Who Are God's People?
Spiritual or National Israel?



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Romans 9:6-8   But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they [are] not all Israel who [are] of Israel, (7) nor [are they] all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." (8) That is, those who [are] the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

Romans 9:27   And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,

Romans 2:28-29   For he is not a Jew who [is one] outwardly, nor [is] circumcision that which [is] outward in the flesh; (29) but [he is] a Jew who [is one] inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise [is] not from men but from God.

Romans 4:16   Therefore [it is] of faith that [it might be] according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

Galatians 3:7   Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
Galatians 3:16   Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ.
Galatians 3:28-29   There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (29) And if you [are] Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:8-9   And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." (9) So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

Galatians 4:21-31   Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? (22) For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. (23) But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, (24) which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar (25) for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children (26) but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. (27) For it is written: "REJOICE, O BARREN, YOU WHO DO NOT BEAR! BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR! FOR THE DESOLATE HAS MANY MORE CHILDREN THAN SHE WHO HAS A HUSBAND." (28) Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. (29) But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. (30) Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? "CAST OUT THE BONDWOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREEWOMAN." (31) So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

Jeremiah 3:8   "Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.
Deuteronomy 24:1-4   "When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts [it] in her hand, and sends her out of his house, (2) "when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man's [wife], (3) "[if] the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts [it] in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, (4) "[then] her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that [is] an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you [as] an inheritance.

Matthew 3:7-9   But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, (9) "and do not think to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as [our] father." For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

Acts 26:22-23   "Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come (23) "that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the [Jewish] people and to the Gentiles."

John 10:14-16   "I am the good shepherd; and I know My [sheep], and am known by My own. (15) "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. (16) "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock [and] one shepherd.

Ephesians 2:11-16   Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands (12) that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from 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 both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, (15) having abolished in His flesh the enmity, [that is], the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man [from] the two, [thus] making peace, (16) and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
Ephesians 2:19-21   Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, (20) having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, (6) that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
Ephesians 3:5-6   ...the mystery of Christ, (5) which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: (6) that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
"apostles and  prophets" being one foundation points to one way of salvation throughout history [pre-cross & post-cross] - faith in Christ's finished work on the cross. Thus emphasizing one flock - Jew & Gentile believers [spiritual Israel].}

Ezekiel 16:3   "and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: "Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
{This verse also shows the concept of "one flock"(Jews & Gentiles). The father of the nation of Israel, Abraham, was actually a Gentile(Genesis 11:31). God chose(elected) Abraham from out of the whole world and made him into a great, blessed nation(Israel)(Genesis 12:1-2). These facts help to illustrate that the nation of Israel is used as a picture of the church, God's chosen people, as Romans 9:8 clearly shows - (Romans 9:8 -  That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.). Throughout the entire Old Testament God is showing us that He elects(chooses) a people for Himself, using national Israel as the illustration of this fact. "The children of the promise are counted as the seed"; God's chosen(elected) people is spiritual Israel(the church, the body of Christ), not national Israel.}

1 Corinthians 10:1-4   Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, (2) all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, (3) all ate the same spiritual food, (4) and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.