Flesh or Spirit, grace or works, is probably the most misunderstood principle in Christian biblical teaching. To put it plainly: Are we saved by the flesh, by ethnic identity, like having Jewish forebears, or are we saved by the Spirit who chose us, and predestined us to salvation?
The answer is that it has nothing to do with who our relatives were, but free election, freely chosen by the Lord, regardless of our national identity or ethnicity. Saved by grace never by works, which is anything we might do or have done to save ourselves. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Humans always want to add something to their salvation that they might say they had a little ownership in it themselves. But the scriptures teach that that is totally false. With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
The online debate on this subject has picked up a lot since the atrocities on both sides started to be broadcast in the Israel-Gaza War. There are those Christians who defend Israel from a biblical viewpoint saying that they are still God’s chosen people no matter what they do or believe. They state that God does not repent (change His mind) of the calling He gave them (Romans 11:29). So no matter how evil and how God denying or Christ rejecting they are, they will be saved in the end – a fait accompli. Some will call on Romans 11 but usually they quote exclusively from Old Testament scriptures. I covered some of that in Salvation Is For All, Regardless of Race.
Now I want to have a look at Romans 11, to see what the Apostle Paul taught.
The key to all of Romans 11 is verse 6.
6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Romans 11:6 KJV
This might sound a bit convoluted but the Apostle, under the anointing of the Spirit, is stating in a legalese way that grace is never works and works is never grace. There is no overlap, like in my Venn diagram above. They cannot be mixed just like oil and water can never be mixed. Therefore, whoever you might be, you can only be saved by grace.
1 I say then, Did not God thrust away His people? Let it not be! For I also am an Israelite, out of Abraham’s seed, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 “God did not put away His people” whom He foreknew.
Romans 11:1-2a (KJ3 unless otherwise stated. Bold is my emphasis.)
There Paul quoted from Psalm 94:14 that He will never forsake or put away His people. But note that there is a caveat, ‘conditions apply’. He only saves those He foreknew, or chose before the foundation of the world.
2b Or do you not know what the Scripture said in Elijah, how he pleaded with God against Israel, saying, 3 Lord, “they killed Your prophets,” “and they dug down Your altars,” “and only I am left, and they seek my life.”
Romans 11:2b-3
Paul here is quoting from 1 Kings 19:10. It is rhetorical, complaining that because the Jews were so rebellious against God, how can He save them? Paul answers the complaint with:
4 But what does the Divine answer say to him, “I reserved to Myself seven thousand men who did not bow the knee to Baal.”
Romans 11:4
Here 7000 is not an exact number but 7000 is a God number. See Revelation 11:13. The number seven symbolises completeness. A thousand symbolises a large number. We see this concept used in many verses. The meaning of it is that a finite number of many thousands of Jews have been chosen to salvation. Paul quoted from 1 Kings 19:18.
18 And I have left in Israel seven thousand, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.
1 Kings 19:18
Israelis had a real problem with Baal worship back in the period of the Kings. But so does Israel today. Tel Aviv is called the ‘gay capitol of the world’ for good reason. Who knows what false gods like Baal and Moloch they worship with their ‘sacrificing children’ to the transsexual gods. And why would Jewish/Israeli parents ‘pass their children through the fires’ of Moloch by injecting their children with the toxic COVID vaccines? As a country Israel had one of the highest percentage of population take the shots. Do you then wonder why God would unconditionally save such wicked people? Well, stop wondering, because He said, through Paul, that He wouldn’t.
5 So then, also in the present time a remnant according to election of grace has come to be. 6 But if by grace, no longer is it of works; else grace no longer becomes grace. But if of works, it is no longer grace; else work is no longer work.
Romans 11:5-6
God chose in His ‘election of grace’ a remnant in those who do not bow to Baal, who do not follow after other gods. That makes it clear that grace is not of works, and spirit is not of the flesh and visa versa. God is omniscient. He knows all. He chose according to His grace those He will save. The Apostle John wrote in regards to salvation:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:13 KJV
Blood relations has nothing to do with salvation. The action of humans and their choices have nothing to do with salvation.
7 What then? What Israel seeks, this it did not obtain, but the election [the chosen] obtained it, and the rest were hardened; 8 even as it is written, “God gave to them a spirit of slumber, eyes not seeing and ears not hearing” until today, this day.
Romans 11:7-8
Only a chosen few were saved. The rest had their hearts hardened against God, just like God did to Pharaoh when Moses was trying to get the Israelites out of Egypt and that was because of Pharaoh’s pride. God has closed their eyes so that most cannot see. Here the Apostle quoted from these two scriptures:
10 For Jehovah has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes. The prophets and your heads, the seers, He has covered.
Isaiah 29:10
4 Yet Jehovah has not given to you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day.
Deuteronomy 29:4
The expression ‘until this day’ means it was continuing in Paul’s time and it continues today also.
9 And David said, “Let their table become for a snare and a trap, and for a stumbling block,” and a recompense to them; 10 “let their eyes be darkened, not to see, and their back through all bent.”
Romans 11:9-10 quoting from Psalm 69:22-23
It is God who has entrapped them and darkened their eyes so that they cannot understand the gospel Jesus preaches.
11 I say, then, Did not they stumble that they might fall? Let it not be! But by their deviation came salvation to the nations, to provoke them to jealousy. 12 But if their deviation is the riches of the world, and their default the riches of the nations, how much more their fulfilling?
Romans 11:11-12
The Jews are culpable in this. By their rejection of their own Messiah Jesus Christ, salvation was taken to the Gentiles. God did this to provoke the Jews to jealousy. And from that it must follow that that was to awaken the Jews to the gospel that some might be saved. They are not without responsibility.
13 For I speak to you, the nations, inasmuch as I am indeed an apostle of the nations (I glorify my ministry), 14 if somehow I may provoke to jealousy my flesh, and may save some of them. 15 For if their casting away is the reconciliation of the world, what is the reception, except life from the dead?
Romans 11:13-15
Paul was hopeful that he could ‘save some’, through God’s grace of course. The saving of some he likens to bringing the dead back to life. This reminds me of when John the Baptist was speaking to the Pharisees in regards to their salvation he said:
9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees: therefore every tree which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Matthew 3:9-10 KJV
The trees John is referring to here are those of Israel who consider themselves the natural branches. John under inspiration is saying here if any tree does not bear good fruit, a saved soul, a believer in Christ, it is to be cut down at the roots, and cast into the fire. These trees are those of the Israelite nation and thus, if remaining in unbelief, it implies total destruction of that nation. No pruning, no branches left. But…
16 Now if the first fruit is holy, so also the lump. And if the root is holy, so also are the branches. 17 But if some of the branches [Jewish believers] were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree [Gentile believers] were grafted in among them, and became a sharer of the root and the fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches [Jewish believers]. But if you do boast, it is not you that bears the root, but the root bears you. 19 You will say then, The branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. 20 Well! For unbelief they were broken off. And you stand by faith. Do not be high minded, but fear.
Romans 11:16-20
God admonishes all non-Jewish believers to not be high minded because we were saved only by grace. Salvation came by the Jews. They were the natural tree down to the roots. But God makes it clear it was because of unbelief that the Jews who were broken off from the tree, which is God’s spiritual nation of Israel, circumcised of the heart and not the flesh.
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Romans 2:28-29 KJV
National or ethnic identity cannot save anyone. One’s heart must be changed and that can only be changed by repentance through faith by grace from Jesus Christ.
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not you.
Romans 11:21 KJV
The warning is there to us all. But it also tells us clearly what Paul is saying. It is only by belief in the living God, Jesus Christ that you can be saved.
22 Behold, therefore, the kindness and severity of God: On the ones having fallen, severity. But on you, kindness, if you continue in the kindness. Otherwise, you will also be cut off. 23 And those also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in. For God is able to graft them in again.
Romans 11:22-23
There is hope—faith in Jesus Christ, not some privilege because of being Jewish—that some Jews will be saved. I know this is true because I personally have fellowshipped with and spoken in Messianic believers’ congregations in Israel. There is only a remnant there now. This is what Paul said in the following, however he does not write that all Jews will be saved.
24 For if you [Gentile believers] were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these [Jewish believers], which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
Romans 11:24 KJV
The nation of Israel is the natural olive tree, and the Gentiles are the wild olive tree. So it should not be any surprise that some Jews get saved. But only by belief as he stated previously.
25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be wise among yourselves, that hardness in part has happened to Israel until the fulfilling of the nations comes in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved, even as it has been written, “The One delivering will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. 27 And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
Romans 11:25-27
Does ‘all Israel will be saved’ mean that all Jews anywhere throughout all space and time will be saved? No, it can’t because Paul has just explained in this letter that it is through belief and that is through election by God. But I welcome the day, whenever, when the Holy Spirit opens their eyes and many more are saved, those who have been elected to grace. And that statement does not mean that the nation of Israel will be saved but those who are in covenant relationship with Christ will have all their sins erased.
Jesus fulfilled/confirmed the covenant with man, with all those who love Him (Daniel 9:4) regardless of race. He confirmed that covenant of the Cross (Daniel 9:27, Galatians 3:15-17). There is no longer any animal sacrifice for sin because Jesus Christ is our high priest who totally and forever paid our sin debt with the Father.
Paul quoted here from Isaiah 59:20-21:
20 And the Redeemer comes to Zion, and to those in Jacob who turn back from their transgression, a statement of Jehovah. 21 As for Me, this is My covenant with them, says Jehovah: My Spirit who is on You, and My words which I have put in Your mouth, shall not depart out of Your mouth, or out of the mouth of Your seed, or out of the mouth of Your seed’s seed, from now and till forever, says Jehovah.
Isaiah 59:20-21
The ‘Redeemer comes to Zion’ means Jesus Christ as Messiah of the lineage of David/Judah comes to build the kingdom in man’s hearts. Here Zion is not a physical place, it is the spiritual kingdom of God. Biblical Zion is not physical Israel. And if it is not physical Israel, which is cannot be, otherwise it would be by works and not grace, then Jewish ethnic identity counts for nothing for salvation.
If God’s words and I mean all of them, including what Jesus said, are not in their mouths and their offspring’s mouths forever then they cannot be God’s people. If they only believe in Jehovah’s words from the Old Testament and not the words of Jehovah incarnate in Jesus recorded in the New Testament, who said many times that He is ‘I AM’, then their religion is in vain.
28 Indeed, as regards the gospel, ones hostile toward you, but as regards the election, beloved on account of the fathers. 29 For the free gifts and the calling of God are not to be repented of.
Romans 11:28-29
The unbelieving Jews are hostile to the believers because of the gospel. But there are some who have been chosen, and we must be patient until they come to faith. In those chosen before the foundation of the world the gifts and calling of God are fixed. It is only to those chosen not to this nation today who have forgotten God. (Psalm 9:17)
30 For as you then also disobeyed God, but now have obtained mercy by the disobedience of these, 31 so also these now have disobeyed, so that they also may obtain mercy by your mercy. 32 For God shut up all into disobedience, that He may show mercy to all. 33 O the depth of the riches and of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who came to be His counselor?” 35 “Or who first gave to Him, and it will be repaid to him?” 36 Because of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
Romans 11:30-34
Who can know the mind of the Lord? We can’t that’s for sure. But He has revealed in His word numerous times that salvation is only by grace and never by works. We were all once in disobedience to God but eventually we repented and He turned our hearts to Him. Such is the mercy of God. The same is true for any Jews who turns to Jesus Christ. If they do they will be wonderfully saved.
Related Reading
- Christian Zionists Misunderstand “All Israel Will Be Saved”
- Salvation Is For All, Regardless of Race
- The Blessings of God on Abraham
- God’s Promise to Abraham
- The True Israel of God
- The Israel of God
- The Vineyard of God
- The Mystery of Israel – SOLVED!
- Who are God’s “Chosen People”?
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Bible Science Forum 
13 responses to “Flesh or Spirit, Grace or Works”
Dear Dr Hartnett,
I agree with you about salvation through faith in Christ alone, whether Jew of Gentile. But it’s a straw man to argue that we read an alternative route to salvation in Romans 11.
It does not make sense that ‘all Israel will be saved’ is talking about the remnant that Paul saw and that we see today. It means we look forward to the majority of those who are alive at the time being saved, through faith in Christ, at a future time. ‘All’ need not mean 100%, somehow including those sold to satan, because in verse 32 Paul talks about ‘all’ committed to disobedience, which we have just heard excludes the remnant. If the vast majority of Jews were unbelievers then, able to be characterised as ‘all’, then ‘all will be saved’ means the vast majority come to faith in Jesus. And that is consistent with God retaining an interest in the Jews, and in the Christian attitude that should remember they are beloved for the sake of fathers.
That doesn’t mean we should not rebuke their wickedness, as Jesus and the apostles did when the occasion needed it. It means we should have humility and goodwill whenever we can, and that it is particularly incongruous if we do not even treat their cause fairly.
(I have no idea where you got your mangled translation of Romans 11 v 28 but that verse is an important one for you to consider, which starts with choosing a sensible translation).
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You can have hope that a large group of Jews will come to salvation through Christ. However history tells us that that has not happened so far. Very few, only a remnant, which from the Greek means ‘ones remaining’. Remnant does not imply a majority.
Then there is the issue of ‘all’ Israel will be saved. As already stated it is all of those elected by God. That includes all Gentiles and all Jews who are ‘circumcised of the heart’, who through faith in Christ Jesus are children of Abraham.
I used KJ3 for most verses in this study. Romans 11:28 was from KJ3. It is a majority text translation. I now rarely ever use a minority text translation because of the corrupted Greek manuscripts those translations use (Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus).
Rom 11:28 “Indeed, as regards the gospel, ones hostile toward you, but as regards the election, beloved on account of the fathers.”
This is very clear to me. Jews are hostile toward believers because of the gospel, because of Jesus Christ. But because some are chosen to election they are beloved because of the fathers who have gone on before who believed. The ESV “…they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers” implies because of their own ancestors only. But ‘because of the fathers’ means those Jewish believers who lived and died believing in Christ.
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Dear Dr Hartnett,
I’m not sure if you permit a reply to a reply. Firstly apologies for denigrating the KJ3, I have no problem with that choice – I couldn’t find that translation anywhere and it seemed hard to understand to me.
I am not trying to call a ‘remnant’ a majority; the first 7 verses of Romans 11 teach about the remnant, but I am saying it expands beyond that in the rest of the chapter.
I believe there is so much more that Romans 11 must be saying, than what you are willing to read into it. ‘All Israel’ is in the context of the word ‘Israel’ used in the verse directly before: it is not reasonable to leap to a different meaning that is used in a different book.
All believers in Jesus are beloved (see Romans 12v19 and many other letters) and there is no need to reference departed Jewish believers, in order for current and future Jewish believers to be declared as beloved. It’s such a weak and slightly ridiculous meaning to put into the verse.
I’m not saying that unsaved Jews are somehow within the ‘Israel of God’ from Galatians 6, and nor are they saved because they are ‘beloved’. But it does mean we ought to be well disposed toward them (consistent with all of Romans 11) in recognition that God, for His glory, still has plans for the Jewish nation.
There are very serious errors that have been made and can be made over the status of unsaved Jews. But if you want your readers to avoid those mistakes, it is probably best to publish this reply as well, so that if they can see your omissions and therefore cannot agree with you, they can also better see where they should avoid unwarranted extrapolations.
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I don’t agree with you when you argue that it is “not reasonable to leap to a different meaning that is used in a different book”. Your use of ‘leap’ is unwarranted as it implies something illegitimate. I believe we need to look for consistent meaning across scripture. Comparing scripture with scripture, even from Paul’s own writings to understand him. And besides ‘fulfilment theology’ leads us to understand that biblically there is no such thing as the nation of Israel after Christ, from which it follows there is no national salvation for the Jews.
This is where we differ then because I don’t believe that it follows that God “…still has plans for the Jewish nation” in terms of salvation for all or even most. I look at all scripture and that helps me interpret any chapter including Romans 11. So I reject the notion you suggest that I make omissions. I say you read into what you read through the lens of what you already believe.
The unsaved Jews are just like anybody else who is not saved. There is ‘no Jew nor Greek’, no distinction in salvation. So if you argue ‘All Israel will be saved’ means all Jews then all Gentiles also will all be saved.
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Dear Dr Hartnett,
Thank you for engaging with my reply.
In Romans 9v6 Paul says ‘For they are not all Israel who are of Israel’ and that establishes 2 uses, the first is the nation and the second is the saved children of God. The first meaning is used again in Romans 10v1. Obviously the second usage is in Galatians 6.
The first meaning, you will agree, is used in Romans 11v25. Romans 11v26 is the same context as verse 25 – so yes there exist both meanings, but verse 26 clearly refers to verse 25. The blindness of the majority is ‘until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in’. That is consistent with all the rest of the Bible.
When your theology requires you to ignore the main chapter which deals with the issue at hand, it’s your theology that needs to change, instead of trying to explain away God’s Word.
On top of all that, I fail to understand why you are so unsympathetic to the needs of the Jews, such that you distort their recent history and refuse to treat their cause in a way comparable to other nations. I am sure you agree that it is our own sin that put Jesus on the cross, and despite severe judgments that have come on Israel as a nation since then, it is not biblical to hound them as if they were outlaws. Far from it. Do you have personal reasons for why you are so unsympathetic to them?
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You wrote:
//In Romans 9v6 Paul says ‘For they are not all Israel who are of Israel’ and that establishes 2 uses, the first is the nation and the second is the saved children of God. The first meaning is used again in Romans 10v1. Obviously the second usage is in Galatians 6.//
He refers to (1) Israel as the cohort of all Jews (not the nation or country; He was speaking to a Roman audience) and (2) Israel as the cohort of all saved believers in God (including all ethnic groups).
//The first meaning, you will agree, is used in Romans 11v25. Romans 11v26 is the same context as verse 25 – so yes there exist both meanings, but verse 26 clearly refers to verse 25. The blindness of the majority is ‘until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in’. That is consistent with all the rest of the Bible.//
Rom 11:25 is referring to (1) the cohort of all ethnic Jews. But in regards to Rom 11:26 which follows from 11:25 (no verses exist in the actual text) I disagree with your interpretation. Paul is saying that all that God foreknew in that cohort (1) are saved, ie in (2). Jesus is the Redeemer out of Zion who saved all He chose. Romans 11:2a says it exactly ” ‘God did not put away His people’ whom He foreknew”. All of those ‘His people’ are saved. I do not presumed to know the mind of God as to who those ‘His people’ are. But I know they are not all of the nation today claiming to be His people.
//When your theology requires you to ignore the main chapter which deals with the issue at hand, it’s your theology that needs to change, instead of trying to explain away God’s Word.//
You should consider exactly what you have written there. I think what Jesus has written tell us exactly the answer to this issue. You are the one viewing Rom 11:26 through the eyes of one already believing that the whole nation (all those claiming to be Jews) will be saved despite their lack of obedience to the laws of Jesus Christ. You should read Jesus own words o this:
In fact, what you are arguing here I have completely covered in the OP.
//On top of all that, I fail to understand why you are so unsympathetic to the needs of the Jews, such that you distort their recent history and refuse to treat their cause in a way comparable to other nations.//
I disagree. I am under no delusion about their history. I have been to Israel several times. I have discussed the history with Jewish Israeli friends who are messianic believers. I spent a month with them speaking to maybe a thousand in total of messianic believers and Christian Arabs. I contributed my time totally free, to share the gospel and teaching to the body of believers. I read the documents they gave me on what they believed was the history of the nation. I think they are sincere but they lack all the facts. In fact it takes time to find the real history. You need to hear many voices.
// I am sure you agree that it is our own sin that put Jesus on the cross, and despite severe judgments that have come on Israel as a nation since then, it is not biblical to hound them as if they were outlaws. Far from it. Do you have personal reasons for why you are so unsympathetic to them?//
For years I worked with a Jewish theoretical physicist from Ben Gurion University Beer Sheva and co-authored papers with him. He and his wife were orthodox Jews, who I loved very much, and gave comfort and support to his wife when he died of a disease. They are humans like any others, who all need salvation in Jesus Christ. And I do not associate their corrupt leadership with the people themselves. But in regards to sin they are all responsible and culpable as we were.
You write that I am ‘unsympathetic’ which is not true. I don’t know but maybe you are conflating the people with the current corrupt government. I would say the same of all Western governments right now. None are without culpability and all those evil satanic rulers will be judged by God eventually. I have an Israeli orthodox Jewish friend who says the same. So I say again, the synagogue of Satan is ruling the nation of Israel today, but it is also ruling the world, embed in most Western governments.
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Based on my current understanding, I respond to your essay.
From the outset, I agree that our salvation is not based on ethnicity, and we don’t need to have Jewish heritage to be saved. I think where I find disagreement at first is that you seem to associate Israel with only the Jews, excluding the other tribes. This is a common misunderstanding within Christianity across the spectrum of theologies. It becomes further confused for Christians who believe the current state of Israel represents the Biblical Israel, when, in my view, it is a politically contrived imitation of Israel, rather than the restored nation Biblical prophecy describes in Ezekiel and Hosea, for instance.
If you read no further than this paragraph, I will summaries my thoughts this way: Not all Jews will be saved, nor will all Israelites be saved, but all Israel will be saved—the Jews and the other ten tribes being “all”. It’s about the tribes, not the individuals.
I agree with your quote that “(humans) want to add something to their salvation that they might say they had a little ownership in it themselves”. This is particularly apparent among the Messianic groups I have had contact with. There is a cohort of Christians, especially among “Dispensationists” who see the false idea of Jews and Church as two stand alone groups, with only the Jews who join the “New Testament church” as being saved. The idea of the New Testament church, however, is unbiblical.
Quoting your essay:
4 But what does the Divine answer say to him, “I reserved to Myself seven thousand men who did not bow the knee to Baal.”
Romans 11:4
Here 7000 is not an exact number but 7000 is a God number. See Revelation 11:13. The number seven symbolises completeness. A thousand symbolises a large number. We see this concept used in many verses. The meaning of it is that a finite number of many thousands of Jews have been chosen to salvation. Paul quoted from 1 Kings 19:18.
My response:
You say: “many thousands of Jews have been chosen to salvation”. 1 Kings 19:18 doesn’t say that, rather:
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. [KJV]
18 And I have left in Israel seven thousand, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. [KJ3]
I find it frustrating when the term Jew or Jews is used in place of what the Bible calls Israel. Israel comprises more than the Jews, the Jews being the southern kingdom from the time of the division at the end of Solomon’s reign. The southern kingdom included Benjamin and a few from the northern kingdom. The apostle Paul declared himself an Israelite, from the tribe of Benjamin as declared in Romans 11:1 and quoted by you. He also said he was a Jew in, for example, Acts 21:39
39 But Paul said, Indeed I am a man, a Jew of Tarsus, of Cilicia, a citizen of a not insignificant city. And I beg you, allow me to speak to the people. [KJ3]
And Acts 22:3
3 Indeed I am a man, a Jew having been born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but having been brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, having been trained according to the exactness of the ancestral law, being a zealot of God, even as you all are today. [KJ3]
When we read Psalm 94:14, which says:
14 For Jehovah will not leave His people, and not will He forsake His inheritance. [KJ3]
…we should consider Jeremiah 3:1-8
God put His people Israel away by a writ if divorce. The writ is specific to Israel, in this case the northern kingdom which is also called Ephraim (because Jeroboam was from the tribe of Ephraim). This is also written about in Hosea, which details different prophecies pertaining to the divided kingdoms of Judah (Jews) and the northern kingdom Israel (later known as gentiles, after the divorce).
Hosea 1: 1-11 KJ3 [Please read yourself]
See how a people who are no longer His people will be called “Sons of the living God”.
In considering this topic, only is Israel (twelve tribes) called His chosen or set apart people as we can read in Deuteronomy 7 and 10, for instance, and Isaiah 48. Israel has not kept the commandments, has been unfaithful, and was cut off. But for Yehovah’s name, the restoration must take place. Many are called, but few are chosen.
Israel was divorced by Yehovah, but not Judah. Judah was preserved not because she was better, indeed she was worse, but because very heritage of Jesus or Yeshua would come from the tribe of Judah. 14 For Jehovah will not leave His people, and not will He forsake His inheritance. Psalm 94:14 [KJ3].
This makes more sense when we consider how Moses pleads for Israel when they made the golden calf. His plea is not for Israel’s preservation because it’s Israel, rather the Name of Yehovah and His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and detailed in Exodus 32.
Ezekiel 37 speaks of a time when the two houses will be once again joined together. When this happens, all Israel will be saved—that is, all tribes, not all Israelites. We as Gentiles—many it is arguable likely descendants of the northern kingdom—are either grated in or will be grafted into Israel, as will Judah and Banjamin when their branch is grafted back. In the meantime, any Jew can be grafted in today by accepting Yeshua as the Messiah they have been looking for. Many have, of course, but as mentioned above, often carry a prideful belief that their salvation is somehow above the Gentile’s salvation. I think this is exacerbated by the “love affair” so many Christians have for the illegitimate Zionist state falsely called Israel
Yeshua made an interesting statement in Matthew 15:24
24 But answering, He said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
What did He mean by the lost sheep of the house of Israel? There are other references, too, but I will leave that for the reader to explore. However, notice He says He came for the house of Israel, not Israel, nor the Jews. This is made more interesting when you consider the law relating to divorce and remarriage, especially the first husband remarrying the woman he divorced. My current understanding that Yeshua’s death brought an end to the first marriage covenant—death being the only legitimate way for a marriage to end. It is because of this that there can be a marriage under the new covenant and the full restoration of Israel.
The parable of the prodigal son is a direct reference to the divided kingdom and Israel’s return. The son who stayed home is Judah, the southern kingdom, while the other son is Israel, the northern kingdom. Just as the son who stayed home is made jealous by the father’s love for the other son, so, too, are the Jews made jealous by the Father who restores His son when he returns.
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Patrick,
I was using the term Jew in respect to the common usage which includes all tribes not just of Judah and Benjamin. Most who claim to be Jews wouldn’t know which tribe they came from anyway. And since there is no Jewish gene it becomes irrelevant. Even genetic studies on various cohorts in Europe, Asia and ME found only weak overlap within groups in different locations for Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews.
On Israel I take your point that physical Israel includes all Jews wherever they are. I tried to make the distinct point by referring to the country of Israel when I tried to distinguish and I sometime used “Jews and Israelis” to separate them. There could be a Venn diagram showing overlap. But because the current country is irrelevant to biblical prophesy, because all the promises of God are on the spiritual Israel and none on the current antichrist nation it too makes little difference. Jesus Christ is all we need whether Jew or Greek. And the Apostle Paul used the word Jew in Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11 in the same way I did.
On the church point, the whole Bible is about Jesus Christ. Historically there have been two cohorts (Jew and Gentile) but in salvation only one. Since Christ there is no point talking of a separate ‘wife of God’ and ‘bride of Christ’ like some Messianic believers like to do. It is plain foolish in my opinion.
You wrote:
You say: “many thousands of Jews have been chosen to salvation”. 1 Kings 19:18 doesn’t say that, rather:
I didn’t write that it did. I am saying what Paul wrote referencing the 7000 who didn’t bow to Baal from 1 King 19:18.
In Romans 11: 4 Paul wrote his interpretation as God speaking “I reserved to Myself 7000…”. Reserve to Himself means salvation. But even in 1 Kings 19:18 “I have left in Israel seven thousand..” implies salvation but maybe not as clear as how Paul writes it.
I wrote “….because He said, through Paul, that He wouldn’t” save such wicked people of course it goes without saying without repentance.
Your argument is with Paul.
You wrote:
When we read Psalm 94:14, which says:
14 For Jehovah will not leave His people, and not will He forsake His inheritance. [KJ3]
I agree. They are all those He did foreknow, regardless of any ethnicity. Only the saved by grace are His people. There are no others.
Most of those prophecies you highlight are simply answered that in Jesus Christ all are one. John 15. All are united in Christ. There is no longer any distinction.
On your point Matthew 15:24 I explained that at the beginning of
There I wrote in part:
“The focus of Jesus Christ’s short ministry on Earth was to the Jews. He never went out of the borders of Israel to preach to any Gentiles, though His message was to all the nations of the world (Gentiles).
8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision [the Jews] for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers: 9 And that the Gentiles [nations, non-Jews] might glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, “For this cause I will confess to You among the Gentiles [nations, non-Jews], and sing to Your name.” Romans 15:8-9 (all bold is my emphases)
See my whole article.
You wrote:
“The parable of the prodigal son is a direct reference to the divided kingdom and Israel’s return. ”
Where’s your evidence?
I would interpret the parable at face value. It is about the repentant sinner. It can’t be that the son who was righteous represents the tribe of Judah because now you are implying works salvation, that ethnicity counts. That parable is about the sinner who comes to the Father in humble repentance.
It looks to me like you are trying to make everything fit about Jews, Judah, Israel, the tribes etc. The Bible is about Jesus Christ and His work, not about Jews and Israel.
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Gideon,
When considering the parable of the prodigal son, it’s not difficult to realise the sons are the divided kingdom. If not, then it certainly cannot be the traditional idea of Christianity. If the parable is about all and any gentile who comes to faith in Jesus Christ, if they are not of the lineage of Jacob, then they were not sons. When a gentile with no lineage from Jacob is saved, they are adopted and become sons, with all the blessings and privileges of a natural son. Adoption is a key principle of the who Jesus Christ is as both Son of God and Son of man.
God Himself calls Israel His son and in Hosea he calls His son.
Hosea 11:1-12 KJV
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. [3] I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. [4] I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them. [5] He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. [6] And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels. [7] And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him. [8] How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. [9] I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. [10] They shall walk after the LORD : he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. [11] They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD. [12] Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.
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The parable does apply to the repentant sinner generally as we don’t know who is called and chosen from the foundation of the world. Those are all children of God. Thus some of the Gentiles will be saved. However, I take your point. But the furthest you can stretch the parable to is that some of the natural branches will repent and be saved.
However Hosea 11:1 is an illustration of Jesus Christ called out of Egypt. Israel there is Jesus, the Israel of God. The Lord called the Israelites out of their pagan worship with bands of love, None of this guarantees national salvation. (I am not saying you are saying that).
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I am reading Isaiah 11 (Legacy Standard Bible ESV reading plan) at the moment it seems relevant to Israel and Judah getting back together.
Is. 11:9 They will do no evil nor act corruptly in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh As the waters cover the sea.
Is. 11:10 ¶ Then it will be in that day, That the nations will seek the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a standard for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.
Is. 11:11 ¶ Then it will be in that day, that the Lord Will again acquire the second time with His hand The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Ethiopia, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the coastlands of the sea.
Is. 11:12 And He will lift up a standard for the nations And assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the scattered of Judah From the four corners of the earth.
Is. 11:13 Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart, And those who assail Judah will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, And Judah will not assail Ephraim.
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Dear Dr Hartnett,
I agree with your clarification defining the two Israels, I didn’t intend to say anything different.
I have previously written ‘I agree with you about salvation through faith in Christ alone, whether Jew of Gentile’ and ‘being saved, through faith in Christ, at a future time’ and ‘I’m not saying that unsaved Jews are somehow within the ‘Israel of God’ from Galatians 6, and nor are they saved because they are ‘beloved’’. So I am absolutely NOT saying that the unbelieving Jews ‘will be saved despite their lack of obedience to the laws of Jesus Christ’. It doesn’t help to refute what I have clearly NOT said. The issue is whether your interpretation of Romans 11 is sensible and faithful to the text, and whether your lack of goodwill towards the Jews is Biblically defensible.
I have also written about the common human failings of Jews in general and that the current Israeli government is very corrupt like other Western nations. On these points we are agreed. But I don’t believe you have gained a more balanced view of history by rejecting the history offered you by your Messianic Jewish friends (I don’t know what those details were but I can guess they were something like ‘Myths and Facts’ by the Jewish Virtual Library – yet even the Wikipedia article on ‘1948 Palestine war’, for example, does not justify your accusation of Jewish genocide). The things you have written in other blogs recently are certainly unsympathetic to the entire Jewish people, and not simply a criticism of their government.
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Mark
On this
//So I am absolutely NOT saying that the unbelieving Jews ‘will be saved despite their lack of obedience to the laws of Jesus Christ’. It doesn’t help to refute what I have clearly NOT said.//
I was only stating that to the wider audience to cover the whole point. I did not intend to imply that you had stated that. There are people in the Christian Zionist camp who believe that though. They speak of a different sort of salvation due to being Jewish. I know you did not claim that.
//The things you have written in other blogs recently are certainly unsympathetic to the entire Jewish people, and not simply a criticism of their government.//
I am sorry you see it that way, I don’t.
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