Has the Church Replaced Israel ?

Bright Raven

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In his paper on the role of Israel, Rev Stewart shows how OT Covenant Promises to National Israel are fullfilled to the Church of the NT by the Head of the Church, Christ:
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There is no “New Israel.” The Church has not become a new Israel, nor has it taken the place of old Israel. Simply put, followers of the Jewish King, believers in the Jewish Messiah make up true (not new) Israel. If those followers are Gentiles, then they have been grafted in and given citizenship in Israel—that is, they have been made part of the people of God. Today, the majority of Jesus’ followers are Gentiles while the majority of Jews are not His followers; however, we do expect that to change one day as God will once again move within the hearts of ethnic Israel. Even now, we see more and more ethnic Jews take their place in true Israel as subjects of the King. Incidentally, these believers are not welcome to return to Israel as citizens, as they are not considered bona fide Jews by the Israeli government. Perhaps these Jews, if anyone, should be considered New Israel.
 

marke

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In his paper on the role of Israel, Rev Stewart shows how OT Covenant Promises to National Israel are fullfilled to the Church of the NT by the Head of the Church, Christ:
Rev Stewart's judgment is flawed. He mistakenly believes in God's predestinated hatred of billions of human sinners He supposedly made to be divinely cut off from any hope of salvation so He could burn them in hell forever for being the sinners He made them be. Calvinists falsely believe God does not need a humanly understandable reason to save sinners but that He does need an excuse to burn billions of sinners alive in the lake of fire forever. Calvinists claim God does not save sinners for reasons humans find reasonable which implies that God does not burn sinners in hell forever for any reason humans may find logical.
 

beloved57

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That the Church is Israel is seen n the redemption promise made to Israel and fulfilled in the Church by Christs death for His church. Ps 130:8

8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Fulfilled Titus 2:14

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
 

JudgeRightly

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That the Church is Israel is seen n the redemption promise made to Israel and fulfilled in the Church by Christs death for His church. Ps 130:8

8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Fulfilled Titus 2:14

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Begging the question.
 

beloved57

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Now notice how the Church Christ redeemed is designated a peculiar people Titus 2:14

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

That designation is only for Israel, remember Exodous 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:

Deut 14:2

For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Notice a peculiar people unto Himself. Now what does the Holy Spirit say of the redeemed Church comprised of men and women of all ethnicities

Titus 2:14

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Again purify unto Himself a peculiar people. Folks there can only be one peculiar people unto God, the very word peculiar denotes that. Its the greek word periousios:

  1. that which is one's own, belonging to one's possessions
    1. a people selected by God from the other nations for his own possession
    2. Now thats the Church, the Body of Christ, The Israel of God.

BTW this isnt replacement theology as some say, but fulfillment theology. The NT fulfills the OT !
 

Bright Raven

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Now notice how the Church Christ redeemed is designated a peculiar people Titus 2:14

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

That designation is only for Israel, remember Exodous 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:

Deut 14:2

For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Notice a peculiar people unto Himself. Now what does the Holy Spirit say of the redeemed Church comprised of men and women of all ethnicities

Titus 2:14

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Again purify unto Himself a peculiar people. Folks there can only be one peculiar people unto God, the very word peculiar denotes that. Its the greek word periousios:

  1. that which is one's own, belonging to one's possessions
    1. a people selected by God from the other nations for his own possession
    2. Now thats the Church, the Body of Christ, The Israel of God.

BTW this isnt replacement theology as some say, but fulfillment theology. The NT fulfills the OT !

THE FOLLY OF FULFILLMENT THEOLOGY​

A new form of Replacement Theology​

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By:
Rev. Malcolm Hedding
Posted on:
11 Apr 2012
The Folly of Fulfillment Theology
In recent years a new form of Replacement Theology has arrived on the Christian scene called Fulfillment Theology. Like Replacement Theology it ends up contending that, since the time of Jesus, the Jews no longer enjoy a god-given national destiny in the land of Canaan. This time around it is not the Church that replaces Israel and takes over all her promises in scripture but in fact Jesus. He fulfills in His life and redemptive work all the promises that God ever made to the Jews; even the promise that Canaan would be the everlasting possession of the Jewish people! Jesus is the Promised Land. This allows the proponents of this theory to distance themselves from the awful evil (as in the Apartheid State) and anti-Semitic consequences (as in the Christian pogroms of history) of Replacement Theology. However, they end up believing the same thing!

God and Israel’s modern day restoration​

Much of the above is backed up by scripture but falsely so! For these people it always comes down to the same thing and that is to find a way to disinvest the Jews of any divine action or biblical significance in Israel’s modern day restoration. Once this position has been taken Israel can be viewed as any other nation state entangled in an internal conflict. This usually means that any people can lay claim to the Holy Land and they do. Israel is an occupying bully robbing other peoples of their land and refusing to hand over to them the old biblical city of Jerusalem as their Capital. The Jews occupy the city even though they have a three thousand year unbroken relationship with it and will again this year, as they have for centuries, pray “This year in Jerusalem.”

Today many Christians back this thesis and even some evangelicals are beginning to abandon their traditional pro-Israel biblical position in favor of Fulfillment Theology. Also the fact that some leading Christian academics and Ministers have thrown their weight behind it is giving added momentum to its dissemination and acceptance. Nevertheless it remains a flawed theological thesis.

Jesus and Fulfillment​

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law till all is fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17-18
When Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law He meant just that! That is, He would perfectly fulfill in His life the moral demands of the Law on behalf of a fallen world. He would thus prove to be perfect man and would give His life on the cross so as to remove the curse of the Law from our lives. (Galatians 3:13) Jesus thus saves us by the power of an indestructible life! (Hebrews 7:16) So, in Matthew five, six and seven He was not talking about the Covenant that God made with Abraham but about the Covenant that God made with Moses! The context of these chapters proves this overwhelmingly. Jesus was expounding the inward nature of the Law and our failure to keep it. He would thus fulfill the demands of it by living in us! This is the very essence of the New Covenant. (Jeremiah 31:31-35; Romans 8:3-4) This, and only this, is what He fulfills! To suggest then that He was in some way by this statement debunking the Abrahamic Covenant is a giant leap into error!

Moses and Fulfillment​

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” Deuteronomy 18:15
Moses, referring to Jesus, said that God would raise up a Prophet like unto himself. Again Moses was the great Lawgiver of Israel and this Prophet (Messiah) to come would be unique, one of a kind and fulfill the obligations of the Law on behalf of a fallen world. Moses was not undermining the Abrahamic Covenant by this statement. He was in fact giving it “executive authority.” Abraham’s Covenant is God’s decision to save the world (Galatians 3:8) but Moses’ Covenant is God’s decision to teach the world that it needs to be saved! (Romans 3:20) Moses empowers Abraham! That is, the world must be convicted of sin (Moses) before it can be saved from it (Jesus). The Apostle John put it this way…”For the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)

The fact that Jesus’ life was in some measure a re-enactment of Moses’ life does not imply that God has torn up His covenant with Abraham. This is a leap of total presumption and those who make it are not on “biblical territory”. Rather it implies that God is going to “tear up sin” in our lives and that Israel would identify the Prophet by His likeness to Moses! They have no excuse for not recognizing Him. So, Jesus:
  1. Lived under the Law (Galatians 4:4)
  2. Was circumcised according to the Law (Luke 2:25-28)
  3. Was taught by the word of the Law (Luke 2:46)
  4. Was for forty days in the wilderness proved by the Law (Luke 4:1-13)
  5. Went up to a mountain to deliver the Law (Matthew 5:1-2)
  6. Died to fulfill the demands of the Law on behalf of all people.(Romans 8:3-4)
This proved that He was Moses’ successor but it did not abolish, in any way, the promises of God made to Israel in the Abrahamic Covenant. These promises set aside the Jewish people as the “vehicle of world redemption” (Romans 3:1-2; 9:1-5) and they designate Canaan as the everlasting possession of the people of Israel (Genesis 17:7-8) Indeed the writer of the book of Hebrews holds up the Abrahamic Covenant, and God’s faithfulness to it, as proof that He will not fail believers in Jesus who have been saved by the New Covenant; (Hebrews 6:13-20) this, years after Jewish rejection of Jesus’ Messianic credentials. To suggest that these promises have been somehow abolished or are fulfilled by Jesus is just not true. The Hebrew Prophets clearly “see” a day of restoration for the Jewish people that goes beyond the Babylonian return. (Amos 9:11-15; Isaiah 2:1-4; Zechariah 14)) It is passages like the one in Amos that confound “fulfillment proponents” and lead some of them to state that these scriptures need to be “de-zionized!” That is, altered because they contradict their position! This in itself is a defeat for them.

Paul and Fulfillment​

“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.” Galatians 3:16
In Galatians three Paul is not arguing for or suggesting that the Abrahamic Covenant has been reconstructed or entirely fulfilled in Jesus. Indeed he is not referring to a “post coming of Jesus new reality” but to an aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant that was enshrined in it when God first made it with Abraham two thousand years before! That is, while the Covenant has clear promises to Abraham’s descendants (plural) (Genesis 17:7) it also holds a promise in a descendant (singular) (Genesis 22:18). In other words, from the very beginning a promise of land and purpose is given to the descendants but, at the same time, a promise of salvation and reconciliation to God is given in a descendant; Jesus! The two promises are mutually interdependent. That is, the one cannot do without the other. (Luke 1:54-55;71-75)

The real point that Paul was making is that salvation is not by works of the Law, that convict of sin (Galatians 2:16; 3:24)), but by faith in the finished work of the “seed” to come. This promise was made 400 years before the Law was given (Galatians 3:17-18) Paul was not tampering with the Abrahamic Covenant and suggesting that it has been reconstructed.

It must be remembered that the promise to the Seed, as of one, was made two thousand years before Jesus came. If this was the full extent of the promise in the Abrahamic Covenant then God would never have led the “seeds” out of Egypt into the Promised Land because no promise was made to them! One cannot and should not read Galatians three like that. This is the absurd position of those who hold to fulfillment theology. The Bible itself debunks this nonsense! It is a false theology just like its sister called Replacement Theology.

Conclusion​

It must be remembered that in Paul’s time there was only one cannon of scripture; the Hebrew Scriptures or, what many call the Old Testament. It was to these scriptures that Paul was chiefly referring when he wrote that “all scripture is inspired and given of God” etc. (2Timothy 3:16) The same goes for Peter when he wrote that scripture is given by holy men who were “moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2Peter 1:21) In other words the New Testament, though equally inspired, is in fact, a faithful exposition of the Old Testament scriptures. When we realize this we honor all of scripture and recognize that no “prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation.” Those who seek to disinvest the Jewish people of a biblical significance to their modern day return to Zion are in essence seeking to re-write great God-given and holy covenants that God has given to them. They are thereby ‘playing with fire” and placing themselves in conflict with the purpose of God. In all of this it is good to remember that we can do nothing against the truth. (2Corinthians 13:8) This should make us all tremble!

 

beloved57

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If we are Justified in and by the Lord Jesus Christ as His Church is, then are we Israel, since Justification in Him is promised only to Israel Isa 45:25

25 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
 

Idolater

"Matthew 16:18-19" Dispensationalist (Catholic) χρ
If we are Justified in and by the Lord Jesus Christ as His Church is, then are we Israel, since Justification in Him is promised only to Israel Isa 45:25

25 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
OK, but doesn't that only sustain the claim that the Church is the seed of Israel, and not the same thing as Israel?
 

marke

Well-known member
If we are Justified in and by the Lord Jesus Christ as His Church is, then are we Israel, since Justification in Him is promised only to Israel Isa 45:25

25 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
Not all who claimed or still claim to be Jews will be partakers of the promises just as not all of Abram's children will be saved.
 

Idolater

"Matthew 16:18-19" Dispensationalist (Catholic) χρ
I dont understand why you are asking me something that I have clearly stated. Have you read the thread ?
Your scripture said the "seed of Israel," and you're saying this is the Church, and so I'm asking, isn't the seed of Israel and Israel not the same exact thing?
 

beloved57

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Your scripture said the "seed of Israel," and you're saying this is the Church, and so I'm asking, isn't the seed of Israel and Israel not the same exact thing?
I dont understand why you asking me that. Have you read the thread comments. Do you understand what this thread is about ?
 

beloved57

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Israel is the Church when again we look at and consider the redemption promise made to Israel Ps 130:7-8

7 Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

The Promise is that the Lord shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Now this is fulfilled in the church Titus 2:14

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Titus is written to the Church, the Elect of God Titus 1:1

Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

Its the same people, the Church, and Israel being redeemed from all iniquity ! No not ethnic national israel, they were a type, a shadow, but Spiritual Israel, Christs and Abrahams Spiritual seed.
 
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