1) Anyone who believes in Jesus, regardless of ethnic background, is the true child of Abraham. Thus, the church is the ultimate, true fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that he would have a multitude of descendants.
2) Conversely, even if a person is Jewish, but does not believe in Jesus, he is not a true offspring of Abraham. A true Jew is someone who is not merely a Jew outwardly, but inwardly also.
Jesus clearly said that those Jews who considered Him and then rejected Him were not of God, but were of their father, the devil (8:44).
3) God does not have two peoples, the church and Israel. God only has one people: the church. Theologically, the present situation is not, the church and Israel; it is, the church is Israel.
However, this does not mean that God has utterly rejected the Jewish race. According to Romans 9-11, because of God's promises to Abraham, God has elected Jews in every generation (a remnant) to believe in Jesus and come into the church, and in this way all the elect within physical Israel will be saved.
John Resinger: Resinger wrote about Abraham's four seeds: 1. Natural Offspring (through Isaac and Ishmael). 2. Special Natural Offspring (through Isaac, then Jacob, then the 12 tribes). 3. Unique Offspring (Jesus the Messiah). 4. Spiritual Offspring (all believers of all ages and all nationalities).
3) God does not have two peoples, the church and I
Featuring a sermon puts it on the front page of the site and is the most effective way to bring this sermon to the attention of thousands including all mobile platforms + newsletter.
Text-Featuring a sermon is a less expensive way to bring this sermon to the attention of thousands on the right bar with optional newsletter inclusion. As low as $30/day.
Stephen Atkerson helps church leaders discover simple growth strategies that Jesus gave the early church. For over 30 years, he has worked with evangelists, missionaries, church planters, and pastors in Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa. He is one of the pastors of a Baptist...
