I am a constant reader of Present Truth, and there is a good portion of truth in it; but it seems to me that you are too positive over every disputed point of doctrine.
However, what I want just now is for you to explain how Abraham became a Jew, if, as you say, he was first a Gentile. Mind, this is not meant as sarcasm, by any means. You remember the Jews quoted Abraham as their father, and the Saviour said in reply, "Your father Abraham," etc.
Before I answer this question let us consider this matter of being "too positive." Let me ask you, "What would you have when you ask a question?"
If you are lost and enquire the way, you certainly want positive direction; you do not wish your professed informant to be undecided, or to guess at the answer he gives you.
If you find two or three men who are disputing over the way, you will turn with eagerness to the man whose quiet, confident assurance begets confidence in you. So when you ask me a question about the way of life, it is because you want a positive answer, because you want to know.
The matters with which we are dealing are vital, and it will not do to be uncertain; if we do not know, then we must keep still; but we need not keep still, for we may positively know the truth. The Word God makes the way plain, and: "By faith we understand;" (Hebrews 11:3,RV) therefore we speak because we believe. We may have the "full assurance of faith." (Hebrews 10:22)
Now about Abraham. You ask, "How did Abraham become a Jew, if, as you say, he was first a Gentile?"
Let me ask you, Is there any doubt about it? Is it simply I who say that Abraham was a Gentile at first? The Bible says that Terah, the father of Abraham, "served other gods." (Joshua 24:2)
We know that he came from Ur of the Chaldees. He was a Chaldean. How then did his descendants become Jews? I might ask you, "How did some of his descendants become Arabs?" "How did the descendants of Adam become, some black, some white, some yellow?"
Do you not remember that the promise to Abraham was that he should be the "father of many nations" (Genesis 17:4-5)?
But this question admits a still more positive answer. In the ordinary use of the word, Abraham never was a Jew. The Jews, as well as all other nations, sprang from Adam, and Adam did not belong to any nationality now on earth.
In the truest sense, however, Abraham was a Jew, and he became one in just the same way that every other real Jew becomes one, namely by faith. "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, and in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Romans 2:28-29)--Present Truth, August 28, 1902.