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'And if ye be Christ's,
then are ye Abraham's seed,
and heirs according to the promise.'
(Gal 3:29)
'For in Christ Jesus
.. neither circumcision availeth any thing,
.... nor uncircumcision,
...... but a new creature.
And as many as walk according to this rule,
peace be on them, and mercy,
and upon the Israel of God.'
(Gal 6:15-16)
Hello there,
There is a view held by many sincere and devoted Christians, that the church of this age is 'The Israel of God' or 'The Spiritual Israel', and that the Gentile Christian believers of today are the 'spiritual seed of Abraham'. The verses quoted above are the verses which are referred to in justification of their belief. Other verses within the letter to the Galatians also appear to support that view, e.g.,
' Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.'
(Gal 3:6-8)
This would appear to teach that Gentiles are to be blessed with Abraham. Abraham's eternal hope is the New Jerusalem, which is to descend to the new earth, (compare Hebrews 11:11-16; 12:22; Revelation 21:1-2). This is the hope referred to in Galatians 4:25-26.
'For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia,
and answereth to Jerusalem which now is,
and is in bondage with her children.
But Jerusalem which is above is free,
which is the mother of us all.'
(Gal 4:25-26))
However, the hope referred to in Ephesians refers not to the new earth or to a new Jerusalem which is to descend from heaven, but of 'heavenly places', or the heavenlies, where we will enjoy our spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. These are the heavenly places which are 'far above all heavens' to which our Lord ascended (Ephesians 2:6-7).
Yet Galatians also says,
'That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.'
* So what is our eternal hope? Is it in the New Jerusalem with Abraham? Or is it in heavenly places in Christ Jesus?
The assembly at Galatia was created on Paul's first missionary journey, recorded in Acts 13:4-14:26 . It consisted of both Jew and Gentile Christians. At the close of his first missionary journey Paul stayed at Antioch in Syria (Acts 14:26-28), where certain Jews maintained that Gentiles had to be circumcised to be saved, some insisting that Gentiles also had to keep all the law of of Moses. Paul called this a perversion of the gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:7), and reminded them that Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Galatians 3:6), and that this took place 400 yrs before the Law was given to Moses, and 'before' Abraham was circumcised. So any who believed, whether Jew or Gentile, are like Abraham. Their faith is also credited to them as righteousness, and so those who believe are children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7). It was to answer such concerns as these that Paul wrote the epistle to the Galatians; and why he and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to discuss these issues (Acts 15:1-5).
* How do we reconcile what Galatians and Ephesians state?
To do this we need to recognise that Galatians was one of the first letters written by Paul, while in Antioch (Acts 14), before going to see the Jerusalem council (Acts 15). To understand Galatians, we must be familiar with the epistle to the Romans, which was written later, and which explains the Gentile position during the time covered by the Acts of the Apostles, and the letters written during that time.
In Romans 11:17-21, Israel is spoken of as a tree, in this case as an olive tree. The root of that olive tree is Abraham, the father of the nation. However, some of the people of Israel refused to believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. As such they were looked upon as olive branches that bore no fruit. In fact the whole of the olive tree (the whole nation of Israel) was bearing little fruit. What could be done about it?
In olive farming there was a means used which often stimulated a tree to produce more fruit by removing one of it's natural branches and grafting into it's place a branch from a wild, uncultivated olive. The vigor from this wild olive would bring new life to an old or unfruitful tree. During the Acts period Israel was looked upon as an old, fruitless, olive tree. God therefore, grafted believing Gentiles (wild olive branches) into Israel. (Romans 11:13-14); and so Gentiles shared in the promises and blessings of Abraham, they had to, for they were grafted in to Israel , The intention being to make Israel envious. The nation should have been aroused, like the old olive tree, and turned to Christ, and then it would have been saved. Their failure to do so, it's consequence and God's subsequent action gives the answer to the question asked above:-
* How do we reconcile what Galatians and Ephesians state?
I will be interested to receive any response you have to give.
Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Christ
then are ye Abraham's seed,
and heirs according to the promise.'
(Gal 3:29)
'For in Christ Jesus
.. neither circumcision availeth any thing,
.... nor uncircumcision,
...... but a new creature.
And as many as walk according to this rule,
peace be on them, and mercy,
and upon the Israel of God.'
(Gal 6:15-16)
Hello there,
There is a view held by many sincere and devoted Christians, that the church of this age is 'The Israel of God' or 'The Spiritual Israel', and that the Gentile Christian believers of today are the 'spiritual seed of Abraham'. The verses quoted above are the verses which are referred to in justification of their belief. Other verses within the letter to the Galatians also appear to support that view, e.g.,
' Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.'
(Gal 3:6-8)
This would appear to teach that Gentiles are to be blessed with Abraham. Abraham's eternal hope is the New Jerusalem, which is to descend to the new earth, (compare Hebrews 11:11-16; 12:22; Revelation 21:1-2). This is the hope referred to in Galatians 4:25-26.
'For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia,
and answereth to Jerusalem which now is,
and is in bondage with her children.
But Jerusalem which is above is free,
which is the mother of us all.'
(Gal 4:25-26))
However, the hope referred to in Ephesians refers not to the new earth or to a new Jerusalem which is to descend from heaven, but of 'heavenly places', or the heavenlies, where we will enjoy our spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. These are the heavenly places which are 'far above all heavens' to which our Lord ascended (Ephesians 2:6-7).
Yet Galatians also says,
'That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.'
* So what is our eternal hope? Is it in the New Jerusalem with Abraham? Or is it in heavenly places in Christ Jesus?
The assembly at Galatia was created on Paul's first missionary journey, recorded in Acts 13:4-14:26 . It consisted of both Jew and Gentile Christians. At the close of his first missionary journey Paul stayed at Antioch in Syria (Acts 14:26-28), where certain Jews maintained that Gentiles had to be circumcised to be saved, some insisting that Gentiles also had to keep all the law of of Moses. Paul called this a perversion of the gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:7), and reminded them that Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Galatians 3:6), and that this took place 400 yrs before the Law was given to Moses, and 'before' Abraham was circumcised. So any who believed, whether Jew or Gentile, are like Abraham. Their faith is also credited to them as righteousness, and so those who believe are children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7). It was to answer such concerns as these that Paul wrote the epistle to the Galatians; and why he and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to discuss these issues (Acts 15:1-5).
* How do we reconcile what Galatians and Ephesians state?
To do this we need to recognise that Galatians was one of the first letters written by Paul, while in Antioch (Acts 14), before going to see the Jerusalem council (Acts 15). To understand Galatians, we must be familiar with the epistle to the Romans, which was written later, and which explains the Gentile position during the time covered by the Acts of the Apostles, and the letters written during that time.
In Romans 11:17-21, Israel is spoken of as a tree, in this case as an olive tree. The root of that olive tree is Abraham, the father of the nation. However, some of the people of Israel refused to believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. As such they were looked upon as olive branches that bore no fruit. In fact the whole of the olive tree (the whole nation of Israel) was bearing little fruit. What could be done about it?
In olive farming there was a means used which often stimulated a tree to produce more fruit by removing one of it's natural branches and grafting into it's place a branch from a wild, uncultivated olive. The vigor from this wild olive would bring new life to an old or unfruitful tree. During the Acts period Israel was looked upon as an old, fruitless, olive tree. God therefore, grafted believing Gentiles (wild olive branches) into Israel. (Romans 11:13-14); and so Gentiles shared in the promises and blessings of Abraham, they had to, for they were grafted in to Israel , The intention being to make Israel envious. The nation should have been aroused, like the old olive tree, and turned to Christ, and then it would have been saved. Their failure to do so, it's consequence and God's subsequent action gives the answer to the question asked above:-
* How do we reconcile what Galatians and Ephesians state?
I will be interested to receive any response you have to give.
Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Christ
