Appendix B – The
Israel of God
continued
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- Christians
C1 = A
Christian (a born again Jew or
Gentile who loves Jesus, lives by
faith – a saint)
C2 = A
Christian (a nonreligious individual
who has no interest in God but has
Christian parents, heritage, or
culture)
C3 = A
Christian (a religious zealot who is
an ignorant, arrogant, unloving,
hardheaded individual whose God is
his religious opinion)
C4 =
Christians (corporately speaking, all
Christians)
- Gentiles
G1 = A
Gentile (an individual like Cornelius
whose knowledge of the truth about
God is nonexistent or limited, but
for all he knows, loves God and walks
obediently with God according to the
Holy Spirit who guides him – he
lives up to all that he knows to be
right and true – a saint)
G2 = A
Gentile (a non-religious individual
who has no interest in God)
G3 = A
Gentile (a religious zealot who is
neither Christian or Jew, who is
ignorant, arrogant, unloving, a
hardheaded individual whose God is
his religious opinion)
G4 = Gentiles
(corporately speaking, all who are
not Jews and Christians)
God
Looks on the Heart
Many
Christians inherently understand
these twelve definitions without
giving them much thought. For
example, when you hear someone say,
“I believe there are sheep and
goats in every religious body,”
that person is affirming that he
believes that God primarily looks
upon the heart and what matters most
to God is honesty, integrity,
fidelity, love, and faithfulness.
We need to
examine these twelve definitions
because there is a great deal of
confusion about the end time role of
modern Israel. To be frank, I
do not find anything in Scripture
concerning an end time role for
modern Israel. There is an
Israel of God during the end time,
but it is not the modern nation of
Israel. We will learn in the
following study that the end time
Israel of God consists of
J1 + C1 + G1. This explains why
the twelve definitions of sheep and
goats are important. The words
“Christian,”
“Jew,” and
“Gentile” are used
throughout Scripture. Knowing
which definition is appropriate
within a given text is highly
important and if you want to reach
the intended meaning of Scripture.
Example
1: Selections from Romans 9 and Romans
2
Paul
wrote, “I have
great sorrow and unceasing anguish in
my heart. For I could wish that
I myself were cursed and cut off from
Christ for the sake of my brothers,
those of my own race, the people of
Israel, [J4]. [In
other words, I would forfeit eternal
life if it would mean that my people
would receive Christ and be
saved. Look at the gifts that
God has generously bestowed on
J4:] Theirs is the [promised] adoption
as sons; theirs the divine glory [the
Shekinah glory that dwelt within the
Most Holy place], the
covenants [the offer of
serving as trustees of the eternal
gospel], the receiving of the
law [at Mount Sinai],
the temple worship [with
its ceremonial shadows], and
the promises [of
earthly recognition spoken through
the prophets]. Theirs
are the patriarchs [Abraham,
Moses and David], and from
them is traced the human ancestry of
Christ, who is God over all, forever
praised! Amen.
[There
is no question that J4 has been
blessed above all nations, therefore
J4’s rejection of Christ is
devastating.] It
is not as though God’s word [His
promises] had failed [because
all Israel [J1] will be saved.
However, we must consider the problem
that J4’s rebellion has created
for the eternal gospel and God’s
solution to this problem.
First, remember that] For
not all who are descended from Israel
are Israel. [That is,
J2 and J3 are not counted as sons of
Jacob.] Nor
because they are his descendants are
they all Abraham’s children. [God
used Abraham’s first born son to
demonstrate this point. God
declared that Ishmael was
unacceptable in His sight as
Abraham’s heir even though he
was Abraham’s first born
son. God rejected
Abraham’s request that Ishmael
be counted as his heir and inheritor
of God’s promise, but God
said:] On the
contrary,‘It is through Isaac [the
child that came when it was humanly
impossible to conceive, the child
that came through patience and
enduring faith] that
your offspring [J1] will
be reckoned.’ In other words, it
is not the natural [born] children
who are counted as God’s
children, but it is the children of
the promise [that is,
people who believe God’s
promises and wait upon the Lord as
Abraham did] who are
regarded as Abraham’s offspring [heirs].”[23]
God rejected
Ishmael as Abraham’s firstborn
because Ishmael came as a result of
abandoning faith in God. From
the beginning, God wanted the
impossible birth of Isaac to parallel
the impossible birth of Christ.
Contrary to what some people claim,
God did not reject Abraham’s
firstborn son, Ishmael, because the
child was born out of wedlock.
If this were the case, there would
not be twelve tribes in Israel.
The twelve tribes of Israel came
through two marriages and two slave
women. Jacob’s first wife,
Leah, produced six sons and his
second wife, Rachel, produced two
sons. Bilhah, Leah’s slave
woman, produced two sons from Jacob
and Zilpah, Rachel’s slave
woman, also produced two sons for
him.[24]
In Romans 2,
Paul confronts some Jews [J3’s]
who were causing trouble among early
Christians in Rome. These Jews
[J3] were trying to merge
Christianity into Judaism. Paul
wrote: “Now you, if
you call yourself a Jew [that
is, if you consider yourself the
elect of God]; if you rely on
the law [to demonstrate
that you are righteous] and
brag about your relationship to God;
if you know his will and approve of
what is superior because you are
instructed by the law; if you are
convinced that you are a guide for
the blind, a light for those [G4’s] who
are in the dark, an instructor of the
foolish, a teacher of infants,
because you have in the law the
embodiment of knowledge and truth
– you, then, who teach
others, [why] do
you not teach yourself? You who
preach against stealing, [so
why] do you steal? You
who say that people should not commit
adultery,[so why] do
you commit adultery? You who abhor
idols, [so why] do
you rob temples [and
take their gold and silver]?
You who brag about [obeying] the
law, [so why] do
you dishonor God by breaking the law?
[You well know that Israel [J4] has a
terrible reputation among the
Gentiles as an arrogant and
rebellious people. Israel has a
long history of being hated and
scorned by its neighbors because of
the way it exalts itself as the elect
of God and yet, treats the Gentiles
as though they were less than
dogs. As a people [J4], the Old
Testament constantly condemns
them.] As it is
written: ‘God’s name is
blasphemed among the Gentiles because
of you.’
[Let
us reason together for a
moment.] Circumcision
has value if you [believe
that obedience will produce
salvation. You
conscientiously] observe
the law, but [you
should know that] if you
break the law [just
once], you have become as
though you had not been circumcised [because
the penalty for one sin is death and
how can you recover from the penalty
of sin after committing one
sin? Circumcision will not save
you from death!]. If
those who are not circumcised [and
uninformed like Cornelius –
G1] keep the law’s
requirements [out of a
deep desire to walk with God],
will they not be regarded as though
they were circumcised [by
God]? The
one who is not circumcised physically [and
knows nothing about the written
code] and yet obeys the [intent
of the] law [which
is love, because love is written in
his heart through the Spirit,
he] will condemn you
who, even though you [are
a Jew, J4, and] have the
written code and circumcision, are a
lawbreaker.
[Be
assured. God reads the heart
and in His sight] A
man is not a Jew [J1] if
he is only one outwardly, nor is
circumcision merely outward and
physical. No, a man is a Jew [J1] if
he is one inwardly; and circumcision
is circumcision of the heart, by the
Spirit, not by the written code. Such
a man’s praise is not from men,
but from God.”[25]
[Consider
God’s treatment of sincere
Gentiles [G1] who know nothing about
Him.] “Indeed, when
Gentiles [G1],
who do not have [any
knowledge of] the law,
do by nature things required by the
law, they are a law for themselves,
even though they do not have [knowledge
of] the law, since
they show that the requirements of
the law are written on their hearts,[even
in the absence of the written code,
they [G1] know through the Holy
Spirit what is right from wrong
because] their
consciences [influenced
by the Holy Spirit] also
bearing witness [in
matters of right and wrong],
and their thoughts now accusing [that
is, their thoughts producing guilt
when they violate the Spirit within
them], now even defending
them [that is, their
thoughts producing peace when doing
what is right according to the Holy
Spirit].”[26]
Example
2: Ephesians 2 and Galatians 3
“For
we [all mankind, C4 +
J4 + G4] are God’s
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
to do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do.
Therefore, remember that formerly you
who are Gentiles by birth [G4] and
called [the ignorant
and] ‘uncircumcised’ [dogs] by
those who call themselves [the
enlightened and] ‘the
circumcision’ [J3] –
(those who insist that you must also
be circumcised by the hands of men)
– remember that at that time [prior
to hearing the gospel of Christ
that] you were separate
from Christ, [and as
pagans [G4] you were] excluded
from citizenship in Israel and
foreigners to the covenants of the
promise, without hope and without God
in the world.
But
now in Christ Jesus you who once were
far away have been brought near
through the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace [He
is our means to reconciliation
because He], who has made the
two [groups – J1
and G1 into] one [church
body – C1] and has
destroyed the [religious] barrier [that
kept us apart], the dividing
wall of hostility [religious
antagonism], by
abolishing in his flesh the [Levitical] law
with its commandments and
regulations. [When God
abolished the Levitical system, God
destroyed Judaism [J4] As a
race of people we no longer have a
valid religious system that uniquely
separates us from the Gentiles.
[G4] Our religious
system, delivered by Moses, has been
made void.] God’s
purpose [in doing
this] was to create in
himself one new man [C1] out
of the two [groups of
people – Jews, J1 and Gentiles,
G1], thus making peace[between
us], and in this one
body [of believers,
that is, the church – C1] to
reconcile both of them to God through
the cross, by which he put to death
their hostility. He [Jesus] came
and preached peace [reconciliation
with God through faith] to
you who were far away [G4] and
peace [reconciliation
with God through faith] to
those [of us] who
were near [J4].
For through him we [J1
+ G1] both have [equal] access
to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently,
you [born again
Gentiles – G1’s] are
no longer foreigners and aliens, but [now
you are] fellow citizens
with God’s people [J1’s] and
members of God’s [unified] household [C1],
built on the foundation of the
apostles and [Old
Testament] prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the
chief cornerstone. In him the
whole building [the
church – C1] is
joined together and rises to become a
holy temple in the Lord.”[27]
[God
planned from the beginning to justify
the Gentiles through faith.] “Consider
Abraham: ‘He believed God, and
it was credited to him as
righteousness.’ [The
Scripture says that God’s
righteousness ‘was credited to
him,’ because the righteousness
credited to Abraham did not exist
when Abraham was alive. The
righteousness of Christ was produced
when Jesus lived on Earth. He
overcame every temptation and His
righteousness is imputed to every
person who lives by faith. This
is why the righteousness of Christ
was credited to Abraham.] Understand,
then, that those who believe [as
Abraham believed] are
children of Abraham [and
this now includes Gentile believers].
The Scripture foresaw that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith, and
announced the gospel in advance to
Abraham: ‘All nations will be
blessed through you.’ So
those who have faith are blessed
along with Abraham, the man of
faith. All who rely on
observing the law [to
achieve righteousness] are
under a curse, for it is written:
‘Cursed is everyone who does not
continue to do everything written in
the Book of the Law.’
Clearly no one is justified before
God by the law, because, [all
have sinned] and’
‘The righteous will live by
faith.’ ”[28]
Four
Facts
The two
passages above illuminate four topics
that should become clearer as this
study unfolds:
- From
God’s perspective, there
are three different kinds of
Jews (J1 + J2 + J3).
Paul says that some Jews are
considered the offspring of
Abraham (J1) and the others
(J2 + J3) are not.
- From
God’s perspective, there
are three different kinds of
Gentiles (G1 + G2 +
G3). Paul says that
even though G1’s may
know nothing about the true
God, they are considered His
children because they
honestly live up to all they
know to be right and
true. Living by faith
means doing what is thought
to be pleasing to God and
leaving the consequences with
Him.
- When
Jesus came to Earth, He
abolished the Levitical code[29] which
terminated Judaism. He
established a new covenant
and appointed new
trustees. Speaking to
Jewish and Gentile believers,
Paul made clear that it was
Christ’s purpose to
unite J1 and G1 to create
C1. Of course, as time
progressed, C1 fractured into
corporate Christianity (C4)
which has nothing to do with
living by faith.
- God
views the sheep and goats as
twelve distinct groups of
people.
Abraham’s
Inheritance
Now, we come
to an interesting question that
confuses millions of
Christians. Why is it important
to God that Christians (C1) be
counted as heirs of Abraham
today? The answer to this
question is that God made three
unilateral (one sided) promises to
Abraham. A unilateral promise
is a standalone promise, whereas a
bilateral promise has two
sides. Marriage is a bilateral
promise when two people promise to
love, honor, and cherish one another
for as long as they live. If
one party in the marriage fails to
keep the vow, the covenant is broken
and it becomes void.
Conversely, nothing is required of a
person when a unilateral promise is
given to him. For example, God
promised all mankind that He would
never destroy the world with a flood
again.[30] This
is a unilateral promise.
Mankind is not required to do
anything for the promise to be
fulfilled.
Now you can
appreciate the three unilateral
promises which God made to Abraham:
- “He
[God] took him [Abraham]
outside and said, ‘Look
up at the heavens and count
the stars if indeed you can
count them.’ Then he
said to him, ‘So shall
your offspring be.’
”[31]
- “The
whole land of Canaan, where
you are now an alien, I will
give as an everlasting
possession to you and your
descendants after you; and I
will be their God.”[32]
- God
said, “Abraham
will surely become a great
and powerful nation, and all
nations on Earth will be
blessed through him. For I
have chosen him, so that he
will direct his children and
his household after him to
keep the way of the Lord by
doing what is right and just,
so that the Lord will bring
about for Abraham what he has
promised him.”[33]
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