# Is the doctrine of Replacement Convenantal?



## Andrew P.C. (Jan 28, 2007)

I believe that the church has not taken place of Isreal, but other Reformed brothers of mine would disagree. I'm just curious if this is a Reformed belief or if it is recent? I believe i had read about a few older men who believed this, but i would love to validate this.


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## toddpedlar (Jan 28, 2007)

Andrew P.C. said:


> I believe that the church has not taken place of Isreal, but other Reformed brothers of mine would disagree. I'm just curious if this is a Reformed belief or if it is recent? I believe i had read about a few older men who believed this, but i would love to validate this.



The doctrine of replacement, as it is called, goes at least as far back as Augustine (read the City of God to find out) and probably farther. 

However, we have to be careful - the church is not Israel in a point-by-point exhaustive sense. However, God's people ARE the church, and there are no other. Israel (rather the remnant) are brought into the church - and the two together are one body... there is no sense in which the unbelieving Jew can consider himself to be one of God's people. If he has not Christ, he has not the Father, and therefore he is to die in his own sins.


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## Greg (Jan 28, 2007)

Hi Andrew,

Check out this article.


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## Semper Fidelis (Jan 28, 2007)

Andrew,

Check out the Signature Requirements. There's a link in the top left on the homepage that describes how you must format your signature line.

The strangeness of your title is that I would expect this kind of title:

Is the doctrine of Replacement _Dispensational_?

The only people I hear talk about "replacement" are dispensationals who are talking about Covenant theology. They accuse the Reformed of replacing Israel with the Church.

The idea is a misunderstanding. The true Israel (according to the Spirit) has always been the Church. When the true Church followed after her Bridegroom, many without faith fell away. The Israel of God (aka the Church) preached that Gospel to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth and brought in men and women from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

The apostate may claim "...but Abraham is our father!" So can the Ishmaelites (and, in fact, that's precisely what Muslims do in the Koran). Jew according to the flesh is the equivalent of being an Ishmaelite.
[bible]Galatians 4:21-31[/bible]


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## Andrew P.C. (Jan 29, 2007)

SemperFideles said:


> Andrew,
> 
> Check out the Signature Requirements. There's a link in the top left on the homepage that describes how you must format your signature line.
> 
> ...



SemperFideles,

I changed my signature.

The thing that i'm not understanding is if Reformed Theology says that the church started with Abraham? Or what exactly. For example, the Jewish Messianics say that the church started with moses, but i truly believe that the church started with Christ telling Peter that "upon this rock, i will build my church." 

I would seriously love some more info on this subject. Thanks for everything you guys have show me thus far.


In Christ,
Andrew


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## Theoretical (Jan 29, 2007)

trevorjohnson said:


> Ditto to Rich... the church has not replaced Israel - it is Israel!


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## ReformedWretch (Jan 29, 2007)

Israel in scripture:

Israel in the Old Testament is the forerunner of and the continuous with the New Covenant phase of the church which is the fruition if Israel. New Testament Christians may even call Abraham our father and the Old Covenant peoples our “fathers”.

Romans 4

16That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

1 Corinthians 10

1I want you to know, brothers,[1] that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,

We are grafted into Israel.

Romans 11
16If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root[1] of the olive tree, 18do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."

We were made ONE with Israel partaking of her promises!

Ephesians 2
11Therefore 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-- 12remember 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. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,[1] but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

In fact, Christ chose 12 disciples in order to serve as the spiritual seed of a new Israel taking over for the 12 sons of the Old Covenant Israel. Both the names of the 12 sons and the 12 apostles are incorporated into the one City of God, the New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21
12It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed-- 13on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Terms that the Church is called in the New Testament that associates her with Israel.

-Seed of Abraham
-The Circumcision 
-A royal Priesthood
-Twelve Tribes (James 1:1)
-The Temple of God

1 Peter 2
5you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."
7So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,"[1] 
8and "A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense."They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Peter 2
10Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Titus 2
14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.




The Church is flat out referred to as the Israel of god!

Galatians 6
16And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

The ENTIRE book of Galatians speaks to the incorrect notion that there is some “special” status amongst the Jews for being Jewish!

Galatians 3
26for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[1] nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.


WHY would Paul believe or speak to a “special section” of God’s people (The Israel of God) when he had taught this?

Galatians 6
15For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

Now we DO need to understand that the Church is NOT a “straight line” continuation of Israel! The church FULFILLS Israel through Christ.

2 Corinthians 1
20For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.


Galatians 3
29And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

Romans 8
17and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Ephesians 1
23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Colossians 2
10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.





Scripture clearly tells of this in the Old Testament.

Jeremiah 31
31"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah

This NEW covenant was started with the Lords Supper!

Matthew 26
28 for this is my blood of the[1] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Mark 14
24And he said to them, "This is my blood of the[1] covenant, which is poured out for many.

Luke 22
20And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.[1]

Notice here that it is NOT said that he is a minister of a second covenant or another new covenant!

2 Corinthians 3
6who has made us competent[1] to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Look at Hebrews 8 that CLEARLY speaks of the NEW covenant! There are NOT two covenants still in force here as the text clearly teaches!

Hebrews 8
1Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2a minister in the holy places, in the true tent[1] that the Lord set up, not man. 3For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, "See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain." 6But as it is, Christ[2] has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
8For he finds fault with them when he says:[3] "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah,
9not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
11And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more."
13In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Paul PLAINLY teaches that the conversion of the Gentiles is a “confirming of the promises to the fathers”.

Romans 15
8For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name."
10And again it is said, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people."
11And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples extol him."
12And again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope."

The preaching of the gospel is the hope of the Jews!

Acts 26
6And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 7to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king!





Look, the promises to Israel did NOT set forth a literal, political kingdom, but a spiritual, gospel kingdom!

Acts 13
32And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, "'You are my Son, today I have begotten you.'

Could it get ANY clearer at all?????

Why yes, yes it CAN get more clear!

Romans 2
28For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

The Old Testament does indeed refer to the Church.

Hosea 1
9And the LORD said, "Call his name Not My People,[1] for you are not my people, and I am not your God."[2] 
10[3] Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children[4] of the living God."

Hosea 2

23and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on No Mercy,[1] 
and I will say to Not My People,[2] 'You are my people';
and he shall say, 'You are my God.'"

How do we know this refers to the Church? Why Paul tells us!

Romans 9
24even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25As indeed he says in Hosea, "Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,'
and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'"
26"And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,'
there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"





The “Church” was only a mystery to the Gentile Nations! But the Church was clearly revealed in the Old Testament however to the Jews!

Ephesians 3
3how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which 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. 6This mystery is[1] that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Luke 24
44Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." 45Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

The distinction between Jew and Gentile has forever been done away with! Paul points this out!

Ephesians 2
11Therefore 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-- 12remember 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. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Colossians 3
11Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,[1] free; but Christ is all, and in all.


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## ReformedWretch (Jan 29, 2007)

Ø	Matthew 3:9 “And do not presume to say to yourselves [Pharisees and Sadducees], ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I [John the Baptist] tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” 
Ø	Luke 19:9-10 (emphasis) “And Jesus said to him [Zacchaeus], ‘Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’”
Ø	John 8:39-41 “They [Jews] answered him [Jesus], ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing what your father [the devil] did….’”
Ø	Acts 15:8-9 (emphasis mine) “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them [the Gentiles], by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us [the Jews], and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.”
Ø	Romans 2:28-29 “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”
Ø	Romans 4:11-12 “He [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose [of circumcision] was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
Ø	Romans 4:17-18 (emphasis mine) “As it is written, ‘I [God] have made you [Abraham] the father of many nations’—in the presence of the God in whom he believed…that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’”
Ø	Romans 9:6-7 “…For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring….”
Ø	Romans 15:8-9 (emphasis mine) “For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy….”
Ø	1 Corinthians 1:22-24 “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Ø	Galatians 3:7-9 (emphasis mine) “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
Ø	Galatians 3:13-14 (emphasis mine) “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”
Ø	Galatians 3:28-29 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
Ø	Ephesians 2:11-22
Ø	Hebrews 8:13 “In speaking of a new covenant [with Israel, the church], he [God] makes the first one [with Israel, the nation] obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
Ø	1 Peter 3:6 “…as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children [and thus Abraham’s children], if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.”


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## ReformedWretch (Jan 29, 2007)

Dispensationalists invented the phrase “Replacement Theology” as an intended slur against those that believe God's chosen people are those alone that possess the spirit of Christ (OT and NT). Premillennialists created this bogus term in a desperate attempt to misrepresent and undermine the growing Amill/Postmill/Preterist positions. Some more extreme elements within Premillennialism have even accused those who believe that the New Testament Church is the sole continuation of the Israel of Israel in the Old Testament as being Anti-Semitic. Notwithstanding, it is Amill/Postmill/Preterist positions that teaches that Jew and Gentile alike who trust Christ are completely equal in Christ Jesus today being part of the one unitary trans-national body. The saints in the New Testament are therefore harmoniously connected to the saints in the Old Testament. The term "Replacement Theology" is plainly a misnomer. 

"In Adam" all men are equally sinners; “Jew and Gentile” alike share the same awful sentence. Regardless of what race a man belongs to, where he was geographically born, how privileged his upbringing, or whether his birth-date was pre or post Calvary, he is still a vile sinner in need of redemption. The Bible says that we are all “by nature the children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). It is this corrupt nature that ultimately separates man from God. The Bible says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). Everyone since Adam has inherited his sinful nature. We “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Race therefore cannot therefore be advanced in any way as a means of justification before God – even if it is a (supposed) law-keeping Jew. 

Faith is the key that opens the door for salvation to the Jew and Gentile in this New Testament economy. Faith is the key that opened (past tense) the door of salvation to the Jew and Gentile in the Old Testament economy. Salvation for the Jew in this age (the only age before the new heavens and a new earth) must therefore come in this age by grace through faith "in Christ" alone. 

There is undoubtedly a strong common thread and a unitary bond that ties the elect of God of all time together. They are all born sinners. They are all saved by God’s “grace” through “faith” in Christ and His shed blood at Calvary. Keeping this cohesive feature in mind, we should note the development of this redeemed people of God from a small insignificant people largely within the small nation of natural Israel into a strong global people from every nation, colour and creed on the earth. Mirroring the process that a caterpillar undergoes developing into the maturity and beauty of a colourful butterfly, the Old Testament Church underwent a significant metamorphic change since Pentecost, progressing into the current Spirit filled New Testament Church. That is not to say that we can truly separate the elect of God in either dispensation, or can we view then as two different organisms. Rather, we must notice in the old the beginning of the new. 

We must ask these mistaken accusers, if Amillennialism is Replacement Theology, what has the Church purportedly replaced? 

(1) Natural Israel? No, natural Israel is still natural Israel. We are still Gentiles. It would be a total absurdity for the believing Church to be grafted into a carnal Christ-rejecting physical nation. The New Testament Church has not replaced physical Israel which is represented in Scripture by the fig tree. Any way, physical birth never warranted salvation in any age, so we (the true NT Church) have NOT replaced a Christ-rejecting physical seed. Surely, every sane theologian would acknowledge that the New Testament Church has in no way been “grafted into” natural Israel; this would indeed be replacement theology!!! 

(2) Spiritual Israel? No, we joined them in the lineage of Abraham "by faith." We have been grafted as branches into the good olive tree – the redeemed Church throughout time. We have not replaced them; we have become part of them. The Church is the historic continuation of spiritual Israel, to the exclusion of any nationality Jew or Gentile in any age that rejects God's only provision for sin - the Lord Jesus Christ.


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