The Roots of Replacement Theology
The true spiritual Israel, and descendants of Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham...are we who have been led to God through this crucified Christ.1 That erroneous statement was written by a Christian who addressed himself to a Jewish man as they debated about Christianity. He later added, “We who have been quarried out from the bowels of Christ are the true Israelitic race.”2 The debate occurGet More Articles—Subscribe Today!
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@Rollo
Charles Taze Russel said that he also learned from study. That’s why we need to be taught by others who are faithful (2 Tim. 2:2).
Yes, we are Abraham’s seed, but we are never called Jacob’s seed. The “promise” refers to Genesis 12:1–3, which said that through Abram “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Yet God clearly limited the parties to the Abrahamic Covenant to the descendants of Isaac and Jacob only (Gen. 17:19–21). Thus, while the Ishmaelites and Edomites were of the seed of Abraham and would be greatly blessed through him, that did not mean they were parties to the covenant.
Romans 11 says “so all Israel will be saved.” Throughout the passage, Paul refers to Israel as a group (not individuals) that includes both believers and unbelievers (Rom. 11:25).
Although Israel includes unbelieving Jews, who are “enemies of the Gospel,” they are God’s elect (Rom. 11:28). As God’s elect, His gifts and calling to them are “irrevocable.”
Being “broken off” cannot refer to losing salvation since these Jews were unbelievers in the first place (not to mention the doctrine of eternal security). It also cannot refer to being removed from the Abrahamic Covenant since they are still God’s elect and presently possess the covenants (Rom. 9:5). It also cannot refer to being removed from Israel since, as we already established, Israel includes unbelievers. Paul provides the answer in Romans 11:22 when he says that those who were broken off are under God’s severity and those who were grafted in are under God’s kindness. Thus, unbelieving Jews were broken off from the place of special attention.
But Paul makes it clear that this is a temporary situation when he says that this “partial hardening” will continue “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom. 11:25). Thus, the people in view are believing and unbelieving Jews, who will eventually receive the covenant blessings (including spiritual salvation) when “the Deliverer” comes (Rom. 11:26).
I never learned what you call replacement theology as you claim it to be, from any church, denomination, or person. Clearly I learned from study. But it seems you have some twisted thoughts taught by someone. If we are Abraham seed and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29) then what promise is not ours an followers of the way of The Christ?
Of course God has a plan for every nation including these that claim to be of Jisrael. Yet salvation did come from Judah, is not Christ the rock of our salvation?
Clearly we are not under the law but under grace.
Romans 11 has a lot more to say about this subject.
… They were broken off because of it unbelief..
…and if they do not persist in unbelief they will be grafted in…
…arouse my(the writer’s) own people to envy and save some of them….
And so no.
As a nation it is not clear to me but each human can turn form evil and towards God.
The clear point to me is to not boast as if we are greater than the jew, we all fall short and in following the way some may become envious and turn to God once more.
We all have to go back to Gods written words. Romans 11 Paul the Apostle assigned to preach to the gentiles makes it very clear for the gentiles not to boast against the olive branch that they have been grafted into. The Lord Jesus himself in the gospel of John( John 10:16 ) said He had sheep from another flock that he had to bring in that were afar of. The gospel is written to the jew first and the gentiles according to the New Testament. Now we are all called to be one new man in Messiah ( Christ ) so its not about jews are more superior to God than gentiles , but the church for a long time has had a lot of antisemitism and picking whatever from the bible that suited the denomination instead of living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God , for the word interprets the word which the bible states that scripture is not subject through private interpretation. God renewed his covenant with Israel and brought in the gentiles.
I grew up in a non-denominational evangelical church. Our present theological understanding varies from one church to another and one denomination to another. But I would be interested in your understanding and definition of “how far off the rails the evangelical church has gone.” I ask this only for enlightenment and a deeper appreciation for my own edification. Thank you.
William, great article. Thank you for your clarity. Almost a year ago I surrendered to the Lord and began studying feverishly. I’d spent my life in the Presbyterian Church and considered myself a happy Presbyterian, committed to a life that I was increasingly unable to live. My slavery to sin and worldliness left me lost, confused and miserable. All the things I’d placed my faith in, one by one, were being removed from my life. I was losing my identity. One day, when it seemed to reach a fevered pitch, I surrendered to God’s will for my life. I knew I was going to make a mess of things and He was my only hope. My wife encouraged me to begin studying the Old Testament. Our daily study, often 2-3 hours every evening, revealed the truth about God’s word, which neither of us had ever learned. At its core was God’s covenant with Israel. Fast forward a year, I find it challenging trying to introduce these new found truths to my fellow believers. Some of my friends of mine, true men of God, seem to want to understand what I’m talking about, but others reject my ideas outright. The more I learn, the more I understand how far off the rails the Evangelical Church has gone. I told my wife the other night that the contemporary church is where the Temple was during Jesus’ lifetime, which is why He fought against their false teaching so passionately. We’ve come full circle. One thought I had: The origins of Replacement Theology seem to rely upon two straw-man arguments, or maybe misunderstandings. The first is that Israel’s “chosen” status is somehow equivalent to a collective salvation. I know the Pharasees and the Sadducees believed this during Jesus’ lifetime, but my understanding is that God did not consider the Jews saved, only privileged (the Mosaic Law, the Torah, the Temple, grace throughout the OT, The Christ, etc). This leads into the second straw man argument, which attempts to distinguish Gentile surrendered believers from Jewish non-believers, not by their “believing” status, but by their “Jewishness”. It seems very strained logic when I break it down. I haven’t read “Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew”, but it almost seems as if they’d be talking past one another. Thanks for any feedback you might have. I’m still wrapping my head around many of these concepts and I appreciate hearing other perspectives, so I can explain them to others.