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Many of the basic discrepancies
in Christianity today, can be corrected
by realizing the distinction between
Israel and the Church. The problems and
discrepancies between theological views
are caused by a "lack of
distinction" between Israel and the
Church, or a distorted distinction
thereof.
In my book "The Theocracy
Conspiracy", I have presented some
commonalities between Israel and the
Church. These commonalities, as I
presented them, are not to be taken in
the sense that the Church has
"replaced" Israel as God's
people. But, these commonalities were
presented to show a clear contrast
between Israel and the Church.
Neo-Dispensationalism, is the result of
confusing these commonalities as
"similarities", and thereby
confusing the heavenly position of the
New Testament Christian with the earthly
position of Israel.
"What can Neo-Dispensationalism
do to you? It can bring you down
to earth with a thud, and relentlessly
grind and ground you. It
can make you a partaker of Israel’s
comparatively paltry New Covenant, and
thereby subject you to the laws of its
Sermon on the Mount, and Millennial
Kingdom. It can reduce you to a
hybrid—part Christian and part
reconstructed kingdom Jew.
You, a totally new creation in the
ascended and glorified Lord Jesus
Christ. You, one spirit with Him
who is your very Christian life.
You, having died to the law and to the
world, and already blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, co-heir with Him. You,
raised and seated in Christ, at the
Father’s right hand.
If you should settle for anything less,
anything earthly, anything… (kingdom)
then you are already a
neo-dispensationalist."
"Uncloistered
Neo-dispensationalism; Miles
Stanford"
As to the interpretation of the Bible,
two views are taken:
Dispensationalism, which is the belief
that Christianity is the
"restoration" of the lost
elements of Judaism, is the belief held
by most so-called evangelical
Christians. The view opposing
dispensationalism is "supersessionism",
which is more commonly called
"Replacement Theology".
Supersessionism is the teaching that the
Church has replaced Israel as God's
people. Both of these views which
are commonly taken, neglect the heavenly
aspect of the New Testament Christian's
relationship with God, and their
relationship with the world.
Dispensationalism and Supersessionism
are teachings that only focus on the
earthly (or worldly) economies, and they
fail to recognize the existence of
another economy on a heavenly plane. To
understand the difference it may be
beneficial to view time, from the day of
creation - to the end of time with the
central theme of all time being the
resurrection of Christ.
Along this time-line, we can see a
physical, earthly relationship that man
has with his Creator. This
relationship that I am referring to is
the "Dispensational" view…
that is to say, how God has dealt with
man throughout time. This
relationship has obviously changed along
this time-line from the sin in the
Garden of Eden, to the covenant God made
with man after the flood, to the
Abrahamic Covenant, to the New Covenant
of the Church Age… and so on. This is
where Covenant Theology comes from…
the dispensational view of time.
But we cannot neglect the truth that
there is another plane of relationship
that God has had with man along this
time-line, the spiritual plane.
So, what about the Jews? What was so
special about the Jews and their
relationship with God if their
relationship with God was only an
earthly relationship?
Rom
3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew?
or what profit [is there] of
circumcision? Much every way:
chiefly, because that unto them were
committed the oracles of God.
The "oracles of God" that Paul
was referring to in Romans 3:1 and 2 are
the "illustrations" of the
"spiritual plane" that I was
speaking of earlier. The
situations, relationships, and
historical accounts given in the Old
Testament are illustrations of the
spiritual relationship God has always
wanted to have with man, and this
spiritual relationship that God wants to
(and has always wanted to) have with man
is centered on the resurrection of
Christ.
Dispensationalism and Supersessionism
both take those situations,
relationships, and historical accounts;
which were given as illustrations of the
greater truth of the spiritual plane,
and give those illustrations the
precedence of true Christianity. It is
imperative for us to be effective
Christians, to realize the difference
between these two horizontal planes of
economy with God.
The account of the covenant God made
with Abraham, and the token of that
covenant in Genesis chapter 17,
parallels the New Testament as recorded
in John chapter 14.
In verse 1 Jesus says “ye
believe in God, believe also in me”,
here Jesus is requiring faith as Abraham
had (he believed God, Gen. 15:6).
Directly after this statement, in John
chapter 14 we see that Jesus is
promising an inheritance, “I go to
prepare a place for you” (John
14:2, 3); just as God had promised
Abraham and his seed an inheritance (Gen.
17:8) in the
land
of
Canaan
.
John 14:6 through John 14:14
is explaining that Jesus will be their
God.
John 14:13 says “And whatsoever
ye shall ask in my name, that will I do,
that the Father may be glorified in the
Son”.
This statement by Jesus proves, that the
same God that promised to be the God of
Abraham and his seed, is the same God
that is promising to be the God of those
of the faith in the New Testament.
Jesus is not a new God with a new
promise, He is the fulfillment of the
old promise and the old covenant with
Abraham, and the same God that made that
covenant is glorified in the Son.
So, if Jesus is glorifying the Father
and not Himself, it would stand to
reason that by His statements He is come
to fulfill the “Old Covenant”.
Matthew records Jesus attesting of
Himself in this truth:
Mat 5:17 Think
not that I am come to destroy the law,
or the prophets: I am not come to
destroy, but to fulfil.
Look at these verses in Romans
chapter 3:
Rom 3:28-31
Therefore we conclude that a man
is justified by faith without the deeds
of the law.
[Is he] the God of the Jews only? [is
he] not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of
the Gentiles also:
Seeing [it is] one God, which shall
justify the circumcision by faith, and
uncircumcision through faith.
Do we then make void the law through
faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the
law.
The New Testament is not a transfer of
covenantal ownership, but the Old
Covenant fulfilled.
So, the Catholic reformed are
accurate in their connection with the
regeneration of a New Testament believer
and the covenant made with Abraham, but
are inaccurate in their interpretation
of Genesis 17, and how this
regeneration occurs in the New
Testament.
In John 14 we can see God’s
plan for salvation, as I previously
stated, the covenant takes effect by
faith, then we see Jesus, speaking as
God, promising to be a God to those who
will have faith.
The Circumcision, as was stated in Genesis
17:11, was a token of the Covenant
between God and Abraham.
A token, is defined by Webster
as:
“A sign; something intended
to represent or indicate another thing
or an event."
The circumcision, being a token of
the covenant, is a picture of what the
covenant was, but the token doesn’t
mean anything to someone who doesn’t
understand what the token represents.
The token of the circumcision
represented a changed heart; it is an
illustration of repentance.
Romans 2:29 But
he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
circumcision is that of the heart, in
the spirit, and not in the letter; whose
praise is not of men, but of God.
Paul is referring to the circumcision of
the heart.
In the preceding sub-section we saw the
correlation between John chapter 14
and Genesis 15-17, in which Jesus
clarifies Himself as God and reveals the
“New Testament” as it fulfils the
“Old Covenant”;
So, to review:
The
Covenant requires faith:
Old
Covenant – Genesis 15:6 “Abraham
believed God”
New
Testament – John 14:1 “ye believe
in God, believe also in me”
With
the Covenant comes a promised eternal
inheritance:
Old
Covenant – Genesis 17:8a “And
I will give unto thee… all the
land
of Canaan
, for an everlasting possession”
New
Testament– John 14:2, 3 “I go to
prepare a place for you”
The
Promise to be their God to whom the
Covenant applies:
Old
Covenant – Genesis 17:8b “and I
will be their God”
New
Testament– John 14:13 “And
whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that
will I do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son”.
"The
Theocracy Conspiracy" John W.
Hardin p. 53-56. © 2006 Gideon's Sword
Publications
These next contrasts
have been taken from: (L.S. Chafer
Systematic Theology IV: 47-53)
EXTENT
OF BIBLICAL REVELATION
Old
Covenant - Israel
occupies nearly four-fifths of the
text of the Bible.
New
Testament– As
to primary application, the Church
occupies slightly more than one-fifth
of the Word.
THE
DIVINE PURPOSE
Old
Covenant – Every
covenant, promise, and provision for
Israel is earthly, and they continue
as a nation on the earth when it is
created anew.
New
Testament– Every
covenant or promise for the Church
is for a heavenly reality, and she
continues in heavenly citizenship when
the heavens are recreated.
BIRTH
Old
Covenant – Israelites
become what they are by physical
birth. Each one is begotten of
human parents and their inheritance is
transmitted by human generation.
New
Testament– Christians
become what they are by spiritual
birth. They are begotten
directly by God and are therefore His
legitimate offspring.
Their inheritance is immediate
in that each is a child of God.
NATIONALITY
Old
Covenant –Israel
belongs to the earth and to the
world-system. Though above all
nations in Jehovah's reckoning, they
are still in the world as one of its
nations.
New
Testament– The
Church is composed of all
nations, including Israelites, and
sustains no citizenship here, but
instead the believers are strangers
and pilgrims.
MINISTRY
Old
Covenant –Israel
was appointed to exercise an influence
over the nations of the earth, and
this she will do perfectly in the
coming kingdom age. Previously
she undertook no missionary work, and
proclaimed no gospel. She
maintained her self-centered
worship--she faced inward toward the
tabernacle or temple, and all her
benevolence was consumed on her own
worship.
New
Testament– Immediately
upon her formation, the Church
is constituted a foreign missionary
society. It is her obligation to
face outward, and to those of her
company is given the task of
evangelizing the people of the world
in each generation.
THE
DEATH OF CHRIST
Old
Covenant –That
nation which demanded the death of
Christ and who said by their
officials, "His Blood be on us,
and on our children," is guilty
of that death; yet they will be saved
as a nation on the ground of that
sacrifice.
New
Testament– A
present and perfect salvation to the
praise of God is the portion of the Church
through the offering of the Lamb of
God.
THE
FATHER
Old
Covenant –To
Israel God is known by His primary
titles, but not as the Father of the
individual Israelite.
New
Testament– The
Christian is actually begotten
of God and has every right to address
Him as Father.
CHRIST
Old
Covenant –To
Israel, Christ is Messiah, Immanuel,
and King.
New
Testament– To
the Church, Christ is Saviour,
Lord, Bridegroom, Head, and Life.
THE
HOLY SPIRIT
Old
Covenant –Only
in exceptional instances and for
unusual service did the Holy Spirit
come upon an Israelite, and He
withdrew as freely as He came, when
the purpose was accomplished.
New
Testament– The
Christian is permanently
indwelt by the Spirit; and actually,
he is not saved apart from this
relationship to the Spirit (Rom. 8:9).
GOVERNING
PRINCIPLE
Old
Covenant –For
fifteen centuries the Law of Moses was
Israel's rule of daily life (Ps.
103:17,18).
New
Testament– Believers,
members of the Body of Christ, being
wholly perfected in Him, are under the
beseechings and directions which grace
provides.
DIVINE
ENABLEMENT
Old
Covenant –The
Law system provided no enabling power
for its achievement. There was
constant failure because of the
weakness of "the flesh" to
which it was addressed (Rom. 8:3).
New
Testament– To
the Church is provided, by the
indwelling Spirit, enablement for
every requirement. The Apostle
Paul could say, "Sin shall not
have dominion over you"; the
reason being, "Ye are not under
law, but under grace" (Romans
6:14).
CHRIST'S
RETURN
Old
Covenant –He
returns as King to gather Israel into
the land (Deut. 30:1-8; Jer. 23:7,8;
Matt. 24:31).
New
Testament– The
Lord Jesus Christ returns for His Bride
and takes her with Him into heaven's
glory (John 14:1-3).
POSITION
Old
Covenant –Isaiah
declares, "But thou, Israel, art
my servant" (Isa. 41:8). Though
individuals in Israel attained to
great usefulness, as did the prophets,
priests, and kings, yet they never
reached a higher distinction than that
they were the servants of
Jehovah.
New
Testament– Christians
compose the Church, forever in Christ,
and are members of the family and
household of God.
CHRIST'S
EARTHLY REIGN
Old
Covenant –Israelites
are appointed to be subjects of
the King in His earthly kingdom.
New
Testament– Members
of the Body of Christ are to
reign with the King as His Consort in
that kingdom.
PRIESTHOOD
Old
Covenant –Israel
has a priesthood.
New
Testament– The
Church is a priesthood.
JUDGMENTS
Old
Covenant –Israel
must yet come into judgment (Matt.
25:1-13).
New
Testament– The
Church has been judged, and
will not come into judgment (John
5:24; Rom. 8:1)
Article By:
John W. Hardin
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