Windham/Mowery Debate on Who is Subject to the Gospel

 
 
 Proposition: 
 Like the old covenant, the new covenant is only for the physical descendants of 
the twelve tribes of Israel.

Affirm: Brian Windham
Deny:  Dub Mowery

Brian states, 
“I do confirm Mr. Mowery’s conclusion that I am not Jewish, but Christian. I also 
am not a physical descendant of any Jews that I am aware of.”

Dub here: 
Brian since you readily admit that you are not a Jew by race then how could you 
or any other Gentile (people who are not Jews by race) be a Christian? You want 
to avoid answering that question. And yet, you contend to be a Christian! How 
can this be if you or any other Gentile (according to your proposition above) are 
not under the new covenant? This is contradictory! 

Brian further comments: 
 “If the New Covenant (NC) is with the same people the 
Old Covenant (OC) was with and these people are considered Christians, then 
regardless of how one refers to these people they would have to be Christians. 
Would they not?”

 
Dub here:
You surely do not mean what seems to be implied in the above statement. As 
stated, it would seem to imply that a person of Jewish race is a Christian because 
of that very fact. Both of us agree that Jews are subject to the new covenant. 
However, that does not automatically make a Jew a Christian.

Brian seems to be in a dilemma as to how he or any other Gentile can be a 
Christian and yet not be under the new covenant. In that he begs out of explaining 
how this can be by making the following statement: 

“However if it’s OK with you Mr. Mowery I’ll not respond to the remainder of 
your statements about my standing in light of the covenants in order to 
concentrate on the subject of whether the NC is with the same people the OC was 
with.”

 
Dub here:
Brian, you cannot have it both ways! Either you are under the new covenant or 
you are not! According to you’re above proposition, only a Jew is under the new 
covenant. You readily admit that you are not a Jew by race. Therefore, according 
to your own proposition you cannot be a Christian. I insist that you explain to us 
how you can be a Christian and not be subject to the new covenant!

Brian comments: 
 “I agree with Mr. Mowery that the theme of the Bible is not about one nation. 
However, I say the theme of the Bible, whatever one thinks that is, deals with one 
nation of people from the 12th chapter of Genesis to the end.”

 
Dub here:
When Brian states that, “he agrees with me that the theme of the Bible is not 
about one nation” is a subtle change from his original statement on this matter. In 
his first affirmative, he said, “The Bible is a book to and about one nation of 
people and the people from which she sprang. That nation is physical Israel.”

Brian seems to not be certain what the theme of the Bible is with the following 
statement: 
However, I say the theme of the Bible, whatever one thinks that is, deals with one 
nation of people from the 12th chapter of Genesis to the end.”

You state that you are a Christian and acknowledge that repentance and baptism is 
essential for a person’s salvation. How do you conclude that the conditions for an 
alien sinner to obtain remission of his or her sins apply to you or me since we are 
not Jews by race?

Your effort to defuse the truth that the gospel applies to both Jews and Gentiles 
comes over as a weak argument. Would you dare claim that the following 
passages apply only to Jews? Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God that bringeth 
salvation hath appeared to all men,” Heb. 2:9, “But we see Jesus, who was made a 
little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and 
honour; that he by the grace of God should taste of death for every man.” II Pet. 
3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; 
but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all 
should come to repentance.” Rom. 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of 
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the 
Jew first, and also to the Greek.” 

Speaking of contexts, it is plainly taught in First Tim. 2:1-7 that Gentiles are 
included among those in whom God would have saved. Brian comments on this 
passage as follows: 

“Mr. Mowery also seems to think the phrase ‘all men’ in 1 Tim. 2:4, which says 
‘[God] will have all men to be saved’ must mean every man on the globe. If God 
willed all men, as in every person on the globe, to be saved, why doesn’t He call 
every man?

 
Dub here:
God does hold every person in the world, who is capable of understanding right 
and wrong, good and evil, accountable for their sins. And the gospel is the Lord’s 
means of calling both Jew and Gentile. To the church at Thessalonica made up, to 
a great extent, of Gentile converts who had previously worshipped idols (First 
Thess. 1:6-9), the Apostle Paul spoke of them as having been called by the gospel 
(Second Thess. 2:14). What is commonly called “The Great Commission” reveals 
that the gospel of Christ is to be proclaimed unto every person who is accountable 
in every nation (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16; Lk. 24:36-47).

It seems that Brian’s concept that only those who are physical Jews are under the 
new covenant is based upon his understanding of the following passages (Jer. 
31:31; Lk. 1:68; Matt. 15:24; Matt. 10:5-6; and Heb. 8:8). Brian, you surely 
would readily admit that we should consider all that the Bible has to say on a 
given subject. You properly illustrated that John 3:16 is not conclusive on the 
subject of salvation. The believing in order to be saved, as mentioned in that 
passage, has to do with an active obedient faith that includes faith, repentance, 
confessing Christ, and being baptized for the remission of sins. Since God is not 
the author of confusion (First Cor. 14:33), He does not contradict Himself! 
Therefore, the above passages in which you primarily base your proposition must 
be harmonized with all other scripture on this subject. For example: to conclude 
that Jesus implied that only physical Jews were subject to the new covenant is 
erroneous. At John 10:16, the Son of God declares, “And other sheep I have, 
which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; 
and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” The other sheep in consideration 
are Gentiles. In the context of Ephesians 2:11-22, the Apostle Paul speaks of both 
Jews and Gentiles being reconciled unto God in one body [the church] by the 
cross.

The Apostle Peter came to realize, after having received a vision from Heaven, 
that the Lord would, under the same conditions, accept Gentiles, as were Jews. He 
said, “…Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every 
nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” 
(Acts 10:34-35). Concerning this matter, in the Great Commission, Jesus 
commanded, “…All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye 
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the 
world. Amen” (Matt. 28:18-20).

The Greek word diatheke is recorded in the New Testament 30 times. It carries 
the following meanings: (1) a disposition, arrangement, of any sort, which one 
wishes to be valid, the last disposition which one makes of his earthly possessions 
after his death, a testament or will. (2) A compact, a covenant, a testament. In the 
KJV it is translated testament 12 times; and covenant 18 times. It is obvious in the 
various verses of scripture in which diatheke is used as either covenant or 
testament to refer to the same thing. In Heb. 7:22, “a better testament”; whereas at 
Heb. 8:6, it speaks of “a better covenant.” At Second Cor. 3:6, in the KJV, the 
Greek word diatheke is translated “testament” with the adjective “new” before it. 
In the ASV, that same word is translated “covenant” with the adjective “new” 
before it. Brian, the fourfold gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John took place 
while the old covenant was still in effect. However, the teachings of Jesus Christ 
during that period of time is included in the new covenant which, in reality, is the 
New Testament that came into effect after the physical death of the Son of God. 
Now then, back to Second Cor. 3:6. Who made up the church at Corinth that was 
under the new covenant? It is obvious that much of that congregation was made 
up of Gentile Christians. At Rom. 15:25-26, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For it hath 
pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the 
poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors 
they are. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty 
is also to minister unto them in carnal things.” Those churches in Macedonia and 
Achaia were referred to as Gentiles. The church at Corinth was one of the 
churches in the province of Achaia. Therefore, Gentiles were subject to the new 
covenant. 

Dub Mowery