Why is there no longer a demarcation between Jew and Gentile in the prison epistles?
In the prison epistles, God reveals higher church truths and deals with the whole human race on one level. Every saved person, Jew or Gentile, enters the Body of Christ equally. The Jew’s former identity and privilege under the Old Testament no longer apply, so Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians contain no dividing line between Jew and Gentile.
Les explains that once we enter the prison epistles and the higher or deeper church truths, the old demarcation between Jew and Gentile is no longer the issue. God is now dealing with the whole human race on one level, and everyone who is saved comes into the Body of Christ on the same level, whether Jew or Gentile. The Jew has lost his identity as such for the church age. God’s purpose is the bringing together of Jew and Gentile into one Body, and there is no difference. A Jew today must be saved as a sinner, a fallen son of Adam, just like Gentiles. Les notes that some Messianic Jews turn away from this Pauline teaching and try to return to a former place of privilege, but it is not there. In Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians there is no dividing between Jew and Gentile, and no reference to the Old Testament.