"Everywhere, except in theology, there has been a vigorous growth of skepticism about skepticism itself."--C.S. Lewis
The majority of Christendom thinks God's through with Israel and has replaced them with Christianity. It's called Replacement Theology.
Every major Christian denomination believes they're Israel. That's Rome, the seven major Protestant denominations, the Orthodox branch--they all claim to be Israel, says Richard Jordan.
That's why Rome and the Orthodox have all those ceremonies and stuff. Where'd they get them? They got them out of Israel's rituals. That's why Protestantism has all these sacraments and ordinances. That's why the Bible-believing part of Protestantism hangs onto water baptism.
Here's an outtake from a Believer's written testimony online:
"Part of Satan’s strategy has been to infect the Church with what was historically called Supersessionism. This is the idea that God has replaced the Jews with the Church. It’s only in the 20th Century that this concept came to be known as Replacement Theology.
"I was subjected to the attitude of Replacement Theology in my church growing up through the teaching that all of the Old Testament had been nailed to the Cross and was therefore irrelevant to Christianity. We called ourselves 'A New Testament Church,' and when the minister told us to be sure and bring our Bibles to church, we knew he meant our New Testaments. Many of us did not even own a complete Bible.
"The beginning of my liberation from these viewpoints occurred when I was about 30 years old and started reading the Minor Prophets. I was captivated by them. Their messages seemed so relevant to modern-day problems.
"It was the book of Zechariah that proved to be my turning point. After reading it through from start to finish for the first time in my life, I was impacted by the fact that it is full of Messianic prophecies about the First Coming, and that every one of them meant what they said. It suddenly dawned on me that if the First Coming prophecies in this 'apocalyptic' book meant what they said, then the Second Coming prophecies must mean what they say.
"My study of Bible prophecy since that time has convinced me that the twisting of scriptures through spiritualization is a terrible abuse of God’s Word. It has led Christians to reject the Genesis account of creation as well as the promises of God for the future."
*****
When you ask somebody why they think they're "spiritual Israel," there's a passage in Galatians that most of the time they turn to, and like any other passage similar to it, you have to ignore the context. "A text without a context is a pretext." So, they pull it out hoping you won't see the rest of it.
Galatians 3:29: [29] And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
"See!", they say, "You're the seed of Abraham. You're spiritual Israel and an heir according to the promise God made to Abraham."
But look at the verses right before it: [26] For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
[27] For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
[28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
If in the Body of Christ there's no status of being a Jew or a Greek, how could you then be a spiritual Jew? There is no such status in the Body of Christ as being a spiritual Jew or a spiritual Israelite. Why? Because we're all one in Christ with no distinctions like that.
When Paul says, "And if ye be in Christ you're Abraham's seed and heirs," what's he talking about? You notice that's verse 29? There are 28 verses before that have educated you about some of this stuff, that if you had read them and got there, you wouldn't be confused.
When he says you're "heirs according to the promise," what promise are we talking about? Look at verses 13-14: [13] Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
[14] That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
So, you've been made heirs of the promise of the Spirit through faith. What did the Spirit do for you? Verses 26 and 27 tell you He put you into the Body of Christ.
God justified Abraham in uncircumcision as an uncircumcised Gentile so that when the time came that He's going to justify Gentiles, you've got a pattern. Abraham is the pattern for being justified by faith without works.
Galatians 3:
[6] Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
[7] Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
[8] And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
[9] So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
God, knowing that you were coming, knowing that the dispensation of grace was coming, what did He do? He preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying "in thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed."
God justified Abraham in a very special way so that he would be "the father of all them that believe"; not just the circumcision, but the uncircumcision. Because God knew there was going to be a new program coming where everybody's considered uncircumcised.
If you don't understand some dispensational things in your Bible, and know how to study your Bible dispensationally, you're never going to understand anything.
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