Knowing Who You Are In Christ

Our inclusion in God's covenant is by faith in Jesus Christ, the only true Israelite/Jew. If you are covered by the shed blood of Christ, you are God's people.

God's covenant requires one to keep His commandments and obey His voice. Jesus is the only one who has done that. A covenant requires a faithful covenant keeper.

Jesus is Israel. We (believers) are all Israel by faith. See Matthew 2:13-15 and Hosea 11:1.

Matt 2:13-15 (speaking of Jesus) is fulfillment of Hosea 11:1.

Being grafted in is not replacing.

Thankful for God’s mercy on all of us. The Lord keeps EVERY promise He makes to His people.

We are all in need of a Savior; none of us will ever be “good enough” to be in the presence of a righteous and perfect God without the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Matt 2:13-15 (speaking of Jesus) is fulfillment of Hosea 11:1. Hosea 11:1 11 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. Matthew 2:13-15 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Joshua 21:45 - There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

There failed not ought of any good thing

Not only every good thing in general, but every part and particular of that good thing; that, with all that was included in it, or were appendages to it, or circumstances of it:

which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel;

as of their deliverance out of Egypt, and passage through the Red sea and wilderness, with all conveniences for them therein; so of their passage through Jordan, success of their arms, the conquest of their enemies, possession of their land, a land flowing with milk and honey:

all came to pass;

exactly, precisely, and punctually, even everything relative to their temporal and spiritual good: so all that God promises to his spiritual Israel, with respect to their present comfort or everlasting happiness, all is exactly fulfilled, all his promises in Christ are yea and amen.

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Exodus 19:5 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; Jeremiah 7:3 3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.

There are many promises of God in His Word. The hard truth is there are conditions.

The examples given in Exodus and Jeremiah clearly sound like conditions. Conditions none of us will ever be able to stand before God and say we accomplished them.

Christ is the only one who obeyed and kept the commandments. This is why it is only through Christ's shed blood any of us are righteous and able to stand before the Father. The entire Bible points to Jesus and that we need Him because of our sin problem.

Galatians 3:16 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. Galatians 3:28-29 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.

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Romans 11:17–24 where Paul compares the Jewish nation to an olive tree. He says that natural branches are broken off and unnatural branches were grafted in, meaning that Jews by birth were unbelieving and so cut off from the covenant of promise; and Gentiles who were believing were grafted in and saved by the covenant of promise. Verses 17–18 are crucial for us:

17-18 “If some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, [then] do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.” Neither Jews nor Gentiles have priority in how they are saved: both are saved by faith in Christ. Ethnicity is not decisive for salvation. There is no merit. We are all sinners that need Jesus Christ.

John 15:1-6 I Am the True Vine 15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

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There are no separate covenants for different groups of people. God’s promises are for all of His children. Getting Israel wrong had me confused for a long time about EVERYTHING. To God be the glory when He reveals His truth! God’s timing is supernatural! Such a simple teaching. The entire Bible points to God’s plan for all of us.

Have you ever read the Old Testament and noticed how many times God includes the sojourners that are with Israel?! It's amazing!

Repent and believe the Gospel. The great Commission is for ALL men. No nation or person gets a pass because of their DNA or what country they reside in.

Do you provoke Israel to jealousy by falsely calling them the "elect of God" or by directly showing them that they are indeed 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 as Jesus himself did?

Seems like this needs to be repeated every time things happen in Israel.

2 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 11:3 3 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵.

Indeed, all of Israel will be saved. Romans 9:6

“It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.”

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If you believe God's promises are unconditional based on the Scripture presented in this article:

What is the Davidic covenant? (2 Sam 7, 1 Chr 17:11-14 and 6:16, 2 Sam 7:10, 2 Sam 7:12-13, Matt 21:9, Jeremiah 23:5; 30:9; Isaiah 9:7; 11:1; Luke 1:32, 69; Acts 13:34; and Revelation 3:7)

I humbly and lovingly ask some rhetorical questions:

Am I trying to make the Scripture fit the theology I think I know or have been taught?

How important is this?

Is it salvational?

How important is knowing who you are in Christ?

How important is it that God's Word told us DNA does not matter when we stand before Him? How many folks have end time prophecy and timelines wrong and will be looking for signs instead of looking at Jesus? Didn't Christ fulfill Daniel 9? The scripture we all use for end time timelines? Could that be how numbers are "matching up"?

Satan tried to use the Scriptures against Christ and he'll do the same to us. Could God allow man to engineer Bible prophecy to deceive people?

I do believe these are all valid questions to ask. How many of us are saying, "this or that" has to happen before He comes?

How much was fulfilled in 70 A.D.?

How much of it is prophetic parallels?

Is it possible Satan can deceive even the very elect of God?

Could he change times and seasons to make prophetic parallels fit HIS (the enemy's) end time "timeline" in order to usher in an anti-Christ reign? Or to distract believers from making sure the oil in their lamp is full?

This gives people the mentality that they have more time and can put off receiving Christ. He will come like a thief to those watching for signs instead of watching for Him. Yes, we are to keep watch, of course! I'm not saying to not keep watch. I'm just saying to watch out for those LYING signs and wonders.

The enemy will go to any length to deceive us is what I'm trying to point out here.

It will be like the Days of Noah and Lot when Christ returns, per Christ (Luke 17). In the Days of Noah and Lot, God's people were protected, not removed. There are so many examples of God's protection over his people during tribulation. Sure, they had some hard times, but they were protected from the plagues and things of the like!

He made all things new! In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away! All of God's people (Israel by faith) will be saved. All of God's promises are and will be fulfilled.

If you've gotten this far, I encourage you to read the note shared below, 'The New Covenant'. It took me a very long time to come to these conclusions and I still wrestle with it and try not to be dogmatic! The way I see it, I am preparing to ENDURE no matter what.

I am looking UP and waiting for Jesus to straighten out all of our theology! No matter the timing of everything. What I do know is He's coming back and I want to be ready.

Further Reading:

The New Covenant – A Closer Look on Who is the Apple of God’s Eye, the Noahide Laws, and Israel

Another Jesus?

How to Become a Follower of Christ (not religious!)