promises and apply them to the Church we rob the Jew of that which is exclusively his. For illustration, the prophecy of Isaiah in the chapter headings is largely applied to the Church, whereas the very first verse declares that it is-“concerning Judah and Jerusalem.” Isa. 1:1. In the New Testament the Epistles of Hebrews and James are Jewish. The Epistle of James is addressed, not to the Church, but to the “Twelve Tribes scattered abroad.” James 1:1. In the Epistle to the Hebrews many Christians stumble at the words “fall away” (Heb. 6:4-6), and “if we sin willfully,” Heb. 10:26. But these words do not apply to Christians. They were spoken to apostate Jewish professors of Christianity who had never been born again, and who, if they did not accept Jesus as their Messiah, practically crucified Him again, and were as bad as their brethren who did crucify Him. All Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, (2 Tim. 3:16), and what happened to Israel was written for our Ensample and Admonition, (1 Cor. 10:11), but we must not apply to the Church what does not belong to it. To do so is to misapply Scripture and lead to confusion.” -Larkin-