I don't see that in the scriptures.
Do you have your eyes closed? <
smile> Look at this verse carefully. And this is the New Testament, of course:
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by his Son..." (Hebrews 1:1-2)
From that, can you not see... assuming you have your eyes open and can read... <
smile> ...that He is putting us all, whether before Christ or after, in the same.... "boat"... and therefore saying that God has one people ~ His Israel, His household ~ and not two? If not, consider what Paul says in Romans concerning Israel:
"For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God." (Romans 2:28-29)
"...not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but 'Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.' This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring." (Romans 9:6-8)
"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. And in this way all Israel will be saved..." (Romans 11:25-26)
Now if that's not enough... <
smile> ...consider also what this same Paul says in Ephesians 2:11-22:
"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 ~ 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. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, Who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility 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, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in Whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit."
I see God having one plan for Israel and another for the church of the body.
So, God surely does have one plan... and one only; there is no need for a second plan, or a "plan B" <smile> ...but God's people ~ His Israel ~ now is much bigger than just ethnic Jews. If you are a Christian, born again of the Holy Spirit, than you too are a child of the promise through Isaac and ~ even though a Gentile (like me) ~ part of God's Israel and one of His true Jews. What we now refer to as Christ's Church is
the New Testament expression of God's Israel, which now
includes Gentile believers as well as ethnic Jewish believers from any time previous up to today and until Jesus returns. What Paul says in Romans 2:28-29 is not just true from the time he wrote that forward but
was always true, even in Old Testament times, and
always will be.
I don't that the church is the true Israel.
Hmmmm.... well not "the true Israel," but again,
the New Testament expression of God's Israel. Which was never ~ never, even in Old Testament times ~ based on ethnicity. All children of the promise, through Isaac, are of God and included in God's Israel.
I know a few verses can be taken out of context to suggest such a thing, but the overall message of scripture does not support that doctrine.
Well, again, according to the exact wording of your statement above, "I don't that the church is the true Israel" ...for anyone to say "the church is the true Israel" is really a misstatement... insinuating that the church and Israel are two different sets of people ~ which seems to be your position but is in error ~ and that the church has
replaced Israel as Israel, which is... non-sensical, really. The way it should be understood is in the sense of "Old Israel" and "New Israel," where the Israel of old (before the coming of Jesus) consisted of ethnic Israel (with a few Gentiles sprinkled in, which was a foreshadowing of a greater Israel to come) but now God's Israel is
expanded and now includes people of all ethnicities... Gentiles as well as ethnic Jews... because of the coming of Jesus.
While there is a lot the church can learn from Ezekiel, Ezekiel was sent to Israel, not the church. Given that this age was a secret until God revealed it to Paul (Rom 16:25 et. al.).
See above. I don't disagree with what you say here, but as you well know, God is the true Author of Scripture. So, even though Ezekiel probably may not have realized it, what he said ~ quoting God as he did in Ezekiel 11:19-20 and 36:26-27 ~ was directly relevant to what we call the New Testament Church. What God says through Ezekiel,
"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you..." is directly relevant to even all of us Gentiles today, directly correlating to what Paul says to Gentiles in Ephesians 2:4-8 ~
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ ~ by grace you have been saved ~ and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God..."
Ezekiel had no idea of the church.
Well, right, the term "church" is not found anywhere in the Old Testament. But, yet again, is
the New Testament expression of God's true Israel (and the Israelites of old are not excluded). So this objection is irrelevant.
God makes us do good works?
No. He changes our
hearts ~ gives us a new spirit, which connects this with what God says in Ezekiel 11 and 36 ~ and thereby causes us to be born again... and this is what changes
us, changes our
disposition toward Him. So, then, our wills ~ yes, our free will ~ becomes to do the will of our Father in heaven rather than our former father the devil.
Did we lose our free will at the new birth?
In the sense that you're talking about, no, of course not. But... and this may throw you into a tizzy of sorts (kidding about that)... there is a sense...
a certain sense, Rich... in which we don't have free will at all, ever. Paul addresses this in Romans 6 when he says that at any given time, we are "slaves to unrighteousness" or "slaves to righteousness," the latter of which we are only if we have been born again of God.
"Free will" can be talked about in two very different senses:
If we talk about it in the human, experiential sense, our will is always free. Yes, we make our own decisions about anything and everything, and freely so.
But if we talk about it in the spiritual sense, in the sense of our either not yet born again of the Spirit or having been born again of the Spirit ~ so either being dead in our sin or born again and alive to God ~ our will is never free in that sense, but always either to do the will of our father the devil or to do the will of our Father God, respectively. But again, this is in the sense of our either not having or having this new spirit put into us by God, which is His doing. And if we are born again, we will walk, then, according to the Spirit, and no longer according to the flesh.
So many disregard... or don't realize... the latter. And this seems to be the case with you. And, if so, you are surely not alone, even in this forum. But still, it is what it is.
Grace and peace to you.
