3 views of the church

https://www.kregel.com/books/pdfs/excerpts/9780825444067.pdf

INTRODUCTION Andrew David Naselli This debate-book is a window into a larger debate about how the NT uses the OT, especially regarding how the church relates to Israel.1 Is the nation Israel a type? Is the church the new Israel? Is Jesus the true Israel?2 This book addresses that larger debate by focusing on Romans 9–11—a passage in a letter that we think is the single most important piece of literature in the history of the world. When you do biblical and systematic theology, just about all roads lead through Romans. “Paul’s letter to the church at Rome is the greatest letter ever written because of its great impact in history, its grand theology about Christ,

1. For an introduction to how the New Testament uses the Old, see G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007); Kenneth Berding and Jonathan Lunde, eds., Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Counterpoints (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008); G. K. Beale, Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012); Douglas J. Moo and Andrew David Naselli, “The Problem of the New Testament’s Use of the Old Testament,” in The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016), 702–46.


2. Cf. Michael J. Vlach, “What Does Christ as ‘True Israel’ Mean for the Nation Israel? A Critique of the Non-Dispensational Understanding,” MSJ 23 (2012): 43–54; Brent E. Parker, “The Israel-Christ-Church Relationship,” in Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course between Dispensational and Covenant Theologies, eds. Stephen J. Wellum and Brent E. Parker (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2016), 39–68. 14 Andrew David Naselli and its practical instructions for Christian living.”


3 Romans 9–11 is an ideal passage to consider in light of the larger debate because Paul frequently quotes the OT and addresses Israelites and Gentiles in light of what God promised Israel in the OT.

 

Fig. 1. Old Testament Quotations in Romans 9–11 Romans Old Testament Quoted Paul’s Point 9:7 Gen. 21:12 Ethnic and spiritual Israel are distinct. 9:9 Gen. 18:10, 14 God caused Isaac’s birth to fulfill his promise to Abraham. 9:12 Gen. 25:23 God chose Jacob over Esau after their conception but before their birth. 9:13 Mal. 1:2–3 God chose Jacob and rejected Esau. 9:15 Exod. 33:19 God can have mercy on whomever he wants.

10:19 Deut. 32:21 Ethnic Israel not only heard—they should have understood that God would (1) use the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy and (2) include the Gentiles despite their disobedience after reaching out to Israel. 10:20–21 Isa. 65:1–2 11:2 1 Sam. 12:22; Ps. 94:14 God has not rejected ethnic Israel (whom he foreknew). 11:3–4 1 Kings 19:10, 14, 18 Though ethnic Israel’s condition may seem hopeless, the faithful God is preserving and will preserve a remnant. 11:8–10 Deut. 29:4; Isa. 29:10; Ps. 69:22–23 Ethnic Israel’s rejection is partial—not total—because there is a remnant, the elect. God hardened the rest. 11:26–27 Isa. 59:20–21; 27:9 “In this way all Israel will be saved.” 11:34 Isa. 40:13 God is incomprehensible and without counselors, so finite humans cannot understand his infinite ways or counsel him. 11:35 Job 41:11a God is without creditors, so finite humans cannot place God in their debt.