FROM AMONG THE PEOPLES, A PEOPLE

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When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles.
Acts 15:13‭-‬14 NIV

¶James, ever the Hebrew scholar, goes back to the Old Testament to find a precedent for what he sees God doing in this new age. In Deuteronomy 14:2 God tells Israel “You are a people [lxx laos] holy to the Lord your God. Of all the peoples [lxx ethne, nations] on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.” In the same way, God is still calling from among the Gentiles [ethne, nations] a people [laos] for Himself as well.

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