The Previous Section: One Body, One Bride, One Church, One Head
As a Christian, you are Israel, a royal priesthood. The Biblical language describing a reconciliation of the church into one entity, is due to the realization that there was at one point, a schism in the first place.
The view that Israel and Gentiles come from distinct origins does not align with the whole of scripture, which repeatedly pits two houses of God in opposition. These two once derived from the same tree – the 12 tribes. So Israel (God’s spiritual people) split within itself and became reconciled through Christ. The gentiles do not come from nowhere to be reconciled to Israel, they were the lost sheep, who were once part of God’s flock. For a sheep to become lost, it must have first been part of the flock. The Christian is of the 12 spiritual tribes, ultimately known only to God. Christ is the spiritual head of the two houses, and together, Israel comprises the SPIRITUAL body of the Church. Prophecy states that these two houses ultimately appoint for themselves one head, who is Christ. It is through Christ, the House of Israel received mercy when there was no mercy, and the House of Judah is again called sons of God, after being declared Lo-Ammi, Not my people (see Staggered Judgements). And it is Christ who is appointed as the head of the true Church, who is, again, spiritual Israel.
“Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Hosea 1:11 ESV
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV
There is one church, Israel, and it is not of the flesh. Are there some who will be saved by God for the sake of their forefathers (in other words, genetic ties)? Yes, of course, but that is known only to God, and it’s His prerogative to do whatever He pleases (we are the potter’s vessels). We are not to put trust in our genetic lineage to save us.
Consider Paul’s writing to the church in Corinth. He says, “Consider Israel after the flesh,” in 1 Corinthians 10:18. He makes the distinction that one must look at those who represent a physical Israel. In other words, that there is a spiritual Israel is clearly understood from this verse, or Paul would not have made such a distinction. He would have just said, “Israel,” if he understood there to be a spiritual split between a new gentile church and genetic Israel.
“Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?”
1 Corinthians 10:18 KJV
Again, ask yourself why he would make such a distinction.
If you are God’s bride, you are Israel. A royal priesthood. And given what we have seen with regard to Christ’s mission to reconcile the lost 10 tribes into the 12, our ambassadorship as a royal priesthood takes on added relevance.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:16-20 ESV
To the Church in Philippi, Paul goes on show that Israel was meant as a spiritual people, and he states that, ‘the circumcision’ has nothing to do with the flesh, but is an act meant to be of the Spirit, from the heart. This seems to echo Deut 10:15-16, “15 Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” (Deuteronomy 10:15-16 ESV)
2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God[b] and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
Philippians 3:2-3 ESV
As understood by the apostles, within this spiritual Israel, there is to be peace, and no longer division. They are reconciling one new church with one belief system. Through Christ, the legalism of Judaism and the grace granted to gentiles are harmoniously fused. They are to worship through Christ in one Spirit, with one accord. Paul places this emphasis on peace and unity because he is inferring that there is discord and division within his day. Paul was dealing with numerous dynamics at play, such as the importance of the written vs oral law, the newness of Jewish customs to the gentiles that were being brought in to the fold, and the competing pagan religions sowing their platonic and stoic philosophies.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord , one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:1-6 ESV
Both houses of Christian Israel are known by faith. In Galations 3, Paul demonstrates that God’s people (Israel) are simply those who are elected through faith in the God of Abraham. God knows who the scattered are, no lineage or human tracking is necessary, it is a spiritual blessing of faith, not one of flesh known to man. Christ came through the lineage of David as prophesied. There will be no other, and therefore the importance of the flesh (genetics) ceased with Christ.
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Galatians 3:7-9 ESV
Paul closes Galatians with a warning to avoid the influence of anyone who still believes that circumcision (following the Talmud and Judaism) is a means of salvation. We are not saved by works, even if the works are from scripture, and especially the man-made works added in. One cannot, by any means, boast in the flesh for salvation. Importantly, he distinguishes those who live by this rule as the Israel of God. Again, just as he distinguished an Israel after the flesh in 1 Cor 10:18, why would he distinguish an Israel of God in Gal 6:16, and not just simply state Israel? This is because to his understanding, there was an Israel of God, and and Israel of the flesh, and they are NOT THE SAME.
11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation
[now we arrive at a most important scripture, for Paul now distinguishes those who walk according to the flesh from those who are Israel, a new creation, walking by the ‘rule’ or straightness/standard (G2583, κανων – canon) of the spirit]
16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
Galations 6:11-16 ESV
Paul seems to reference Ps 125:4-5 in Gal 6:16, which warns people to be on the lookout for those who turn away from a faithful heart, for they are not God’s Israel. In the final blessing of Gal 6:16, Paul references the rule that God’s Israel walks by in Psalms 125:5, where we are given a rule, or canon/standard, or a straightness, to live by faith, as opposed to a crookedness that lives by fleshly desires. In Psalms 125:5, we read that the world may put its faith in physical mountains for protection (like governments/nations of the world, such as those found in the book of Revelation), but God provides a spiritual hedge, or mountain for us to place our trust in:
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore. 3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong 4Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts! 5 But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers! Peace be upon Israel!
Psalms 125:1-5 ESV
This blessing upon Israel, as those who live by the standard, is echoed by Paul in Galatians 6:16. We can read various translations which render the verse as the true Israel of God, which again distinguishes it from the Israel after the flesh (see 1 Cor 10:18). Also, Paul’s mission was to the gentiles, and he is not saying, peace upon the gentiles. He never distinguishes a distinct new class of God’s chosen as the gentile church, which many believe to exist today. Paul believed the gentiles coming in, were grafted into the Israel of God. Observe the different translations of Gal 6:16:
- New Living Translation (NLT): May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God (better translation, a continuation of God’s true people, Israel).
- New International Version (NIV): Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.
- Christian Standard Bible (CSB): May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy even to the Israel of God!
- Revised Standard Version (RSV): Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God.
The gentiles are those brought in, or grafted in, who were once far off. Peace upon them. We see the same blessing in Isaiah 57, where Isaiah says the Lord will bless the near and far of His elect.
18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, 19 creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him.”
Isaiah 57:18-19 ESV
The near house of Judah and the far house of Israel are the true Israel. They are reconciled as the body of Christ within God’s singular church. Paul expands on this concept in his address to the church in Ephesus, where he references those who are ‘far’ being made ‘near’ through Christ. This is again, something we see throughout scripture (See Dan 9:7, Is 33:13, Is 45:18-20, Is 57:16-19, Zech 6:15, and Acts 2:39). This passage in Ephesians 2 summarizes beautifully the concepts that Israel is a spiritual people, not those who put their trust in the circumcision of the flesh (those in Judaism), but those who have faith of the heart. It also states there are two groups now reconciled in peace (see Hos 1:11, Rom 11:17). These groups are reconciled after removing commandments expressed in man-made ordinances (Judaism, or the Talmudic oral law, see Mark 7:6-12) and furthermore, that the penal/sacrificial aspects of the written law are fulfilled in Christ. There is no longer jealousy and harassment between the groups (see Isaiah 11:13, Gal 2:12). This new Commonwealth of Israel will reside in a New Jerusalem which is built on the foundation of the apostles, with the gates comprising the 12 tribes:
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision”by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by[e] the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:11-22 ESV
From Romans 11:25, Paul states that he does not want us to be ignorant of the mystery of the unification of the north and south in Christ, “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob” (Romans 11:25-26 ESV). Now in Ephesians 3:6, he tells us what this mystery is directly:
“For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Ephesians 3:1-6 ESV
With this understanding in mind, read again the parable of the Prodigal Son. The two sons are the two houses. The one who left is the northern house, Ephraim, the one who stayed is the southern house, Judah. The younger Ephraim is scattered abroad and lives like the gentiles. He comes to his senses and returns, but his elder brother Judah is jealous upon his return. The father reassures him that the celebration is for the return of the lost.
“And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’
Luke 15:11-32 ESV
You are Israel. You were lost, but now are found as the fulfillment of prophecy. The Christian church is not some new concept never spoken of in OT writings. They are the fulfillment of the lost 10 tribes returning to the Israel of God. A spiritual Israel built on faith, not works, as was always intended.
But what do we do when we are found? Are there some guidelines to Christianity or are we so free that we can define for ourselves what sin is? What is sin if everything is by the spirit? Is ‘loving your neighbor’ free to be interpreted however one likes?
We can now return to the remainder of Galatians 3 as we segue into the next section on what the modern Christian should do with their faith. If we are Israel, what role does the law have? How are we to live? When God commands certain statutes to Israel to be kept forever, and one realizes they are indeed Israel, what are they to do with those statutes? It would seem they still apply. So it seems one is left with two choices. Either the law was completely abolished, or only those aspects which Christ completed are changed. Did the NT writers still observe the law, despite the realization that faith is what matters for salvation? It is my contention that works of law do not bring about salvation, but rather, are evidence of salvation through faith. The law was given to a stiffnecked people who were not living by faith (Ex 32:9, Ex 33:3-5, Ex 34:9, Deut 10:16, Deut 29:19, Jer 3:17, Jer 23:17, Acts 7:51). The added transgressions and their penalties were necessary to put plainly in black and white what sin was since the moral compass was damaged. This also brought the penalty of death to sin. That is, until Christ, the offspring, who came to abolish those penalties for those who live by faith, according to the true spirit. Those whose moral compass was in keeping with God’s intent. Does it mean that through Christ one can now break the law? No, it means that if you are truly in Christ, you don’t want to break the law, and if you do, although you may be condemned to death under the letter of the law, your wrongs are made right through Him. For the good works of the law are not contrary to God, but God wants to make clear that it was never about the works themselves. In Galatians 3, Paul states that the law was a guardian meant to keep Israel on the right track until Christ. In Christ, your old heart of stone is now made flesh, and your desire for the good works of the law become paramount. You want to fulfill them, not because you’ll be penalized if you don’t, but because you love God. The new covenant is put in place as though through an intermediary (like a lawyer between parties, adding to an existing contract). Paul makes it clear in this scripture, however, that the analogy of a separate lawyer intermediary is problematic, for the intermediary is also God, for God is one. Paul asks if salvation is through the law? He answers no, it was never about laws, it was about a contrite heart and faith in God. The law showed us sin and defined it until Christ could come and change Israel’s hearts through the Holy Spirit. And if you are in Christ, you are Abraham’s offspring, Israel, and an heir according to the promise.
17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. 19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Galatians 3:17-29 ESV
So if we are the Israel of God, what of the law? Where does it fit?
Next Section: What are we to do?