This has been in the social media news lately due to the current political landscape with Israel/Gaza war and all the pro-Palestinian protests going on. Why this caught my attention were some posts by professed Christians questioning our nation’s support of Israel. Some say our support should only be on the political grounds of Israel as a fellow democracy in a hostile region, but certainly not on any theological grounds, and their arguments were based on their belief in replacement theology – a belief that the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan. I want to engage that argument without regard to the political question of the USA as a nation supporting Israel as a nation. This is TheoThoughts, so the main concern is interacting with the theology behind these believers’ stated basis of their position. Let me say up front that we don’t treat individuals any differently today based on ethnicity/nationality as the church will consist of every tribe and tongue and nation (Rev 7:9).
The other place I’ve seen this position show up is in arguments like this where paedobaptism is based on replacement theology:
1. The children of the people of Israel were to be circumcised (Gen 17:12)
2. The church is the new Israel (Gal 3:29)
3. Baptism is the new circumcision (Col 2:11-12)
4. Therefore, the children of the members of the church are to be baptized
I believe that replacement theology is biblically incorrect. In replacement theology, God’s specific promises to Abraham (the Abrahamic covenant) are believed to now be fulfilled in the church and thus God has no further plans for the Jewish people of Israel. Wherever you see “Israel” or “Abraham”, you can basically swap for the word “church” today. This argument often comes with several convincing verses, such as:
6 Just as Abraham BELIEVED GOD AND IT WAS COUNTED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS, 7 so know that those who are of faith, those are sons of Abraham.
Galatians 3:6 LSB (italics added)
and
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.
Galatians 3:28-29 (italics added)
And perhaps the most convincing is:
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s seed, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR SEED WILL BE NAMED.” 8 That is, the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are considered as seed.
Romans 9:6-8 LSB
All of these are absolutely true and are the hope of the church today. The issue is they simply don’t address whether God has “replaced” the Jewish people and has no further plans for them; that is an assumption that does not arise from the text. These verses tell us the amazing truth that whoever (Jew or Gentile) believes in Christ in true faith are sons of Abraham and heirs of the promise to him that “in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 22:18). Jesus Christ, the offspring or seed of Abraham, will bless all the nations of the earth. It says nothing about replacement theology.
Galatians 3:28-29 in particular is not erasing the distinction between Jew and Greek anymore than it is saying there are no longer any males or females or that slavery is eradicated as of ~50 A.D. when Paul wrote it. It is teaching us that all believers are equal in Christ; there are no tiers or levels of Christianity. A female Palestinian believer, a male Jewish believer, and an American believer are equal in Christ. As in James 2:1-9, we are to show no partiality among us. We are all simply sinners saved by grace through faith.
The Romans 9 verses do not support replacement theology either, in fact Paul is teaching the opposite. Paul states that NOT ALL Israel are descended from Israel and that every physical descendant of Abraham is not a child of God. God only has adopted children through faith. Jacob not Esau for example. This is about who is an elect and thus true child of God that will be adopted into His family through faith in Christ alone. This is another example of where context matters greatly because verse 6 is actually Paul’s thesis for his argument from here to the end of chapter 11. He has just lamented that his Jewish brethren in the first 5 verses are not flocking to their Messiah. Just look at Romans 9:4, which doesn’t sound like Paul is a replacement theology person. Here in verse 6 after his lament he says “but it is NOT as though the word of God has failed” and he’ll spend 3 chapters explaining and defending that thesis. The answer is “keep reading” because Romans 11 clearly teaches replacement theology simply can’t be true. We must take the whole counsel of God into the formulation of our doctrines so they align with all that Scripture teaches on a topic and not just our hand-picked verses that support our opinion. While all of Romans chapters 9-11 is Paul’s extensive argument, it is hard to argue with Paul’s conclusion of his argument:
25 For I do not want you, brothers, 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 “AND 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.
Romans 11:25-29 LSB
Paul is writing this letter to the church in Rome and he doesn’t want the church to be uninformed as to the “mystery” concerning God’s future plans for Israel. He tells us this truth so that we won’t be “wise in our own estimation”. He says a partial (therefore not all, there is always a remnant) hardening has come upon Israel and then the word “UNTIL” – it is temporary and will end when all the Gentiles written in the Lamb’s Book of Life have come into the church – and then all Israel will be saved, as it is written. Nail in the coffin of replacement theology. God is not done with Israel.
GOD’S WORD HAS NOT FAILED is Paul’s point. His promises are sure, so all you grafted in Gentiles beware of pride. They (Israel) are still beloved for the sake of the fathers, certainly not because of anything in them, but because God’s promises are irrevocable. Beware puffing yourselves up dear Gentile church member. In fact, if you are a Gentile church member like me, you’ll need a big dose of humility to see what Paul says in this verse:
11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
Romans 11:11 ESV
They have not finally “fallen” away, its a temporary hardening and – for us Gentiles – salvation has come to us for the reason of making them jealous.
But that’s not all. This future salvation of all Israel is described in God’s word as well in Zechariah 12:1-13:1 which is an amazing chapter on the mercy and grace of God as he opens their eyes and they all recognize Jesus as their Messiah and it then describes all the individual repentence (not national but individual repentance of a future generation of the nation). It then ends with this:
On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
Zech 13:1 ESV
Replacement theology? No, thanks. Instead see the magnificent glory of our amazingly merciful and gracious God in his plan that Paul lays out in Romans 11 and how it ends for a future generation in Israel as written by Zechariah.
Sola Deo Gloria.