Our Spiritual Heritage
by Ray Wooten
Many who are associated with the Church of God have
become intrigued with Hebrew Roots and first-century Judaism as a means of
validating, enhancing, or augmenting their relationship with God.
Hopefully, their interest is not for improving their salvation because
that is not possible. Christ has already provided complete and perfect
salvation, which is in fact part of our heritage in Him.
Our original heritage is to become members of the
family of God. Genesis 1:26-27 tells us, "And God said, Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he
them."
Heritage Lost in Adam
Our original forefather, Adam, gave up that heritage
and decided to take the approach that the serpent, representing Satan,
recommended. As a result, all humans are born "in Adam" without
personal access to our Creator and Father, Almighty God. Salvation is the
process of bringing man back to the place where God can continue creating
us after His likeness. The entire Bible revolves around these two key
areas: Our entrance into God's family, and our salvation, which restores
our access to God, our Father. These two areas constitute our heritage in
Christ.
Advantage In Physical Israel?
In contrast, one’s physical heritage has long been
subject to a certain amount of controversy. Some say one’s lineage does
not matter, while others say there is a great advantage in being a
descendant of physical Israel. What is the truth on this subject? Does
your physical heritage give you special favor with God? If so, does
first-century Judaism teach you more about God and His plan or purpose for
man? Didn't the apostle Paul say that being a Jew gave much advantage in
every way?
Yes, Paul did make that statement, but we need to
understand his reasons for doing so.
"What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit
is there of circumcision? Much in every way: [why would an Israelite have
an advantage over others? Paul answers] chiefly, because that unto them
were committed the oracles of God" (Romans 3:1-2). Oracles
consist of the teachings found in the Old Testament Scriptures with the
law and promises.
The advantage of the Jews came from their access to the
Scriptures, which taught about Jesus Christ as our spiritual root. Several
scriptures plainly show that Gentiles and Israelites alike must be grafted
into the True Vine, Jesus Christ. "I am the true vine, and My Father
is the vinedresser" (John 15:1 NASU).
Romans 11:20, 23 tell us: "Quite right, they
[i.e., the Jews] were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your
faith… And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be
grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again" (NASU).
"What then? Are we better than they? No, in no
wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all
under sin" (Romans 3:9).
"Paul has been showing that the Old Testament
privileges, though giving to the Jews a certain superiority to the
Gentiles, did not give them any advantages in escaping the divine
condemnation. After such showing, it was natural that the question should
be renewed: Do the Jews have any advantage?" (From Vincent's Word
Studies of the New Testament, Electronic Database, Biblesoft, 1997).
The truth is that all must come to God the same way.
That way is only through Jesus Christ the Son of God and Savior of
mankind.
The Oracles of God
The apostle Paul has much to say about the role of the
Jews in the book of Romans. Even though Paul was called by God and set
apart to preach the un-searchable riches of Christ to the Gentile world,
he had a tremendous love and concern for his own people, the Jews. His
concern is all the more amazing when we realize how they hated him. They
felt that he was a traitor, yet Paul loved them. In Romans 9:4, Paul lists
what God had given to the Israelites:
The adoption
The glory
The covenants
The giving of the law
The temple service of God
And finally, the promises
In other words, they had the oracles of God—all
His teachings. They were a blessed people, but what did they do with this
wonderful truth that God gave them? They perverted the oracles of God, and
they rejected the promise of God in Jesus Christ.
Jewish Leaders Misunderstood
If we do not want to repeat their mistakes, we should
understand what those mistakes were. They failed on two major counts, both
of which are of significance to us.
They failed to understand what constitutes true
Israel. They, like many today, thought that as long as they were the
physical descendants of Israel's three fathers, Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, they qualified to be God's elect, i.e., God's covenant people.
They thought this physical heritage gave them a ticket into the kingdom
of God. Many today think that being in a particular church organization
and/or being descended from Israel qualifies them for the Kingdom of God
or eternal life. The first-century Jews made this mistake. They had not
understood what God meant by Israel and they had failed to see why God
gave them three fathers. Most contemporary Jews and Israelites make that
same mistake.
2. They failed to recognize God's way of saving sinful
man. The promise that God made is that one of the seed of these three men
would be sent by God to be the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
Furthermore, the promise offered salvation by faith in His
righteousness—not by their own law keeping. They failed to recognize
this point and the result is that God took the keys of the kingdom and
gave them to the true Church of God, the Body of Christ, which is a
spiritual organism, not the physical Christian church today. No doubt,
many individuals who are affiliated with churches are part of this
spiritual organism, but churches as they are organized today are of man’s
making.
God’s Promises Sure
After expressing his concern for the Jews, Paul says:
"But it is not as though the word of God has failed" (Romans
9:4, NASU). God gave Israel many things. He gave them covenants,
sacrificial, or temple, services, and He gave them promises. All these
things were summed up in one promise, which He gave not once, twice or
even three times, but many times. He gave this promise to Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob. That promise was that their children—their seed—would be
the inheritors of the New Canaan, or the promised salvation.
Furthermore, He promised to send a prophet to help
them: "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.
He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their
children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will
not come and smite the land with a curse" (Malachi 4:4-6, NASU).
Near the end of His ministry, Jesus turned to this very
same people, the Jews, and said to them in Matthew 23:38: "Behold,
your house is being left to you desolate!" (NASU). In other
words, there is no hope through being a part of physical Israel.
It is my belief that when Paul made this statement in
Romans 9:6, he had in mind a statement that God made in Numbers 23,
especially verse 19. Whatever God promises He will keep. He had promised
the three fathers—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—that all of their children
would belong to Israel, would be the elect and they would be God’s
chosen covenant people. But now Christ says, "I leave your house
desolate." Paul asks, "Does that mean that God has failed to
keep His promise?" Then he discusses this issue in Romans 9,10 and
11. After his discussion, he concludes in Romans 11:26: "And so all
Israel will be saved."
Count on it—God will keep His promises. Not
understanding the answer to the question in Romans 9:6 has caused
confusion in the Church of God. Many believe that after God has dealt with
the Gentiles, He will save the entire Jewish nation en masse. Some think
that God is finished working with the nation of Judah.
To understand Romans 11:26, however, we first need to
understand what Paul meant by the term "Israel" and, second, how
Israel is going to be saved. These are the two areas where the Jews failed
and which Paul explains.
With this background, let us find out what constitutes
true Israel because we as Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles, need to
know the answer to that question. God does not have two distinct peoples,
Jews and Gentiles. God has only one people, Israel. Either a person
belongs to Israel or he or she does not.
"Whose are the fathers, and from whom is the
Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever.
Amen" (Romans 9:5, NASU).
Israel Has Three "Fathers"
The apostle Paul explains to the Jews: "I want you
to know that God has not failed to keep His promise. The problem is not
God—the problem is you. You have failed to understand what God means by
Israel." In the second half of Romans 9:6, Paul writes:
"…For they are not all Israel who are descended
from Israel" (NASU).
In other words, the fact that someone has the blood of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob does not necessarily qualify that individual to
be an Israelite in God's eyes. "…Nor are they all children because
they are Abraham's descendants, but through Isaac your descendants will be
named" (Romans 9:7, NASU).
Paul is dealing with a conceptual framework here.
Abraham did not have only one son. He had two sons, at least initially—Ishmael
and Isaac. Ishmael had a legal right to call Abraham father. However,
Ishmael does not belong to Israel. The fact that one is a descendant of
Abraham does not qualify him to be a part of Israel because Abraham also
had Ishmael who could also call him father, but he could not call himself
Israel. To be Israel, a person must also have Isaac as his or her father.
Ishmael did not.
"That is, it is not the children of the flesh who
are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as
descendants" (Romans 9:8, NASU).
Notice that Esau could claim both Abraham and Isaac as
his fathers, but Esau still does not belong to Israel. "Jacob I
loved, but Esau I hated" (Romans 9:13, NASU). God rejected Esau
because Esau had rejected Him.
What did Paul mean when he wrote: "…Those who
are the children of the flesh, those are not the children of God,
but the children of the promise are counted as the seed." As I
read the Bible, I come across a phrase that is repeated many times. For
example, one day the Jews came to Jesus and asked him a question that had
to do with salvation and eternal life. Jesus made a very strange reply,
which I have studied a lot in order to understand what he said.
"Don't you know that God is not the God of the dead, He is the God of
the living? He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
What Do the Fathers Exemplify?
I thought, "What do Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have
to do with the living?" As I began to wrestle with this question,
studying the scripture and reading other materials as well, I made a
wonderful discovery. Let me share this understanding with you in this
article. The discovery is that God gave Israel three fathers for a very
specific purpose, which is that these three men are to be the prototype,
the model, or the example of what all the children of God should be like.
In other words, in order for you to be a true Israelite, you must have the
qualities of these three men. Let's study them briefly.
Abraham stands for faith. He is the father of all
who believe. As Galatians 3:6-9 indicates, all " those who are
of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that
God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to
Abraham, saying, ‘all the nations will be blessed in you.’ So then those
who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer" (NASU).
.
Isaac was born from above (Genesis 17:15-21),
just as Christians must also be born from above. Jesus told Nicodemus,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God…he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John
3:3,5 NASU).
Unless you are "born from above", you simply
will not be a part of God's family. We will study this subject in more
detail in a future article.
Notice also what Paul says about both Gentile and
Jewish believers in Galatians 4:28: "And you brethren, like Isaac,
are children of promise" (NASU). Thus, Isaac stands for the new
birth, beginning with the begettal of the Holy Spirit.
Jacob’s name was changed by God from Jacob to
Israel. Do you know why? The name Jacob means "supplanter" or
"schemer." Human beings are always trying to scheme one way or
another to earn the Kingdom of God. God gave a promise to Rebekah before
Jacob was ever born that Jacob would have the birthright. But Jacob
thought he would need to work things out himself. Remember that he tried
to pull Esau back by the heel when they were born. Later he schemed to get
the birthright and succeeded. He did not have to do it that way, but it
seemed he had to learn the hard way that when God promises something, He
gives it to us if we believe the promise. Thankfully, Jacob learned the
lesson and is a wonderful example for us. He wrestled all night with the
angel of God, prevailing until the blessing came.
Jacob stands for those whose faith "endure to the
end" as Jesus said in Matthew 10:22.
These men represent these three qualities. Being their
literal descendants is not what saves us. Salvation comes to
those who believe, are born again, (begotten of the Holy Spirit),
and who through faith do not give up but endure to the end.
Salvation, Our Heritage through God’s Sovereignty
Our salvation is based upon God's mercy and grace
through His sovereignty and not through a human right. Not one of us,
whether Jew or Gentile, can claim salvation. All have sinned. There is
none who qualifies to be saved by native right, by church affiliation nor
by righteous living. Whether or not you are a descendant of these three
men, does not matter.
There are two ways that we can try to be saved. One is
man's way, and one is God's way. Man's way is the way that the Jews tried.
We see why the Jews failed in Romans 9:32: "Wherefore? Because they
did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the work of the law." I
am sad to say there are people in the church who are trying the same
method, trying to be saved by the works of the law. Why can't we learn
from the mistakes of the Jews?
Notice that the phrase "works of the law" is
the New Testament definition of the English word legalism. Paul is
not against works of the law. He is against legalism; he is not against
the law as a standard of Christian living. He is not against the law as
the fruits of salvation or proof of one's faith. In Romans 13 writes,
"Love is the fulfillment of the law." He is against anyone
trying to earn salvation outside of Christ, whether it is through offering
animal sacrifices, obeying specific laws, or some other action such as
circumcision.
Paul knew that our heritage of salvation and birth into
God’s Family did not come through first-century Judaism or Hebrew Roots.
He knew that only Christ gives salvation. That is God's way through
Christ. Our part is faith. God's part is justification,
sanctification, and glorification. Our part is believing and accepting His
promises and Word. . When we really have accepted God's salvation, which
is our heritage through Jesus Christ, we will show fruits by loving God
and our fellowman. This is our true Christian heritage.*** |
Our Spiritual Heritage 