For those who doubt God’s eternal call to Israel, Paul asks: “Has God (permanently) cast away (rejected) His (Israelite) people? God forbid. ” God has promised to preserve a remnant of Israel in this age whom He refers to as “… the elect according to His grace” (Rom. 11:1,5). Notice that the previous chapter is dedicated to Paul’s wish for Israel, not Gentiles, stating in verse one: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God is for ISRAEL is that they might be SAVED.” Paul then used the next 20 verses telling the Jews (Church of Rome) why the vast majority of Israel had missed the mark. In chapter 11 he makes cer- tain that the church understands that Israel is still God’s people whom He will draw back to Himself at the end of the age. As was discussed in detail earlier, the process of drawing His Israelite people to Himself, which began some 2000 years ago, is recorded in Romans 11:7-27 in the discussion concerning the two trees–His good olive tree (the church) and Satan’s wild olive tree (all Gentile/heathen relig- ions). Paul reminded the church of Rome that God had not rejected His people. He had “blinded” those Israelites (mostly Jews) who had rejected Him at that point while sending His gospel to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel whom He had scattered among the Gentiles. He would have those “sheep” share His light with the biological Gentiles among whom they lived. In this way His gospel would go through- out the world as His witness. This spreading of His Truth has been in fulfillment of His prophecy found in Matthew 24:14: “… this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.” In the previous verse God said that in order to be saved one must endure (persecution vs 9-12) to the end.  Notice in this prophecy that it would be THIS gospel, not man’s version of it, that His ministers would teach and preach. The Counterfeit Church (Catholicism/ Protestantism) has hundreds of different versions of God’s gospel Truth. Each version is believed by its proponents to be the “right” version proclaimed by the “right” church, denomination, faith, etc. If God is right, all of them are wrong because there is only one true gospel/faith (Eph. 4:5). Note that in the Bible God always refers to His Word as “THE gospel,” “THIS gospel” or “MY gospel”–singular in every case. This ministry is based on the belief that He is right–that there is only one true gospel that specifically details His one true Will which must be obeyed in order to be saved. The so-called Christian world bases its hundreds of conflicting, competing, contradicting ministries on the belief that He is wrong–that man has the right to reject God’s will and to replace it with his will(s), which he can obey when and if he wants to because he is already saved. Someone is wrong. Once again, the church points the finger at God.

That God is calling out to rebellious Israel (all 12 tribes) to return to Him is brought out in Romans 9:23-26. Here Paul quotes God Who said through Hosea that He would one day call those who were not His people (scattered Israel), “My people,” and those who were not beloved, “My beloved” and those who were not a people “the sons of God.” This statement was taken from Hosea 1:10 and 2:23 where God makes clear that He is speaking to and about ISRAEL, telling them that He would reject them for a season (Jer. 23:3-8), but that in the “last days” He would draw them back to Himself (Jer. 31:31-33/Heb. 8:8-12). He would not do this for their sakes, but for the sake of  Abraham, Jacob and Issac–the fathers (Rom. 11:15-29). This gathering of Israel is taking place now in the forming of His New Covenant Church.

In Romans 11:1,2 Paul makes sure that we know that he is writing to and about “His (God’s) people”– Israelites who had left God and had embraced Gentile religions. All–Jews, Gentilized Israelites and biological Gentiles–who are grafted into God’s tree constitute His New Covenant Church today. These are those who, with faith in Jesus, obey the Ten Commandment Law, referred to as “works of faith” in James 2.

The whole of professing Christendom proclaims that true Christianity is a Gentile religious system. God says otherwise to those with eyes to see and a heart (mind) to believe and obey what he/she sees. If the Lord had intended His church to be a Gentile institution He would have chosen Gentiles to be lights to Israel; Jesus would have been a Gentile and would have declared that salvation is of the Gentiles. Scrip- ture proves that He did the exact opposite. Israelites are lights to the Gentiles (Isa. 60:3;Mat. 5:14); Jesus came from the tribe of Judah (Mat. 2;6) and declared that salvation is of the Jews (Jn. 4:22) who had held onto the Law throughout the centuries. Law-keeping Jews need only embrace Jesus Christ to have the hope of salvation in this age. Because he had kept the Law all of his life the rich Jew needed to do only one thing in order to be placed on the path to salvation–deal with his pride (Mat. 10:17-22). Jesus told the Jewish Lawyer that to inherit eternal life he had to obey the Law (Lk. 10:25-28). The spiritual equation that produces salvation is: obedience to the Law + faith in Jesus = eternal life. The Jews are lacking in the second half of God’s equation. The Institutional Church lacks the first half. Each is “… a cake not turned (half baked)” (Hos. 7:8).

It is at this point that we will begin to delve deeper into the subject that, when presented publicly causes great anger among Counterfeit Church members who have been taught by Satan through their false prophets that Christianity is a Gentile institution, that Israel has been permanently rejected by God, that those called “Jews” today constitute the entire 12 Tribes of Israel, and that for a Jew to receive eternal life he need only embrace the teachings, doctrines and rituals of whichever Gentile sect that satisfies his religious needs. And he must reject the fact that the twelve-tribed House of Israel was, is and always will be God’s chosen people–His church (the “Israel of God”)–EXACTLY AS HE SAID. In order to show God’s choice in this regard, we will study numerous Scriptures which reveal, in God’s own Words, the fact that Israel remains the “apple of His eye” to this day (Zach. 2:8), and that anyone who touches that apple touches Him. Nowhere does God say this about Gentiles. To be continued. L.J.