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Why Saying, ‘the Church is Israel,’
is NOT Replacement Theology.
by Brian Hennessy
The time has come to present a biblical truth that has
long been avoided for fear it would be labeled Replacement Theology.
Namely, that the body of Christ (the church) is true Israel!
Now it is true that saying the church is Israel sounds like the
replacement theology which resulted in so much Christian anti-Semitism
throughout history and now instincts animosity towards the modern
state of Israel. But it is not. That false theology taught that the
mostly-Gentile church had replaced the Jews as God’s only covenant
people. It assumed that the coming of Jesus made all promises to the
physical descendants of Abraham null and void. So that any claim by
the Jews to a continuing covenant relationship with God outside of a
relationship with Jesus Christ was now invalid. It ignored the clear
word of Scripture that said, although the Jews had become enemies of
the gospel (by God’s design), they were still beloved for the sake of
the fathers - “for the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance” (Rom.11:28,29). And it ignored the promises of their
future salvation. (See Rom. 11:12,15,26).
However, the true biblical revelation that the church is Israel does
not replace anybody. In fact, it holds front and center the
understanding that all the promises to the physical descendants of
Abraham are still in effect. That the story of Israel does not cease
as you go from the Old Testament to the New. But rather it continues,
telling the story of Israel as it makes the difficult transition from
one covenant (the Mosaic Law) into the long promised new covenant of
faith introduced by Jesus.
One New Man
Declaring that the church is Israel simply recognizes that Jesus is
the Messiah of Israel who came to redeem the chosen descendants of
Abraham, whether those descendants are Jews or Gentiles.
And to make us all one new creation in Him. Paul describes this new
unity of Jew and Gentile in Jesus as the “one new man” (Eph.
2:15), which is just another term for the body of Christ. It also
recognizes the process of gathering us into one would be ongoing until
Messiah is revealed. And it recognizes, that after 20 centuries of
mercy having been shown to the Gentiles, God is now pouring out His
redeeming love again upon the descendants of the House of Judah, the
Jews.
Now the main point to see is that ALL who are in Jesus are revealed
as the chosen line of Abraham’s descendants to whom the
promises were made. To quote the apostle Paul, “If you belong to
Messiah, you are Abraham’s descendant/offspring/seed, heirs according
to promise.” (Gal. 3:29). And again - “For this reason it is by
faith…in order that the promise may be certain to ALL the descendants
[of Abraham], not only to those who are of the Law (the
Jews), but also those who are of the faith of Abraham (the
Gentiles), who is the father of us all” (Rom. 4:16).
Of course, a key word in that last paragraph is the word “chosen.”
“For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” (Rom.
9:6). Paul reveals in Romans chapter nine that within the physical
family of Israel there is a chosen Israel known as the “Israel of
God” (Gal. 6:16). These are the elect, the remnant that will be
saved. The principle revealed by Paul is that, starting with Isaac,
God showed He had reserved to Himself the right to choose from all of
Abraham’s offspring who would be true Israel. So Isaac was in, and
Ishmael was out. Jacob was in, and Esau was out. And so on down the
line, right up to today. “He chooses our inheritance for us, the
glory of Jacob whom He loves” (Ps. 47:4).
The Fly in the Ointment.
So what’s the problem? Why is it so hard to declare that the Church is
Israel? In a nutshell: the inclusion of the Gentiles. If the Church
had remained solely Jewish, no one would have a problem accepting it.
But with the influx of a vast number of believers seemingly from other
bloodlines, a great division opened up in the unity of the Church that
continues to this day.
But what if all the Gentile believers were not from other bloodlines?
What if we were all actually true physical descendants of Abraham who
had assimilated among the nations and were “found” by Jesus? Didn’t
Jesus say He was the Good Shepherd sent to round up the lost sheep of
Israel (Matt. 15:24)? Well, consider this. The entire northern kingdom
of Israel, the House of Israel (also called Ephraim), was exiled by
God and turned into Gentiles in the 8th Century BC for
their apostasy. They didn’t die, but kept on building lives and
multiplying wherever they went in the world. And according to all the
prophecies, God said they would be found, forgiven and gathered
together again to Israel with the descendants of the House of Judah.
Today those lost sheep must be in every nation of the world and
numbering in the millions. But God would know who they were and where
we went. And since no one can come to Jesus “unless the Father who
sent Me draws him” (John 6:44) – the Father could selectively
choose which descendant to awaken among the Gentiles to bring to
Messiah. Up to now we have called these folks “Christians.” But that
is not who we are.
I have no doubt the prodigal son who comes to his senses in Jesus’
parable represents the lost descendants of the House of Israel. And
the jealous, law-abiding brother who stayed home, the House of Judah.
A Family Reunion
For sure, these are radical new thoughts to consider. But the bottom
line is, Jew or non-Jew, if you belong to Jesus you are as much a part
of Israel as Isaac, Rachael, Moses, David, Isaiah, Peter and Paul. And
heirs to all the promises that God made to Israel, including being
gathered together to the Promised Land at some point to enjoy all the
glories that will follow. We are only a remnant of Israel, but it is
this remnant who Paul calls “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16), the seed
to whom all the promises were made in Messiah Jesus.
“In those days, the House of Judah will walk with the House of
Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the
land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance” (Jer. 3:18).
2008
www.reunionministries.net
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