Section 10
philosophical concepts. We learn from church his tory that during the time of the Apostle Paul the religious background of the Jews and the cultural background of the Gentiles created problems in the church life. Although the Jews and the Gen tiles were genuine believers in the Lord Jesus, they brought with them into the church life their con cepts from their backgrounds—the Jews bring ing their religious beliefs and the Gentiles their philosophical concepts. Some so-called Gentile believers considered that their philosophy cor responded to much of biblical teaching. As a re sult, the saints found it difficult to be one. Thus, Paul told them to drop their doctrinal concepts for the sake of unity. Paul told the Jewish and the Gentile believers alike to come to Christ and take Christ as their life and concept. Thus, Paul told the believers that Christ is for both the cir cumcision and for the nations. Christ is the root of Jesse, the source of supply for all the Jews, and He is the One who rises to rule over the nations. Christ's rule over the nations is sweet, gracious, and full of healing. Christ embraces both Jews and Gentiles together as one Body. Thus, we must forget our Jewish or Gentile background, our re ligious or philosophical background, and keep Christ as our unique concept. We must have