I'm trying to understand why some NT books apply to Christians and some don't.
1:1 says 12 tribes and 2:1 says those who have faith in Lord Jesus Christ. How do you reconcile the two?
James 1:1 KJV is who James is writing to. James 2:1 KJV does not say faith in, but the faith OF Jesus Christ.
Me, I see it spiritually not physically because in Christ there are no Jews.
In the Body of Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female.
Galatians 3:28 KJV There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
There is a distinction in the Lord's "My church" just as there was in Moses' church
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
3 John 1:7 Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.
Christians are spiritual Jews.
No. We are a new creature in Christ 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
Gal. 3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.
We are not likened to those Gentiles, but these (Ephesians 2:11-12 KJV).