\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Audio\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\tText: Galatians 6:12-18<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. I ran across someone claiming that there is no spiritual Israel, that all references to Israel\nare to the physical nation.\n A. From this position, he claimed that the kingdom was postponed<\/i> because of\nIsrael’s unbelief.\n B. He claims that physical Israel doesn’t exist today but will return in the future. At\nthat time God will resume His dealings with Israel and its covenant\n
C. So let’s look at the Scriptures to see if this idea is supported or countered<\/p>\n
II. Jesus’ kingdom is spiritual<\/p>\n
A. Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world – John 18:36<\/p>\n
B. After telling the parable of the vineyard workers – Matthew 21:40-45<\/p>\n
1. The leading Jews realized that the parable was about them.<\/p>\n 2. They realized the conclusion Jesus emphasized: the kingdom would be\ntaken from them and given to other people.\n 3. They lost the kingdom because they rejected the Messiah due to their\nunbelief\n
C. Not all are Israel who physically descend from Jacob – Romans 9:6-8<\/p>\n 1. It is not the physical descendants but the children of the promise are\ncounted as descendants\n 2. If Israel is not defined by the physical descendants, then what do we call\nthem? Spiritual Israel makes a good contrasting designation.\n
III. What defined physical Israel has changed<\/p>\n
A. Who is truly a Jew? – Romans 2:28-29<\/p>\n
1. Being a Jew not about physical circumcision<\/p>\n 2. A true Jew is one who has circumcised his heart (removed sin) –\nColossians 2:11-12\n
3. Paul is talking about Christians who have been baptized!<\/p>\n
4. We are the true circumcision – Philippians 3:2-3<\/p>\n
5. Physical circumcision has no meaning now – Galatians 5:6<\/p>\n 6. Our only boast is not in the physical but in the death of Christ – Galatians\n6:14-16\n a. Some wish to claim that two groups are referred to in Galatians\n6:16\n
b. “Them” refers to those who walk by “this rule.” What rule?<\/p>\n (1) Boasting in cross of Christ by which we are crucified to the\nworld and become a new creation\n
(2) A reference to baptism – Romans 6:3-4<\/p>\n
c. Blessing on these people and on “the Israel of God”<\/p>\n
(1) The only time this phrase is used is here in Galatians 6 <\/p>\n
(2) Who is the Israel of God?<\/p>\n (3) Notice it a designation for a group. The blessing is on the\nindividuals and the group as a whole. In other words, the\nchurch.\n d. The man who claimed there is no spiritual Israel wants “Israel of\nGod” to refer to physical Israel, but to make this work\ngrammatically, he had to redefine “those who walk by this rule” to\nbe the new creation which he claimed to be the church. Therefore,\nhe has two groups receiving the blessing: the church and physical\nIsrael.\n (1) The problem is that the pronouns don’t work. The pronouns\nare in the plural. We are talking about a group of\nindividuals, not a single collection.\n
B. A change in capital<\/p>\n
1. There is present Jerusalem – Galatians 4:25<\/p>\n
2. There is the Jerusalem above – Galatians 4:26<\/p>\n
a. That is a reference to heaven – a spiritual realm<\/p>\n
3. We are children of promise and not of the flesh – Galatians 4:28-30<\/p>\n
4. Christians are of Jerusalem above, not physical Jerusalem – Galatians 4:31<\/p>\n
C. A change in priesthood<\/p>\n 1. Physical Israel had a priesthood – the descendants of Aaron – Numbers\n3:3,12\n 2. But it was prophesied that the priesthood would change and include\nGentiles – Isaiah 66:18-24\n 3. Christians are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and God’s own special\npeople – I Peter 2:9-10\n a. Each designation alluded to physical Israel but are now applied to\nthe church\n
4. Christians are made kings and priests – Revelation 1:6; 5:10<\/p>\n
D. A change in citizens<\/p>\n
1. Many nations will join themselves to the Lord – Zechariah 2:11<\/p>\n
2. Iniquity will be removed in one day – Zechariah 3:9-10<\/p>\n
3. God will save them. They are His flock – Zechariah 9:16<\/p>\n
4. The Lord will be king over all the earth – Zechariah 14:9<\/p>\n 5. The separation of Israel from the Gentiles will no longer exist – Ephesians\n2:11-16\n
IV. Why was there a change?<\/p>\n A. The physical Israelites were broken off because of their unbelief. Gentiles were\ngrafted in because of their belief – Romans 11:20\n B. However, if physical Israelites start believing, they can be grafted back in –\nRomans 11:23\n
1. Note that it is conditional. Not all physical Israelites will believe.<\/p>\n C. It is called a “partial hardening” because not all physical Israelites rejected Christ –\nRomans 11:25; 11:1\n
D. Thus, all Israel will be saved – Romans 11:26<\/p>\n
1. Stop and consider. Who is grafted in? It is the believing Jews and Gentiles<\/p>\n
2. All Gentiles will not believe. All Jews will not believe.<\/p>\n 3. Who are we talking about? All Israel in Romans 11:26 must be referring\nto the church, which is composed of Jews and Gentiles.\n
E. This Israel will have a new covenant and their sins removed – Romans 11:27<\/p>\n 1. We are no longer talking about physical Israel but spiritual Israel (the\nchurch)\n
2. This is exactly what Jeremiah prophesied – Jeremiah 31:31-34<\/p>\n
V. Yes, it could be confusing but there are two Israels<\/p>\n A. There is the physical Israel who, as a whole, rejected God, broke their covenant,\nand had the kingdom removed from them.\n
1. They are no longer “of God” having turned their backs on Him<\/p>\n B. There is the spiritual Israel composed of believers under the covenant of Christ\nand are now the kingdom – Colossians 1:13-14\n
C. Are you a part of the Israel of God? – Colossians 1:25-28<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Galatians 6:12-18 I. I ran across someone claiming that there is no spiritual Israel, that all references to Israel are to the physical nation. A. From this position, he claimed that the kingdom was postponed because of Israel’s unbelief. B. He claims that physical Israel doesn’t exist today but will…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[448,557,47],"class_list":["post-82830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-church","tag-israel","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64177,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/physical-israel-and-the-spiritual-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":82830,"position":0},"title":"Physical Israel and the Spiritual Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49802,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/first-the-natural-then-the-spiritual\/","url_meta":{"origin":82830,"position":1},"title":"First the Natural, Then the Spiritual","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton I Corinthians 15:46 speaks of the natural body being first, and then at the resurrection, the spiritual body takes over. But, that change follows the already established principle found in the nature of the Old Testament versus the New Testament. We see a pattern form that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50441,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-natural-comes-before-the-spiritual\/","url_meta":{"origin":82830,"position":2},"title":"The Natural Comes Before the Spiritual","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 15:35-49 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s spring and gardener\u2019s are out putting seeds into the ground, looking forward to crops of fruits, vegetables and flowers. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet, no gardener puts in a seed expecting the seed to get bigger. The seeds stop being seeds, they \u201cdie\u201d if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92208,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/misapplying-the-exaltation-of-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":82830,"position":3},"title":"Misapplying the Exaltation of Israel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The \"blessing\" of Israel (Genesis12:3) as God's favored nation was conditional on the nation of Israel obeying God (Deuteronomy 27:11- 28:2). He clearly told them that if they did not obey God, they would be cursed and destroyed, and no longer be \"My people\" (Hosea 1:9).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88382,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/true-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":82830,"position":4},"title":"True Israel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof\" (Matthew 21:43). Here, Jesus was speaking to physical Israelites, people who claimed physical lineage to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, that physical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48821,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/circumcision\/","url_meta":{"origin":82830,"position":5},"title":"Circumcision","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Circumcision was the cutting off of the foreskin of the males in Israel. Why was it done? 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