The
church is true Israel and Christians are God's true "Jews" today.
Introduction:
1.
"Replacement theology" or "supersessionism" is what those
who teach the Rapture call the apostolic doctrine that physical Israel was
replaced by the Spiritual church and Jews by blood were replaced by Jews by
faith.
2.
Premillentialists are carnal at their foundational core. They literalize all
the clearly spiritual passages that are applied to the church and instead apply
them 2000 years later to modern Israel.
3.
Jesus taught that God would take his blessings away from fleshly Israel who
rejected him as Christ and give it to the Gentiles. Jesus clearly taught the
Gentile believers would replace Jewish non-believers.
a.
"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. " (Matthew 21:43)
b. The
Jews who heard this understood what Rapture false teachers today refuse to see:
"When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they
understood that He was speaking about them. " (Matthew 21:45)
4. The Bible clearly teaches that God's true Jews today are
Christians:
a.
"For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which
is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision
is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise
is not from men, but from God. " (Romans 2:28-29)
b.
"Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a
new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel
of God [Christians]. " (Galatians 6:15-16)
c.
"for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and
glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, " (Philippians
3:3)
5.
Even the apostolic fathers of the first and second century believed and
taught "replacement theology":
a.
"Christians are the True Israel"
(Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter CXXIII, 130 AD)
b.
"As therefore from the one man Jacob, who was surnamed Israel, all your
nation has been called Jacob and Israel; so we from
Christ, who begat us unto God, (like Jacob, and Israel, and Judah, and
Joseph, and David,) are called and are the true sons of
God, and keep the commandments of Christ" (Justin Martyr,
Dialogues, Chapter CXXIII, 130 AD)
c.
"Christ is King of Israel, and Christians are the
Israelitic Race. (Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter CXXXV, 130 AD)
d.
"As, therefore, Christ is the Israel and the Jacob, even so we, who have
been quarried out from the bowels of Christ, are the
true Israelitic race." (Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter CXXXV,
130 AD)
e.
"For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are
uncircumcised in their hearts.' ... But though a man be a Scythian or a
Persian, if he has the knowledge of God and of His Christ, and keeps the
everlasting righteous decrees, he is circumcised with the good and useful
circumcision, and is a friend of God, and God rejoices in his gifts and
offerings." (Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter XXVIII, 130 AD)
A. The Parable of the Landowner: Israel replace by Church/Christians
1. "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner
who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND
BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.
"When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers
to receive his produce. "The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one,
and killed another, and stoned a third. "Again he sent another group of
slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. "But
afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
"But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This
is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.' "They took
him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. "Therefore when the
owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those
vine-growers?" They said to Him, "He
will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to
other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons."
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'THE STONE
WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME
ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'? "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away
from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. "And he
who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it
will scatter him like dust." When the chief priests and the Pharisees
heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they
sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be
a prophet. " (Matthew 21:33-46)
2. In a parable so crystal clear only a premillennialist
could get it wrong, the Jews, as a nation, were going to be replaced by
something new, the church.
3. "He will bring those wretches to a
wretched end" happened in 70 AD.
4. Now clearly the entire leadership of the apostolic
church and most of the Elders in the churches were Jewish. But they had become
Christians who stopped keeping the Sabbath and abandoned the Mosaic system of
Judaism. They began immediately worshipping god on the first day of the week,
the Lord's day.
5. Jesus went to the Jews first but they
rejected Him as the Messiah. The church, (the kingdom) is now open to both Jew
and Gentile equally. Both must believe, repent, confess Jesus as Lord and be
baptized for the remission of their sins. There is only one way to get saved!
Jews have no special route to heaven that gentiles do not have. They all must
believe and do the same things to be saved.
6. Paul always began his evangelism in a new
city by preaching in the Jewish synagogues. When the Jews rejected the gospel,
he turned to the gentiles: "But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were
filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and
were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary
that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge
yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. " (Acts 13:45-46)
7. "This precious value, then, is for you who
believe; but for those who disbelieve, [Israel]
"THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER
stone," and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for
they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and
to this doom they were also appointed. But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A
royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you
may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE
OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. " (1
Peter 2:7-10)
a.
Notice that the "you are a chosen,
holy nation of priests", which was originally applied to fleshly Israel at
the foot of Mt. Sinai is now applied to Christians to the exclusion of physical
Israel unless they believe.
i.
"and you shall be to Me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the
sons of Israel." " (Exodus 19:6)
ii.
""For you are a holy people to
the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a
people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the
earth. " (Deuteronomy 7:6)
b.
Notice that the text applies these
special blessings of being "you are a chosen, holy nation of priests"
to the gentiles and that fleshly Israel was "appointed to doom".
B. "So all Israel will be
saved": Romans 9:26
1.
Romans 9:26 is misused to teach that God
has a special plan for the Jews that is different from the Gentiles.
2.
Passages that show Israel is saved exactly like the gentiles by faith:
a. "For
I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will
not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to
Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will
be saved; just as it is written, "The
Deliverer will come from Zion, He
will remove ungodliness from
Jacob."This is My covenant
with them, When I take away
their sins." (Romans 11:25-27)
b. "For
I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also
to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith
to faith; as it is written, "But
the righteous man shall live by
faith." (Romans 1:16-17)
c. "For
there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for
the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for
"Whoever will call on the name of
the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:12-13)
d. "I
say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too
am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not
rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture
says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
"Lord, they have killed Your prophets,
they have torn down Your altars, and I alone
am left, and they are seeking my
life." But what is the divine response to him? "I have kept for Myself seven thousand
men who have not bowed the
knee to Baal." In the same way then, there has also come to be at
the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. But if it is by
grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer
grace. " (Romans 11:1-6)
e. "But
when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I
said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the
Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live
like Jews? "We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;
nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in
Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the
works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
" (Galatians 2:14-16)
3.
Notice that the passage clearly states
that the first coming of Christ was their hope of salvation.
4.
The deliverer is Jesus Christ who came to
the Jews 2000 years ago.
5.
The whole point of the context is that
while the Jews have not been discarded entirely, in that they can be saved if
they believe in Jesus.
6.
While they have no disadvantages compared
to gentiles, the Jews also have no special advantages as far as salvation is
concerned.
7.
However, the advantage the Jews had over
the gentiles, is that they had been cultivated and prepared by God for 2000
years to accept the coming messiah.
8.
The first century Jews who converted to
become Christians had some significant advantages over the gentiles who were
not familiar with the Old Testament stories the theme.
9.
It is rank heresy to teach that the
Gentiles are saved by faith only without water baptism but the Jews had to
believe and be baptized to be saved. There is only one plan of salvation for
all mankind: Believe, repent, confess Christ and be immersed in water for the
remission of your sins. (Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21
C. "Salvation is from the
Jews": John 4:22
1.
"You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for
salvation is from the Jews. " (John 4:22)
2.
Salvation came from Jesus Christ who came out of the Jewish people.
Jesus was a full blooded Jew.
3.
There is nothing in this passage or any other place in the Bible that
says the Jews will lead the way of salvation at the end of time.
D. "Think not I came to
abolish the law": Mt 5:17
1.
"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did
not come to abolish but to fulfill. "For truly I say to you, until heaven
and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law
until all is accomplished. "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these
commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the
kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great
in the kingdom of heaven. "For I say to you that unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of
heaven. " (Matthew 5:17-20)
2.
This passage is also misused by the Sabbatarians to try to keep the law
of moses alive so they can have their Sabbath. Sabbath Keepers always misquote Matthew
5:17 as a proof text, that the Sabbath will endure as long as the earth stands.
Simply stated, the passage says that Jesus came to fulfill the whole law (moral
and ceremonial) and that none of the law would be abolished until it was
fulfilled. Adventists take the incredible position that Jesus did not fulfill
the law! Sabbatarians also press the expression, "not one jot or tittle
shall pass from the law" as a proof text that the Sabbath is in force
today! Problem is, this expression, as Jesus used it, included the whole Law of
Moses including animal sacrifices. If "jot or tittle" is still in
force today, the we must have both the Sabbath and animal sacrifices! Logic has
never been a strong point with Seventh-day Adventists!
E. "Abraham's offspring by
faith, not blood": Gal 3:27; Rom 9:6-9
1.
Passages:
a. "But
it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who
are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's
descendants, but: "through Isaac your descendants will be named." That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God,
but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. "
(Romans 9:6-8)
b. "For
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you
are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong
to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs
according to promise. " (Galatians 3:26-29)
c. "Therefore
remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
"Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is
performed in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time
separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But
now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the
blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and
broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, " (Ephesians 2:11-14)
2.
Clearly being in the blood line of Abraham and being a literal
genealogically papered member of one of the tribes of Israel does absolutely
nothing to aid in salvation. Only faith in Christ saves.
F. Circumcision of the heart
through water baptism replaces circumcision in the flesh: Col 2:11-12
1. Passages:
a. "and in Him you were also
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body
of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in
baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working
of God, who raised Him from the dead. " (Colossians 2:11-12)
b. "Beware of the dogs, beware of
the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for
we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory
in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, " (Philippians 3:2-3)
c. "For neither
is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And
those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. " (Galatians 6:15-16)
2. Notice that circumcision was the
sign of the covenant in the Old Testament of when a baby came into
"covenant relationship" with God on the 8th or 33rd day.
3. Notice the in the New Testament,
circumcision is only done to adult consenting believers, not infants. This
change found in the New covenant, was prophesied in Jer 31:31-34 and applied in
Hebrews 8:11
a. "and they shall not teach
everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, 'know the Lord,'
for all will know me, from the least to the greatest of
them. " (Hebrews 8:11)
b. Notice that the Old Testament was
where a baby was in covenant relationship first, then had to be taught to know
the lord as he grew up second.
c. However Jer 31:31 said that unlike
the Old Testament, under the New Covenant a person was first taught to know the
Lord, then if he chose to be a Christian, he would then second, get water
baptized.
d. Unlike the fleshly Israel who had a
large population of children who grew up and never knew the Lord, but were
supposed to be God's people, in the New Testament, every single Christian
"knows the Lord" and makes the confession of faith.
4. Any unbaptized Jew today (or any
person for that matter) is not circumcised in the heart and is therefore lost
just like the Gentiles.
5. National Israel today actually rejects
Jesus Christ and their only hope is to be saved the same way any other Gentile
can be saved: faith, repentance, confessing Christ, and water baptism: Mk
16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts22:16; 1 Pe 3:21.
a. ""He who has believed and
has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be
condemned. " (Mark 16:16)
b. "Peter said to them,
"Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
" (Acts 2:38)
c. "'Now why do you delay? Get up
and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.' " (Acts
22:16)
d. "Corresponding to that, baptism
now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for
a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, " (1 Peter
3:21)
6. Israel as a physical nation
circumcised in the flesh, has been replaced by the church as a spiritual nation
circumcised in the heart.
7. This is exactly what you find in Gal
6:15-16. The "Israel of God" is the church who walk by faith in
Christ regardless of any physical connection to nationhood.
8. Christians are the true
circumcision. Being a National circumcised Jew is called the "false
circumcision". How could it be any clearer?
G. National Identities are
destroyed in Christ:
1. Passages:
a. "For He Himself is our peace,
who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments
contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new
man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God
through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. " (Ephesians
2:14-16)
b. "For you are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all
one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's
descendants, heirs according to promise. " (Galatians 3:26-29)
2. Notice that in fulfilling Isa 2:2-4,
Christ brought about peace between all the nations that were at war.
3. When a Jew becomes a Christian, he
ceases to be a Jew and becomes a new creature.
4. In Christ there are no national
competing identities like there were under the Old Testament.
5. National Jews have no advantage over
Americans, Canadians, Egyptians or Iranians.
6. Today Christians are God's
"chosen race" and they can be from any nation on earth.
H. The allegory of Gal 4:21ff:
Israel replace by Church
1. "Tell me, you who want to be
under law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two
sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the
bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman
through the promise. This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two
covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be
slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds
to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the
Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written, "REJOICE,
BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN
LABOR; FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE THAN OF THE ONE WHO
HAS A HUSBAND." And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But
as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was
born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the Scripture
say? "CAST OUT THE BONDWOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL
NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN." So then, brethren, we are
not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman. " (Galatians 4:21-31)
2. A simple reading of this text show
that physical Israel associated with physical Jerusalem were "cast out"
like Hagar and called faithless people of the flesh and replaced by Christians
who are associated with Sarah as people of faith.
3. This passage would come as a shock
and insult to associate the national Jews with the descendants of Hagar as Israelites
who are themselves the ancient ancestors of modern Arabs.
4. Paul calls the nation of Israel a
lot of unbelieving, out of covenant, "cast out" Ishmaelite Arabs.
5. Unbelieving Jews are the likened
unto the descendants of Ismael and Christians replace them as the true
descendants of Sarah through faith, not flesh.
I. Justin Martyr taught
"Replacement theology":
1. Summary of the Replacement theology
of Justin Martyr:
a. "Christians
are the True Israel" (Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter CXXIII, 130
AD)
b. "As therefore from the one man
Jacob, who was surnamed Israel, all your nation has been called Jacob and
Israel; so we from Christ, who begat us unto God,
(like Jacob, and Israel, and Judah, and Joseph, and David,) are called and are the true sons of God, and keep the
commandments of Christ" (Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter CXXIII, 130 AD)
c. "Christ is King of Israel, and Christians are the Israelitic Race. (Justin Martyr,
Dialogues, Chapter CXXXV, 130 AD)
d. "As, therefore, Christ is the
Israel and the Jacob, even so we, who have been quarried out from the bowels of
Christ, are the true Israelitic race."
(Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter CXXXV, 130 AD)
e. "For all the nations are
uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in their hearts.'
... But though a man be a Scythian or a Persian, if he has the knowledge of God
and of His Christ, and keeps the everlasting righteous decrees, he is
circumcised with the good and useful circumcision, and is a friend of God, and
God rejoices in his gifts and offerings." (Justin Martyr, Dialogues,
Chapter XXVIII, 130 AD)
2.
Chapter CXXIII.—Ridiculous Interpretations of the Jews. Christians are the True Israel.
a. "As,
therefore, all these latter prophecies refer to Christ and the nations, you
should believe that the former refer to Him and them in like manner. For the
proselytes have no need of a covenant, if, since there is one and the same law
imposed on all that are circumcised, the Scripture speaks about them thus: 'And
the stranger shall also be joined with them, and shall be joined to the house
of Jacob; ' and because the proselyte, who is circumcised that he may have
access to the people, becomes like one of themselves,477 while we who have been
deemed worthy to be called a people are yet Gentiles, because we have not been
circumcised. Besides, it is ridiculous for you to imagine that the eyes of the
proselytes are to be opened while your own are not, and that you be understood
as blind and deaf while they are enlightened. And it will be still more
ridiculous for you, if you say that the law has been given to the nations, but
you have not known it. For you would have stood in awe of God's wrath, and
would not have been lawless, wandering sons; being much afraid of hearing God
always say, 'Children in whom is no faith. And who are blind, but my servants?
and deaf, but they that rule over them? And the servants of God have been made
blind. You see often, but have not observed; your ears have been opened, and
you have not heard.' Is God's commendation of you honourable? and is God's
testimony seemly for His servants? You are not ashamed though you often hear
these words. You do not tremble at God's threats, for you are a people foolish
and hard-hearted. 'Therefore, behold, I will proceed to remove this people,
'saith the Lord; 'and I will remove them, and destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and hide the understanding of the prudent.' Deservedly too: for you are neither
wise nor prudent, but crafty and unscrupulous; wise only to do evil, but
utterly incompetent to know the hidden counsel of God, or the faithful covenant
of the Lord, or to find out the everlasting paths. 'Therefore, saith the Lord,
I will raise up to Israel and to Judah the seed of men and the seed of beasts.'
And by Isaiah He speaks thus concerning another Israel: 'In that day shall
there be a third Israel among the Assyrians and the Egyptians, blessed in the
land which the Lord of Sabaoth hath blessed, saying, blessed
shall my people in Egypt and in Assyria be, and Israel mine inheritance.'
Since then God blesses this people, and calls them Israel, and declares them to
be His inheritance, how is it that you repent not of
the deception you practise on yourselves, as if you alone were the Israel, and
of execrating the people whom God has blessed? For when He speaks to
Jerusalem and its environs, He thus added: 'And I will beget men upon you, even
my people Israel; and they shall inherit you, and you shall be a possession for
them; and you shall be no longer bereaved of them.' " "What, then?"says Trypho;
"are you Israel? and speaks He such things of you?"If, indeed,"
I replied to him, "we had not entered into a lengthy discussion on these
topics, I might have doubted whether you ask this question in ignorance; but
since we have brought the matter to a conclusion by demonstration and with your
assent, I do not believe that you are ignorant of what I have just said, or
desire again mere contention, but that you are urging me to exhibit the same
proof to these men." And in compliance with the assent expressed in his
eyes, I continued: "Again in Isaiah, if you have ears to hear it, God,
speaking of Christ in parable, calls Him Jacob and Israel. He speaks thus:
'Jacob is my servant, I will uphold Him; Israel is mine elect, I will put my
Spirit upon Him, and He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall
not strive, nor cry, neither shall any one hear His voice in the street: a
bruised reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall not quench; but He
shall bring forth judgment to truth: He shall shine, and shall not be broken
till He have set judgment on the earth. And in His name
shall the Gentiles trust.'485 As therefore from
the one man Jacob, who was surnamed Israel, all your nation has been called
Jacob and Israel; so we from Christ, who begat us unto God, like Jacob, and
Israel, and Judah, and Joseph, and David, are called and are the true sons of
God, and keep the commandments of Christ."
3. Chapter CXXXV.—Christ is King of Israel, and Christians are the Israelitic Race.
a. "And when Scripture says, 'I am the Lord God, the Holy
One of Israel, who have made known Israel your King, ' will you not understand
that truly Christ is the everlasting King? For you are aware that Jacob
the son of Isaac was never a king. And therefore Scripture again, explaining to
us, says what king is meant by Jacob and Israel: 'Jacob is my Servant, I will
uphold Him; and Israel is mine Elect, my soul shall receive Him. I have given
Him my Spirit; and He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry, and His voice shall not be heard without. The bruised reed He shall not
break, and the smoking flax He shall not quench, until He shall bring forth
judgment to victory. He shall shine, and shall not be broken, until He set
judgment on the earth. And in His name shall the Gentiles trust.' Then is it
Jacob the patriarch in whom the Gentiles and yourselves shall trust? or is it
not Christ? As, therefore, Christ is the Israel and the
Jacob, even so we, who have been quarried out from the bowels of Christ, are
the true Israelitic race. But let us attend rather to the very word: 'And
I will bring forth, 'He says, 'the seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah: and it
shall inherit My holy mountain; and Mine Elect and My servants shall possess
the inheritance, and shall dwell there; and there shall be folds of flocks in
the thicket, and the valley of Achor shall be a resting-place of cattle for the
people who have sought Me. But as for you, who forsake Me, and forget My holy
mountain, and prepare a table for demons, and fill out drink for the demon, I
shall give you to the sword. You shall all fall with a slaughter; for I called
you, and you hearkened not, and did evil before me, and did choose that wherein
I delighted not.' Such are the words of Scripture; understand, therefore, that
the seed of Jacob now referred to is something else, and not, as may be
supposed, spoken of your people. For it is not possible for the seed of Jacob
to leave an entrance for the descendants of Jacob, or for [God] to have
accepted the very same persons whom He had reproached with unfitness for the
inheritance, and promise it to them again; but as there the prophet says, 'And
now, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord; for He
has sent away His people, the house of Jacob, because their land was full, as
at the first, of soothsayers and divinations; ' even so
it is necessary for us here to observe that there are two seeds of Judah, and
two races, as there are two houses of Jacob: the one begotten by blood and
flesh, the other by faith and the Spirit.
4.
Chapter CXL.—In Christ All are Free. The Jews Hope for Salvation in Vain
Because They are Sons of Abraham.
a. "Hence
also Jacob, as I remarked before, being himself a type of Christ, had married
the two handmaids of his two free wives, and of them begat sons, for the
purpose of indicating beforehand that Christ would receive even all those who
amongst Japheth's race are descendants of Canaan, equally with the free, and
would have the children fellow-heirs. And we are such; but you cannot
comprehend this, because you cannot drink of the living fountain of God, but of
broken cisterns which can hold no water, as the Scripture says. But they are
cisterns broken, and holding no water, which your own teachers have digged, as
the Scripture also expressly asserts, 'teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men.' And besides, they beguile themselves and you, supposing that the
everlasting kingdom will be assuredly given to those of the dispersion who are
of Abraham after the flesh, although they be sinners, and faithless, and
disobedient towards God, which the Scriptures have proved is not the case. For
if so, Isaiah would never have said this: 'And unless the Lord of Sabaoth had
left us a seed, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.' And Ezekiel: 'Even
if Noah, and Jacob, and Daniel were to pray for sons or daughters, their
request should not be granted.' But neither shall the father perish for the
son, nor the son for the father; but every one for his own sin, and each shall
be saved for his own righteousness.539 And again Isaiah says: 'They shall look
on the carcases of them that have transgressed: their worm shall not cease, and
their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh.'
And our Lord, according to the will of Him that sent Him, who is the Father and
Lord of all, would not have said, 'They shall come from the east, and from the
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.'
Furthermore, I have proved in what has preceded,543
that those who were foreknown to be unrighteous, whether men or angels, are not
made wicked by God's fault, but each man by his own fault is what he will
appear to be.
5.
Chapter XXVIII.—True Righteousness is Obtained by Christ.
a. And
Trypho replied, "We heard you adducing this consideration a little ago,
and we have given it attention: for, to tell the truth, it is worthy of
attention; and that answer which pleases most—namely, that so it seemed good to
Him—does not satisfy me. For this is ever the shift to which those have
recourse who are unable to answer the question."
b. Then
I said, "Since I bring from the Scriptures and the facts themselves both
the proofs and the inculcation of them, do not delay or hesitate to put faith
in me, although I am an uncircumcised man; so short a time is left you in which
to become proselytes. If Christ's coming shall have anticipated you, in vain
you will repent, in vain you will weep; for He will not hear yon. 'Break up
your fallow ground, 'Jeremiah has cried to the people, 'and sow not among
thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and circumcise the foreskin of your
heart.' Do not sow, therefore, among thorns, and in untilled ground, whence you
can have no fruit. Know Christ; and behold the fallow ground, good, good and
fat, is in your hearts. 'For, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I
will visit all them that are circumcised in their foreskins; Egypt, and Judah,
and Edom, and the sons of Moab. For all the nations are
uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in their
hearts.'74 Do you see how that God does not mean this circumcision which
is given for a sign? For it is of no use to the Egyptians, or the sons of Moab,
or the sons of Edom. But though a man be a Scythian or
a Persian, if he has the knowledge of God and of His Christ, and keeps the
everlasting righteous decrees, he is circumcised with the good and useful
circumcision, and is a friend of God, and God rejoices in his gifts and
offerings. But I will lay before you, my friends, the very words of God,
when He said to the people by Malachi, one of the twelve prophets, 'I have no
pleasure in you, saith the Lord; and I shall not accept your sacrifices at your
hands: for from the rising of the sun unto its setting My name shall be
glorified among the Gentiles; and in every place a sacrifice is offered unto My
name, even a pure sacrifice: for My name is honoured among the Gentiles, saith
the Lord; but ye profane it.' And by David He said, 'A people whom I have not
known, served Me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed Me.'
Conclusion:
1. "Replacement Theology" or
"Fulfillment Theology", also known as "Supersessionism" is
the true Bible doctrine that Christians and the Church of Christ replaced the
Jews and the nation of Israel.
2. Jesus taught Replacement Theology.
3. The apostles taught Replacement
Theology.
4. The apostolic fathers like Justin
Martyr taught Replacement Theology.
5. There is no special plan of
salvation today for the Jews. There is one gospel and Jews and Gentiles must
obey the same gospel and be saved exactly the same way.
6. There is nothing in the bible that
teaches that at the end of time, God will bring Israel back to Canaan and offer
them alone a special salvation merely because they are blood descendants of
Abraham.
7. There is no distinction in God's
eyes today between Jews and Gentiles. Jews who reject Jesus Christ as their
messiah are in exactly the same spiritual state as Hindus, Muslims or atheistic
evolutionists.
8. There is not a Jew alive that can
prove his Jewish heritage through genealogy.
