Two contrasts, at least, enabled the Church to explain the reason why the Gentiles could be saved without becoming Jews. The first was the contrast between faith and works, between grace and the law; the second was the contrast between the type and the thing typified. The former was revealed especially to Paul; the latter to the author of Hebrews.
(1) The Law and Grace.—Salvation through Christ, according to Paul, is an absolutely free gift. It cannot be earned; it must simply be received. In other words, it comes not by works, but by faith. The law of God, on the other hand, of which the Mosaic law was the clearest embodiment, offers a different means of obtaining God's favor. It simply presents a series of commandments, and offers salvation on condition that they be obeyed. But the trouble is, the commandments, since the fall, cannot be obeyed; everyone has incurred deadly guilt through his disobedience; the power of the flesh is too strong. At that point, however, God intervened. He offered Christ as a sacrifice for sin that all believers might have a fresh start; and he bestowed the Spirit of the living Christ that all might have strength to lead a new life. But Christ will do everything or nothing. A man must take his choice. There are only two ways of obtaining salvation—the perfect keeping of the law, or the simple, unconditional acceptance of what Christ has done. The first is excluded because of sin; the second has become a glorious reality in the Church.
If, however, salvation is through the free gift of Christ, then the law religion has been superseded. All those features of the law which were intended to make the law palpable, as a set of external rules, are abrogated. The Christian, indeed, performs the will of God—in the deepest sense Christianity only confirms the law—but he performs it, not by slavish obedience to a complex of external commandments, but by willing submission to the Spirit of God.
Of course, the religion of the Old Testament was not, according to Paul, purely a law religion; on the contrary Paul quotes the Old Testament in support of faith. But there was a law element in the Old Testament; and the law served merely a temporary, though beneficent, purpose. It was intended to deepen the sense of sin and hopelessness, in order that finally salvation might be sought not in man's way but in God's. The new order at length has come; in Christ we are free men, and should never return to the former bondage. The middle wall of partition has been done away; the ordinances of the law no longer separate Jew and Gentile; all alike have access through one Saviour unto God, all alike receive power through the Holy Spirit to live a life of holiness and love.
(2) The Type and the Fulfillment.—The contrast which was worked out in the Epistle to the Hebrews was especially a contrast between the sign and the thing signified. The ceremonial law, which had separated Jew from Gentile, was intended to point forward to Christ; and now that the fulfillment has come, what further need is there of the old types and symbols? Christ is the great High Priest; by him all alike can enter into the holy place.
(3) The Meaning of the Gospel.—The transition from Jewish Christianity, with all the difficulties of that transition, led finally to a deeper understanding of the gospel. It showed once for all that the salvation of the Christians is a free gift. "Just as I am, without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me"—these words are a good summary of the result of the Judaistic controversy. The transition showed, furthermore, what had really been felt from the beginning, that Christ was the one and all-sufficient Lord. When he was present, no other priest, and no other sacrifice was required. That is the truly missionary gospel—the gospel that will finally conquer the world.
In the Library.—Orr, "Neglected Factors in the Study of the Early Progress of Christianity" and "The Early Church." George Smith, "Short History of Christian Missions" (in "Handbooks for Bible Classes").