Is The Nation of Israel the Chosen People of God?
Galatians 1:13-14
The "Jew's Religion" is a False Religion!
Galatians 1:13-14 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
Ephesians 5:25 ... Christ ...loved the church, and gave himself for it.
Isaiah 65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name.
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
There is much confusion abroad today over the question of "Who are God's chosen people?" There should be no confusion at all. Because God is not the author of confusion (1Corinthians 14:33). "Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). And that means: it is improper and inconsistent for His people, the people of truth and light (1Peter 2:9), to remain in the dark (1Jn 1:5), or to believe lies John 8:44), when it comes to such a simple and clear matter of truth (John 8:32)! If you believe that Jesus is the light (John 8:12), and the truth (John 14:6)? then you will also believe that He has given to you all the truth that you need to know (John 17:8,14; John 6:68; John 14:10). God called you out from darkness (1Peter 2:9;Matthew 4:6; Luke 1:79). He did not leave you in it(John 8:12)! That means that there is no excuse for any confusion at all when God has given you the light (Matthew 5:14; Matthew 6:22; Luke 11:35-36; John 8:12).
The idea in all the verses which I just referenced is that Jesus brought with Him when He came the first time, God's truth (John 1:17)! Truth came with and by Jesus Christ (John 8:32). He announced absolutely clearly, so that there can be no doubt about it at all, that He was now God's way, truth and life; and that no man could come to the Father but by Him (John 14:6). He was God's doorway (John 10:7,9). And it is declared that there is no other way for men to be saved, but through Him (Acts 4:12; Acts 10:42-43; 1John 2:23; 2John 1:9; John 3:36). He is the foundation (1Corinthians 3:11), the only mediator between men and God (1Timothy 2:5-6), the only source of God's Eternal Life (1John 5:11-12). Only believers in Christ are saved...all others are lost (Revelation 20:15). Christ, therefore is the pinnacle of God's divine revelation to mankind. He is the summit, the mountaintop, the apex of all the scriptures.
Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
I am pointing all this out, quite simply because it removes any and all doubts about what is the true religion in these days following the first coming of Christ. Christ brought the truth with Him, and He established the only way to God, upon the foundation of a finished redemptive work. This fulfilled all the Old Testament laws and prophecies, and thus it forever invalidated them as the basis for true religion (Luke 16:16; Matthew 5:17). The Old Testament was entirely fulfilled by Christ during His first Coming.
Luke 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
The idea that Christ did not close out and completely fulfill the Old Testament, and initiate and completely establish a New Testament, is one of the most horrific false doctrines infecting Christianity today. Christ fulfilled all the law and all the prophesies, not in order to destroy them but to law them aside, close them out and render them invalid inder His New Covenant. He stated that He Fulfilled all the Old Testament Scriptures, and that they would be effectually closed by the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. LOOK.
Luke 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
Matthew 26:54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
Matthew 26:56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
John 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
Acts 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Acts 13:29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.
Acts 13:32-33 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again
Acts 3:22-24 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
Acts 17:2-3 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
1Peter 1:10-12 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
This is why Paul spoke in the past tense when he referred to His own relationship to Judaism. It was no longer his religion, it was now 'The Jew's Religion".
Galatians 1:13-14 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
This is not a mistake in Paul's thinking. Instead it is a conscious and divinely inspired attempt to clearly distance himself from a religion which he now considered entirely false. "The Jew's religion" was no longer his religion, and it should not be the religion of any child of God! Why? because when Christ came He turned it into a false religion, announcing that He was the Messiah and that all believers, all the sheep, must hear His voice and follow Him. He said that Moses wrote of Him, and that He fulfilled the Old Covenant. Christ called people out from the "Jews Religion" and unto Himself and His new religion, the religion of salvation by grace. This is absolutely critical to an understanding of the Bible, and Christianity itself. Christ did not come to validate a corrupt and temporary religious system "The Jew's Religion". He came to put it to rest, to forever close the door on it, to fulfill all it's laws and prophecies, and to take God's plan to the New Covenant ideal of Grace and Truth. God is not locked into the blood of Bulls and goats, temple worship and endless laws which bind heavy burdens on men. Instead, He brings truth, offers a once and for all sacrifice for sin, and opens the door to salvation for the whole world, and closes the doors of a temple system which had been but a shadow and symbolic affair. Christ put all the shadows and types to rest, because He was the fulfillment. We need no shadow truths when we have the reality truth. John the Baptists, announced God's agenda, to every Jew, when He told them all to repent for the Kingdom of heaven was at hand. Jesus declared the same thing. Repent means to turn from something and to turn to something else.
Matthew 3:1-3 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
This preaching, which demanded repentance from the Old ways, from the "Jew's religion" could not have been missed by any Jew. It was very clear. You must follow the Messiah in His new religion, if you are to be saved, because the old is no longer valid.
Luke13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luke 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
This was also the exact same message as on the Day of Pentecost when Peter preached to the mostly Jewish audience assembled at Jerusalem.
Acts 2:38-41 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
The message of John, the message of Christ, and also the message of the Apostles to the Jews, was that they were required by God to repent, to turn from their old religion, and to follow the Messiah into the New Covenant religion of Grace and truth which He brought with Him in His incarnation. The Jew's who missed the Messiah, and who retained their old religion, were rendered lost, and were considered as cult members in a now pagan false religion. Make no mistake about the radical nature of the call of God and the demands of Christ upon the old Jewish religion and all it's followers. Every Jew had to be born again, and had to now enter the Kingdom of God, by new birth (John 3:3,5). They were required to seek this ( Matthew 6:33), and were required to enter it (Matthew 10:15), if they were to be saved at all (Matthew 16:15-16). Jesus demanded that every Jew become a believer and thus enter the kingdom of God. The notion that they were already members of God's kingdom, because of their physical birth is foreign to the actual testimony of Scripture. Jews who rejected Christ, were lost, doomed, damned, and were not the Children of God, and were not in the Kingdom of God. Only Christ's followers could claim such things.
Matthew 21:31-32 Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
The cessation of the Old Covenant and the subsequent initiation of the New Covenant was not a mistake in the plan of God, it was the entire purpose and plan right from the beginning. The old was a conditional and temporary affair, and the New was to be a permanent and unconditional affair. The former was marked by shadows types and prophecies, and the New was marked by fulfillment, reality, substance and completion. The Old was largely nationalistic, while the new is completely international (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). The old was characterized by law, commandments, ordinances, and temple worship. But the new is characterized by grace, forgiveness, love and worship in Spirit and in truth. God always intended for the old to give way to the better things of the better covenant (Hebrews 8:13; 7:11-12; 9:9-10; 1Corinthians 5:17). This was not a mistake, it was not an after-thought with God. It was His fully intentioned plan right from the start. God always intended for salvation to only be in Christ. In fact, the saved people of the Old Testament were all believers in Christ (John 8:56; Genesis 22:18; Luke 2:28-30; Luke 10:24; Galatians 3:7-9; Hebrews 11:13,39; 1Peter 1:10-12). They are called "the remnant" (Romans 9:27; 11:5). This term, ("the remnant"), is used throughout the entire Old testament to identify the true believers within the outward visible nation of Israel. Salvation was not through the nation but through being one of "the remnant" who were within the nation. Look up and compare; 2Kings 19,30-31; 2Chronicles 34:9; Ezra 3:8; 9:8,14; Nehemiah 1:3; Isaiah 1:9; 10:20-22; 11:11,16; 14: 30; 37:31,32; Jeremiah 6:9; 23:3; 31:7; Ezekiel 14:22; Joel 2:32; Micah 2:12; 4:7; 5:7-8; Zephaniah 2:7; 3:13; Haggai 1:12,14; Zechariah 9:12. God never has saved nations. He has always only saved individuals within nations. Salvation has never been a nationalistic thing, even though God has blessed nations because of the true believers that were in them. This means that the Abrahamic promises were never to be understood nationalistically, even though nations are mentioned (Gen 15:18; 17:2-21).
Genesis 17:4-6 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
Genesis 17:15-16 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
When God mentioned Abraham's seed with reference to the covenant that He made with him, He was referring not to the nation of Israel but to Christ, and to all who believe in God through Him. Christ is Abraham's seed (Galatians 3:16; Hebrews 2:16), and believers are Abraham's children by faith (Romans 9:7-8; Galatians 2:27-29). The seed was never national, it was supernatural...it was Christ, and those who are in Him!
Some people have erroneously called this view replacement theology, because they misunderstand the view to teach that the church replaces Israel as the "chosen people". That is not a correct assessment of the Biblical teaching at all. The people of God in both testaments were the believers in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. God never replaced his people. The misunderstanding arises from the false teaching that the nation of Israel were the people of God in the Old Testament. That doctrines is absolutely false. Only the remnant within Israel was actually considered Israel. Israel has always been a term that is synonymous with the people of faith...true believers only. Genealogy, physical birth, and national origin or ethnicity has never been the criterion for being the children of God. Salvation has always been by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and has never been because you were born in a particular nation. The ancient Jewish people early on adopted that false doctrine that Semitism saves. God has always repudiated that doctrine. and Jesus underscored that the religious Jews of His day were utterly lost and without hope if they did not repent of their false religion and believe in Him.
Matthew 21:31 Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
The issue then is very simple. Did Christ bring God's true religion to earth? and did He command the Jews to follow Him and thus enter the Kingdom of God? If this is so, then the issue is settled. For them to continue on in their old ways, in their traditions received from their fathers, and in their false doctrine that they were saved by genealogy, they would be forever shut out from the kingdom of God, because they rejected the King! Christ came to call the Jews out of their defunct and false religion, and into the light of His salvation. He calls all men to follow him, and to repent of their false religion's. Christ calls men into His Kingdom of truth, and any who do not follow Him are lost. Unbelieving Jew's who do not follow Christ are lost and are not the children of God. It's simple. Christ calls men to follow Him or perish. The true Children of Abraham, believe on Christ. There is no replacement of anything, except a stony heart with one of flesh (Jeremiah 31:33). All men must leave the old Covenant and enter the New. That was God's plan from the very start. Nothing was changed or modified. Christ was always God's only way of salvation.
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Today God's chosen people are called by a different name. They are no longer known as Jews, or children of Abraham. This was clearly prophesied.
Isaiah 65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name.
Isaiah 62:2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Romans 9:24-33 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
It is clear then, the church did not replace Israel as the people of God. The people of God always have been the true Israel of God. "He is not a Jew which is one outwardly" (Romans 2:28). "But he is a Jew who is one inwardly" (Romans 2:29). The church is Israel. Nothing has been replaced. Nothing has been changed. The religion of the Jews" was made past tense, and it was invalidated by the Jewish rejection of their only Messiah. In the book of Revelation "the religion of the Jews" is called "the synagogue of Satan" and it is composed completely of the false Jews who say they are Jews but are not (Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:6), because all true Jews are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah (see Revelation 2:9 and 3:9). Synagogue worship is now Satanic! It seeks to perpetuate a false religion, which Jesus condemned, which He destroyed by ripping the veil of the temple, removing the Temple from the earth, and by establishing His church, which is His indwelt body, the new temple of God (1Corinthians 3:17; 6:19). Judaism has absolutely no validity in the age since the coming of Christ. It served it's purpose as the custodian of the truth under the Old Testament (Romans 9:4), but it serves no purpose now. The religion of the Jews is a false religion, a cult and it's adherents are on their way to hell, just like the adherents of any other false religion. Jesus is the only way, and no man comes to the Father, but through Him (John 14:6). God's exclusive people are made not by birth, but by new birth.
This means that we do not believe all this false teaching which says that the modern State of Israel are "God's chosen people". Christians should never support such foolish and Christ dishonoring lies from Satan. The state of Israel, is a pagan country just like all the rest of the humanistic societies on earth. Zionism is a false doctrine, designed to dupe people into believing lies that Israel is still God's chosen nation on earth. God's kingdom is not in Israel. It is within the hearts of every true believer (Luke 17:21). The elect of God, are always only those who believe in Jesus Christ, and that is a very small percentage of people who now live in the country known as Israel. The bulk of them are lost.
Does this mean that we are anti-semetic? No it does not. We should love the Jews just like we love all men. We should pray for them, and try to reach them with the Gospel that can save them, just as it saves all who believe. But we should never condone or endorse people in false religious systems, whether they be Jews, Buddhist, Moslem's, Scietologist's or Satan worshipers. False religion is false, and all people need to come out from it and embrace the true religion of Christ. Our great mandate requires us to go into all the godless nations of the world and to preach the gospel, and that includes the godless nation of Israel (Mark 13:10; Matthew 24:14; Matthew 28:18-19). There is no salvation in any other person, than Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
Galatians 1:13-14 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
Ephesians 5:25 ... Christ ...loved the church, and gave himself for it.
Isaiah 65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name.
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
There is much confusion abroad today over the question of "Who are God's chosen people?" There should be no confusion at all. Because God is not the author of confusion (1Corinthians 14:33). "Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). And that means: it is improper and inconsistent for His people, the people of truth and light (1Peter 2:9), to remain in the dark (1Jn 1:5), or to believe lies John 8:44), when it comes to such a simple and clear matter of truth (John 8:32)! If you believe that Jesus is the light (John 8:12), and the truth (John 14:6)? then you will also believe that He has given to you all the truth that you need to know (John 17:8,14; John 6:68; John 14:10). God called you out from darkness (1Peter 2:9;Matthew 4:6; Luke 1:79). He did not leave you in it(John 8:12)! That means that there is no excuse for any confusion at all when God has given you the light (Matthew 5:14; Matthew 6:22; Luke 11:35-36; John 8:12).
The idea in all the verses which I just referenced is that Jesus brought with Him when He came the first time, God's truth (John 1:17)! Truth came with and by Jesus Christ (John 8:32). He announced absolutely clearly, so that there can be no doubt about it at all, that He was now God's way, truth and life; and that no man could come to the Father but by Him (John 14:6). He was God's doorway (John 10:7,9). And it is declared that there is no other way for men to be saved, but through Him (Acts 4:12; Acts 10:42-43; 1John 2:23; 2John 1:9; John 3:36). He is the foundation (1Corinthians 3:11), the only mediator between men and God (1Timothy 2:5-6), the only source of God's Eternal Life (1John 5:11-12). Only believers in Christ are saved...all others are lost (Revelation 20:15). Christ, therefore is the pinnacle of God's divine revelation to mankind. He is the summit, the mountaintop, the apex of all the scriptures.
Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
I am pointing all this out, quite simply because it removes any and all doubts about what is the true religion in these days following the first coming of Christ. Christ brought the truth with Him, and He established the only way to God, upon the foundation of a finished redemptive work. This fulfilled all the Old Testament laws and prophecies, and thus it forever invalidated them as the basis for true religion (Luke 16:16; Matthew 5:17). The Old Testament was entirely fulfilled by Christ during His first Coming.
Luke 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
The idea that Christ did not close out and completely fulfill the Old Testament, and initiate and completely establish a New Testament, is one of the most horrific false doctrines infecting Christianity today. Christ fulfilled all the law and all the prophesies, not in order to destroy them but to law them aside, close them out and render them invalid inder His New Covenant. He stated that He Fulfilled all the Old Testament Scriptures, and that they would be effectually closed by the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. LOOK.
Luke 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
Matthew 26:54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
Matthew 26:56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
John 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
Acts 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Acts 13:29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.
Acts 13:32-33 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again
Acts 3:22-24 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
Acts 17:2-3 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
1Peter 1:10-12 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
This is why Paul spoke in the past tense when he referred to His own relationship to Judaism. It was no longer his religion, it was now 'The Jew's Religion".
Galatians 1:13-14 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
This is not a mistake in Paul's thinking. Instead it is a conscious and divinely inspired attempt to clearly distance himself from a religion which he now considered entirely false. "The Jew's religion" was no longer his religion, and it should not be the religion of any child of God! Why? because when Christ came He turned it into a false religion, announcing that He was the Messiah and that all believers, all the sheep, must hear His voice and follow Him. He said that Moses wrote of Him, and that He fulfilled the Old Covenant. Christ called people out from the "Jews Religion" and unto Himself and His new religion, the religion of salvation by grace. This is absolutely critical to an understanding of the Bible, and Christianity itself. Christ did not come to validate a corrupt and temporary religious system "The Jew's Religion". He came to put it to rest, to forever close the door on it, to fulfill all it's laws and prophecies, and to take God's plan to the New Covenant ideal of Grace and Truth. God is not locked into the blood of Bulls and goats, temple worship and endless laws which bind heavy burdens on men. Instead, He brings truth, offers a once and for all sacrifice for sin, and opens the door to salvation for the whole world, and closes the doors of a temple system which had been but a shadow and symbolic affair. Christ put all the shadows and types to rest, because He was the fulfillment. We need no shadow truths when we have the reality truth. John the Baptists, announced God's agenda, to every Jew, when He told them all to repent for the Kingdom of heaven was at hand. Jesus declared the same thing. Repent means to turn from something and to turn to something else.
Matthew 3:1-3 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
This preaching, which demanded repentance from the Old ways, from the "Jew's religion" could not have been missed by any Jew. It was very clear. You must follow the Messiah in His new religion, if you are to be saved, because the old is no longer valid.
Luke13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luke 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
This was also the exact same message as on the Day of Pentecost when Peter preached to the mostly Jewish audience assembled at Jerusalem.
Acts 2:38-41 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
The message of John, the message of Christ, and also the message of the Apostles to the Jews, was that they were required by God to repent, to turn from their old religion, and to follow the Messiah into the New Covenant religion of Grace and truth which He brought with Him in His incarnation. The Jew's who missed the Messiah, and who retained their old religion, were rendered lost, and were considered as cult members in a now pagan false religion. Make no mistake about the radical nature of the call of God and the demands of Christ upon the old Jewish religion and all it's followers. Every Jew had to be born again, and had to now enter the Kingdom of God, by new birth (John 3:3,5). They were required to seek this ( Matthew 6:33), and were required to enter it (Matthew 10:15), if they were to be saved at all (Matthew 16:15-16). Jesus demanded that every Jew become a believer and thus enter the kingdom of God. The notion that they were already members of God's kingdom, because of their physical birth is foreign to the actual testimony of Scripture. Jews who rejected Christ, were lost, doomed, damned, and were not the Children of God, and were not in the Kingdom of God. Only Christ's followers could claim such things.
Matthew 21:31-32 Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
The cessation of the Old Covenant and the subsequent initiation of the New Covenant was not a mistake in the plan of God, it was the entire purpose and plan right from the beginning. The old was a conditional and temporary affair, and the New was to be a permanent and unconditional affair. The former was marked by shadows types and prophecies, and the New was marked by fulfillment, reality, substance and completion. The Old was largely nationalistic, while the new is completely international (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). The old was characterized by law, commandments, ordinances, and temple worship. But the new is characterized by grace, forgiveness, love and worship in Spirit and in truth. God always intended for the old to give way to the better things of the better covenant (Hebrews 8:13; 7:11-12; 9:9-10; 1Corinthians 5:17). This was not a mistake, it was not an after-thought with God. It was His fully intentioned plan right from the start. God always intended for salvation to only be in Christ. In fact, the saved people of the Old Testament were all believers in Christ (John 8:56; Genesis 22:18; Luke 2:28-30; Luke 10:24; Galatians 3:7-9; Hebrews 11:13,39; 1Peter 1:10-12). They are called "the remnant" (Romans 9:27; 11:5). This term, ("the remnant"), is used throughout the entire Old testament to identify the true believers within the outward visible nation of Israel. Salvation was not through the nation but through being one of "the remnant" who were within the nation. Look up and compare; 2Kings 19,30-31; 2Chronicles 34:9; Ezra 3:8; 9:8,14; Nehemiah 1:3; Isaiah 1:9; 10:20-22; 11:11,16; 14: 30; 37:31,32; Jeremiah 6:9; 23:3; 31:7; Ezekiel 14:22; Joel 2:32; Micah 2:12; 4:7; 5:7-8; Zephaniah 2:7; 3:13; Haggai 1:12,14; Zechariah 9:12. God never has saved nations. He has always only saved individuals within nations. Salvation has never been a nationalistic thing, even though God has blessed nations because of the true believers that were in them. This means that the Abrahamic promises were never to be understood nationalistically, even though nations are mentioned (Gen 15:18; 17:2-21).
Genesis 17:4-6 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
Genesis 17:15-16 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
When God mentioned Abraham's seed with reference to the covenant that He made with him, He was referring not to the nation of Israel but to Christ, and to all who believe in God through Him. Christ is Abraham's seed (Galatians 3:16; Hebrews 2:16), and believers are Abraham's children by faith (Romans 9:7-8; Galatians 2:27-29). The seed was never national, it was supernatural...it was Christ, and those who are in Him!
Some people have erroneously called this view replacement theology, because they misunderstand the view to teach that the church replaces Israel as the "chosen people". That is not a correct assessment of the Biblical teaching at all. The people of God in both testaments were the believers in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. God never replaced his people. The misunderstanding arises from the false teaching that the nation of Israel were the people of God in the Old Testament. That doctrines is absolutely false. Only the remnant within Israel was actually considered Israel. Israel has always been a term that is synonymous with the people of faith...true believers only. Genealogy, physical birth, and national origin or ethnicity has never been the criterion for being the children of God. Salvation has always been by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and has never been because you were born in a particular nation. The ancient Jewish people early on adopted that false doctrine that Semitism saves. God has always repudiated that doctrine. and Jesus underscored that the religious Jews of His day were utterly lost and without hope if they did not repent of their false religion and believe in Him.
Matthew 21:31 Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
The issue then is very simple. Did Christ bring God's true religion to earth? and did He command the Jews to follow Him and thus enter the Kingdom of God? If this is so, then the issue is settled. For them to continue on in their old ways, in their traditions received from their fathers, and in their false doctrine that they were saved by genealogy, they would be forever shut out from the kingdom of God, because they rejected the King! Christ came to call the Jews out of their defunct and false religion, and into the light of His salvation. He calls all men to follow him, and to repent of their false religion's. Christ calls men into His Kingdom of truth, and any who do not follow Him are lost. Unbelieving Jew's who do not follow Christ are lost and are not the children of God. It's simple. Christ calls men to follow Him or perish. The true Children of Abraham, believe on Christ. There is no replacement of anything, except a stony heart with one of flesh (Jeremiah 31:33). All men must leave the old Covenant and enter the New. That was God's plan from the very start. Nothing was changed or modified. Christ was always God's only way of salvation.
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Today God's chosen people are called by a different name. They are no longer known as Jews, or children of Abraham. This was clearly prophesied.
Isaiah 65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name.
Isaiah 62:2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Romans 9:24-33 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
It is clear then, the church did not replace Israel as the people of God. The people of God always have been the true Israel of God. "He is not a Jew which is one outwardly" (Romans 2:28). "But he is a Jew who is one inwardly" (Romans 2:29). The church is Israel. Nothing has been replaced. Nothing has been changed. The religion of the Jews" was made past tense, and it was invalidated by the Jewish rejection of their only Messiah. In the book of Revelation "the religion of the Jews" is called "the synagogue of Satan" and it is composed completely of the false Jews who say they are Jews but are not (Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:6), because all true Jews are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah (see Revelation 2:9 and 3:9). Synagogue worship is now Satanic! It seeks to perpetuate a false religion, which Jesus condemned, which He destroyed by ripping the veil of the temple, removing the Temple from the earth, and by establishing His church, which is His indwelt body, the new temple of God (1Corinthians 3:17; 6:19). Judaism has absolutely no validity in the age since the coming of Christ. It served it's purpose as the custodian of the truth under the Old Testament (Romans 9:4), but it serves no purpose now. The religion of the Jews is a false religion, a cult and it's adherents are on their way to hell, just like the adherents of any other false religion. Jesus is the only way, and no man comes to the Father, but through Him (John 14:6). God's exclusive people are made not by birth, but by new birth.
This means that we do not believe all this false teaching which says that the modern State of Israel are "God's chosen people". Christians should never support such foolish and Christ dishonoring lies from Satan. The state of Israel, is a pagan country just like all the rest of the humanistic societies on earth. Zionism is a false doctrine, designed to dupe people into believing lies that Israel is still God's chosen nation on earth. God's kingdom is not in Israel. It is within the hearts of every true believer (Luke 17:21). The elect of God, are always only those who believe in Jesus Christ, and that is a very small percentage of people who now live in the country known as Israel. The bulk of them are lost.
Does this mean that we are anti-semetic? No it does not. We should love the Jews just like we love all men. We should pray for them, and try to reach them with the Gospel that can save them, just as it saves all who believe. But we should never condone or endorse people in false religious systems, whether they be Jews, Buddhist, Moslem's, Scietologist's or Satan worshipers. False religion is false, and all people need to come out from it and embrace the true religion of Christ. Our great mandate requires us to go into all the godless nations of the world and to preach the gospel, and that includes the godless nation of Israel (Mark 13:10; Matthew 24:14; Matthew 28:18-19). There is no salvation in any other person, than Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
© 2012 Rev Earl Jackson www.RevEarlJackson.com
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