God’s promise to Abraham came true for us down to this very day. For we who follow Jesus are the true people of God. We are Abraham’s descendants.
We are the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). The ὅσοι [‘as many as’] refers to the individual Christians, Jewish and Gentile; and ‘Israel of God’ to the same Christians, seen collectively and forming the true messianic community.” (Word Studies in the New Testament vol. 4, p. 180). It seems clear that in this verse Paul cannot be pronouncing a benediction upon persons who are not included in the phrase “as many as shall walk by this rule” (i.e., the rule of boasting only in the cross). The entire argument of the epistle prevents any idea that here he would give a blessing to those who are not included in this group. And Paul wrote: “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise”. (Galatians 3:29).
Jesus said to unbelieving Jews (Mat 8:11-12). “I tell you this that many Gentiles will come from all over the world –from east and west–and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites–those for whom the Kingdom was prepared–will be thrown into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
See also 1 Peter 2: 4-10: . . . . . . for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” These terms chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession, reflect Deuteronomy 7:6, 10:15, 14:2. Under the New Covenant the same applies to all believers in Christ.
And see 1 Thessalonians 1:3-4. We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people.
Replacement theology
We who insist on the above are often accused of ‘replacement theology’. I do not believe that any group has replaced “Israel”. I believe in a transformed people of God–Israel transformed at Pentecost, the remnant, all Jews from all nations of the Dispersion.
Paul wrote It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. (Galatians 3:15).
And Galatians 3:6-9: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
And again (Galatians 3:26-29: For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you (Gentiles).
Looking at Romans 11 in the light of the above
Yes, ‘the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable’ (11:29), and “all Israel will be saved’ (11:26). Yes certainly that is true as long as it is understood that REAL Jews as Paul defined in Romans 2:26-29 (see more below). As I noted above, Paul wrote that all believers in Christ crucified are the Israel of God! (Galatians 6:16). We, both believing Jews and Gentiles, are the transformed Israel together! Thus all Israel will be saved.
Paul quotes Isaiah and God’s covenant prophesied by Isaiah (59:20-21) with Israel. So it was not ethic Israel but spiritual Israel (11:25–28). “The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem to buy back those in Israel who have turned from their sins” says the Lord. This is a wonderful covenantal promise about our redeemer coming buying back repentant Israelites—this is the gospel story. And His Spirit will not leave them, and nor will His (Jesus’) words (Matthew 24:35).
Does this Covenant promise the idea of inheriting the land? No. It does not suggest that the promises of the Old Testament are intended for ‘ethnic’ Jews, but are available to all Jews who believe in Christ. Because of their disobedience and idolatry (Deuteronomy 30) ‘ethnic’ Israel has lost its place as the chosen people of God.
The New Testament does not anticipate the return of ethnic Jews to the land of Israel as part of the fulfilment of God’s promises. Instead, it focuses on the gathering of God’s people from all nations, as seen in Revelation 7:9 (from every nation and tribe and people and language) and Matthew 24:31, where the gathered people are a Jewish-gentile community redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
So who are REAL Jews? Paul tells us in Romans 2:26-29: if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people? . . . . . . For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
Will the Jews literally inherit the Promised Land? Moses prophesied that if Israel as a nation repented they could be regathered to the land. Then they weregiven a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster (Deuteronomy 30:15).
Unfortunately they made the wrong choice. And many continue that in wrong choice to this very day, whether they live in the nation we know as “Israel” or elsewhere. The letter to the Hebrews addressing Christians talks about entering the ‘rest’ by faith, spiritually—not a literal land. See my article here . . . . . .
See also Matthew 23:34-38. “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Notice carefully verse 29. There is a way back for any Jew but he must welcome Jesus as sent by the Lord!
They may be grafted back again if they turn from their unbelief (Romans 11:23): But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree.
Romans 11:30–36 does not teach about a kingdom with both Jews and Gentiles as distinct populations within the people of God. That would be a totally abhorrent idea for Paul (Galatians 3-6, Ephesians 2-3).
Ian Thomson 