Most of us have heard of the false teaching called Replacement Theology. This article is for those who either have never heard of it, or have had this preached to them Sunday after Sunday and just figured that it was biblical.
I’m here to tell you – It’s a lie from the pit of hell.
Replacement Theology (RT), has been around for centuries. The term used by theologians is supersessionism. The church supersedes Israel. Theologians have cited the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD as proof that God was finished with the Jewish people.
It has always amazed me that churches who teach RT completely ignore some critically important words by the apostle Paul in Romans 11. I would HIGHLY recommend that you read all of Romans 11 (9 and 10 as well) but Romans 11 truly expresses why the Jews did not receive their Savior, and clearly shows that God is not done with His Chosen people.
“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all” (Romans 11: 25-32 NKJV).
Yes! I am using the NKJV! You “KJV only” crowd need to get over yourselves. From now on I am using either NKJV or NASB.
How could this be any clearer? God ordained that a blindness in part would happen to Israel, until all of the Gentiles who were to be saved would come into His Kingdom. It also states the gifts of and the calling of God are irrevocable.
God’s plan from the beginning was to offer salvation to the entire world. He used the Jewish people to bring His law to show His Holiness, and then through their lineage He would ultimately bring His Son to pay for all sin. What a merciful and loving God we serve!
There are two main schools of thought regarding RT:
Israel’s role as God’s Chosen was completed once Jesus came to earth (economic supersessionism).
Because of her disobedience, Israel forfeited her role as Chosen of God because of her rejection of Jesus as Messiah (punitive supersessionism).
Punitive supersessionism was clearly articulated by Martin Luther in his sermon: “On the Jews and Their Lies.”
“For such ruthless wrath of God is sufficient evidence that they [i.e., the Jewish people] assuredly have erred and gone astray. Even a child can comprehend this. For one dare not regard God as so cruel that he would punish his own people so long, so terrible, so unmercifully … Therefore this work of wrath is proof that the Jews, surely rejected by God, are no longer his people, and neither is he any longer their God. (“On the Jews and Their Lies,” Trans. Martin H. Bertram, in Luther’s Works [Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971], p. 265).
How could a man used of God as was Martin Luther come to such a conclusion about the Jews? It is written that later in his life, Luther was convinced that he was called of God to save the Jews. When his efforts failed, he became enraged. In one night, in response to his anti-Semitic sermon, synagogues were burned to the ground and over 2000 Jews were slaughtered. Martin Luther was used by God in a mighty way in the Great Reformation, but alas he was merely a man. His teachings about Jews had a dramatic impact on the church in Germany for many years to come. Hitler was a great fan of Luther. He carried the sermon: “On the Jews and Their Lies” to every SS meeting.
RT is closely related to Reformed or Covenant Theology, which is associated with John Calvin. If you’ve noticed that your pastor does not speak or teach on eschatology (the study of End Times) it’s most likely that the leadership of your church adhere to amillennialism. A view of eschatology which views End Times prophecy as “spiritual” instead of literal. It’s a convenient way of avoiding the promises made to Israel in the Word. Since the proponents of RT believe that the church inherited the promises made to Israel, there is no need to teach that End Times prophecy is literal. The prophecies are viewed more as allegorical.
Satan is determined to lie and deceive mankind. He uses just a little bit of truth (Scripture) and then twists it for his purposes. He knows the Word better than any one of us. His motivation for memorizing God’s Word is to seek and destroy God’s people. He started in the Garden of Eden with Eve. He tried it against Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus always fought him (and shut him down) with pure Scripture.
God made a Covenant with Israel. I’ve read articles by Bible teachers who claim that Israel relinquished the promises made by God because of their rebellion. God cannot lie. He made the promises. It has nothing to do with how good or bad Israel is. It has everything to do with God and His faithfulness.
As a student in the synagogue I attended when I was a child, the history of my people saddened me. I learned of the persecution by the Catholic Church. I learned that no matter where we went, ultimately we were placed in ghettos with locked gates. We were HATED. I would ponder in my mind why—what did we do to warrant such hatred and oppression? It wasn’t until I was born- again that I realized why. It was Satan all along. He placed hatred in the hearts of men and women for the Jews.
But I never thought that it would be this extreme. I’m shocked as I read the news and see the world flying the swastika flag all across the globe. It literally makes me sick. But I know that all things must happen according to His plan. It took the extermination of 6 million of my people to bring about the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948 – a prophecy that many proponents of RT did not expect.
Israel is Israel. The church is the church. In the Old Testament, Israel was under the Law. Jesus brought us the Covenant of Grace. We are FREE in Him.
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17).
“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:8-11).
Jesus was sent to earth for one reason—to die. It was His precious blood which cleansed the repentant sinner, and made him/her righteous in the eyes of the Father. Every Jew needs to come to the Father through Jesus Christ. There is no special arrangement between the Jewish people and God.
So, if you are in a church that believes that God has cast away His people—the Jews, please understand that what is being taught is not truth. Have you noticed that most of the RT denominations are vehemently anti-Israel? Are you starting to see that Satan’s plan to destroy God’s children has worked in most of the mainline churches? Here is a list of churches who believe the RT lie:
The Roman Catholic Church
Southern Baptist Convention – (depends on leadership)
The United Methodist Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
United Church of Christ
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, Joplin, Mo
Please understand that in each of these denominations, it is possible to have a pastor who is a true shepherd under the Great Shepherd Jesus. But these denominations are known to adhere to the RT lie.
These churches have declared their hatred for Israel and are supporting Hamas. This is exactly what the devil wants to happen. But our Lord, being omniscient, is using all of this to fulfill His prophetic Word concerning Israel.
“And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it” (Zechariah 12:3).
From Arutz Sheva from Israel:
“These very liberal churches include Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and the United Church of Christ. They presently number about 16 million. Their membership and influence in the United States continue to decline. These churches’ rhetoric is usually outdone by an even harsher one of a small group of so-called ‘peace churches,’ including the Mennonites and Quakers.”
“Mainline churches claim many members from Congress. They represent America’s heartland and have adopted a range of resolutions hostile to Israel. They include calls for boycotts plus divestment and sanctions (BDS). Some are aimed at Israel, others focus on the ‘settlements.’ Several churches supported the hateful Kairos Palestine Document published in 2009 by some Palestinian Christians. There is also tourism to Israel under Palestinian auspices.
“BDS started with the passage of a resolution in 2004 at the Presbyterian Church (USA) calling for selective divestment of shares of American companies doing business in Israel. Long before that, the World Council of Churches (WCC) founded in 1948, aligned itself with ‘third world’ countries and thinking. This is an international umbrella group of mainline churches which claims denominational membership of 590 million people. It has frequently condemned Israel, yet never protested attempts by Israel’s neighbors and by terrorists to erase it from the map.
“Several of these churches also publish extremely anti-Israel educational materials. These are often the only ones members will view. The Methodists produced a study guide a few years ago authored by an apostate Jewish pastor. He admitted to hating Judaism. It featured illustrations of Israeli soldiers reminiscent of Nazi guards at a concentration camp.
“Theology is playing an increasing role in mainline churches’ anti-Israel activity. It began with the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center and its head, Dr. Naim Ateek. Many liberal churches have partnered with Sabeel. Ateek used crucifixion imagery in his Easter message of 2001: ‘It seems to many of us that Jesus is on the cross again with thousands of crucified Palestinians around him.’
” This reintroduces the ancient murderous Christian charge of deicide against the Jews. Ateek and others deny that the Bible speaks of any covenant of land with the Jews. This is a renewal of the replacement theology and supersessionism, and is extremely dangerous for Jews around the world, especially at a time of rising anti-Semitism.
“Still, there are surprises. In 2012, several denominations substituted positive investment resolutions in place of divestment. In some cases, votes that looked like they were heading in the anti-Israel direction were saved by impassioned speeches by pastors who spoke about the impact such a resolution would have on Jewish-Christian friendships and partnerships in their churches.
“The actions of these mainline churches have poisoned the well of Christian-Jewish dialogue. Jews entered the dialogue, which has been fruitful at times, on the basis of assurances that Christian partners left contempt for Jews and Judaism behind, and had made serious attempts to understand what was important to Jews. The way in which these churches treat Israel shows that neither is true.” – source
I ask you this: Even if you have been in one church for years, if they are teaching a lie, would it not be the right thing to do to leave and attempt to find a gathering of brothers and sisters in Christ who believe the whole Word of God?
“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:3).
And a word to those seeking a place to worship:
ASK QUESTIONS. You have a right to know how leadership feels about very important issues – whether they believe the whole Word of God or choose to add or take away from God’s Holy Word.
Shalom b’Yeshua
Maranatha!
I have been studying this subject seriously for the past few months. I always used to wonder why Christians acted so heartless about the Jews. One day I ran across the term “fake Jews” on the internet. I felt something shaking in my spirit, and when I googled it, that shaking turned into an explosion. I found myself in a swamp of Hell. I had heard of C.I. Scofield since I got saved. But I never knew his Bible was the official recognition of the prophesies concerning the return to Israel. And I never knew the “Christian” church had attacked him fiercely for it. I got really on fire about the whole thing.. So the Lord enabled me to write a little book about Jewish Christian friendship. If I can find an e-mail contact on this site, I will get your snail mail address and send you a copy. I think you woll like it. Yeshua bless you always and thank you for this wonderful article.
so you are calling Jesus Christ a liar for he told the jews a parable that dealt with the Israel’s history in the Tenants and the Vineyard, Matthew 21:33-46. “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” Matthew 21:40-41 NKJV in case you miss the point Matthew further tells us that this particular parable was understood by all with, “Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.” Matthew 21:45-46 NKJV Christ in this parable declared that God will take away the promise land and blessing away from those who do not bear fruit and given to those who will bear fruit(gentile Christian). i do find it iron that most of the churches denomination that believe that the Church is true Israel are liturgical churches who go through the entire New Testament every three years while most Protestant churches tend to focus on their favorite passages and avoid New Testament passages that go against their theology.
You are misinformed and taking Scripture out of context. The Jews are still the Chosen people of God – NOT because they are so great – it’s because God cannot lie and He made a Covenant with them. The Church is the Church and Israel is Israel and the Tribulation period is when He deals with Israel and they are finally saved. Read your Bible, man!
i have read it completely through all 39 books of the Protestant Old Testament, 14 books of the Apocrypha, and the 27 books of the New Testament. I would suggest reading Hosea and see what God told the prophet to tell Israel through the names of Hosea’s three children. God told the prophet to tell the children of Israel that they were not his people. wait a minute if God would declare to the same people he had made a covenant with not his people then why would he not do it again? do not tell me that he works with a remnant for the remnant was the first Jewish believers in the church from the first Pentecost Sunday to the destruction of the Jewish Temple and Jerusalem in 70AD when the Church went from being a jewish sect to a distinct new religion known today as Christianity. Christ judged Israel for her many, many sins including rejecting him as their messiah during the Great Tribulation which went from spring 67AD when Nero Caesar sent Vespasian to Judea to put down a jewish revolt to the destruction late summer/early fall 70AD with the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. in fact all i did was just quote the two big points of the parable’s passage the jews declaring their own destruction and the fact the chief priest and pharisees know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Christ was talking about them. i would suggest rereading Romans 9-11 and see how St. Paul was using himself to make his case that God had his remnant already and had saved them. in fact Paul uses all just like we use it where it describes something already established like the remnant for we say thing like “i have all the apples”. does that mean i have every single apple in the world? of course not, but that i have all the apples in a particular group.
I will pray for you. You are so deceived.
Wes in my aleph tav (eth) cepher, I have 87 books, and apparently 75 or so, were in canon at some time. Thus 66 was an arbitrary decision by the RC church. I just want to say Yeshua didn’t intend nor want to start a new religion. He came to offer Himself as the Lamb of God slain before the f oundation of the world – for an enlightening analysis of this see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0GsgXlxAKo
my point is He came to restore RELATIONSHIP between His creation MAN and ELOHIYM (Father , Son, & Spirit). He continually upbraided Pharisees and Sadducees with rebukes over their religiosity. He was familiar with His revelation to the prophet “in vain they do worship Me with their lips, for their hearts are far from Me’. Focus on growth in intimacy in relationship and seek first the kingdom of GOD – don’t worry or dispute over labels – everything will be added unto you in its proper place by the Spirit
for what it’s worth Geri, I’ll add another two cents worth. Romans 11 when it talks about the vine is referring to THE VINE aka the One who said, “I AM the Vine and you are the branches, if you abide in Me …”. Paul discusses natural branches and wild ones that are grafted in. They all have one thing in common though, THEY ARE YESHUA’S , born of His Spirit as He told Nicodemus (you must be born again) and thus are in HIM. If you aren’t in Him, you’re not part of the Vine. As I said before, biblical (actually even in the “other books”), YWHW plainly speaks of His believing faithful remnant. When judgment came He always preserved the remnant. In 4 Ezra 1, YHWH is talking to Ezra, and lists to him. all the unfaithfulness of Israel, and how they refused to walk in His ways that He commanded them, (not all but a majority of them did this), how they killed the prophets, one of them on the altar itself, and continued to worship false elohiym. He then says to Ezra, that He would have gathered them as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings but they wouldn’t. so He was going to reveal Himself to other people who not having known Him, not having prophets sent, would repent and walk in His ways. Now you can say that’s not in my bible – it’s not in most so what? – Yeshua thought it good enough to quote in Matt.23 – even the part where YHWH had said to Ezra “their house shall be left desolate”. What the message is : that He is faithful to observe His word /revelation, BUT that also includes those in Deut. where He thru Moses set before them a choice which they swore to be faithful to Him, but didn’t pay close enough attention to the curses He said would come upon them in judgment if they disobeyed – though I bet they were fond of quoting the promises of the blessings part of it.
In the end, in Yeshua there is neither Jew nor Greek, nor male nor female, but instead there’s believers / redeemed by His blood / sons (daughters) of El Elyon, the Most High, and servants as the apostles were, to their LORD of LORDS and King of Kings. If you haven’t repented of your sin(s) and submitted to His LORDSHIP and are still walking in darkness it doesn’t matter what gender, race, position you hold, you are still lost in your sins.,
Nowhere does Jesus say that he is giving anything to the gentiles. In fact he stated in Matt.15:24 I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He also called the gentiles dogs in Matt.15:26. Gentiles are to be blessed through Israel. Not instead of Israel.
Amen …and what did Yeshua /Jesus read from ? It was not a new testament Bible , it was from the Torah , so did the disciples and the myriads of new followers .
Jesus himself tells us in Matt. 15:24 that he was sent only to Israel and further calls gentiles dogs in verse 26. I would say that those are pretty direct quotes from Jesus and not a parable which was a message to the Pharisees and chief priests (leadership). Time and coming events will show you the folly of your view of scripture. God is faithful.
Reblogged this on Under The Shadow of His Wing.
Geri, thank you for another excellent, well-thought out article. It’s a travesty that the majority of churches are RT now and that Scripture in those churches takes a back seat to everything else. There are some very large, popular churches that don’t consider themselves denominational that are staunch teachers of RT and they are reaching out to a whole new generation with their lies. May the Lord come quickly!
Shalom!
just because a church’s leadership does not believe in what the Scripture they read says does not mean that Scripture takes a back seat. the Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, United Methodist, and AME churches read more Scripture every Sunday than even John MacArthur, who is consider among Evangelicals the premier Bible teaching pastor, reads. John MacArthur admitted it took him 42 years to preach through the entire New Testament with multiple services a week. John MacArthur admitted that his average sermon passage was 4-5 verses while i know of just one shorter liturgical Gospel reading, which comes from the sermon on the mount where Christ tells his disciples are salt and light. that does not include the non-gospel New Testament reading, responsive Psalm, and Old Testament readings.
And just because a church reads Bible passages doesn’t mean that they believe that what they are reading is true nor does it mean that they are accurately teaching it. The vast majority of churches today use Bible readings as jumping off points to teach about how we can live a successful and prosperous life. For them the Bible has become nothing more than a self-help book filled with examples for daily living. Much of Scripture in these churches are also classified as allegory, which is a death knell to accurate Biblical teaching and understanding.
tell me then why there has not been a jewish temple in Jerusalem since 70AD if preterists take its destruction as allegory? i find it interesting that a preterist view is somehow allegory, but cities without walls means they are weaponless is somehow literal interpretation. or how about how does bows and arrows really means rocket launchers and bombs? somehow nuclear weapons and blackhawk helicopters are found in the Bible taking the text literal? i have never seen those terms found anywhere in my Bible. i would suggest looking up what allegory actually means for it does not mean that events in a story did not happen at all just that there is a deeper meaning for parables are allegorical. in fact if you really get down to the juice of the matter the four gospels were written with allegorical meanings for that is why John is so different from the synoptics, and each synoptic differs in how and what they tell about Christ.
Wes, Wes, Wes – you’re hung up on theologies and religiosity – we’re told in the scriptures, to not engage in vain and foolish discussions which profit nothing good, and that’s precisely what you’re doing because you feel you are so right that everyone else has to see things your way. I pray the Ruach Ha Qodesh will do to you what Paul prayed in Ephesians 1
Shalom and blessings
Christ was not calling the gentile dogs, but quoting teachings of the Jews about the gentiles. remember he goes on to praise her faith after her response. the jews rejected their divine calling to be a light to gentiles, and instead kept the light to themselves. you need to remember how Christ multiple times in Luke beginning in chapter 9 pronounced judgment on the nation of Israel for her many, many sins. Matthew’s gospel brings these condemnations into one continuous proclamation in Matthew 23 claiming that it would be better on the already judged pagan cities than for towns of Israel.
So then God rejected his own son. JESUS was born a Jew, died and resurrected as a Jew. Jesus is not and has NEVER been a christian he is still Jewish. If ou believe God is all powerful and knows everything to the nd of end of the age God would not have had his son born jewish and these promises were to people God said were after his own heart. If he can break his covenant with Israel what makes you think he will not break it with the church especially in today’s apostate church. I believe God is honorable and will not break his promises. You better hope so as well since the apostate church are condemning people to hell right and left. I also notice a verse you did not mention. I will bless thee who bless you and curse them who curse you. Perfect example is USA and this admin. 19 trillion from 6 trillion when this traitor came to office. Pretty much everything the en bible condemns is now allowed
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Wesley I suggest you read the end of Ezekiel 40-48, Also Zechariah 14:16-27, you’ll notice a 3rd temple is going to be established also from the end of Zechariah any nation that fails to go to Israel in the Millennium reign is cursed with no rain. Notice that during the Millennium reign there is a Levitical priesthood of the line of Zadok. It is clear that God is not finished with the Jews at all.
Reblogged this on Absolute Truth from the Word of God and commented:
Is YOUR church a Replacement Theology church? How would you know? Well, a hallmark sign of this kind of church is that leadership NEVER speaks of Bible Prophecy or of Israel. They stay away from Revelation and End Times teaching because they believe that the church replaced Israel as God’s Chosen.
WHAT DO YOU THINK….THAT THE APOSTLES WERE A BUNCH OF ITALIANS?
Cornelius the Centurion was!
I forgot to paste the quote……
“WHAT DO YOU THINK….THAT THE APOSTLES WERE A BUNCH OF ITALIANS?”