Preface: I would like to make some things abundantly clear before the reader starts to peruse this essay. Firstly to the Jew, I would like to point out how difficult a task it is to speak against the beliefs of a group of people without alienating the very people whom you wish to encourage, how do you speak against misbeliefs without offending those who identify very strongly with those same beliefs? Especially in light of the fact those same beliefs are the very things from which they draw their cultural and ethnic identity. Don’t judge by appearances, reality, especially spiritual reality, does not often come to us at first blush, we would perish. There is always a medium through which we interpret reality, Moses teaches this. I like the words of Blake:
This life’s dim windows of the soul
Distorts the heavens from pole to pole
And leads you to believe a lie
When you see with, not thro’ the eye
The eye must be trained with a moral conscience to understand truly. I recall for example the life of German Pastor, Theologian Dietrich Bonheoffer who was hung in the second World War for treason against his native country. Having been given the ultimate punishment for the antithesis of patriotism; in later years and with the wonderful vision of hindsight he was fully exonerated and declared a true patriot and hero of the German people. I hope the reader will give me the benefit of the doubt and hear my case fully before making judgement or passing me off as anti-Semitic. To those who have eyes to see and ears to hear- Shalom!
To the non-Christian a great deal of this discussion may have no effect on your views at all because the over-arching authority I draw from is the veracity of the Word of God, the Bible. If you see the Bible as only an ancient collection of myth and tradition rather than the God-breathed inspiration it is, my argumentation will fall to the ground. To you I would say examine the claims of Jesus Christ with all the intellectual honesty you can muster. Ask yourself the crucial question Jesus asks-
“Who do you say I am?” and become a believer and then re-read this. If you will learn who he is you will know who you are!
To the Christian I would offer this, all that follows may be summed up briefly by asking these questions:
- Did you become a follower of Christ through your search for God?
- Having found God in the face of Jesus Christ do you now acknowledge that your discovery was in fact primarily made possible by the revelation of God and in fact, if you searched at all, it was his effective work within you?
- In short is it not true that you are a Christian because the merciful “God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"? (Colossians 1:27 emphasis mine)
In this, I want to be quite clear, to "
make known" in
the sense Paul intends, is not merely to proclaim the gospel so that one might hear it in the physical sense. No to
make known in this sense is to open the ears and understanding of the heart, to
make known the truth not merely to proclaim in the ear.
This is not speaking of offering salvation, so much as it is God- in his mysterious grace- making you his own. Any Gospel that does not acknowledge this irresistible power
to save is not the Gospel of Grace.
You see to "give a revelation" is not merely to proclaim in the hearing of certain people- that is merely recitation and proclamation. No to
give a revelation is to
"make known". It is to speak out of the burning bush, it is to see the dove alighting on Jesus, it is to be knocked off a high horse, see lightning and hear a voice like thunder.
True, we ought not to have needed this sort of demonstrable power, we certainly do not deserve it, we ought to simply obey the proclamation of the Gospel as that which we also ought to concede as our simple duty. But alas- ... if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
For this reason we who follow Christ whether we recognized it or not, all needed the Holy Spirit to "make known" him who should have been instantly recognized as Lord of all.
Here is the crunch question:
With the current focus of the worlds eyes on the Middle-east it seemed appropriate to write about something which I find alarming with regards to Christian attitudes towards Israel. I find Christians have been, and are increasingly, regarding Israel as the real children of God; and therefore regard or esteem them as Gods Chosen People.
My understanding is that there are only one true people of God, those that hold Jesus Christ as their saviour.
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36
In John 6:43:
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them "Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." (emphasis mine)
"Every man"- that means without exception. The ineluctable deduction from this statement is: all those that have
truly learned from the Father- God- will come to Christ, therefore the opposite applies, whoever hasn't
truly learned from God will not come to Christ, and this describes precisely those whom have for past ages claimed to be the "chosen people". Should Christians continue to perpetuate this myth?
In the New Testament we see Christ repeatedly warning and chastising the Jews, particularly the people that professed faith in God, the leaders, (who said they followed Moses) and the like. The one criterion that Jesus repeatedly affirmed and looked for in Jew and Gentile alike was faith, in particular a belief in Himself. Trust in the law given by Moses, faith in ancestry, indeed confidence in any outward sign, amounted to nothing, unless accompanied by a living relating faith in Christ the Messiah. If only we simply took Christ at his word we would be saved much confusion. Look at these scriptures, and rather than accept the common glosses that people automatically put on them, see them and take them at face value.
And behold a women of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son Of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answers her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs, which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.Mathew 15:22-28
The apparent stony silence, which met the Canaanite woman's cry to Jesus, was to test and manifest her faith. Faith indeed it was, since, she called him,
“thou son of David”- a recognition of his status as the Messiah or Christ. At first he didn’t answer for perhaps two reasons. It was customary for Jewish men not to speak directly to women who were not known to them; and secondly and more significantly she was a woman of another country, which were despised by the Jews. His disciples confirmed their distaste and their prejudice against her by asking him to tell her to go away. Finally, as if provoked by their bigotry, he answered, saying
“I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. I am not sent - meaning, “I am sent exclusively for the lost sheep of the house of Israel”
The exclusiveness of this statement is clearly twofold. Firstly, as if he said: I am not sent for sheep that know their place, (or appear to) but to those that do not know their position in the house of Israel. "I am sent" says he, for lost sheep. Lost sheep. Who are the lost sheep? Who is lost but he/she who does not know where he/she belongs. Those
"having no hope, and without God in the world:"Eph. 2:12. Those who have no Messiah have no hope . Your true identity indicates your place in the scheme of things. The statement here indicates that those who boast of their position as a descendant of Abraham but do not recognize the Messiah have in fact no place in Israel- that is the true Israel. And secondly, the exclusivity of the statement refers to Israel. I am not sent- he says- to find Canaanite sheep, or Samaritan sheep or sheep of any other kingdom or nation but I am sent for Israelite sheep. It must, of necessity, follow therefore, that all, that are “found of him”, are, of the house of Israel, and no one else.
Firstly they must be lost, he only came for lost sheep, no other type of sheep will do. They must be lost. Secondly they must be Israelite sheep, he did not come for sheep of any other nation, they must be Israelite in some sense. Here we see clearly the inference of two Israels, on the one hand,
“the Israel after the flesh”(1 Corinthians 10:18), which is easily recognizable and then the
“Israel of God”(Galatians 6:16), which is acknowledged as the spiritual Israel, to which belong the lost sheep that Jesus was seeking.
If Jesus acknowledged this Canaanite woman as a lost sheep, then she is of the house of Israel, but being Canaanite she is not an Israelite in the ordinary sense of the word. There is therefore only one conclusion that can be true, and that is, she is of the “Israel of God”. Of course as Christians we are not strangers to this principle. It is commonly understood that people of faith are found universally, that is in all groups of people regardless of race etc. This truth was a source of much difficulty for the Jews, and doubtless, still is to this very day. On the other hand, within the wider body of believers there is the true church. We accept all believers as His, on face value, but we are also aware, that at the end of the age the tares (which look like wheat) shall be separated from the wheat.
In Jesus’ day it was the common understanding that Israel were the chosen people, but the true Israel were his on the basis of faith alone just as it is true of the church today. Faith in Christ is the universal point, which divides, irrespective of race, colour, culture or any other external thing, that same faith is also the universal criteria, which unites the true children of God. Hear these words; and may they sink deep.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
John 3:36 (See figure 1)
When Jesus confirmed he was sent only for lost sheep, this seems to have spurred the woman on, she came, perhaps being encouraged by that statement,
“and worshipped him” A loyal subject indeed!
“But he”, using the full potential and impact of this opportunity, both to strengthen the woman's faith, and to manifest to his disciples the spiritual implications of the situation,
“answered and said, ‘It is not meet’ (right),
‘to take the children’s bread and to cast it to dogs.’ The children’s bread is a reference to the children of Israel who were given Manna in the wilderness, which is of course a type of the church and Christ. As it is written
“For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” John 6:33. And again “I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”. John 6:35-37
And so back to the Canaanite woman. He was in fact saying- I am sent of God for none but his true children, repeating what he had said previously but using different expressions. Only in this instance he is seemingly even more discouraging to the woman because of his reference to dogs. I believe it was William Barclay the eminent Scottish theologian who gave the background understanding of this derogatory term. In ancient times, scrounging, marauding dogs often plagued the villages and towns roaming the outskirts on a constant lookout for an opportunity to snatch an easy meal, and of course, were highly unpopular, just as wandering dogs are to this day. It was a common taunt of the Jewish people to refer to outsiders, i.e. gentiles and any other people outside of Israel, as dogs.
Well what was the effect of these words whose meaning and inferences would not have been lost on her? Completely undeterred, she adeptly side-stepped the provocative meaning of the dog, and acknowledged that, yes, He spoke the truth, but she was not a dog outside of the kingdom, and in all humility, she recognized she had no right to eat at the table, but her position none-the less, was that of grace and privilege-the same as it is for all of us in fact. There is, in truth, only one that has the right to eat at the table- the master-Christ. Just as there was only one, who, without sin, had the right to cast the first stone at the woman taken in adultery. All others must come by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God.
“Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.” Mathew 15:22-28
In Mark7: 25-30 a remarkably similar story occurred with the Greek woman.
Ok, granted, you might say, this little illustration may seem to point to these things, but dare we build a doctrine on the basis of this? The pattern of things in all the scriptures that follow are the same.
The centurion, ostensibly an outsider, in Mathew 8 is also given as an example to provoke Israel to jealousy. Jesus marvelled at his faith saying:
“Verily I say unto you I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.
How could he cast out the "children of the Kingdom"? Don't children receive an inheritance? They were not children in the right sense.
Jesus again provoked the so-called children, i.e. the Jews, to bring them into the understanding that faith was the one essential pre-requisite to being a real child of God; and if they continued trusting in ancestry or anything other than Jesus for salvation they would be cast off. His use of the Israelite fathers was to show they were fathers
by example rather than blood. Physical ancestry and nationality as shown by the centurion were not essential to sit down in the kingdom of heaven with the fathers.
In the gospel of Luke after Jesus pronounced the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him from the scriptures he said
“Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way. Luke 4:24-27
Jesus is pointing out to his own people (according to the flesh), even to the people of his own village, that when there was a great famine in Israel (no rain for three and a half years) Elias was sent not to any of Israel, but to a widow of another city, of another country to show mercy. Again Jesus exemplifies Naaman, a foreigner who came from Syria, as the man who mercifully received healing from leprosy (a type- of the destructiveness of sin) even when there were many lepers in Israel and none of them were cleansed.
The well-known vision that Peter had, of the sheet coming down with diverse animals that Peter was told to be a partaker of; shows the obstinacy of thought, the persistence of the belief that Jewish believers alone were the true people of God.
"Take and eat" he was told, but Peter, staunch in his understanding of uncleanness at first refused. Peter had come to understand that, to be a
true Jew,(not only a Jew in the flesh) faith in Christ was essential and the only reality that could make clean; however this revelation, and the consequent meeting with Cornelius, proved that any and all that come to a living faith in Christ, irrespective of their ethnicity, are made acceptable through the blood of Christ.
In Acts 10:35 Peter opened his mouth, and said
‘Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:’
In other words Peter, through Christ, had overcame prejudice in two forms, which are equally evil, though not often discerned in this evil age.
· Firstly, that
prejudice for his own people according to the flesh, which had blinded him to the faults and sins of himself, his own people, and man-made traditions, which had alienated them from God.
· Secondly
prejudice against people of other nations, which blinded him such that he could not perceive the love of God toward others. The diversity of those animals in his vision on the rooftop, represent in a figure, the gathering in, as one people of faith, those believers from all nations.
This whole picture is already fore shadowed of course with Noah and the ark. The gathering in of representatives of all the animals showing that even way back then the covenanted people of God and salvation was a universal truth, and only a monopoly as it relates to faith in Christ, which is according to the gift and sovereignty of God alone. In other words, faith and faithlessness are what separate His chosen from all others irrespective of anything else. The phrase “His Chosen People” relates to those he has chosen for faith. The Cross- is the great decider, which differentiates all people. Remember the two men crucified either side of Christ? They represent types of the two generations of mankind.
In many of the New Testament letters we find evidence of the identity of the true people of God, take Romans ch.9 v1. Paul affirms he speaks the truth, v2- 3, he is saddened that his kinsmen according to the flesh, that is people belonging as he does to the race of people called Israelites; are not Christians as he is. He is prepared even to forego his own salvation, if it were possible to secure their salvation in this manner. Paul states the many favours God has bestowed on the Israelite people as a whole, v5 that the fathers, those men of faith, were all of the same blood, even our Lord is descended according to the Davidic line, as it were by blood, and is himself an Israelite as foretold by the scriptures. After showing us His fleshly lineage, Paul reminds us of His divinity saying
“God Blessed forever, Amen.”
(Romans 9:6) Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Understanding verse 6 is crucial, Paul then warned against imagining God’s word was weak and ineffectual because it seemed his word had had no effect. You see there is a natural tendency in us towards unbelief, to see the situation as being a result of man’s power, superior to God’s power. The fact is, there was an expectation, and still is to this day, for all of Israel to follow the Messiah; it is true, all of Israel waited for the Messiah, their deliverer. And yet clearly, very few recognized and followed Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, the King of the Jews. Paul is saying that the Jew had many advantages, given to encourage faith, and yet very few of these people had in fact exhibited the faith that God calls people to. Paul alludes to the fact that you may draw two conclusions from this phenomenon, only one of which is true.
- Either: God’s word was weak and ineffectual in bringing Israel to faith; they all claimed to be his children, should they not all believe?! (Which is the natural conclusion) or:
- Or it is as God said previously and who declared in Isaiah 59:1:
Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear
and Isaiah 46:10,11
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:...yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.:
Therefore, God by his own choice has made a distinction in Israel, a division, without changing the name.
“For they are not all Israel which are of Israel”, that is, a remnant have been effectually called to faith and are the
“Israel of God” and these were chosen out of the
“Israel of the flesh” (Out of the natural offspring of Jacob who was renamed Israel).
He then explains and qualifies this still further by distinguishing between natural descendants of Abraham or children, and the seed, those who came into being as a result of Gods’ promises. This shows why they didn’t all embrace Jesus as the Messiah, why they did not all believe, not because of any weakness or inability of God’s word to bring them to faith but because there are two Israel’s. Those that
did believe being of the true Israel of God, to which we Gentiles which believe, also belong; for as the scripture says
“ for ye are all the Children of God by faith in Christ Jesus”,
Gal 3:26,
"a spiritual people, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, a people belonging to God, precious, chosen, elect."
(The word "
elect" relates to the sovereign choice and call of God, which Paul refers to later on in Romans 11)
This leaves the others- unbelievers, which are the Israel of the flesh, simply a nation of carnal people, not God’s true Israel of above but having the same name Israel.
How else can the scripture from Romans 9:6 be understood!
“They are not all Israel which are of Israel”. How else can this be understood but by seeing the true Israel of God is sprinkled among the Israel of the flesh? Now let us see that the true Israel of God is no more, nor no less- than the true Church of God, the adoption, people of the way, children of light, those that were foreknown and predestined, called, justified and glorified and many other names, all signifying in short- Christians, born again believers.
Verse 7, Paul, carries on in this vein, tearing down the thought that just because an Israelite could trace his fleshly ancestry back to Abraham he could thereby call himself a true child of God.
Jesus in John, ch8, takes up the same clarion call to the truth of this: Jesus promised the truth shall make you free, that is, from sin, the Jews answered him
“We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man”
In this, they asserted their status as children of God. Jesus, continuing, said
“ I know you are Abraham’s seed” v39 “but you seek to kill me, ye do that which you have seen of your father”,(emphasis. mine)
referring to Satan; again v 39
“Abraham is our father” they cry. Jesus saith unto them “if you were Abraham’s children you would do the works of Abraham” (emphasis mine)
note- Jesus makes a distinction here between Abraham’s seed and Abrahams children. Here we see clearly that Christ refers to the works of faith of Abraham for in the next verse he plainly says that true children of Abraham, or children of faith, would not kill a man that spoke the truth, but as Abraham did, would cleave to him in faith.
“Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad” v56. Verse 40 “you do the deeds of your father”,
they then understood him to mean that they were like children of Ishmael which as Paul shows in Galatians 4:23 were born after the flesh and children of the bondwoman, that is born children of bondage, rather than children of the free, (children of promise), so they reply:
“we be not born of fornication!”
as Ishmael was; and then knowing full well that the true children of Abraham are no less than children of God they said,
“we have one father even God.”
Though they were right in much of their understanding yet they were declared wrong by their own actions, having misappropriated the promise to a fleshly lineage instead of a spiritual inheritance through faith. Jesus again:
“ If God were your father you would love me, ye are of your father the devil", v47 “he that is of God heareth God’s words, ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God”
Here in very plain language the Israelites of the flesh are declared not to be the Israel of God. Note also the logical order: he did not say what many in our day might have expected him to say: You are not God's children because you choose not to listen to God's words, but the converse, their inability to hear (which really means "take heed") was not attributed to their unwillingness but their spiritual parentage. You don't hear because you are not born again (of God)
As it is written
“He came unto his own, and his own received him not”. John ch1v11.
That is Jesus came to his own people of the flesh, as he also of the flesh came, of the same stock as it were, but those who were not of the Israel of God received him not. And this happened not merely as a result of their own choice, but ultimately as a result of the sovereign will of God. How amazing! As is the statement:
“the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not” from John ch1:v5.
That is to say the light- Christ, shone in the darkness- Satan’s kingdom, and the darkness- children of Satan, children of disobedience, children of bondage- the darkness remained un-enlightened or remained in unbelief. That is, they comprehended it not. See how they misunderstood the promise of God’s blessing to Abraham’s seed and misappropriated it by applying it to the children of the flesh rather than the children of promise. That is they trusted in their flesh, that by a fleshly line they were heirs of God. But Paul in another place plainly shows that to trust in this carnal ancestry is the greatest of folly. How truly is it said that God has no grandchildren! We are born into his kingdom not by a natural birth but by a spiritual birth. Hence: "born again".\
In Philippians Ch3v2 Paul warns:
“ beware of the concision”,
that’s a reference to the circumcision who mutilate their bodies as a sign of their mutilation of God’s word. This is inferred from the fact that the Greek word for concision has to do with mutilation. (Romans ch2v25 onwards outlines how circumcision, which in the Pentateuch was a sign of a cutting away of flesh so that one could be sensitive towards God, becomes uncircumcision or mutilation, we are also reminded at this point how the circumcision so-called, i.e. Concision, mutilated Gods’ word literally, or should I say bodily, since
“the living word became flesh and dwelt among us and Him ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain”.
( I would also add here that all of humanity shares in both the guilt of crucifying Christ and the shame of sin, which made his death a necessity). Continuing in Philippians ch3v3
“……beware of the concision, for we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh”.
That is, the true Jew is one whose mark of Gods’ favour is not only, or not necessarily, outward in the flesh, (like circumcision, or water baptism or partaking of the sacraments) but is essentially inward of the heart. Whose praise is not of men but of God.
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: Ezekiel 11:19
Therefore we place no confidence in any fleshly mark, any descendancy according to the flesh, any carnal works, in short we have no confidence in the flesh- Philippians V4 :
“though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more”
that is if they think they have anything to boast about I Paul have more, regarding these fleshly signs. V5
“circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law-a Pharisee”,
what are these but signs of the flesh, all of the outward appearance. Circumcised- ordained of God- none the less the work of man. Born of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews- what is this but to be
"born of blood, or the will of the flesh, or the will of man", John 1v13. A Hebrew of the Hebrews- would we say a man among men? This knowledge puffeth up! As touching the law a Pharisee- the strictest sect of Jews, who, as Jesus testifies, even tithe their kitchen herbs, but have omitted the weightier matters of the law- judgement mercy and faith. Mathew 23v23. (Jesus continues in Mathew 23 to chastise them for their outer or fleshly appearance of good but inwardly he declares them to be full of uncleanness, hypocrisy and iniquity.)
Continuing in Ph.V6
"Concerning zeal- persecuting the church, touching the righteousness, which is in the law- blameless,"
Here Paul, shows his enthusiasm and devotion to the religion of Judaism- even consenting to murder for righteousness sake- so he believed, and yet according to the fleshly interpretation of the law he was righteous or blameless. V7 But now he sees Jesus and sees that all of these things that he had such confidence in, that the Israelites in general valued as profitable in their service to God; Paul now sees as a disadvantage, or as he says, he counts as loss for Christ, even as dung.
Paul sums it up in Romans for himself, for all of Israel of the flesh, indeed for all unregenerate mankind with the words:
“For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.”
Let no-one accuse Paul of anti-Semitism, Paul loved his fellow Israelites even to the forfeiture of his own salvation, but tore away from them their false hopes in their ancestry and their confidence in the flesh in order to thrust them squarely upon the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul in Romans2v25-29 speaks of circumcised people being made, as it were, uncircumcised by their transgression of the law; and those people who, though uncircumcised, by fulfilling the law, that is- the true meaning of the law- of love to God and man, are made, as it were, circumcised in the sight of God.
He speaks of the relationship between unbelieving Jew- (circumcision), and a believing gentile- (uncircumcision) and how the circumcision who ought to be circumcised inwardly were manifestly found to be lacking in this respect, and the uncircumcised, who were in fact circumcised inwardly were admitted into the beloved. Romans 2,V.28 Repeats the theme of many other verses,
“for he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh," v29, "but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God."
If we turn to Paul’s words, chapter 11 of Romans,
“I say then, has God cast away his people? God forbid” v2, “God has not cast away his people, which he foreknew.”
Note that Paul did not say that God had not cast away anyone, but that he had not cast away
his people, it is evident that some had been cast off by verse 11,
“through their fall salvation has come unto the Gentiles”, again in verse 12,
“now if the fall of them be the riches of the world”, again in v15,
“for if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world…” (emphasis mine) Paul then qualifies this statement about their casting off with….
“God has not cast away his people which He foreknew”. (emphasis mine) There is a distinction here, which must be understood. The ones cast off may have claimed to be His, but those He
foreknew were not cast off.
The key word is foreknew, this word may also be rendered fore-ordained, the same word in the Greek is translated fore-ordained in another place. So then where Paul says God has not cast away his people which he foreknew, read: God has not cast away his people
“according as he has chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be before him holy and without blame, before him in love, having pre-destinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved” Eph ch1v4, 5,6.
And so the sovereign God has decreed for himself a people of faith who are known to be
“in the Beloved” and in the case of the chosen Israelites they are not cast off because of
“the election of grace”. Which is another way of saying that God has chosen us by bringing circumstances to pass whereby we not only had the
outward grace of hearing the gospel, to which many are called, but also imparted that
saving grace which was inwardly effective and that infallibly so.
(see "Irresistable Grace" here) And yet in such a manner that we were willing, not puppets, or automatons, neither by force and or coercion, so that we were infallibly drawn to repentance and faith, for,
“it is not by might nor by power but by my Spirit”, saith the Lord." It is here we understand the verse-
“ So then faith comes by hearing," ( the normal physical sense whereby we hear the gospel), "and hearing" (the supernatural revelation and understanding imparted by the Holy Spirit) "by the word of God." Rom 10:17
If there are any doubters who still see the
“Israel of God” separate from his
“people which he foreknew” and different again from,
“ a remnant according to the election of grace”, and those of
“the election”, turn back to Romans 8 to see who these are which he
“foreknew”.
Rom8: Verse 29: “For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn among many brethren, moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified”,
(emphasis mine. For further understanding of the word "foreknow" proginisko- see
Loving God, and Knowing God- What is the difference?)
“the true Israel of God” are no less than those conformed to the image of Christ. Those who with Paul in 1 Corinthians2v16, could say “we, have the mind of Christ”, and “so let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” Phill2v5.
The meaning intended for 'foreknow' does not admit of any other sense. Doesn't God- by omniscience- know every person whether Jew or Gentile, whether faithful or faithless completely and fully from before ever the world existed? Yes of course, but if that were the sense of 'foreknow' intended here, then all humanity and without exception would of necessity- and according to the preceding verse- be people of faith- followers of Jesus, clearly this is not the case. To make it quite clear Paul uses the word "predestinate". Now this word is quite plainly meaning
to determine beforehand. Humans do it all the time, they do it every time they make a doctors appointment, the only difference is that they- unlike God- cannot do it infallibly.
As for that Israel which fell, why did they fall? They fell because of unbelief, and with their lack of faith came a warning to all of us, which believe, not to be proud since faith is the gift of God.
“For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that” (faith) “not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. For God has concluded them all” (both Jew and Gentile or heathen), “in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all”.
That is, God has established that the Israel of the flesh and gentiles are all sinners by their unbelief, therefore he is "
no respecter of persons" since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And "
there is none righteous no not one" so that we all must plead guilty before the bar of God and depend on his mercy and his mercy alone,
“and so all Israel shall be saved”. That is: all the Israel of God, which includes gentiles, and Jews, who embrace the gospel of God; for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Looking at another aspect of Romans 11v1&2
“ I say then Has God cast away his people, God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin, God has not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying…”
Paul, in the verses preceding this passage, (Romans 10:19-21), is saying how God, who was speaking through Moses and Isaiah, had spoken about provoking Israel- God’s "chosen people" to jealousy, and how He (God) was found by those that did not seek him, and how he had put up with their disobedience and gainsaying all day long.
Here is a truly amazing statement that God would cast away his people, who throughout the scriptures God had promised blessings mercy and salvation. Does He now go back on his word? God forbid! But what is this here; we have Elias
praying against Israel as if they were God’s enemy? Here is Elijah the man mighty in God praying against those whom God has blessed, or is he? Remember how hard Balak tried to get Balaam to curse Israel and he could not because of God’s command. How then does Elias now pray against Israel? In point of fact Elijah is praying against the
Israel of the flesh, the same Jesus spoke of in Mathew 23 verse 35 saying
“that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias”.
(From A to Z, this is pretty comprehensive! Here again, I might add that Jesus is not merely speaking to the Jews, yes it is to the Jewish people first, because the blood of the prophets was on their hands, but primarily he is speaking to the generation of Adam or those who are in the control of the
prince of the power of the air, irrespective of their race or any other outward circumstance, which are responsible for the blood of all godly martyrs.)
Returning to Elijah-therefore he does not pray against the Israel of God but against the fleshly Israel. Whereas Balak on the other hand, presumed, by taking Balaam up to those high places, he might therefore show him all of Israel in order to lay a curse on them all. How is he answered? In Numbers Ch 23 v8,
“How should I curse whom God has not cursed? And who can count the dust of Jacob?”
in other words Israel. So the true Israel cannot be cursed since God’s blessing overrules everything, and neither can that Israel of God be counted, since they are, as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the seashore in number.
From this, we remember how David once also presumed to count Israel in 2Samuel ch24 and seventy thousand people died as a result, and more also if David had not admitted his sin and entreated God for mercy and the plague was stayed. How is it, that when David, the King of Israel, and manifestly a man of God, took it upon himself to count Israel, and for his trouble was sorely punished? But when Caesar Augustus, manifestly not of God’s people, also took it upon himself to take a count or census of God’s people, for taxation purposes in Luke ch2 v1, and no plague took place, there was no mention of God’s wrath kindled against him or his own. The difference is of course that both Balaam and David were men of spiritual discernment and knew full well that within the Israel of the flesh were hidden as it were the Israel of God like yeast hidden in the loaf, who could not be cursed or counted, as it is written,
“therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead so many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as the sand which is by the seashore- innumerable” Hebrews ch11 v12.
From Genesis22 v17 the writer of Hebrews recounts the blessing and 'uncountability' of God’s people. Therefore to whom God has enjoined blessing and innumerability- let no man presume to curse nor count.
"The Lord knoweth them that are His"; from 2 Timothy 2 v19, that is, by inference, the Lord alone knows them that are His and he alone is able to count the uncountable; so the word of God is not ineffectual,
for they are not all Israel which are of Israel. Rom9v6.
Rom.ch10v11 speaks again of the universal sin of man
“for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek” (in other words the Gentile) “wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned”.
In Ephesians Paul shows that we all lived according to the prince of the power of the air, in other words, according to the will of Satan, whether Israelite or gentile ch2v3,
“among whom we all had our conversation in times past and were by nature” that is by Adam’s inherent nature, “the children of wrath even as others”
These terms, children of wrath, children of disobedience, children of the bondwoman, all signify our fallen, Adamic nature, and spiritually speaking children of the devil. The depravity of mankind.
Note that Paul, with such notable qualifications,(according to the flesh) that if he wished to boast in the flesh none could better him as an Israelite, is speaking here of himself as, being by nature, that is naturally, a child of wrath; and in another place he speaks of the necessity of his adoption into the family of God.
(Romans 8:23) "So that we of the Gentiles, called uncircumcision by those of the fleshly Israelites called circumcision are, by the Gospel of Christ, made one people who were two" Eph2v16 “and that he might reconcile both”, circumcision and un-circumcision are both seen to need reconciling “and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross having slain the enmity thereby” v17 “and came and preached peace to you which were afar off”, gentiles, “and to them which were nigh” Jews v18 “For through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father”
So through Christ we are of the Household of God. Scripture teaches that all have sinned, all stand to be condemned and therefore all need Christ to reconcile us to God. All who by faith are obedient to the gospel are all the true children of God, the true Israel of God.
Jesus said,
“ For whoever does the will of God is my brother and my sister and mother” Mark 3:33
And so we return to where we began, in Romans ch9 v6,
“Not as though the word of God has taken no effect”, remember Isaiah’s words, saying, “the word of God will not return to Him void, but shall accomplish that, which it pleased him, to send it to do”
These words link with the words in Rom9v18
“ therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy,”
that is if we hear the word of God, and he is merciful, we, by his mercy will believe it, but if we hear the word of God and reject it blindly, our heart has been justly hardened, according as God sovereignly wills.
So the Word of God is never ineffectual but always accomplishes that which He pleases.
“For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel”
This is why the
“Israel of the flesh”, did not believe in Christ, because as John wrote in his Gospel, ch12v39,
“therefore they could not believe because that Isaias said again”, v40, ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them’ (emphasis mine)
Paul quoted the same thing but in other words from Isaiah 8v14
“behold I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offence and that Rock was Christ”
So the fleshly Israel stumbled at the word of the Gospel and were hardened in unbelief by the will of God; as Peter also testified in 1Peter2:6,
“wherefore also it is contained in the scripture ‘behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded," v7, ‘unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, a stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient’.
This word implies a wilful state of unbelief, even as it also speaks of God's purpose.
‘even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient whereunto they were appointed.'
The word ‘appointed’ has a much stronger sense than is often understood. Think of it in the same terms as where the scripture says’ “It is appointed for man once to die”. This is not a dentist appointment, from which one may arbitrarily absent oneself!
'But ye’... which believe, not of the Gentiles only, but of the fleshly Israel also,
‘but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.’
An alternative reading could be ‘a purchased people that ye should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.1 Peter 2:10.
Now back in Romans 9:7-8,
“Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children but in Isaac shall thy seed be called."
Paul in Galatians 3:7 says,
“Know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham” (emphasis mine)
It then follows that those who have no faith in Christ are not the children of promise, spiritual children of Abraham. This means that it is faith, which is the great divider of mankind; neither a fleshly ancestry nor any other carnal mark qualifies anyone for this privilege. Those that have faith, both Jews and Gentile are God’s Israel; and those outside of this faith in Christ both Jews and Gentiles are children of disobedience, children of fornication, children of bondage In Galatians 3:22 Paul again confirms the universality of sin and in v28 confirms the universality of the true church.
“But the scripture has concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe, for you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus for as many of you which have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus and if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise." (emphasis mine)
Some may argue here that Paul is using these arguments specifically for unbelieving Jews to bring them to the faith. However it is well to remind ourselves to whom Paul wrote this letter. It is a letter to the Galatian church, which was primarily a Gentile church. Therefore this is a universal truth-
“if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise”
Remember that virtually the whole thrust of the Jews confidence on being the children of God rests on this promise to Abraham. So we see it is those of like faith of Abraham that are the children of promise, not necessarily his fleshly descendants, though they too, if they earnestly contend for the faith may be grafted into the natural vine.
Do I seem repetitious? I come across this truth again and again in the New Testament, through the letters of Paul, by Peter’s word in the Gospels, especially in John’s gospel, indeed through the words of Christ himself. Dare we ignore such an often-repeated word; are not the most important truths repeated in various ways, most often, and by many?
May God grant that we see no other but Christ and the lost sheep of the house of Israel as the people chosen of God.
Where does this leave us in today’s situation? If people, particularly Christians, continue to call the earthly nation of Israel- God’s chosen people, are they giving away, in a sense, their own inheritance and birthright to another who lives not by a true faith? If Christ is the true inheritance and we give so freely and cheaply what has cost Jesus so dearly to a people who remain in disobedience and unbelief are we not despising our own birthright? Consider Esau who did just that. He accounted the fulfilment of his own carnal appetite of more value than his birthright and so it became the privilege of another. He sold out, for a mere morsel, something of eternal and inestimable value. I believe Esau is a figure of the tragedy of the Israelite people in general. I also believe his example, and the nation of Israel, stand as a dire warning to all of us not to be high-minded, but to fear.
“Do not boast against the branches.” (That were cast off) “But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root” (Christ) “supports you.” Romans 11: 18etc. “Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be high-minded but fear.”
That is, we must abide in the faith, which is by the daily supply of the sap or spirit of Christ otherwise we too may be cast off. Behold the goodness and the severity of God.
“And so all Israel shall be saved”.
This is an eternal promise in the sense that this seal stands sure- in every age and time there is a remnant, whether Jew or Gentile, that hold the true Christ as the saviour of the world; and they hold him to be true to the end, and these are the elect of God, the true Israel.
At the end time when the fullness of the Gentiles has been brought in and salvation has returned to the Israelite people, and at last the fulfillment of God’s purposes are realized. as Paul writes in Romans 11:25fwd-
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits. That blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, ‘There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.’
It is interesting here to note that the majority in Christendom today, will not agree or acknowledge a limited salvation. That it is the will of God to grant salvation to a remnant rather than to all is a major issue in these scriptures. And so the situation pictured in Fig 1 will be repugnant and resisted chiefly on this basis. Careful study of the verses in Rom 9 will answer these objections.
Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
"Why doth he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
Just who are we to argue with God! Is it not inconsistent when Christians attempt to refute the idea of a limited salvation, but when reading the latter part of - Rom 11: verse 25 it is generally accepted that there will come a time when salvation will be unattainable to the Gentiles? -
“…Until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in”.
By a limited salvation I mean that we as Christ's ambassadors are chosen to call all, (without qualification or respect of persons) to repentance and faith, to say: "come", and God will add to the church as many as He will and without fail. Nothing has changed in every generation God adds
"such as should be saved" according as he has purposed in his own heart. There is no inconsistency in God, these scriptures stand true:
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37. “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Mathew 22:14 (emphasis mine)
"All", not an unqualified all, but "
all that the father giveth me".
On another point, at the end of the age, or, if you like, at the end of the day of grace, when God will shut the door on the Ark, (in a figure), the situation will be that the fullness of the gentiles is in, the veil comes down and now Gentiles no longer recognize the true Christ, which had been their privilege previously. Salvation has come to the nation of Israel, their veil is taken away and The Rock previously rejected, is now the rock of their salvation, and the fullness of the Israel of God is complete. It may be seen that the turn of events has come full cycle. The picture is now, how most Jews imagined it should have been in the days of Christ walking the earth, a true and complete Israel with her own true King.
Even so come Lord Jesus! Amen.
Thursday, 11 April 2002
Further Reading: Mth 8:5-12,Mth 21:28-32, Mth21:33-46
In J.I. Packers’ excellent book "‘Fundamentalism’ and the Word of God" where he establishes the divine authority of the Word of God he reiterates the continuity of Israel and the church and uses the attitude of Israel towards the scriptures as a cogent and potent argument for perpetuating the authority of scripture:
“
The entire New Testament outlook is determined by the conviction that the Old and New dispensations are organically one. The writers see the coming of Christ as the climax of a single revelatory process which had been going on in Israel for over a millennium...”
“Christ had already made the point that the relation between the new order and the old was one not of mere substitution, but of fulfillment….”
“They had abandoned all the elaborate Old Testament machinery for bringing sinners near to a holy God; they claimed that it had been done away by the Messiah’s priestly sacrifice of Himself, which won permanent access to God for all believers everywhere. The outward differences between the Old and the New order were thus considerable; yet the apostles insisted that the Christian community was essentially the same Church as before. Gentile converts were told that in Christ they had become
‘the Israel of God’, ‘Abraham’s seed’ and heirs of the Abrahamic promise, for they had now been grafted into the one olive tree (the covenant community, of which the patriarchs were the root and first-fruits) in place of those of Abraham’s lineal seed who were broken off through unbelief. The
God of the Christians was the God of Israel; Jesus, the Son of ‘God, was the Christ, Israel’s long-awaited Messiah; and Christianity itself was no more than Israel’s religion brought to its perfect and final form through the fulfilment of Israel’s hope by Christ’s death and resurrection. (Emphasis mine)
I would also like to quote from A.W. Tozer’s book “the Radical Cross”
Grace: The Only Means Of Salvation
Here are two important truths. (And I want you to take it and the next time you hear a professor or a preacher say otherwise, go to him and remind him of this.) The first truth is that no one ever was saved, no one is now saved and no one ever will be saved except by grace. Before Moses nobody was ever saved except by grace. During Moses' time nobody was ever saved except by grace. After Moses and before the cross and after the cross and since the cross and during all that dispensation, during any dispensation, anywhere, any time since Abel offered his first lamb before God on the smoking altar—nobody was ever saved in any other way than by grace.
The second truth is that grace always comes by Jesus Christ. The law was given by Moses, but grace came by Jesus Christ. This does not mean that before Jesus was born of Mary there was no grace. God dealt in grace with mankind,
looking forward to the Incarnation and death of Jesus before Christ came. Now, since He's come and gone to the Father's right hand, God looks back upon the cross as we look back upon the cross. Everybody from Abel on was saved by looking forward to the cross. Grace came by Jesus Christ. And
everybody that's been saved since the cross is saved by looking back at the cross.
Grace always comes by Jesus Christ. It didn't come at His birth, but it came in God's ancient plan. No grace was ever administered to anybody except by and through and in Jesus Christ. When Adam and Eve had no children. God spared Adam and Eve by grace. And when they had their two boys, one offered a lamb and thus said, "I look forward to the Lamb of God." He accepted the grace of Christ Jesus thousands of years before He was born, and God gave him witness that he was justified.
The grace did not come when Christ was born in a manger. It did not come when Christ was baptized or anointed of the Spirit, lt did not come when He died on a cross; it did not come when He rose from the dead. It did not come when He went to the Father's right hand. Grace came from the ancient beginnings through Jesus Christ the eternal Son and was manifest on the cross of Calvary, in fiery blood and tears and sweat and death. But it has always been operative from the beginning. If God had not operated in grace He would have swept the human race away. He would have crushed Adam and Eve under His heel in awful judgment, for they had it coming.
But because God was a God of grace, He already had an eternity planned—the plan of grace,
"the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world" (Revelation 13:8). There was no embarrassment in the divine scheme; God didn't have to back up and say, "I'm sorry, but I have mixed things up here." He simply went right on. (emphasis mine)
For further discussion on this subject read the excellent essay
Jerusalem by Peter Walker published by Marshall Pickering 2000, in the book: CHRISTIANITY in a changing world by Michael Schluter and the Cambridge Papers Group. For a brief expose of a raft of scriptures pointing out how God relates to both the Church and Israel in identical language time and again "making no difference" listen
here to Nicene Councils' Jerry Johnson in "Against the World" Their website is :
http://nicenecouncil.com/
“If Moses is not understood here…”
