The Error of Replacement Theology

[Guest shiloh357]

The error with "replacement theology" is that the promises made to Israel (Old Covenant) were now given to the church. Hey wait a minute that is not an error at all! Paul actually said that there is no longer Jew or Gentile and that all the promises that God made to Abraham were given to all who are Christ. That can be found in Galations 3:26-29. Also Paul said that believing Gentiles are grafted into the true Israel in Romans 11. I don't look at it as the Church replacing Israel but rather the true believers become part of Israel. The true Israel not that counterfiet Zionist state of Israel that was officially founded in 1948.

I agree absolutely!

[Guest shiloh357]

The error with "replacement theology" is that the promises made to Israel (Old Covenant) were now given to the church. Hey wait a minute that is not an error at all! Paul actually said that there is no longer Jew or Gentile and that all the promises that God made to Abraham were given to all who are Christ. That can be found in Galations 3:26-29. Also Paul said that believing Gentiles are grafted into the true Israel in Romans 11. I don't look at it as the Church replacing Israel but rather the true believers become part of Israel. The true Israel not that counterfiet Zionist state of Israel that was officially founded in 1948.

I agree absolutely!

The promises of Abraham are not given to the Church. The Bible nowhere says that. That is a perversion of Gal. 3:26-29 and completely ignores the literary context of Paul's discussion in that chapter/book. Paul is talking about the Gentiles who are by faith, the seed of Abraham. His point is that being circumcised and converting to the Jewish religion (which is the subject matter of Galatians) won't do anything for the Gentiles. It won't add one thing to what they already have in Christ.

The issue in Galatians is not about who is or is not Israel. Not even close. Being a spiritual descendent of Abraham doesn't make one a spiritual Israelite. "Israel" is the other name for "Jacob" and Jacob is the federal of Israel.

Israel is never spiriutalized in the New Testament. Israel is mentinoed 71 times in the New Testament and in EVERY case it is referencing the natural descendents of Jacob. As noted in the OP, Israel and Jacob are used interchangably in the Old and New Testaments. The Bible never calls the Church "Israel or Jacob." It never uses the concepts of the twelve tribes in connection with the Church either. Israel and the Church are radically separate concepts in the New Testament. They are never mentioned as being same. Israel is not a type of the Church in any way shape or form.

Replacement Theology has no biblical foundation whatsoever.

[Guest]

.... but it is becoming clear that you are advocating for Replacement Theology.....

~

Jesus

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: Romans 11:26

Will Never

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Jeremiah 31:31-34

Forsake The Hebrew Nation

Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 31:35-37

And Anyone Who Says Otherwise Doesn't Fear The Jesus Of The Bible

See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.

Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people. Deuteronomy 32:39-43

IMO

[Gandalf]

The error with "replacement theology" is that the promises made to Israel (Old Covenant) were now given to the church. Hey wait a minute that is not an error at all! Paul actually said that there is no longer Jew or Gentile and that all the promises that God made to Abraham were given to all who are Christ. That can be found in Galations 3:26-29. Also Paul said that believing Gentiles are grafted into the true Israel in Romans 11. I don't look at it as the Church replacing Israel but rather the true believers become part of Israel. The true Israel not that counterfiet Zionist state of Israel that was officially founded in 1948.

I agree absolutely!

The promises of Abraham are not given to the Church. The Bible nowhere says that. That is a perversion of Gal. 3:26-29 and completely ignores the literary context of Paul's discussion in that chapter/book. Paul is talking about the Gentiles who are by faith, the seed of Abraham. His point is that being circumcised and converting to the Jewish religion (which is the subject matter of Galatians) won't do anything for the Gentiles. It won't add one thing to what they already have in Christ.

The issue in Galatians is not about who is or is not Israel. Not even close. Being a spiritual descendent of Abraham doesn't make one a spiritual Israelite. "Israel" is the other name for "Jacob" and Jacob is the federal of Israel.

Israel is never spiriutalized in the New Testament. Israel is mentinoed 71 times in the New Testament and in EVERY case it is referencing the natural descendents of Jacob. As noted in the OP, Israel and Jacob are used interchangably in the Old and New Testaments. The Bible never calls the Church "Israel or Jacob." It never uses the concepts of the twelve tribes in connection with the Church either. Israel and the Church are radically separate concepts in the New Testament. They are never mentioned as being same. Israel is not a type of the Church in any way shape or form.

Replacement Theology has no biblical foundation whatsoever.

I disagree and, along with many, many Christians down the ages, consider you to be mistaken. No point in arguing; only time will tell, but I will live my life and my Church will progress on the basis of its current reality as the eternal Zion of God, appropriating His everlasting promises. Praise be to Jesus who rules His Zion! Edited May 30, 2013 by Gandalf

[Qnts2]

The error with "replacement theology" is that the promises made to Israel (Old Covenant) were now given to the church. Hey wait a minute that is not an error at all! Paul actually said that there is no longer Jew or Gentile and that all the promises that God made to Abraham were given to all who are Christ. That can be found in Galations 3:26-29. Also Paul said that believing Gentiles are grafted into the true Israel in Romans 11. I don't look at it as the Church replacing Israel but rather the true believers become part of Israel. The true Israel not that counterfiet Zionist state of Israel that was officially founded in 1948.

I agree absolutely!

The promises of Abraham are not given to the Church. The Bible nowhere says that. That is a perversion of Gal. 3:26-29 and completely ignores the literary context of Paul's discussion in that chapter/book. Paul is talking about the Gentiles who are by faith, the seed of Abraham. His point is that being circumcised and converting to the Jewish religion (which is the subject matter of Galatians) won't do anything for the Gentiles. It won't add one thing to what they already have in Christ.

The issue in Galatians is not about who is or is not Israel. Not even close. Being a spiritual descendent of Abraham doesn't make one a spiritual Israelite. "Israel" is the other name for "Jacob" and Jacob is the federal of Israel.

Israel is never spiriutalized in the New Testament. Israel is mentinoed 71 times in the New Testament and in EVERY case it is referencing the natural descendents of Jacob. As noted in the OP, Israel and Jacob are used interchangably in the Old and New Testaments. The Bible never calls the Church "Israel or Jacob." It never uses the concepts of the twelve tribes in connection with the Church either. Israel and the Church are radically separate concepts in the New Testament. They are never mentioned as being same. Israel is not a type of the Church in any way shape or form.

Replacement Theology has no biblical foundation whatsoever.

Well said!!! I agree.

[Guest shiloh357]

 

I disagree and, along with many, many Christians down the ages, consider you to be mistaken. No point in arguing; only time will tell, but I will live my life and my Church will progress on the basis of its current reality as the eternal Zion of God, appropriating His everlasting promises. Praise be to Jesus who rules His Zion!

 

 

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So typical...   Replacement theologians can blow a lot of smoke, but in the end, they have nothing of substance to present to support their position.   Many Jews down through the ages were murdered and tortured because of the very type of theology you espouse.  Anti-Semitic church fathers projected their hatred of the Jews on to God and created the entirely heretical notion that the Church is Israel.  Even Hitler appealed to the anti-Semitism of "Christians down through ages" to justify his madness and the final solution.   I would not be to proud to claim such a theological position.

[Gandalf]

So we disagree; that's no big deal. Maybe time will tell! Meantime God continues to bless our Church; hope He also blesses yours. I often think God is much less bothered about our rather pathetic theological squabbles and much more interested in the quality of our love.

[Guest shiloh357]

So we disagree; that's no big deal. Maybe time will tell! Meantime God continues to bless our Church; hope He also blesses yours. I often think God is much less bothered about our rather pathetic theological squabbles and much more interested in the quality of our love.

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This is not a theological squabble.   It is a serious problem in the church.  This  "theology"  that says that the church is Israel is the reason so many Jews continue to reject Jesus today.  It was the weapon that resulted in the deaths of many Jews and is partly why reaching Jews with the Gospel is made more difficult (as if it wasn't difficult enough already).   This is a major problem and is a disease in the Church.  It is at its core anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism is the oldest racial hatred in the world and unfortunately, there are those  who try to sanitize it for Christian consumption.

 

"Love" is not going to sweep this problem under the rug.  The Church needs to repent for over 1,700 years of persecution of the Jews culminating in the madness of the Holocaust.

[Willa]

My understanding is that replacement theology did not exist before Augustine's writing about "The City of God". While I admire and value many of his discourses, he is not God and the city of God is not the Bible. But its teaching was adopted by the church of the day, and later by Calvin, Luther and many of our founding denominaions. Augustine seems to be the father of replacement theology. I might add that Augustine changed his doctirines on predestination depending on who he was addressing.

Most of the promises given to Israel and the Jews have never been fulfilled. As Gentiles, our only claim to them is that Christ is a Jew, and as long as we are IN HIM, we also inherit them.

Rom. 11:24-29 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not desire, brethern, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, LEST YOU SHOULD BE WISE IN YOUR OWN OPINION, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved---v.28 Concerning the Gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable..

It is clear that the promises made to the nation of Israel, the children of Jacob, are still being fullfilled and many have yet to be fulfilled. While we may be children of Abraham by faith, the borders of the promised land have yet to be realized by his descendants. The nation is being restored to them and all the promises to the people as well as to the nation will be realized. Their faith has yet to be restored to all, as well. The time of the gentiles is coming to an end soon. And Jeruselem wil be trampled by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles are fullfilled. Lk 21:24b, 28 When you see these things BEGIN to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.

I have also heard that there has been a resurgance of replacement theology, especially on college campuses in the USA, and that it is associated with antisemitism. Hatred is evil in any form. It has no place in the heart of a Christian. If Christ lives in us, how can we hate the people that He wept for and the city that He loved?

[nChrist]

Romans 11:25-29 NASB  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;  26  and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."  27  "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."  28  From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers;  29  for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.