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forester07's Blog
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called \"the uncircumcision\" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-- remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Eph 2:11-22 ESV)
This passage is a huge problem for most dispensationalists. Terms like “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel” and “that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two” and “might reconcile us both to God in one body” are directly contradictory to one of the chief concepts in Dispensationalism, that the church and Israel are two completely different people of God with two completely different plans. Paul does not even hint at a possible separate plan for Israel or a parenthesis made up of the church, both of which dispensationalist hold to. The language in this passage is all of unity in one body and of making two into one. Paul, through the Holy Spirit, is showing that God has one plan for His people (Jews and Gentiles), and that this plan is for them to become the body of Christ, or the Church. Jews and Gentiles are all brought into this body in the same way: through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who paid for our sins. The picture here is of the Gentiles joining into the commonwealth of Israel and being included into the promises of God. In the dispensational view, ethnic Israel is always kept separate from the church, and they have two very different plans. The whole comparison of how we were once aliens and strangers but are no longer is a clear picture of us joining into a new people of God through Jesus Christ. Most dispensationalists would say that this passage is not referring to ethnic Israel, but to Jewish Christians who are joined with the church emphasizing that they are no longer part of Israel but the church or Body of Christ and inferring that somehow that by becoming a Christian, a Jew is no longer counted as ethnic Israel. This does not make much sense. A Jewish Christian is as much a part of ethnic Israel as a Jewish non-Christian. If God were to treat them completely separately, as the dispensationalist would have us believe, then how are any Jews becoming Christians? I am not saying that God does not have a plan for ethnic Israel, He indeed does, but the plan is not for them to be treated separately, rather, it is for those who are elect Jews to join into the body of Christ and receive salvation in the exact same way as the elect Gentiles do, through the death of Jesus Christ. Those of ethnic Israel who aren’t elect will perish in the exact same way as non-elect gentiles. This seems quite simple but most dispensational can’t grasp it (Matt 16:17). Building from the previous passage, Paul continues his emphasis on unity into one body and one membership by telling about the mystery of Christ. Paul reveals this mystery saying,
When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
(Eph 3:4-6 ESV)
These verses continue to show how the Gentiles are being made fellow heirs and members of the same body with the Jews. The key phrase in this passage is “partakes of the promise,” leading one to the conclusion that the Gentiles are now enjoying the promises that God made to Israel. Again, there is no mention of a separate plan for ethnic Israel anywhere in the text, but to the contrary, there is plenty to suggest unity and incorporation of both Jews and Gentiles into the same body of Christ. It is here I would also disagree with Covenant theology, in that I do not believe that Old Covenant Israel is the Church. I would say the Church is Spiritual Israel but ethnic Israel was never the Church in Old Testament times. Jews and Gentiles are joined together as one new creation, the Church / Spiritual Israel. Old Testament Israel is not the church ever! When the New Covenant and Christ came all things were started new.
The Old Covenant, now obsolete, (Hebrews 8, 2 Corinthians 3) is fading away while the New Covenant, based on better promises and confirmed with a better sacrifice, has taken its place. The death of Christ on the cross forever broke down the dividing wall of hostility (Old Covenant) and inaugurated the New Covenant in Christ’s Blood. When we understand that the Old Covenant, understood as the covenant made at Mount Sinai, is over and done with and that it was this covenant that started and separated the Nation of Israel, then we realize that there is no way that Israel can be treated differently than the Church. It completely kills the argument for Zionism. The establishment of the New Covenant is what we celebrate during the Lord’s Supper. “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’” (1Co 11:25 ESV). The Old Covenant is referred to as a ministry of death (2 Cor. 3:7), a yoke that neither the Jew nor the gentiles could bear (Act 15:10), a wall of hostility (Eph 2:14), obsolete and vanishing away (Heb 8:13). It is this covenant that established Israel as a physical nation, and it is no longer in effect. When you take all this into consideration, it would be unimaginable for Paul to say, “not all the body of Christ is the Body of Christ”, but it makes complete sense when in Romans 9:6 Paul says, “not all Israel is Israel”. So does scripture ever show that promises made to ethnic Israel are really referring to the church? Many times! Here is one example.
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