The New Covenant Israel of God

 By: Minister Charles A. Johnson III

 

“Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to the Jews? No, for not everyone born into a Jewish family is truly a Jew! ⁷Just the fact that they are descendants of Abraham doesn't make them truly Abraham's children. For the Scriptures say, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted," though Abraham had other children, too. ⁸This means that Abraham's physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. It is the children of the promise who are considered to be Abraham's children.”

 

(Romans 9:6-8 NLT)

 

“And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac.”

 

(Galatians 4:28 NLT)

 

^“So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free. ³⁷Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because my message does not find a place in your hearts. ³⁸I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father."
³⁹"Our father is Abraham," they declared.
"No," Jesus replied, "for if you were children of Abraham, you would follow his good example. ⁴⁰I told you the truth I heard from God, but you are trying to kill me. Abraham wouldn't do a thing like that. ⁴¹No, you are obeying your real father when you act that way."
They replied, "We were not born out of wedlock! Our true Father is God himself."
⁴²Jesus told them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. ⁴³Why can't you understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to do so! ⁴⁴For you are the children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

 

(John 8:36-44 NLT)

 

Who is the true Israel of God?  Have you ever asked yourself that question and honestly studied for the answer in the Scriptures with an open mind, or have you always just accepted what you were taught about the subject with no serious self-examination whatsoever?

 

The most popular prophetic teaching on this issue today is a system of theology known as Dispensationalism, which teaches that national Israel is the true Israel of God regardless of whether or not they accept Christ. 

 

The dispensationalists have taught for decades that national Israel is the true Israel of God and ‘God’s Chosen People,’ even though most of them are unbelievers, liars, and antichrists by denying that Jesus is the Christ according to the Holy Scriptures (Read 1 John 2:22-24). 

 

This dispensational teaching doesn’t make any sense.  How in the world can unbelievers, liars, and antichrists be considered as ‘God’s Chosen People?’  Have people in such a spiritual condition ever been God’s Elect? 

 

Why did God destroy unbelieving Israelites as recorded in Jude 5 if they were His Elect regardless of unbelief?  Truth be told, unbelievers are not God’s Elect, nor have they ever been.  Only the believers are counted as ‘God’s Chosen People.’  As it concerns Israel, only the believers are counted as God’s Elect, or God’s true Israel.  The unbelievers were always cut-off.

 

Think about it.

 

These dispensationalists also make a difference between ‘Israel’ and the ‘Church,’ and even teach that the ‘Church’ is a ‘gentile bride’ and that God has a separate plan in prophecy to work out for each individually. 

 

What sense does this make?  How are there two separate and distinct plans for ‘Israel’ and the ‘Church’ individually, when ‘Israel’ as a nation is told to get saved and come into the Church under the Blood of Jesus for the remission if sins in Acts 2:36-38? 

 

If ‘Israel’ and the ‘Church’ are two separate and distinct entities with two separate and distinct plans, then why is God commanding through the Apostle Peter in Acts 2 for ‘Israel’ to enter into the ‘Church?’

 

Think about it.

 

THEY ARE NOT ALL ISRAEL, WHICH ARE OF ISRAEL

 

The doctrine of Paul in Romans 9:6 is key to understanding who the Israel of God is today.  Paul teaches here that they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.  This simply means that there is more to being considered Israel than just being born as an Israelite.  God has always demanded a righteous lifestyle from His People, even under the Old Covenant Law of Moses.

 

Paul goes on in Romans 9:7 to teach that ‘neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children.’  This means that it took more than being born of a natural lineage or bloodline of Abraham to be considered a child of Abraham.  Paul taught that the seed of Abraham would be counted from Isaac.  Isaac was the child of promise, and not of the will of the flesh, as Ishmael his brother was in ancient times.

 

In Romans 9:8, Paul brings the concept home.  They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God.  Only the children of the promise are counted for Abraham’s seed.  Wow what a statement! 

 

Dispensationalists teach that national Israelites, the ‘children of the flesh,’ are all the children of God regardless of rejecting, denying, and murdering Christ.  Even the unbelievers in Israel are considered as ‘God’s Elect’ or ‘God’s Chosen People,’ according to these Dispensational preachers, solely because they are Abraham’s physical or natural descendants. 

 

Tell me, Dispensationalist brothers and sisters, is our message ‘Race’ or ‘Grace?’

 

However, Paul disagrees with Dispensational preachers on their theories.  Romans 9:8 clearly says that the ‘children of the flesh’ are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 

 

Now reader, compare what you have just read with what this same Apostle Paul teaches in Galatians 4:28 KJV.  The Apostle says to the Church of Jesus Christ these words, which compare precisely with Romans 9:6-8 KJV.

 

“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.”

 

What does this mean?  It means that the Church, those who accept and obey Jesus Christ, are the children of promise, and thus counted as the seed of Abraham, Abraham’s true children!  Galatians 3:29 reveals this Truth clearly when Paul teaches that ‘IF’ we be Christ’s, ‘THEN’ are we Abraham’s seed.

 

THE DOCTRINE OF JESUS AND PAUL

 

You will now see that the doctrine of Jesus in John 8:33-44 lines up perfectly with the doctrine of the Apostle Paul in Romans 9:6-8.  We have read that Paul taught ‘they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.’ 

 

We also read that Paul taught ‘neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children.’  Paul taught that Abraham’s true seed, children, and descendants were counted from Isaac, the child of promise.  The children of the flesh in Israel are not the children of God, but only the children of the promise are counted for the seed (Romans 9:8 KJV). 

 

Paul then taught in Galatians 4:28 that those believers in the Church are the children of promise, as Isaac was.  So Paul is declaring that God’s True Israel, the seed of Abraham, are those in the Church.  The Church is the congregation of Believers who walk according to the rule that in Christ, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision profits, but only the new creature.  Thus, the Church of Jesus Christ is the Israel of God.

 

“For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.  Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God.”

 

(Galatians 6:15, 16 RSV)

 

Here it is in Simple English

 

“It doesn't matter whether a person is circumcised or uncircumcised.  All that is important is being a new creation.  Peace and mercy to the people who follow this rule--to God's Israel.”

 

(Galatians 6:15, 16 SIM)

 

Now lets go to the doctrine of Jesus in John 8:33-44.  Jesus said to the Jews in John 8:37 that they were Abraham’s seed.  Here he was speaking according to natural lineage and direct ancestry.  So these were physical national Jews from Israel to whom Jesus was speaking here in this text.

 

However, then Jesus shifts to address their spiritual condition.  Jesus says that they do what they have seen with ‘their father’ in John 8:38.  The Jews replied in John 8:39 that Abraham was their father.  Now follow closely.

 

Jesus says that ‘IF’ they were Abraham’s children, they would do the works of Abraham.  For seeking to kill Jesus, who told them the Truth, Jesus says that they were not identifying themselves as Abraham’s children.  He told them that they did the deeds of ‘their father’ in John 8:40.

 

Then the Jews claimed that God was their Father.  Jesus says then that ‘IF’ God were their Father, then they would love Him.  However, we see in example here that His citizens hated Him (Luke 19:14) and would not have Him to reign over them. 

 

We know also that these unbelieving Jews went on to reject Him as King, instead choosing Caesar as their king (John 19:15).

 

Jesus tells the unbelieving Jews that they were of their father the devil.  This means that they were counted as the devil’s children, and not as God’s children nor as Abraham’s true children of promise.

 

Jesus and Paul line up perfectly here.  The only Israelites counted as God’s Israel and Abraham’s children, are those who believe Christ and come into His Body, His Church, which is His obedient Israel.

 

Jesus taught that although they were Abraham’s natural seed (John 8:37), they were not counted as Abraham’s children because they didn’t do the works of Abraham (John 8:39).  This teaching is the same as Paul in Romans 9:7 when he said, ‘neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children…’

 

Paul taught that the children of the flesh were not the children of God (Romans 9:8), and Jesus taught that the unbelieving Jews whom He was addressing were not the children of God (John 8:42-44), but in fact were the children of the devil (John 8:44).  Now if they are not the children of God, then they are the children of the devil.

 

Jesus taught Nicodemus that he had to be born again, of water and of the Spirit, in order to enter the Kingdom of God.  Nicodemus’ first birth as a Jew was not enough to automatically grant him access to the Kingdom of God.  The natural birth alone was not enough to make Nicodemus God’s Chosen and Elect.  There had to be a ‘new birth,’ as fulfilled in Acts 2:38.

 

THE NEW COVENANT

 

The next point to focus in on is the ‘New Covenant.’  The prophecy concerning this ‘New Covenant’ is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34.  Reader, who is this 'New Covenant' made with?  This 'New Covenant' is only made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  This ‘New Covenant’ was not offered to Gentiles in this prophecy.

 

This covenant was to be a ‘New’ covenant, and was not going to be according to the Law of Moses covenant at Mount Sinai (Jeremiah 31:32).

The prophet goes on to tell us that this ‘New’ covenant would be for the remission (or forgiveness) of sins (Jeremiah 31:34).

 

Fast forward to Jesus, who confirmed this ‘New’ covenant with the Israelites at His first coming.  Jesus, when instituting the Lord’s Passover with His Apostles, told them that the bread represented His Body and the wine represented His Blood, which was shed for the remission of sins as the blood of the New Covenant.

 

"For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

 

(Matthew 26:28 NKJV)

 

This is one of the most powerful Messianic revelations in all of Scripture.  Here Jesus says that the wine in the Passover cup represents His blood of the New Covenant, shed for the remission of sins!  That was exactly the purpose of the New Covenant in prophecy, for the remission (forgiveness) of Israel’s sins!  This brings to light the Scripture in Matthew 1:21.

 

"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.''

 

(Matthew 1:21 NKJV)

 

‘His people’ here refers strictly to the Jews.  The Scripture says that He came unto His own (John 1:11).  So this New Covenant was promised to the nation of Israel, and Jesus brought this New Covenant to them in fulfillment of the ancient promise in Jeremiah 31:31-34.  This New Covenant was confirmed with His disciples at the Lord’s Supper, and every time His disciples partake of the Lord’s Supper, they remember the institution of this New Covenant (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) by remembering the Lord’s death till He come again. 

 

I will also add here that Jesus comes again to gather His Elect immediately after the tribulation as it is written in Matthew 24:29-31.

 

So those who believed in Jesus among the Israelites, and came under His New Covenant by joining His Church, were the true Israel of God.  These righteous Israelites from the twelve tribes started out as a small number.  These were only about 120 in the beginning.  This ‘little flock’ was God’s true Israel.  There were added unto them on their first day about three thousand.  This Israel of God grew and grew, no Gentiles among them.

 

Hebrews 8:8-13 further validates the Truth that the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34 is fulfilled in the Christian Church. This no doubt identifies the Church as the true Israel of God, because the New Covenant was made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah only.  Since we know that the New Covenant is with the Church (because of the Lord’s Supper and Hebrews 8:8-13 among many other proofs), then the Church has to be the New Covenant Israel of God.

 

When the Gentiles were grafted in, they were grafted in to something Jewish, not something Gentile.  The Church did not switch from the New Covenant Israel of God to a ‘gentile bride’ when the Gentiles were grafted in.  The dispensationalists teach that the Church is a ‘gentile bride.’  How could the Church be a ‘gentile bride’ for the first years of its existence, when there were not even any gentiles in it?

 

The dispensationalists fail to identify the Church at its very beginning.  They wish to identify the Church when the gentiles started to be grafted in.  In its beginning, the Church was the Israel of God, consisting of only believing, obedient, righteous and holy Israelites from the twelve tribes.

 

The unbelieving and reprobate branches of this Olive tree were broken off because of unbelief, and in their place the gentiles were grafted in.  These gentiles are grafted into the Israel of God, and thus become part of the New Covenant Israel of God by adoption.

 

This is further explained in my Romans 11: Olive Tree Theology Bible Study.

 

Click Here For That Bible Study

 

Romans 2:28 and 29 are very plain when they tell us who is a Jew and who is not a Jew.  Do you know who the true Jews are?  Have you read the divine warning for those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are liars (Revelation 2:9 and 3:9)?  Do you know who God’s Elect is?  Do you know who the Israel of God is?  Do you know who God’s Chosen People are?

 

The Scriptures are clear.  The Church is the New Covenant Israel of God!

 

We have the New Covenant for the remission of sins as preached by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:38 as the New Birth water and Spirit Salvation.  This New Covenant by the blood of Jesus is EVERLASTING!  

 

(Hebrews 12:24 and Hebrews 13:20 KJV)

 

The call to this beautiful Salvation is TO THE JEW FIRST, and also to the Gentiles (nations)!

 

(Romans 1:16 KJV)

 

May you too embrace and value these treasures of the Bride!