More On the Ekklesia and the church

Posted : 8 Jul, 2013 05:32 PM

The Calvinists had a different view of ethnic Israel and the church, though I have seen some who claim to be Reformed defend the church as being the elect in the same way that dispensationalists and Catholics defend it.



Here is what Richard L. Pratt Jr, a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary says:

"In the first place, separation theology views Israel and the New

Testament church as two relatively separate peoples of God. This

viewpoint has become popular in recent decades through Scofieldian

Dispensationalism, and continues to varying degrees in many

contemporary expressions of Dispensationalism. In general, separation

theology radically distinguishes the divine program for ethnic Israel

from that of the New Testament church."



"In the second place, replacement theology holds that ethnic Israel

has ceased to be special in the eyes of God. This outlook has

dominated a number of denominations throughout the centuries. In this

view, God has abrogated the special covenant status of ethnic Israel

and replaced Israel with the Christian church. At times, this

replacement is thought to be so categorical that Jews no longer have

any special role whatsoever in the plan of God. "



"...many Christians outside the Reformed tradition characterize the

Calvinistic position as replacement theology. I suspect that this

misperception stems largely from the strong rhetoric many Reformed

theologians employ against the separation theology of

Dispensationalism. It is important, however, to understand that the

Reformed position differs from both separation and replacement

theologies....



"It is more accurate to describe the Reformed view on the people of

God as "unity theology." In this outlook, the New Testament church is

one with Israel of the Old Testament. The promises to Israel are not

abrogated, but extended and fulfilled through the salvation of both

Jews and Gentiles in the New Testament community."



"Calvin's interpretation of Paul's statement in Romans 11: 26 that

"all Israel will be saved" points to this strong sense of unity. In

Calvin's view, "all Israel" refers neither to believing Jews alone,

nor to believers within the New Testament church alone. Instead, "all

Israel" denotes the combined number of believing Jews and Gentiles

from both the Old and New Testaments periods....



"In line with Calvin's view, it is common for Reformed theologians to

speak of Israel as the church and the church as Israel."15



15 Clowney, Edmund P. The Church. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,

1995, pp. 42-44. Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids:

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1993, vol. 3, pp. 548-552



John Calvin says "all Israel" denotes the combined number of believing Jews and Gentiles

from both the Old and New Testaments periods...."



If "all Israel" is the combined elect of Jews and Gentiles from the Old and New Testament periods, then Calvin believed "All Israel" is "the children of the promise...counted for the seed" of Romans 9: 8 as being different from "They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God."

And it means that "Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all," as being different from "Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children" of Galatians 4: 25-26. Then, an ekklesia is just a meeting, assembly or congregation of "all Israel." The ekklesia is not a people of God different from "all Israel," or "the Israel of God" in Galatians 6: 16. Ethnic Israel was not replaced; it was remade, changed, transformed, and underwent a metamorphosis as shown in the parable of the potter in Jeremiah 18: 1-6.



Everyone in an ekklesia, a meeting of "all Israel," "the Israel of God," even in Paul's time was not saved, but in part the purpose of the meeting, the congregation, was and is - wherever it is held and this can be on the Internet - to lead those who were not saved to salvation. In addition, defining or implying that the present day church is the elect leads people to think they are saved when they are not saved, a bad place to be in.



To say that the church is the elect, is to open the door to false doctrines, such as teaching that salvation is only available through an institution of men and of the world called the church as that institution is now known, and that the procedure of making an alter call, professing belief in Christ and joining a church makes one saved. You must be born again (John 3: 3, 5, 7), and following a procedure and joining a church does not in that action make one born again. Being born again is a transformation as Paul says in Romans 12: 2, "be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" and that transformation involves having the mind of Christ come into you (Philippians 2: 5) in a way that makes a permanent change and develops one's own spirit, by the Holy Spirit

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