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About Jesus Steve Sweetman The Politics of God And The Bible Part 11 The
Politics Of Paul
It's
my thinking that as Moses was to Israel, so Paul is to Christians. Both
men were well educated in all aspects of society, religion, and
especially the things of God. Both
men set forth God's will for His people.
When it comes to Paul, I've always said, "if he was wrong in
what he taught, then we as Christians have a major problem".
Paul, more than any other New Testament personality, including
Jesus, systematically set forth the doctrines of Christ.
Paul's letter to the Romans makes that clear.
Therefore, when it comes to the politics of God and the Bible,
one must take Paul's writings seriously. Paul
And Israel
The
apostle Paul was well educated in Jewish social and religious tradition.
You could not have asked for a more dedicated man to the cause. Philippians
3 shows that to be true. Paul paid a high price to follow Jesus.
Although he forsook Jewish tradition, he did not forsake Yahweh
and the truths of the Old Testament.
In light of Paul's association with Jesus, I ask, "what did
he believe concerning the future of At
the risk of raising more questions, I'll try to make this simple.
For a detailed explanation of Israelin prophetic history, including Paul's teaching, you can read my
somewhat lengthy article on the Abrahamic Covenant found on my web site
at http://stevesweetman.com/Abrahamcov/abcov1.htm If
you read every passage in Genesis concerning the promises God spoke to
Abraham, which we call the Abrahamic Covenant, you will notice that
there are three recipients of these promises.
They are, Abraham, his descendents, and his seed.
This crucial fact is missed by many, resulting in a
misunderstanding of With
this in mind we turn to Galatians 3:15 to 18, the most debated passage
concerning Israel's future. Paul made a big
deal over the word "seed" that appears in the Abrahamic
Covenant. He said the
Abrahamic Covenant was directed to Abraham and to "his seed".
He notes the word "seed" is singular, not plural. He
therefore concludes that this one "seed", or, this one
"descendent", is Jesus. There's
no disagreement there. Based
on Paul's assertion that Jesus is the "seed" of Abraham, a
theology called "Replacement Theology" has emerged among many
theologians. They say the
promises spoken to Abraham have been completely fulfilled in the one
seed, or, the one descendent, Jesus.
Because of this they conclude that all the promises spoken
to Abraham, including promises of land and Israeli nationhood, are now
spiritualized and given to the church through Jesus.
In short, the church has replaced Galatians
3 states there are two recipients of the Abrahamic Covenant, Abraham and
his seed. The Genesis
account states there are three recipients, Abraham, his descendents, and
his seed. This appears to be
a discrepancy, but it's not. Replacement
Theology builds its case on the two recipient scenario.
They ignore the three recipient scenario, or don't realize it
exists. Because of this
error, Israel, or Abraham's descendents, loses her place in prophetic history in this
theological position.
Another
important thing to note is that the word "seed" is singular,
while the word "descendents" is plural.
This is another overlooked point.
Because "seed" is singular and "descendents"
is plural, these two recipients can't be synonymous as Replacement
Theology suggests. The seed
is Jesus. The descendents
are Israel, and according to the Abrahamic Covenant, Israel
has an everlasting future.
Paul
addresses just one issue in Galatians 3.
He says salvation comes through trusting Jesus, not through the
Law of Moses. That's it.
It was never his intention to address the prophetic and historic
significance of Those
holding to Replacement Theology misunderstand Galatians 3, so when they
read Romans 9 through 11, they build their theology on this
misunderstanding, resulting in even more misunderstanding.
There is no need to interpret Romans 9 through 11.
We should simply accept what Paul says at face value.
Paul
had a deep concern for Israel's future. In Romans 9:3 he
expressed his compassion by saying he was willing to lose his salvation
if that could save Israel. Paul
points out in Romans 9, as he did in Galatians 3, that it had always
been God's will to provide salvation to both Israelis and Gentiles
through faith in Jesus. In
Romans 10:4 he goes as far to say that "Christ is the end of the
Law". Jesus has
replaced the Law of Moses for the purpose of salvation and
righteousness. I wish more
Evangelicals understood the implications of this.
In
Romans 11:1 Paul asked the crucial question.
"Did God reject His people (Israel)"? His answer was
emphatic. "By no
means". In verses 7
through 10 he quotes Old Testament passages to show God actually blinded
the eyes and understanding of There
are three recipients of the Abrahamic Covenant.
They are Abraham, his seed Jesus, and his descendents For
a detailed explanation on Romans 9 through 11 you can read my commentary
on the book of Romans. |