Christians are God’s true “Jews” today.

Today the  church is the true Israel and Christians are God’s true “Jews” today.

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Jesus taught that God would take his blessings away from fleshly Israel who rejected him as Christ and give it to the Gentiles. Jesus clearly taught the Gentile believers would replace Jewish non-believers.

a.      “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. ” (Matthew 21:43)

b.      The Jews who heard this understood what Rapture false teachers today refuse to see: “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. ” (Matthew 21:45)

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       The Bible clearly teaches that God’s true Jews today are Christians:

a.      “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. ” (Romans 2:28-29)

b.      “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God [Christians]. ” (Galatians 6:15-16)

c.       “for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, ” (Philippians 3:3)

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      Even the apostolic fathers of the first and second century  believed and taught “replacement theology”:

a.      “Christians are the True Israel” (Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter CXXIII, 130 AD)

b.      “As therefore from the one man Jacob, who was surnamed Israel, all your nation has been called Jacob and Israel; so we from Christ, who begat us unto God, (like Jacob, and Israel, and Judah, and Joseph, and David,) are called and are the true sons of God, and keep the commandments of Christ” (Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter CXXIII, 130 AD)

c.       “Christ is King of Israel, and Christians are the Israelitic Race. (Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter CXXXV, 130 AD)

d.      “As, therefore, Christ is the Israel and the Jacob, even so we, who have been quarried out from the bowels of Christ, are the true Israelitic race.” (Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter CXXXV, 130 AD)

e.      “For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in their hearts.’ … But though a man be a Scythian or a Persian, if he has the knowledge of God and of His Christ, and keeps the everlasting righteous decrees, he is circumcised with the good and useful circumcision, and is a friend of God, and God rejoices in his gifts and offerings.” (Justin Martyr, Dialogues, Chapter XXVIII, 130 AD)

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The Parable of the Landowner: Israel replace by Church/Christians

       “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. “When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. “The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. “Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. “But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ “But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ “They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet. ” (Matthew 21:33-46)

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In a parable so crystal clear only a premillennialist could get it wrong, the Jews, as a nation, were going to be replaced by something new, the church.

     “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end” happened in 70 AD.

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      Now clearly the entire leadership of the apostolic church and most of the Elders in the churches were Jewish. But they had become Christians who stopped keeping the Sabbath and abandoned the Mosaic system of Judaism. They began immediately worshipping god on the first day of the week, the Lord’s day.

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       Jesus went to the Jews first but they rejected Him as the Messiah. The church, (the kingdom) is now open to both Jew and Gentile equally. Both must believe, repent, confess Jesus as Lord and be baptized for the remission of their sins. There is only one way to get saved! Jews have no special route to heaven that gentiles do not have. They all must believe and do the same things to be saved.

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      Paul always began his evangelism in a new city by preaching in the Jewish synagogues. When the Jews rejected the gospel, he turned to the gentiles: “But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. ” (Acts 13:45-46)

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      “This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, [Israel] “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. ” (1 Peter 2:7-10)

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a.      Notice that the “you are a chosen, holy nation of priests”, which was originally applied to fleshly Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai is now applied to Christians to the exclusion of physical Israel unless they believe.

                                                              i.      “and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” ” (Exodus 19:6)

                                                            ii.      “”For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. ” (Deuteronomy 7:6)

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b.      Notice that the text applies these special blessings of being “you are a chosen, holy nation of priests” to the gentiles and that fleshly Israel was “appointed to doom”.

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National Identities are destroyed in Christ:

1.      Passages:

a.      “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. ” (Ephesians 2:14-16)

b.      “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. ” (Galatians 3:26-29)

2.      Notice that in fulfilling Isa 2:2-4, Christ brought about peace between all the nations that were at war.

3.      When a Jew becomes a Christian, he ceases to be a Jew and becomes a new creature.

4.      In Christ there are no national competing identities like there were under the Old Testament.

5.      National Jews have no advantage over Americans, Canadians, Egyptians or Iranians.

6.      Today Christians are God’s “chosen race” and they can be from any nation on earth.

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Summary

1.      “Replacement Theology” or “Fulfillment Theology”, also known as “Supersessionism” is the true Bible doctrine that Christians and the Church of Christ replaced the Jews and the nation of Israel.

2.      Jesus taught Replacement Theology.

3.      The apostles taught Replacement Theology.

4.      The apostolic fathers like Justin Martyr taught Replacement Theology.

5.      There is no special plan of salvation today for the Jews. There is one gospel and Jews and Gentiles must obey the same gospel and be saved exactly the same way.

6.      There is nothing in the bible that teaches that at the end of time, God will bring Israel back to Canaan and offer them alone a special salvation merely because they are blood descendants of Abraham.

7.      There is no distinction in God’s eyes today between Jews and Gentiles. Jews who reject Jesus Christ as their messiah are in exactly the same spiritual state as Hindus, Muslims or atheistic evolutionists.

8.      There is not a Jew alive that can prove his Jewish heritage through genealogy. Most Jews in Israel today are Russian proselytes.

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Also The signs of Matthew 24 prophecies the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD not the second coming and certainly not some “Rapture” theology

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