But you, Tim. carry your presuppositions into your statements. I could say that you decide in advance that Israel must remain a subject of God’s purposes, and then you force every New Testament text to comply with your dispensational presuppositions.
Jesus declared: “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and put your trust in the Gospel”. (Mark 1:15). It was not Israel which he declared but the Kingdom of God. The Jews had to repent (turn) and believe the good news of the kingdom! This kingdom would replace Israel!John 1:10-13. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.John 3:4-7. Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
The gospels continually throughout emphasised the radical good news of the new wine that will not suit the old. Surely the Kingdom of God replaces the kingdom of Israel! Jesus constantly conflicted with the rulers of Israel. They did not receive him. By rejecting Jesus their Messiah, they refused to accept the hope of Israel.
Matthew 21:43-46. Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. . . . . . . 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. You seem to agree that those who are in Christ are Abraham’s seed.
Paul says it ever so plainly in his letter to the Galatians. Looking at chapter 3:
6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. 10 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”
13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
In Galatians chapter 5 Paul wrote . . .
16 God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ. 17 This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be cancelled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his prom-ise. 18 For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.
26 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 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 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. . . . . . .
And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29 But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit. 30 But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”
Now in Galatians chapter 6: 14 As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. 15 It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. 16 May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people/israel= of God.
Now as for Paul in Romans. We read in chapter 2:28-29 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.
Romans 9:6-8. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.
The biblical prophets are the last people who would seem “pro-Israel” because they were constantly rebuking Israel for bad behaviour. So Paul in Romans 10:20-21 quotes Isaiah who boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
Some prophets wrote that God utterly hated every expression of their religion because they were ignoring justice for the poor and marginalized.
The Israel of the New Testament consists of all those who accept the King of Israel! Of course, Jesus was executed as a traitor and a threat to Israel. Until this day, they hated him and he is still a threat to them.
From Pentecost on the Jewish believers were persecuted by the Jews who rejected their Messiah, as Jesus said would happen (Matthew 24:9).
I repeat 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16. For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last.
Matthew 8:11-12. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Ian Thomson 