Graffed-In Theology

2022-12-23

There are a lot of theories about the relation between Old Testament Israel and the modern saints often called “the Church.” Dispensationalism is one, where there is a delineation between these two groups is quite absolute. Another is replacement theology, where “the Church” replaced Israel and is a spiritual fulfillment of Israel. I have problems with these theological viewpoints. I propose another: “Graffed-In Theology.”

The complete delineation between Israel and the modern saints is easily disproved in Scripture. “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). Promises were made to Abraham and his Seed, namely, Christ. In Christ, the barrier between Jew and Gentile is gone forever, and the promises are for the Gentile Christians as well. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28-29). I say it again; if you believe on the Lord Jesus, “then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” All of those promises to Abraham in his covenant? They are yours if you believe in Jesus. But to the Jewish people, it is written, “And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham” (Matthew 3:9).

The removal of the enmity between Jew and Gentile is further mentioned in Ephesians: “That at that time ye 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” (Ephesians 2:12). But now in Christ, “he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us” (Ephesians 2:14) and in Christ there is “one new man.” Paul spoke of a mystery, saying, “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6).

From these passages, we can also see the Jewish people were not replaced by some new “organism.” Rather, “The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in” (Romans 11:19). “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again” (Romans 11:23). The Gentiles were grafted into the same plant that the (believing remnant) Jews are a part of.

This does not preclude a future Jewish national repentance. “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Romans 11:25-26). “And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven” (Revelation 11:13).

Again, Paul said concerning the heavenly Jerusalem, “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband” (Galatians 4:26-27). This is a quotation of from Isaiah 54:1, immediately after the famous prophecy about Jesus. Consider the remaining portion of Isaiah 54. The LORD is speaking to Jerusalem, and it comprises of the Old Testament Jerusalem, patterned after the heavenly Jerusalem. “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name” (Isaiah 54:5), and “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer” (Isaiah 54:7-8). This is clearly Old Testament Israel, but Paul quoted it as referring to the heavenly Jerusalem as “the mother of us all”: not of the Jew only, for “thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles” (Isaiah 54:3).

Why bring this up? The Gentile Christians are not one thing while the Jewish believers, past, present, and future, are something else out there somewhere. All those divisions are forever gone in Christ. There is no future time where we are going to revert to some previous “dispensation.” To revert (as some suppose) in the seventieth week to the strict Old Testament pattern would also mean that the Law would be binding again, as we now quote Ephesians 2:15 in full, “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Ephesians 2:15). And if the Law is binding again, “then Christ is dead in vain” (Galatians 2:21).

We can be assured that the Gentile believer is neither superior nor inferior to the Jewish believer in any age. Every future promise to Abraham in the Old Testament belongs to the believers of all ages. We who are Gentiles have been “graffed in” to the same root, Christ, and have become one new man with the Jewish believers. Christ is freely available to all people, no matter your family tree or nation.