The Restoration of Israel in the New Testament

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Now that you are speaking to me again, Horizoneast, would you please let me know whether or not you considered this.

In the doctrine you are teaching when we study Romans 11 is the author expressing the idea that God (in His infinite wisdom) has used the conversion and acceptance of the Gentiles into His kingdom (the church) to make the Jews

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Concerning Galatians 6:15,16 -

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"Upon the Israel of God." Here Paul attacks the false apostles and the Jews, who boasted about their fathers, their election, the Law, etc. (Rom. 9:4-5). It is as though he were saying: "The Israel of God are not the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel but those who, with Abraham the believer (3:9), believe in the promises of God now disclosed in Christ, whether they are Jews or Gentiles." ~ Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians, 1535

Do you agree with the other things Martin Luther said about the Jews?

. . . But since I learned that those miserable and accursed people do not cease to lure to themselves even us, that is, the Christians, I have published this little book, so that I might be found among those who opposed such poisonous activities of the Jews and who warned the Christians to be on their guard against them. . . .

From On the Jews and Their Lies by Martin Luther, 1543.

[Guest shiloh357]

As I said you would do

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I don't know whether or not I agree with everything this says - I don't have time to read the very long document - but I wanted to show something this says:

http://www.chaim.org/xpansion.htm

God has not withdrawn His promises to the Jewish people. Rather, Paul clearly tells us, "no matter how many promises God has made, they are "yes" in Messiah" (2 Cor. 1:20). The New Covenant promise of eternal life through faith in Jesus is greater than any other blessing of God ever given. Indeed this is the fulfillment of the blessing promised to Abraham. The curse of death and separation from God is overturned through Messiah. Paul clearly says "He redeemed us in order that THE BLESSING PROMISED TO ABRAHAM MIGHT COME TO THE GENTILES through Messiah Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit" (Galatians 3:14). Only through Jesus can people truly come to the blessings of Abraham, life in the Spirit.

Whether we are Jews by birth or Gentiles, we who trust Messiah Jesus have one common faith. As Paul put it "There is one body and one Spirit -- just as you were called -- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all." (Eph. 4:4-6)

Some Jews who are for Jesus call their movement "Messianic Judaism". A few of these Jewish believers distinguish "Messianic Judaism" from "Christianity". I believe it would be better theology to distinguish between a culturally Jewish expression of New Covenant Judaism and a culturally Gentile expression of New Covenant Judaism. Our New Covenant faith is the true, Biblical Judaism.

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Let's affirm the great expansion of blessing the Messiah has brought. He has tremendously expanded the promises to Israel, and He has greatly enlarged Israel by bringing Gentiles into His spiritual commonwealth, the Kingdom of God. This was promised to Israel by Isaiah when he said "You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy...of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end" (9:3 and 7) and "Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, `The LORD will surely exclude me from his people...these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer" (56:3 and 7). We have now come to "Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God...to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn..." (Hebrews 12:22-23)

Through Jesus Israel has been expanded in a glorious way, not replaced. Fulfillment of the promise to Abraham has come and will go forward until its completion when Messiah returns. Jesus must reign until all his enemies are placed under his feet. He will conquer all nations, including the Jewish nation with the gospel. Therefore, let us recommit ourselves to bringing the message of restoration to blessing "to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile"!

The points I see here - the Church does not replace Isreal. The Gentile inclusion into the Covenant is an expansion.

Also, he points out the conflict of culture. My thoughts on this: Judaism is a religion; it is also an ethnicity - I do not know of any other people that can be descibed as such. Christians have made Christianity a culture as well, though. Missionaries to tribal groups have tried to Westernize the people as much as Christianize them. This has led to much bitterness - just ask the Native Americans who had their culture stripped from them.

"Gentiles" are merely non-Jews - but are we all the same? Paul did not say, "There is no distinction between Jew and Gentile," but rather, "There is no distinction between Jew and Greek." Are we all Greek? No - but Greek was the pervading culture of the region at the time.

Jews are Jews.

Greeks are Greeks.

English are English.

Texans are Texans.

Lakota are Lakota.

In Christ, we are one body. But . . .

Jews are still Jews.

Greeks are still Greeks.

English are still English.

Texans are still Texans.

Lakota are still Lakota.

What makes the Jews different though? As Paul stated in Romans 3 -

1 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.

and later

31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

What this means is thus. The roots of our faith are in the Covenant of Abraham and the Law given through Moses. If we divorce ourselves from this foundation - the foundation of the Law ans the Prophets - what kind of Christianity do we have?

Learning to read the Scriptures through the eyes of Judaism has opened my understanding to the true riches of Scripture in ways I never dreamed possible. It was through the Jews this understanding became possible. Just as learning of the Native Americans from their own lips has enabled me a better understanding of them and their ways, so has learning of the Hebrew Scriptures from the Hebrews themselves has enabled me to better understand their Scriptures, which have become ours.

The Scriptures cannot be interpreted as a Greek document. They must be interpreted as a Hebrew document. Our Western understanding comes from the Greek. Roman Catholic and Reformation interpretation is Western. This is why we need the Jews, to bring the balance back.

The calling on the Jewish believers (natural branches) is different than the calling on Gentile believers (wild branches). True we belong to the same tree. The natural branches, however, are still natural, and the wild are still wild.

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Nebula

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Are you suggesting that all scholars who understand the

[Smalcald]

Romans,

25 For I do not desire, brethren, 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. 26 And so all Israel will be saved,[g] as it is written:

[Guest shiloh357]

Shiloh

[RebekahDavid]

"The Israel above is obviously physical Israel, the Jews above are obviously ethnic Jews of blood not of Spirit. I know this does not totally support a physical restoration of the Nation State of Israel, but it is speaking of an Israel made of Jews, that is exactly who and what Paul is talking about above. For me it also says that Christ is going to save them, even though they do not now have faith, nor did they have faith in the time of this writing above. Yet we see that Christ will save them through grace and a future faith that is predestined. What does that say about decisions and choice? Anyway it is a great verse and I think it answers some questions for me that I have had about the restoration of Israel. I don't think there is a separation of the plan of salvation, how could there be, all things work together for good to those who have been called by Christ. Israel is part of the Church eternal, they just don't know it yet, just as all those who come to true faith in Christ in the past and in the future and today are part of that true Church eternal." Smalcald

I AGREE!