Does the church replace Israel? Or is replacement theology partly true and partly false, depending on definitions and contexts? After exegeting a key passage in Romans and looking at others, I finally made up my mind (for what it’s worth).

This is a difficult and complicated topic. People can get emotional about it. Maybe this is understandable after two thousand years of unkind words and persecution of Jews, culminating in the worst atrocity of all–the holocaust. So I intend to be careful.

The only way I know how to be careful is to do exegesis, without getting emotional or political.

The key verses are in Romans 11:25-32. What do they say about Israel being replaced or not replaced by the church? I believe that exegeting those verses will answer my main question in the title of this post.

Yes, I write to learn, but I also translate to learn. So the translation is mine. If you would like to see many others, which I have referred to in order to get my bearings, please go to biblegateway.com.

This post is long because I quote many Scriptures, which raises the word count. So please be patient.

Let’s begin.

Romans 11:25-32

25 Οὐ γὰρ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο, ἵνα μὴ ἦτε ἑαυτοῖς φρόνιμοι, ὅτι πώρωσις ἀπὸ μέρους τῷ Ἰσραὴλ γέγονεν ἄχρι οὗ τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσέλθῃ, 26 καὶ οὕτως πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθήσεται· καθὼς γέγραπται· Ἥξει ἐκ Σιὼν ὁ ῥυόμενος, ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβ. 27 καὶ αὕτη αὐτοῖς ἡ παρ’ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη, ὅταν ἀφέλωμαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν. [Isaiah 59:20,21; 27:9 (see Septuagint); Jer. 31:33,34] 28 κατὰ μὲν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐχθροὶ δι’ ὑμᾶς, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκλογὴν ἀγαπητοὶ διὰ τοὺς πατέρας· 29 ἀμεταμέλητα γὰρ τὰ χαρίσματα καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τοῦ θεοῦ. 30 ὥσπερ γὰρ ὑμεῖς ποτε ἠπειθήσατε τῷ θεῷ, νῦν δὲ ἠλεήθητε τῇ τούτων ἀπειθείᾳ, 31 οὕτως καὶ οὗτοι νῦν ἠπείθησαν τῷ ὑμετέρῳ ἐλέει ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ  νῦν ἐλεηθῶσιν 32 συνέκλεισεν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς πάντας εἰς ἀπείθειαν ἵνα τοὺς πάντας ἐλεήσῃ. (Society of Biblical Literature [SBL]

25 I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of this mystery, so that you may not be wise on your own: (namely) that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness (full number) of Gentiles comes in; 26 and in this way, all Israel will be saved, just as it is written: The deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this will be my covenant with them, when I remove their sins. 28 As to the gospel, they are enemies because of you, but as to election, they are beloved because of the patriarchs, 29 for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.  30 For just as you were once disobedient to God but now have been shown mercy by the disobedience of these (the Jews). 31 In this way they also have been disobedient now so that by your mercy (shown to you) they also may now be shown mercy.  32 For God has shut all people up in disobedience, so that he may show mercy on all people.

Source of the Greek text: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rom+11&version=SBLGNT

Let’s take the truths embedded here verse by verse.

Verse 25:

²⁵ I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of this mystery, so that you may not be wise on your own: (namely) that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness (full number) of Gentiles comes in; (Rom. 11:25)

What is the full numbers of the Gentiles (the Greek literally says “the fullness of the Gentiles”)? No one knows, but as we will see below, God did not directly harden their hearts but instead observed their hardness and confirmed them in it.

The partial hardening shows that there is room for a future salvation. Their hearts are not hardened beyond final redemption. “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!” (Rom. 11:11, NIV). There’s still hope for them. This nicely sets up the verses about disobedience and mercy. Eventually, all will be saved, both Jews and Gentiles (provided they follow Romans 10:9-10).

Verses 26-27:

²⁶ and in this way, all Israel will be saved, just as it is written:

The deliverer shall come out of Zion, and he shall turn godlessness away from Jacob. ²⁷ And this will be my covenant with them, when I remove their sins. (Rom. 11:26-27, citing Isaiah 59:20,21; 27:9 (see Septuagint); Jer. 31:33,34)

This is the crux of the question about the church replacing Israel. What does “in this way” mean? And who is Israel in this verse?

BDAG is a thick Greek lexicon. The editors suggest–correctly, in my view–that “in this way” (houtōs in Greek and pronounced hoo-tohss) introduces the verse from Isaiah in vv. 26-27. It does not summarize the previous verses which talk about the cultivated olive tree now holding only converted Jews along with converted Gentiles who have been grafted in.

Before we go on, let me say that the cultivated olive tree are those who are mentioned in Romans 9:1-4. It is made up of Jews who are in Abraham and follow the law of Moses and are heirs to the prophets and promises: “Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises” (9:4).

Now back to the adverb houtōs:

So, following BDAG’s counsel, we could correctly translate vv. 26-27 like this:

²⁶ and in this way, all Israel will be saved, (as follows), just as it is written:

The deliverer shall come out of Zion, and he shall turn godlessness away from Jacob. ²⁷ And this will be my covenant with them, when I remove their sins.

Or by this translation:

²⁶ and in the (following) way, all Israel will be saved, (like so), just as it has been written:

The deliverer shall come out of Zion, and he shall turn godlessness away from Jacob. ²⁷ And this will be my covenant with them, when I remove their sins.

Or even more fully:

²⁶ and in the (following) way, all Israel will be saved, (as seen in this Scripture):

The deliverer shall come out of Zion, and he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. ²⁷ And this will be my covenant with them, when I remove their sins.

Now let me include the latter half of v. 25. Note how I repunctuated v. 25, and then go into v. 26.

[…] that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness (full number) of Gentiles comes in.[period] ²⁶ And in the (following) way, all Israel will be saved, (as seen in this Scripture):

Source: BDAG, p. 742, col. 1, which references over thirty verses in which houtōs is used merely to introduce things. This takes the theological pressure off the poor adverb! It merely introduces the verse from Isaiah.

So I conclude that we should not overwork and depend on the adverb for our conclusion about Israel’s salvation or its replacement. Such an important topic carries too much weight for this pliable adverb. For me, therefore, a discussion over its modality (in this manner) or tense (and in the end) of houtōs is needless now. The crux is vv. 26-27 and the quotation from the OT. This verse  (not the adverb) describes the means (the deliverer) and the tense or timing.

So, all Israel’s salvation will happen when the deliverer comes out of Zion. Clearly the deliverer has come. He is Jesus. Yet the verse in Isaiah and Romans is in the future tense, so does this mean only a future salvation? Will Jesus work from his exalted state next to his Father and deliver Israel so that they will experience salvation right now, though slowly?

More likely this refers to an eschatological event, when God alone sees when the fullness of the Gentiles will have come in, at a time unknown to us but in a time known only to God.

Or both: the deliverer in heaven is working on the Jews now and will complete the work in the future, right before his Second Coming. The number of Gentiles getting saved and salvation itself will provoke the Jews to jealousy (Rom. 11:11). They will convert en masse. Evidently, only then will this massive conversion trigger, so to speak, the Second Coming. Then the deliverer will come out of Zion in full display of power and glory.

Now, who is Israel? Throughout his writings Paul seems to give the same word (Israel) two meanings, depending on the context.

(1) National Israel and provincial ethnic Jews living in the Roman empire. This meaning is by far the most frequent.

(2) Converted Jews and converted Gentiles are also called Israel. This meaning is much less frequent.

Does the second definition eliminate or take over or replace the first one?

Let’s cover the first definition. When Paul wrote Romans, his beloved nation was still going strong on the eastern side of the Mediterranean. His heart was there even after his conversion. And ethnic Jews prospered around the provinces. He stopped by their synagogues and introduced himself. They often let him preach.

Here are sample verses in which Paul uses “Israel” in the first sense (national and ethnic):

I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— ² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, ⁴ the people of Israel.  Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. ⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. (Rom. 9:1-5, NIV, emphasis added)

In Paul’s mind, as he was writing Romans, he must have thought about his nation on the other side of the Mediterranean and yearned for its salvation.

All Jews who are “in Abraham” and without the Messiah (except the thousands who did convert and lived in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee; see the references under vv. 30-31) are still called national Israel. Verse 26 is another perfect example of Paul’s use of the term “Israel.” But national Israel is still unconverted to the Messiah and in need of salvation.

Jesus Called It ‘Israel’

Now for the second definition. Paul writes:

It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. (Rom. 9:6, NIV)

It is not those of physical descent from Abraham who are Israel in this second sense, but all those who received the promised Messiah, the Highest Descendant of the patriarch. Relative to the entire Jewish population in Israel and throughout the provinces, only a small number of the elect received the Messiah (Rom. 11:7). This is what Paul meant when he called the people of God, who are the believers, the “Israel of God” in his epistle to the Galatians (Gal. 6:16).

When I read the entire chapter 11 without stopping, over and over, it is clear that he is writing about unsaved ethnic Jews. They are disobedient. They are enemies. However, they can miraculously be grafted back into the cultivated olive tree. God has partially hardened their heart. Yet they are still beloved because of the patriarchs. They will be shown mercy because of the saved Gentiles who had been shown mercy. They will be saved because they are currently unsaved and in need of salvation. I could go on. Paul cannot be talking about saved Jews.

So far I do not see how the church replaces national Israel or ethnic Jews.

Verse 28:

²⁸ As to the gospel, they are enemies because of you, but as to election, they are beloved because of the patriarchs (Rom. 11:28)

Who are the “they” here? They are the disobedient and unbelieving Jews: “all Israel” of vv. 26-27. The “you” are converted Jews and converted Gentiles.

Let’s look at examples of unsaved Jews being enemies of the redeemed, because of the gospel, which embraced pagan Gentiles and offered them redemption, which some of them accepted.

Paul and Barnabas went out on their first missionary journey, and they had success, until the jealousy of their fellow Jews were roused up, and they persecuted the apostles.

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas answered them [Jews] boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

After quoting Scripture, Paul and Barnabas then turned to the Gentiles, who welcomed their message. Jews were enemies because of the gospel, particularly because it included Gentiles.

Here is how the hostile crowd in Jerusalem reacted when Paul spoke these words in his conversion story:

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” ²² The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!” (Acts 21:21-22)

More hostility from Paul’s fellow Jews because of the gospel:

²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones […] (2 Cor. 11:24-25, NIV)

These and other incidents helped shape Paul’s theology, though for sure the OT was the foundation and source.

But Israel is still the elect and beloved God. Why? How? The next verse provides the answer.

Verse 29:

²⁹ for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. (Rom. 11:29)

These next verses from Exodus explain why God has not given up on old Israel, who will be eventually saved. Unsaved Israelites are still his beloved, because of the patriarchs.

First, the context of the next passage. Right after the golden calf disaster, God was going to wipe out the Israelites, but Moses interceded for them. He appealed to God’s promises to the patriarchs centuries ago from his time. His plea:

¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. ¹³ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” ¹⁴ Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. (Ex. 32:12-14)

Moses asked God to remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob). He did not ask God to remember the Sinai Covenant, which began in Exodus 19 and was confirmed in Exodus 24. So even when the Israelites rebelled during the receiving of the law (of all times!), God relented from his destruction of them, because of the patriarchs and not the law of Moses or the Sinai Covenant. The Israelites were connected by family ties and by the covenant with Abraham. In Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob they are the elect. In Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they are still beloved by God. This promise to them cannot be rescinded or taken back or revoked.

However, being in Abraham (and his son and grandson) is insufficient for the new path of salvation. One must be in the Messiah, by grace through faith in him. He is now Abraham’s blessing to the nations because of the gospel. In Christ alone are Jews (and Gentiles) saved. In him alone do they fulfill God’s promise to Abraham that his singular seed (Christ) and his collective singular seed (those in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles) are the blessing to the nations (Gal. 3:7-14).

Objection: what if an Israeli today invents something that blesses humanity? Does this count to be Abraham’s blessing to the world?

Reply: it helps humanity, and this is a blessing. You have to go back to Genesis 12:3 and come up with your own interpretation to conclude that the Israeli and his invention is the blessing to the world. But this is not Paul’s argument in Galatians 3. Christ and his gospel, Abraham’s Highest Descendant, the Messiah, is the blessing for humanity. That’s Paul’s argument in Galatians 3.

Verses 30-31:

³⁰ For just as you were once disobedient but now have been shown mercy by the disobedience of these (the Jews). ³¹ In this way they also have been disobedient now so that by your mercy (shown to you) they also may now be shown mercy.

The word “now” appears three times. This means that the Jews’ partial hardening and disobedience and being enemies of the gospel is only temporary. But for the redeemed, “now” means at this present time and forever, if they remain in union with Christ and do not get arrogant because God is able to lop off the grafted-in branches, as well (11:19-21).

Now let’s compare vv. 30-31 with the following ones from Romans:

¹¹ Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. ¹² But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring! (Rom. 11:11-12)

In vv. 11-12 Paul uses the word “transgression.” In vv. 30-31 he switches things up and writes “disobedience.” But they add up to the same thing. The Jews’ disobedience and transgression opened the door to Gentiles.

We should note once again, however, that thousands of Jews living in Jerusalem in the first century were saved shortly after Jesus’s resurrection and exaltation (Acts 2:40-41; 4:4; 6:7; 21:20). It is easy to imagine that Jews throughout Israel were also saved, as seen in Samaria (Acts 8:4-25) and Galilee (Acts 9:31). The ministry of Jesus and his apostolic community was just that powerful.

(Current estimates say that only about 30,000-40,000 Israelis are Messianic Jews today. If this is true, I wonder whether the Israelite Messianic Jews in the first century outnumbered the ones today!)

So Paul is still writing about national Israel and ethnic Jews, his “people” and “race” (Rom. 9:3-4).

Nonetheless, because the Jerusalem and temple establishment rejected the Messiah and persuaded Pilate to crucify him, this rejection opened the door to the Gentiles to be saved. Acts 10-11 tells this story.

God has shown mercy on the Gentiles, so that eventually the (presently and temporarily) stubborn Jews will also be shown mercy, after the fullness of the numbers of Gentiles have been added up and completed by God. Evidently, the salvation of the Gentiles will provoke the Jews to envy; they too will desire salvation. How much greater riches will be their inclusion, Paul writes in 11:12.

Verse 32:

³² For God has shut all people up in disobedience, so that he may show mercy on all people. (Rom. 11:32)

God has consigned or closed all people up into disobedience because their hearts were already prone to be disobedient. This refers to Adam (or so I believe).

Here are relevant verses in Romans 5 to explain 11:32. It sets the stage for Paul to culminate his extended and genius argument in Romans 1-8 and 9-11:

¹⁶ Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! (Rom. 5:16-17, NIV)

God’s judgment on humankind, as represented in Adam, was subsequent to his trespass (or transgression or disobedience). Now God has locked everyone up in disobedience, but he did not cause their disobedience.

(If you don’t agree with my citation of Rom. 5, then you can skip it, which would not harm my argument.)

But the good news is that he has shown and will show mercy on both Jews and all Gentiles, all of them, but only if they repent and believe in his Son’s resurrection (= vindication) and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord (Rom. 10:9-10).

Further, Romans 11:23 reads: “And if they [Jews of Paul’s day] do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again” (Rom. 11:23). Note the word if. This is conditional. Can the potential become the actual? That is, the potential for salvation is embedded in the verse. Can Jews actually be saved? Can Jews stop their unbelief (by God’s grace) and welcome their true Messiah?

Paul is optimistic and says yes in vv. 25-27 and the rest of this passage. He seems to look into the future and believes that Jews will be saved (future tense).

Two Simple Equations

We can boil down vv. 25-32 to two simple equations, for clarity.

(1). Unconverted Jews are in Abraham — the Messiah = Disobedient Israel = the Elect and Beloved in the Patriarchs ≠ the New People of God

This is a startling formula. Let me explain it. We have lopped off branches lying on the ground, next to the cultivated olive tree. What about them? Unconverted Jews are in the patriarchs by descent, but minus or without the Messiah; because they rejected and reject the Messiah, they are disobedient and enemies. They are in need of salvation. Yet Paul still calls this nation the elect and beloved in v. 28. However, they are no longer the new people of God, the remnant, the church, the assembly, the ekklēsia, all terms meaning the same organism. The disobedient Jewish branches have been lopped off from the cultivated olive tree (Rom. 11:17-21). The new people of God are found only in the Messiah and are his kingdom community, another term for the same organism, his New People (see the second equation).

God’s love and severity are truly remarkable. Old Israel has been kept in suspense. They officially rejected the Messiah, so God allowed them to remove themselves from the new plan of salvation (the lopped off branches lying on the ground next to the cultivated olive tree), and only those who say yes to this plan, yes to Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, are the new people of God.

Yet he still loves these disobedient enemies and calls them the beloved and the elect because of the patriarchs. So their self-imposed rejection is only temporary. The potential can become actual. Potential salvation can become actual salvation. Or potential salvation will become actual salvation. Eventually, all unbelieving and disobedient Israel–national and ethnic Israel–will be saved because their hardening is only partial. There is hope for them. God will miraculously graft the lopped off branches back into the cultivated olive tree.

(2). Converted Jews in Messiah + Converted Gentiles in Messiah = True Israel = the Israel of God = the New People of God

We could even add that converted Jews are in Abraham by descent, and converted Gentiles are also in Abraham but by adoption. Most importantly, though, both groups are also in Christ by grace through faith in him, the Highest Descendant of Abraham. Only followers of God’s Messiah are now the “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16), that is, the new people of God, the remnant, the church, the assembly, the ekklēsia.  A major shift in the path to salvation has taken place.

By God’s mercy, the Gentile branches have been taken from the wild olive tree and have been grafted into the cultivated olive tree and “replaced” the lopped-off branches of the cultivated olive tree. So in this sense some Jews of old Israel have been replaced. But national and ethnic Israel itself, though now in disobedience and with enemy status, is still the elect and beloved because of the patriarchs. Therefore the distance between them and God is short. The church has not replaced Israel in the geo-political meaning of the word, nor has the church replaced ethnic Jews.

Conclusion

The church has not replaced geo-political Israel or ethnic Jews living outside of Israel. Paul would have considered it absurd if anyone had claimed that Christians should move to national Israel and take over Jerusalem or kick them out of their synagogues in the land and in the Romans provinces. I believe it never crossed Paul’s mind that his fellow Israelites should no longer live in their ancient homeland, Israel itself. Two thousand years ago, before the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 and even afterwards; the Jews were already there and were always in the land, if not the capital. Paul certainly never wrote about this ejection from the land of Israel in his epistles. For him it was biblically natural for Jews to be there, though he yearned for their salvation in the Messiah (Rom. 9:1-4).

And yes, he knew Old Testament history and the two exiles and what caused them (habitual violations of the Sinai Covenant and the law of Moses) and he knew about the return of the Jews. Yet they still belonged in the land out of God’s mercy and family ties to Abraham, with whom God established the covenant of a land grant.

Recall that when the ancient Israelites made a golden calf, in Exodus 32, Moses interceded for them that God would be merciful and relent from wiping them out; Moses did not appeal to the Sinai Covenant, which had just been introduced in Exodus 19 and confirmed in Exodus 24. He appealed instead to the patriarchs, in order to secure the promised land. God will completely fulfill his promises to them, the lopped off branches lying on the ground, despite their being enemies and disobedient, when the deliverer will come out of Zion and turn Jacob away from his (their) sins. So in a sense, in regards to ownership of the land of Israel, God’s covenant and land grant to the patriarchs trumps the law of Moses!

Unsaved national and ethnic Israel, though an enemy of the gospel and disobedient to God, is still his elect and beloved, because of the patriarchs. Moses seems to be circumvented for the patriarchs! They seem to trump him! God has not forgotten his unbelieving people. They too will eventually be saved, when the full number of the Gentiles comes in and the deliverer comes or will come out of Zion. They will be picked up off the ground and grafted back into the cultivated olive tree. But caution: Romans 11:23 says if they do not persist in their unbelief. Conditions do apply.

God has a new plan of salvation, which goes through the Messiah, his Son. God introduced this plan throughout the OT and then fulfilled it in his Son, two thousand years ago. The Son is the deliverer who has come and will come out of Zion in vv. 26-27. However, because the Jerusalem and temple establishment rejected him, God opened the door of salvation to the Gentiles. Now saved Jews and saved Gentiles have become the new people of God, the church, the assembly, the ekklēsia (Eph. 2). And so even though some of the Jews rejected God’s new plan of salvation, God’s heart is wide open to them, to this day.

The people of God can no longer be only in Abraham and depend on him. They must now be in Christ. He is Abraham’s Highest Descendant and fulfillment of God’s promise to the patriarch of being a blessing to the nations (Gentiles).

It is better to say that the Messiah has fulfilled the Old Testament promises and covenants for salvation. Specifically for salvation, we should call it fulfillment theology. But as to the promises to Abraham and his natural descendants, God will fulfill his promises to his chosen patriarch and them, which is salvation. And then they will be the deepest and fullest blessing to the nations because they will be in the Messiah. He and his gospel are the highest and ultimate blessing for the whole world (Gal. 3:7-14).

And so the evidence leads me to this conclusion:

Replacement theology: partly true and partly false.

True:

True for salvation, depending how one defines “replacement.” Salvation is found only in the Messiah, by grace through faith, whether Jew or Gentile, and no longer in Abraham or the law of Moses. The New Covenant has replaced (fulfilled is better) the Sinai Covenant (Heb. 8), but this does not mean the church replaces Israel, which is the real question and claim of replacement theology.

So all in all, adding up all of the complex Scriptural data, for me, once again, it is better to say that Jesus fulfills the OT promises of salvation, such as they were, which had previously required obeying the law of Moses and depending on family ties to Abraham. Now we place our faith in God’s Son, by grace through faith. We Gentiles are connected to Abraham through the Messiah by spiritual family ties.

However, I still have to circle back around and observe that saved Gentiles have been grafted into the cultivated olive tree and have replaced the lopped-off branches of unbelieving Jews. So only in this sense is replacement theology true to Scripture. But God will miraculously graft the unbelieving Jews back into the olive tree, so the replacement is temporary and partial and pertains only to salvation in the Messiah.

Nowhere do I read that God commissioned heavy machinery to tear out the cultivated olive tree, from the root to the branches. No, the tree is still in place. Gentiles have to be grafted into something, after all.

This new plan of salvation has nothing to do with replacing national Israel or ethnic Jews. Instead, the new plan is a call to them to repent and place their faith in and surrender to the Messiah as Lord.

Why temporary and partial replacement? See the next paragraphs.

False:

Replacement theology is false if its teachers claim that all God’s promises to Abraham are canceled; if they teach that national Israel is no longer the elect or beloved of God, because Jews are currently enemies of the gospel and are disobedient to God and his Son; if they say that Israel has no right to live in their historic homeland because they are enemies of the gospel and are disobedient; if they say that no Old Testament prophecies–not even one–will ever be fulfilled for national Israel and ethnic Jews. After all, Paul quoted Isaiah 59:20, 21; 27:9 (see Septuagint); Jeremiah 31:33,34. So all verses about salvation–at least those verses and especially those–are for them. God holds out his heart and hands all day long to call them to his Son for their salvation.

Why are they still beloved and elect?

The gifts and calling of God will not be rescinded. Unbelieving Israel with an enemy status is still elect and still beloved of God, but only because of the patriarchs. Jews are temporarily enemies and temporarily disobedient, but they are not beyond salvation or recovery. God will completely fulfill his promises to Abraham, when the disobedient yet beloved and elect descendants of the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are in the Messiah, by grace through faith in him.

That’s how much God loves Jews and Israel, because of the patriarchs.

So, to conclude and summarize:

Replacement:

1.. The old plan of salvation without the Messiah is replaced (“fulfilled” is better) with the new plan of salvation in the Messiah.

2.. Sinai Covenant is replaced (“fulfilled” is better) with the New Covenant, ratified and confirmed by the Messiah.

3.. Lopped off branches (= disobedient Jews with enemy status) from the cultivated olive tree (= Old Israel) are replaced with the grafted-in branches (= Gentiles who follow the Messiah) taken from a wild olive tree. However, God will pick up the disobedient Jew  from the ground and regraft in the old branches by a miracle, but only if the Jews do not persist in unbelief, as Romans 11:23 warns. Again, conditions apply.

No replacement:

1.. National Israel and ethnic Jews are not replaced with the church (the church is made up of converted Jews and Gentiles).

2.. The land of Israel is not replaced with … what exactly? (The church transcends all national borders.)

3.. Not every single Old Testament promise and prophecy is replaced with the New Testament, though numerous verses are fulfilled. However, some verses await fulfillment or still apply to us today (see Daniel 12:2-3 and Isaiah 59:20, 21; 27:9 [see Septuagint]; Jeremiah 31:33,34). This includes God’s covenant of a land grant to Abraham (Gen. 17:7-9), even though Israel had been disobedient in its long history, by breaking the law of Moses.

4.. Disobedient national and ethnic Israel, who are still the elect and beloved of God because of the patriarchs, are not replaced with the redeemed church. So, surprisingly, both the redeemed church is the elect and beloved of God because of the Messiah, and unredeemed and disobedient Israel, enemies of the gospel, is still the elect and beloved of God because of the patriarchs. However, salvation is only in the Messiah, so the Highest Descendant of the patriarchs, the Messiah, trumps the patriarchs themselves, for salvation.

5.. So we have four groups of branches: (1) The ones on the wild olive tree (pagans who have not yet responded to the gospel); (2) the redeemed Jews saved through the Messiah who are on the cultivated olive three; (3) pagan branches who have been grafted into the cultivated olive tree because they are saved in the Messiah; (4) lopped off branches from the cultivated olive tree who are lying on the ground next to the cultivated olive tree who are disobedient to God and enemies of the gospel (unsaved Jews). What happens to the the first and fourth branches> For the first, keep preaching the gospel. For the fourth collection of branches, read the next paragraph.

6.. God’s ultimate salvation for national Israel and ethnic Jews (“all Israel will be saved”) through the Messiah alone is not replaced with the new plan of salvation that excludes anyone, Jew or Gentile. “All Israel will be saved” is awaiting its fulfillment in God’s timing, when the deliverer will come out of Zion and rescue Israel through the Messiah and his plan of salvation, expressed in the gospel. God will pick up the cut-off branches lying on the ground and graft them back in to salvation in the Messiah. And so all unsaved Israel, as a collective, will be saved.

To conclude ……

I learned some things. One main thing I learned: it surprised me that the Jews, though disobedient to God and his Son and enemies of the gospel, are still beloved of God and are his elect because of the patriarchs (not the law of Moses, which Paul is keen to go around or leap over back to the patriarchs, the original family in Genesis). For Paul in Romans 9 and 11, it’s all about the family.

The other main lesson: this post is the best I can do at this time. I offer it to the reader for examination (Acts 17:11).

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