DOES GOD HAVE TWO SEPARATE PEOPLES—ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH?
Common Objections Answered — Chapter 32
Are Israel and the church two permanently separate peoples in God's plan, or has Jesus Christ brought believing Jews and Gentiles together into one people?
1. WHY DOES THIS QUESTION MATTER?
Some Christians believe God has two distinct programs in His plan of redemption.
In this understanding, God made particular promises to the nation of Israel that must still be fulfilled nationally. The church has its own place in God's plan, but it does not replace Israel or cancel those promises.
This view is especially associated with dispensational premillennialism.
Other Christians understand the promises to Israel as reaching their fulfillment in Jesus Christ and extending through Him to believing Jews and Gentiles together.
Both approaches recognize that Israel had a special place in biblical history.
Both recognize that salvation comes through Jesus Christ.
The disagreement concerns how God's promises to Israel relate to the church and whether those promises require a separate future national fulfillment.
We should not begin by assuming either answer.
Instead, we should ask what the apostles actually taught about the relationship between Jews, Gentiles, and Jesus Christ.
2. WHAT DID GOD PROMISE ABRAHAM?
Read Genesis 12:1–3; 17:1–8; 22:15–18.
God promised Abraham descendants, land, and blessing.
He also promised that through Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed.
These promises were not identical. The land promise concerned Abraham's descendants and a particular territory. The blessing to the nations had a much wider purpose.
This distinction matters because we should not treat every promise to Abraham as though it said exactly the same thing.
Now consider Galatians 3:8.
Paul explains that Scripture anticipated the justification of Gentiles by faith when God promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him.
Then Galatians 3:16 identifies Christ as the promised offspring in whom the blessing reaches its fulfillment.
What can we conclude?
Paul explicitly connects God's promise to Abraham with the salvation of Gentiles through Jesus Christ.
But this does not, by itself, answer every question about the land promises.
Those promises deserve separate examination.
3. WHAT DOES EPHESIANS 2 ACTUALLY TEACH?
Read Ephesians 2:11–22.
Paul begins by reminding Gentile Christians of their former condition.
They had been separated from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise.
They were without hope and without God in the world.
But something changed.
Through Jesus Christ, those who were once far away have been brought near.
Ephesians 2:14 says Christ made both groups one.
Verse 15 explains that His purpose was to create one new humanity from the two.
Verse 16 says He reconciled both groups to God in one body through the cross.
Notice the repeated emphasis:
Both groups are made one.
Both are reconciled through the same cross.
Both have access to the Father through one Spirit.
Both belong to God's household.
Paul does not describe Gentile believers as joining a completely unrelated religious program.
Nor does he describe Jewish believers as having a separate way of approaching God.
Both are united through Christ.
In verses 19–22, Paul describes them together as God's household and as a holy temple in which God dwells through His Spirit.
What can we conclude?
Ephesians 2 clearly teaches the spiritual unity of believing Jews and Gentiles in Christ.
It does not describe two separate bodies of redeemed people.
However, the passage does not directly discuss whether particular national promises to Israel might have a future fulfillment.
We should not claim that it answers a question Paul does not specifically address.
What it does establish is that any interpretation of those promises must agree with the unity Christ has already accomplished.
4. WHO ARE ABRAHAM'S DESCENDANTS ACCORDING TO GALATIANS 3?
Read Galatians 3:6–29.
Paul is addressing the question of how people become heirs of God's promise.
He explains that Abraham believed God and was counted righteous.
Those who believe are described as Abraham's children in verse 7.
Paul then explains that Christ redeemed His people so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles.
In verse 26, he tells his readers that they are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Verse 27 speaks of those who have been baptized into Christ and clothed themselves with Christ.
Then Paul writes:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek ... for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
Finally, verse 29 states that those who belong to Christ are Abraham's descendants and heirs according to the promise.
Does Paul mean Jewish and Gentile believers no longer have any ethnic or historical differences?
No.
The same Paul continued to identify himself as an Israelite (Romans 11:1).
His point is that ethnic identity does not determine who may belong to Christ or inherit the blessing promised through Abraham.
What can we conclude?
The inheritance Paul discusses in Galatians 3 belongs to those who are united with Christ.
Jewish and Gentile believers share that inheritance.
But we should not assume that this passage, by itself, settles every question concerning Israel's national history or territorial promises.
5. WHAT DOES ROMANS 11 TEACH ABOUT ISRAEL?
Romans 9–11 requires particular care.
Paul begins Romans 9 by expressing deep sorrow over the unbelief of many of his fellow Israelites.
He recognizes their remarkable privileges.
To Israel belonged the adoption, glory, covenants, law, worship, promises, patriarchs, and the Messiah according to His human ancestry (Romans 9:4–5).
Paul does not dismiss Israel's history.
Nor does he suggest that God has become unfaithful to His promises.
In Romans 11:1, Paul asks whether God has rejected His people.
His answer is emphatic:
“Absolutely not!”
Paul himself is an Israelite.
He also explains that a remnant has been chosen by grace.
Then he introduces the illustration of an olive tree.
Some natural branches have been broken off because of unbelief.
Gentile believers, pictured as branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in.
They now share in the nourishment of the root.
But Paul warns Gentile Christians not to become arrogant.
They do not support the root. The root supports them.
He also explains that natural branches can be grafted in again if they do not continue in unbelief.
What does the olive tree establish?
There is one cultivated olive tree in Paul's illustration.
Believing Gentiles share its nourishment.
Unbelieving Jewish branches may be restored through faith.
The illustration emphasizes both continuity with God's earlier promises and the necessity of faith.
However, we must not force the illustration to answer every question about national Israel.
Paul's immediate concern is unbelief, salvation, God's faithfulness, and His mercy toward Jews and Gentiles.
The passage does not explicitly describe a future earthly kingdom centered in Jerusalem.
Neither does the olive-tree illustration alone prove that God has no further purpose involving ethnic Israel.
Romans 11:25–29 remains especially important because interpreters disagree over the meaning of “all Israel will be saved.”
Some understand this as a future widespread turning of Jewish people to Christ.
Others understand it as the full people of God brought to salvation through Christ.
The context must determine which interpretation is best supported.
But neither interpretation requires two different ways of salvation.
Paul's argument points both Jews and Gentiles toward God's mercy.
6. DOES ONE FLOCK MEAN ONE PEOPLE?
Read John 10:14–18.
Jesus describes Himself as the good shepherd.
He knows His sheep and lays down His life for them.
Then He says He has other sheep who are not of this fold.
He must bring them also.
They will hear His voice.
And there will be one flock and one shepherd.
Many interpreters understand the other sheep to include Gentiles who would come to believe in Christ.
This understanding fits the wider New Testament teaching about the inclusion of Gentiles.
However, John 10 does not explicitly identify the other sheep as Gentiles.
We should acknowledge that the identification is an interpretation supported by the wider context of Scripture.
What Jesus clearly teaches is that His sheep will be gathered into one flock under one shepherd.
That agrees with Paul's teaching about one body in Ephesians 2.
7. WHAT DOES PAUL MEAN BY ONE BODY?
Read 1 Corinthians 12:12–13.
Paul explains that the body has many members but remains one body.
He then says that Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, were all baptized by one Spirit into one body.
Notice that Paul specifically includes Jews and Greeks.
He does not describe two bodies with separate spiritual identities.
He describes one body formed through the work of the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:4–6 reinforces this unity.
Paul speaks of one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father.
What can we conclude?
The New Testament repeatedly teaches that believing Jews and Gentiles belong to one body in Christ.
That unity is not merely a future hope.
It is a present reality established through Jesus Christ.
8. DOES UNITY MEAN GOD HAS ABANDONED ISRAEL?
No.
That conclusion would contradict Romans 11:1–2.
Paul specifically denies that God has rejected His people.
He also warns Gentile believers against boasting over Jewish branches.
We must distinguish between two very different statements:
First: God has brought believing Jews and Gentiles together in Christ.
Second: God has rejected Jewish people and has no further concern for them.
The first statement is clearly taught in the New Testament.
The second is contradicted by Paul's teaching.
God's faithfulness does not disappear because salvation is now proclaimed to all nations.
Nor does the inclusion of Gentiles make Jewish people enemies who should be despised.
Paul expresses a continuing desire for their salvation (Romans 10:1).
The gospel remains God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16).
9. WHAT ABOUT GOD'S PROMISES TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL?
This is the strongest question raised by those who distinguish Israel and the church.
God made promises concerning Abraham's descendants, the land, the Davidic kingdom, and Israel's restoration.
We should not pretend those promises never existed.
Nor should we assume that every promise has exactly the same kind of fulfillment.
Some promises were fulfilled in Israel's history.
Some are explicitly connected to Christ in the New Testament.
Others remain subjects of disagreement among careful Bible students.
For example:
The promise to David
In Acts 2:29–36, Peter connects God's promise to David with the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is presented as the risen Lord and Messiah.
The blessing to Abraham
Galatians 3 connects Abraham's promised blessing with justification by faith and the inclusion of Gentiles in Christ.
The new covenant
Jeremiah 31:31–34 promises a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
Hebrews 8:6–13 applies that promise to the new covenant established through Jesus Christ.
These passages demonstrate that the New Testament understands important promises to Israel as finding their fulfillment through Christ.
But the question of whether every national or territorial promise has been completely fulfilled requires additional study.
We should examine those promises individually rather than answer them all with one broad statement.
10. IS THE CHURCH A REPLACEMENT FOR ISRAEL?
The word replacement can create confusion.
It may suggest that God made promises to one people, abandoned them, and chose an unrelated people instead.
That is not how Paul describes the inclusion of Gentiles in Romans 11.
The Gentiles are grafted into an existing cultivated olive tree.
They share in its nourishment.
The root supports them.
The image emphasizes continuity, not the destruction of everything that came before.
Ephesians 2 likewise describes Gentiles being brought near and becoming fellow citizens and members of God's household.
Therefore, it is more accurate to say that God has brought believing Jews and Gentiles together through Jesus Christ.
That statement comes directly from the teaching of the apostles.
Whether someone describes this as fulfillment, continuity, expansion, or another theological term, the terminology must not be allowed to replace the biblical evidence.
The important question is what Scripture actually teaches.
11. WHAT DOES REVELATION SHOW ABOUT GOD'S REDEEMED PEOPLE?
Read Revelation 5:9–10 and 7:9–17.
Revelation 5 describes people redeemed by the Lamb from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
Revelation 7 describes a great multitude from every nation standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
These passages celebrate the worldwide reach of Christ's redemption.
They do not describe different ways of salvation for different ethnic groups.
Revelation 21:12–14 also presents an interesting picture.
The New Jerusalem has twelve gates bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Its foundations bear the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The imagery brings Israel and the apostles together in one city.
We should not press every detail of this symbolic description into a theological system.
Nevertheless, the vision presents the completed dwelling place of God with His people, not two separate eternal cities for two separate redeemed peoples.
12. WHAT HAVE WE ACTUALLY ESTABLISHED?
We can now summarize the evidence without claiming more than the passages support.
First: Israel had a unique historical role in God's plan.
The covenants, Scriptures, promises, and Messiah came through Israel.
Second: The New Testament teaches that believing Jews and Gentiles are united in Christ.
They share one body, one Spirit, and access to the same Father.
Third: Those who belong to Christ are described as Abraham's descendants and heirs according to the promise.
Fourth: Romans 11 describes Gentile believers sharing in the nourishment of one cultivated olive tree while warning them not to boast over Jewish people.
Fifth: The New Testament applies important promises made to Israel to Jesus Christ and the blessings He provides.
Sixth: These truths do not, by themselves, answer every question concerning the future of ethnic Israel or the fulfillment of particular national promises.
Those questions require their own careful examination.
But whatever conclusions we reach, they must agree with the unity that Christ has already established.
CONCLUSION — ONE SAVIOR, ONE BODY, ONE HOPE
The New Testament does not erase Israel's history.
It does not deny God's faithfulness to His promises.
And it does not teach Gentile Christians to look down upon Jewish people.
Instead, it presents Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of God's saving purpose.
Through Him, believing Jews and Gentiles are reconciled to God and to one another.
They share one body.
They approach one Father through one Spirit.
They belong to one household.
And they inherit God's blessings through faith in Jesus Christ.
Whether particular promises to national Israel await some further fulfillment remains a question that must be examined from the relevant passages.
But the unity of believers in Christ is not uncertain.
Whatever else we conclude about Israel's future, we must not divide what Jesus Christ has already made one.
READ FIRST. CONCLUDE LATER.
TEXT B4 TRADITION — Common Objections Answered, Chapter 32
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