Why I Am A Trinitarian

From Devotions on the Apostles Creed
by Peter Krey
Christian News, June 24, 2013

A Trinitarian is a person who believes: “There is one God, there are three Persons; these three are one God; and of these three Persons none is the first, none is the last, none is the greatest, none is the smallest, but all three Persons are equally eternal and equally great; yet there are not three Gods, but one God.”

This three-one concept of God is wholly unknown and unspoken of outside of true Christianity.  It is distinctly Christian, embodied in every Creed of Christendom.
The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed state it thus:  “I believe in God the Father...I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son.. I believe in the Holy Ghost.”
The Athanasian Creed has it this way:  “We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the Substance.  For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost.  But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one; the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.”

The Augsburg Confession published in 1530 declares:  “There is one Divine Essence which is called and which is God, eternal without body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, the Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible; and yet there are three Persons, of the same essence and power, who also are co-eternal, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
I am a Trinitarian, then, because I am a Christian.  I could not be a Christian without being a Trinitarian.  As a Christian I believe that God is a Triune Being.  I believe this, not because I have reasoned it out or discovered it for myself, for this mystery of three Persons being one and the same Divine Being without being parts of it, is beyond human comprehension; I believe it because God has so revealed Himself to man in Holy Scripture, and the sacred writings of the Old and the New Testament Scripture are to me God’s eternal truth.  No man has ever proved the contrary nor ever will, for “the Scripture cannot be broken”, Jesus says, referring to a single word in one of the psalms.  John 10:35.

I am a Trinitarian because the Bible teaches both the Trinity and the Unity of God.  The Bible teaches, there is one God.  “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God (Gods) is one LORD.”  Deut. 6:4.  “There is none other God but one.”  1 Cor. 8:4.  “There is one God,” or rather, “One is God”.  1  Tim. 2:5.  The Bible also teaches the plurality of Persons in God.  “And God said, Let us make man in our image.”  Gen. 1:26.  “The LORD bless thee and keep thee; the LORD make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee; the LORD lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace.”

Num. 6:24:  “from the time that it was there am I; and now the LORD God and His Spirit hast sent me.”  Is. 48:16.  Turning to the New Testament we read Matthew 28:19: “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”  In his last discourse Jesus says, John 15:26: “When the COMFORTER is come, whom I will send unto you from the FATHER, even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me.”  And the apostolic benediction is well known:  “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.”  2 Cor. 13:14.

That the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three distinct Persons is evident also from the narrative of the Baptism of Christ recorded in Matthew 3.  The Father proclaims Himself in the voice from heaven:  “This is my beloveth Son in Whom I am well pleased.”  The Son is visibly present as He stands in the river Jordan. The Holy Ghost descends upon the Son from above in the likeness of a dove.
These three persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, are, in many passages both of the Old and the New Testament, declared to be equally powerful and equally eternal.  All three Persons receive in Scripture in an equal degree that honor and adoration which is due only to the Creator of all things, the Lord of heaven and earth.  The entire and absolute equality in rank of the Father and the Son is proclaimed in Is. 9:6, where He is called “The Mighty God.”  The omniscience of the Holy Ghost is attested in 1 Cor. 2:10, where it is written in Him:  “The Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God.”

I am a Trinitarian because the Bible teaches me that there are three Divine Persons each of Whom is God only one Divine Being.  This triuneness of three-oneness of God is an incomprehensible mystery to my mind, for the mystery does not lie in the numerical term one-three, but in the relation of the three Persons to each other, the manner in which they are united into one Godhead.  The Trinitarian concept of God, places the Divine Being beyond the reach of the imagination of any creature.  It puts God where God belongs, into the realm of infinity where all human understanding ceases to function, where the creature is lost in awe and admiration, where man must worship and adore.  The true God must be a God whom I cannot comprehend, whom I can only worship and adore, or He is not the true God.  A God whom my mind can measure and of whom I can say:  This is God and this is how he lives and functions, I could not truly worship, and therefore, such a God could never be the true God; he could only be a God of my own creative imagination.  All pagan idols and false gods are of this caliber.  They are but men, or things, or ideas, to whom men ascribe superior powers.  But the Triune God of Holy Scripture is, in the awe inspiring mystery of His Being, far above all human calculations, a God before Whom all the inhabitants of the earth must stand in away; a Being altogether and alone worthy of adoration and worship.

I am a Trinitarian also because among all the gods that men worship the Triune God alone completely fills my needs and expectations of God, to be my God, must have created me and given me life and being; He must also, to be truly my God, whom I can love and trust, have redeemed me from sin, death, and hell; He must move and lead on to holiness in life with the final outlook of a perfect and happy immortality; and He must, to be truly my God whom I can worship and adore, do all these things for me purely out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy without any merit or worthiness in me.  He must be that Being who alone is perfect and who alone can say “I AM.”  Such a God is the Triune God of Holy Scripture, whose name is “I AM THAT I AM.”... “I AM the Lord, the Creator... I AM He that blotteth out thy transgressions...Before Abraham was I AM... I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life...I AM the Good Shepherd...I AM the Resurrection and the life... I AM Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last...”

The Triune God is ineffably sublime in the Trinity and Unity of His Essence, in the absoluteness of His existence, in the perfection of His holiness and glory, in the scope of His power and wisdom, and in the breathtaking condescension of his love and grace.  He is truly a God who calls forth in me adoration, worship, and unending praise.  Therefore I am a Trinitarian, and I join spontaneously in the doxology of millions of my fellow - creatures:

“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”

ALPB’s Lutheran Forum - CTCR Document Approved Newtown

Christian News, June 26, 2013


“After Newtown,” an article by Rev. Paul Robert Sauer, second vice-president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri synod’s Atlantic District and  Associate  Editor of the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau’s Lutheran Forum, says:

“There is very little positive that can be taken away from the recent uproar in the Missouri Synod over the participation of one of its pastors, Rob Morris, in a community service following the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Conservatives are upset that discipline was not meted out in what was for them a clear violation of biblical and constitutional injunctions against unionism and syncretism. Moderates are upset that a pastor would even be asked to apologize for participating in what our own Commission on Theology and Church Relations document deems permissible. The great middle of Missouri was forced to shrug their heads yet again as once more the Synod became known in the wider public only for what it is against and the tremendous dysfunction with which it seems to operate.”
“The level of division and entrenchment on each side, coupled with the dismissive attitude toward synodical resolutions and synodical leadership statements that so many in the Missouri Synod seem to have, indicate how daunting the Koinonia task will be. Beyond the theological divides in Missouri that have yet again been exposed and that invariably become the focus of all the argumentation, the larger unspoken problem obvious to everyone- except those inside Missouri- is a systematic organizational dysfunction that threatens to derail any attempt at reasonable theological discussion, to say nothing of forging genuine 'Koinonia.’”
Morris contacted his ecclesiastical supervisor and was given permission to participate in the Newtown community service on the basis of the Synod-commended 2004 CTCR document on civic events. What has been lost in the discussion of Morris's participation in the community service is that our Synod has spoken on this issue, albeit with a divided voice, and that Morris's participation was within those bounds. Individuals are free to dissent from Synod's position and may have the theological wherewithal to make a case against it, but they certainly lack the ecclesiastical authority to demand that others conform to their own personal views on the issue.

“Sadly, Harrison, with the best motivation at heart in attempting to let charity prevail in the Missouri Synod, overstepped his own authority in asking Morris to apologize for something that Synod documents say he was permitted to do.”
“No matter how well grounded in history and theology they may have been, Harrison’s views were not the position of the Missouri Synod at the time when decisions about Morris’s participation were made. Arguably, there was an additional overstepping of the bounds when Harrison operated outside of the normal ecclesiastical structure by asking Morris to apologize – an ecclesial right which belongs, according to Missouri Synod polity, not to Harrison but to Yeadon, Morris’s district president.”

“At the end of the day, the final arbiter remains the individual, disconnected from the consultation of the wider church. That is the very antithesis of what Harrison hopes to accomplish with Koinonia, and that is why I was grateful at his churchmanship in apologizing for the way the situation was handled.”

“Notes
1. As this article was being written, synodical nominations for president and vice-presidents have just been announced. It is remarkable how few congregations engaged in the nominations process. Although it is outside of the purview of this particular treatment of Missouri’s dysfunction, I can’t help but wonder how much of the ongoing dysfunction has caused congregations to simply ‘check out’ of Synod politics all together.”

(CN editor: “Note “Is Lutheran Forum Really a Lutheran Forum for All Sides,” CN January 5, 2009.” “Hinlicky Judges Heart of CN Editor – Lutheran Forum Refuses to Debate Inerrancy of Bible,” CN May 20, 1991. The ALPB has long promoted women pastors and evolution and has denied the inerrancy of the Bible. ELCA clergyperson Sarah Hinlicky Wilson is the editor of Lutheran Forum. Father Richard Neuhaus had been an editor of Lutheran Forum. Rev. James Loken, a homosexual, was long a columnist for Lutheran Forum. The Lutheran Forum said the editor of CN was “A Jew hater.” It’s predecessor insisted the CN editor was “out for blood.” The ALPB published Lively Stone, the autobiography of Berthold von Schenk in which he denies the basic doctrine of Christianity).

Why I Am A Christian

by Peter Krey

Christian News, June 17, 2013

Strange as it may sound, I am not a Christian by my own choice and volition. It is generally believed that becoming a Christian is a matter of one’s own choice.

A person joins a church, any church, and thereby becomes a Christian. But is the matter as simple as that? Can one join the “one, holy, Christian church”, as one joins a social club? Does membership in a church make one a Christian? A person decides with himself to live a better life, or to follow the example of Christ.

Does that volition make him a Christian? The answer is No. No one ever became a Christian by his own free choice and will. To become a Christian involves the believing acceptance of all that the Bible teaches about man and about God. But the Bible teaches that man is a fallen creature wholly unable by himself to turn to God, that is, to trust in God and to love him and do what is morally good in the sight of God. Man, the Bible teaches, is totally self-centered and hostile to God and to his fellowman. The natural state of man’s mind is one of opposition to God; a fact admitted by psychoanalysts today. But St. Paul stated it long ago in these words: “The carnal mind is enmity against God.” Rom. 8:7. Because of this ingrained opposition to God man cannot by his own reasoning or volition turn to God in love and confidence. He can only have an abject fear for God. All non-Christians worship of God flows from fear. Abject fear of the Deity is the basis of all pagan worship. Natural man because of the judgment of conscience either flees from God or defies Him. His whole form of worship, if he has any, is but an endeavor to appease the wrath of an angry God with “good works” or self-imposed punishments and privations.

He can proceed no farther in his approach to God. He cannot under any circumstances overcome his guilt-feelings toward God and make himself believe that God is merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

That God as a holy God and a God of love should Himself make atonement for man’s guilt by bearing the punishment of his sin and thus be free to justify man by grace does not occur to man’s mind. The very idea is so foreign to his thoughts and state of mind, that, when confronted with it, he rejects it as foolishness. 1 Cor. 1:18,23; 2:14. Yet, that exactly is the heart of Christianity “that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” That is the essence of the Christian religion that the Son of God became man to be “wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities” and to die for our sins, and that therefore man is justified before God his Maker by faith in Jesus Christ his proxy and Redeemer. This divine truth, revealed to man in Holy Scripture, is a stumbling block to the Jews and the self-righteous and foolishness to the Greek and the worldly wise; and this; that God should die on a shameful tree for my sins is also foolishness to my natural mind. I am innately opposed to it.

That I now believe it is therefore not due to any decision of my own volition or reasoning it is the work of God in me. I am a Christian because God made me one.

It was not my choice. He conquered my hostility and persuaded me. He made me willing and caused me to believe in Jesus Christ my Lord. With Luther I must confess: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” I am a Christian because the Holy Ghost has called me to faith by the Gospel, by the good news that God has forgiven me in Christ. This Gospel is the Word of God the Holy Ghost and therefore has the inherent power to call my heart out of unbelief to faith in Christ my Lord.

I am a Christian because the Holy Ghost has enlightened my mind with His gifts. He has by the Gospel given me the knowledge and assurance that Jesus is my Savior from sin, death, and damnation; and He has filled my heart with the joy and peace that accompanies such knowledge. I am a Christian because the Holy Ghost has renewed my heart. By bringing me to faith through the Gospel He has given me the power to hate and abandon evil and the strength to love and to strive for that which is good and pleasing to God.

I am a Christian because I came in contact with the Gospel, the glad tidings of God’s redeeming love and forgiving grace in Christ Jesus, either in my youth through Holy Baptism or by the instruction of my parents and teachers, or, if later in life, through the Gospel-ministry of the church or the reading of the Bible or Christian literature.
 

Somewhere along life’s way I came in contact with the Gospel of the grace of God, and somewhere along this line of contact the Holy Ghost caused me to believe by breaking up the darkness of my unbelieving heart with the light of the knowledge that Jesus is my Lord and with the assurance of faith that He is the propitiation for my sins, and not for mine only but also for the sins of the whole world.

I am a Christian, not by my own free will or right reasoning, or good conduct; I am a Christian because God made me one of His dear children through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, my Lord.

As it is written: “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.” 1 Cor. 12:3. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”... “We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” Eph. 2:8,10.

Every believing Christian will confess with the great apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am” -a Christian.
 

I was made a Christian
When my name was given,
One of God’s dear children
And an heir of heaven.
In the name of Christian I
will glory now.
Evermore remember My
Baptismal vow.
I must, like a Christian,
Shun all evil ways,
Keep the faith of Jesus,
Serve Him all my days.
Called to be a Christian, I
will praise the Lord,
Seek for His assistance So
to keep my word.
All a Christian’s blessings
I will claim for mine:
Holy work and worship,
Fellowship Divine.
Father, Son, and Spirit,
Give me grace, that I
Still may live a Christian
And a Christian die.

 

Devotions on the Apostle’s Creed -Why I Am A Christian and Other Writings. By Peter Krey. Published by Lutheran News, Inc. 684 Luther Lane, New Haven, Missouri. 2005. 299 pp. $9.99.
 

LCMS’s Today’s Business – Proposed Resolutions – Big Brother Knows Best - Bureaucratitis Grows

Christian News, Vol. 41, No. 23, June 10, 2013

Today’s Business – Proposed Resolution 2013 of the LCMS’s 65th Regular Convention to be held in St. Louis, Missouri, July 20-25, 2013 shows that “bureaucratitis” continues to grow in the LCMS. Whereas in former years convention committees considered hundreds of resolutions from LCMS congregations, convention committees now spend a major portion of their time following the specific recommendations of the LCMS president rather than paying much attention to overtures laymen and congregations support. In former year’s convention committees heard from congregation which submitted overtures at open hearing in St. Louis before they formed their resolution. Now such open hearings are not held. Instead committees follow the directive of the LCMS president who appoints all committee and committee chairman. LCMS President Harrison has made sure controversial overtures which  show  the  LCMS is divided will not come up at the convention. A 21st Century Formula of Concord in the Convention Workbook has been declined by a Harrison appointed committee before this convention itself can make a decision.

“Curb the Bureaucracy,” a resolution from Trinity Lutheran Church, New Haven Missouri, submitted to the LCMS’s 2010 convention says in one of its whereas’s: “Professor Kurt Marquart said in a speech he presented at the 2003 Walther Conference at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, where he received a standing ovation: ‘Our tragedy is that this absolute priority of divine truth has become displaced in our synodical life. By what? By organizational concerns. Our disease is, you might say, ‘bureaucratitis.’”

The LCMS refused to publish the overture which documented the long liberal theological record of the majority of the LCMS’s Council of Presidents. CN suggested that other congregations, particularly those in the ACELC, submit the overture to the 2013 convention. No such overture appears in the LCMS’s 2013 Convention Workbook. Congregations and the organized conservatives generally fear to challenge the COP.

“President’s Report, Part 2” on page 16-28 has the “Specific Recommendations” LCMS President Harrison submitted to all LCMS committee members. Harrison’s recommendation for LCMS congregations are twice as long as those of former LCMS President Jerry Kieschnick prior to the 2010 LCMS Convention. The LCMS president selects all committee members and committee chairmen. A former U.S. congressman, who was shocked to learn of this great power of an LCMS president, noted that there would be vigorous protest in the nation if a U.S. president had such power.

Trinity of New Haven petitioned the LCMS’s 2010 convention to elect members of the Commission on Constitutional Matters in a convention rather than giving the LCMS president and COP so much power in appointing them. The congregation also sent an overture to the convention seeking to curb the power of the LCMS president in appointing all committee members and committee chairmen. Both overtures were ignored and the power of the LCMS president only grew. Laymen have been kept uninformed as the bureaucracy and episcopacy grows under those who champion such anti-Walther men as Arthur Carl Piepkorn and Richard Neuhaus.

The number of congregations submitting overtures to an LCMS convention has drastically declined. Few congregations now submit overtures. Interest in doctrine is rapidly fading. Overtures from congregations are discouraged.

The Social Gospel

Controversial matters such as disciplining evolutionists and the supporters of women pastors and violations of the LCMS’s scriptural principles of unionism will not come up at the convention. Social concerns are at the forefront when the major denominations tolerate universalists who do not believe Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. They emphasize the social gospel work, teaching English, and building projects rather than preaching the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, baptizing, communing, etc.

The Wittenberg Project

Harrison told Committee 1: “We need a resolution commending the progress on The Wittenberg Project as a mission for the Missouri Synod and for our partners for 2017.”

Neither the LCMS president’s office, treasurer’s office or LCMS communications would tell Christian News how much money has so far been collected for the Wittenberg Project ever since it began several years ago, how much is now in the treasury for the project and for what the money collected during the last several years has been used. Some claim almost all of the money collected has been used to pay for LCMS officials to travel to Wittenberg and to pay the salary of the director. When a group of 48 Lutherans visited the Wittenberg Project in 2010, Director David Mahsmann, former editor of the Lutheran Witness, was in Chile for missionary training. All the disappointed 48 found was a closed building badly in need of repairs. LCMS Communications told CN that whatever the members of the LCMS need to know about the Wittenberg Project will appear in the Lutheran Witness.

Convention Committee 1 is following Harrison’s recommendation. In Resolution 1-07 it is asking the LCMS convention to resolve “That the LCMS in convention encourage all congregations and individuals within the Synod to support the Wittenberg Project  prayerfully and financially.  CN’s suggestion is that the Wittenberg Project be used to begin a Lutheran congregation in Wittenberg which teaches that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven and to present reasons and exhibits showing that all of Christendom needs another Reformation as the 500th anniversary of the Reformation approaches in 2017 was turned down. CN has said it is absurd that the director of the Wittenberg Project lives in Berlin many miles from Wittenberg because his wife does not want to live in the small town of  Wittenberg.

Lutheran Malaria Initiative

In his report to Committee 2 – President Harrison recommended “a strong finish to Lutheran Malaria Initiative” (p. 18). Following Harrison, Committee 2, in Resolution 2-06 is recommending “That the LCMS encourage a strong finish of  LMI, as it concludes as planned on World Malaria Day 2014 (April 25th).” When the drive for Lutheran Malaria Initiative began Harrison, who was then with Lutheran World Mission, was a leading supporter for the LCMS to work with ELCA to collect 75 million to fight Malaria. CN was unable to find out from both ELCA and the LCMS just what percentage each of the two said they would collect. Resolution 2-06 says that “To date, the Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI), in partnership with Lutheran World Relief (LWR() and the United Nations Foundation (UNF), has received over seven million dollars from US Lutherans to help educate, treat and prevent malaria deaths in sub-Sahara Africa.” (p. 64).

When Harrison went to Washington, D.C. to lobby  the federal government to give money to fight malaria in Africa, David Becker commented in an article titled “Beane Says That the LCMS Is Becoming Enamored with Caesar” (CN, January 21, 2013, p. 1). “It is indeed true that Harrison was absolutely horrible. Totally violating the doctrine of the two kingdoms as taught by Jesus and historic Lutheranism. Harrison in my views actually went far beyond what ELCA and the Roman Catholics do as far as religious lobbying. I think the LCMS should lose its tax exemption based on what Harrison did.”

Enamored With Caesar

Rev. Larry Beane wrote on the Gottesdienst blog (CN, January 21, 2013) I just read through the latest Reporter. I’m concerned that our church body is becoming so enamored with Caesar.

It’s one thing to go to Washington and demand that the state obey the constitution and respect the rights of churches, it’s quite something else for the church to transform itself into a lobbying organization to try to get specific bills passed that would give tax-appropriated funds to the church for its pet projects.

There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution authorizing the federal government to collect tax funds from Americans (and taxes are collected by compulsion) in order to fight disease around the world. That is a very good cause indeed - which is why it should be supported voluntarily, out of love, from “cheerful givers” - not expropriated by compulsion through the state apparatus. Moreover, in case nobody has noticed, Washington is broke. Where is the money going to come from for the American people to support Lutherans fighting malaria? If Christians can disagree about certain appropriation bills in congress, does the LCMS leadership have the right to lobby for those bills?

It may make for some good photo ops for our leaders to be seen in the Presence of Senators and Congressmen and in the shadow of Columned Marble Walls - but let’s not forget that our Lord’s Kingdom is “not of this world.”

It is one thing to advocate for protecting human life. Of course, nothing is ever addressed about black-ops and torture and drones and provocative and imperious blowback-ridden foreign policy and the military-industrial complex. It is one thing to advocate for the natural right to private property, though the church never has anything to say about the absolutely fraud-based social programs paid for by morally (and literally) bankrupt ponzi schemes - not to mention the unconscionable practice of devaluing the currency through the federal reserve system - which openly violates Scripture. It is one thing to defend human dignity and human liberty, but the church utters not one peep about the NDAA that allows the president to arrest anyone - including citizens - without trial, without due process, without the right to a lawyer - and hold them in secret prisons indefinitely. Similarly, the church seems to have nothing to say when it comes to the Orwellian surveillance society we now live under - a system that has been used by governments to crush Christianity when the church became the opponent of state worship.

When it comes to such matters, the cat seems to get the LCMS’s tongue. It seems that the church will not make any statement unless it is cleared by its own GOP gatekeepers.

The church should not be shilling for the Republican Party (or any party), nor should she be so enamored of being seen as important in the eyes of the world. The state has a pretty abysmal record when it comes to dealing with the Bride of Christ - and coziness with the state has resulted in chaos in the Lutheran world.

Every state church (and many Lutheran churches were) has become apostate - even to the point where faithful Christians are enduring persecution at the hands of government bureaucrats. This is what happens when you lie down with dogs.

The church ought to understand better than any other institution the pitfalls of dancing to Caesar’s tune and cozying up to state power. John F. Kennedy summed it up best when he said: “In the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding on the back of the tiger ended up inside.”

Maybe I should just toss the Reporter into the trash when the next one comes. Posted by Rev. Larry Beane

Koinonia Project and CPH

Harrison asked Committee 3 “Life Together” to “Prepare a strong resolution supporting the Koinonia Project” (19) and “Commend CPH for the resources they have produced” (p. 20).

Resolution 3-01, “To Expand the Koinonia Project” (p. 69) says: “Resolved, That the continued participation of the Council of Presidents, as well as that of the theological faculties of our seminaries, colleges, and universities by encouraged.”

CN has often shown that under the Koinonia Project there is plenty of room for evolutionists such as Matthew Becker, the hundreds associated with Jesus First, who support women pastors, charismatics, who speak in tongues and liberals who reject the inerrancy of the Bible, universalists, who refuse to confess that  Christianity is the only saving faith. Under the Koinonia Project the only person denied Holy Communion is someone who files charges of false doctrine vs. an evolutionist on the LCMS clergy roster.

Committee 3 in Resolution 3-18 is asking the convention to “commend Concordia Publishing House for the resources it has produced, its faithfulness to the Lutheran Confessions, and its support for the Synod’s churches, schools, and families” (82) – While CN has commended CPH for publishing some good orthodox material, CN has also noted that at times CPH publishes and recommends several volumes by the liberal German theologian Albrecht Peters and promotes books by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a  German theologian who denied the resurrection of Jesus Christ and promoted demythologizing of the Bible. CPH also promotes the ESV which undermines direct messianic prophecy and the deity of Jesus Christ.

The International Lutheran Conference and Alister McGrath

Harrison asked Committee 4 to present a resolution “supporting the International Lutheran Conference” (23). Harrison’s appointed committee Four in resolution 4-04 is asking the LCMS convention to resolve: “That we give thanks to God for the International Conference on Confessional Leadership held near Atlanta in the fall of 2012 (with generous support from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, as well as from the Lutheran Church Extension Fund), which brought together over 120 Lutheran leaders from around the world for edification and encouragement.” The LCMS repeatedly said the 120 Lutheran leaders represented 20 million Lutherans. The LCMS would not tell CN if any of the 20 million were in the Lutheran World Federation. Neither Thrivent nor the LCMS would release the cost of the conference. The chief speaker on Reformation Day 2012 was Dr. Alister McGrath, an Anglican who supports evolution, women pastors, and undermines the scriptural doctrine of justification by faith alone. McGrath was highly praised by Harrison, the CTCR, and some of the LCMS’s organized conservatives. CN published an open letter by LCMS theologian Matthew Becker commending McGrath for his support of evolution. CN also published essays by Dr. John Warwick Montgomery and Dr. Craig Parton showing that McGrath undermines the scriptural doctrine of justification by faith alone. Scott Murray’s Committee 4, following Harrison, expressed no concern for having McGrath serve as the keynote speaker on Reformation Day.

In his report Harrison made no recommendation about Overture 4-71 calling for a 21st Century Formula of Concord. Committee 4 in Resolution 4-16 DECLINED Overture 4-71 “To Produce a 21st Century Formula of Concord.” The only reason given is: “Not necessary.”

When CN attempted to present reasons and documentation showing why a 21st Century Formula of Concord and Reformation was necessary, Dr. Scott Murray told CN that CN would not be permitted to present these reasons and documentation. The 21st Century Formula of Concord recommended that disciplinary action be taken against those who promote evolution. Committee 4 in Resolution 4-15 is recommending the LCMS “To Reaffirm Synod’s Position on Creation.” It is not making any recommendation that evolutionists be removed from the LCMS after proper evangelical discipline. The LCMS has repeatedly reaffirmed its position on creation but has never removed an evolutionist from the LCMS.

Concordia University  System

Harrison urged Committee 5 to “Prepare a resolution giving thanks to God and extolling the positive elements of our Concordia University System (CUS). There are many.” (23) Resolutions 5-01 “To Encourage Continued Faithful Witness to the Concordia University System” asks the LCMS to resolve “That we commend the CUS institutions for their faithful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and adherence to the teachings of Holy Scripture, especially with regard to cultural challenges faced by their students.” Nothing is said about removing religion and science professors who are now teaching in CUS schools that women may be pastors and God used evolution to form man and the world. A survey showed that hardly any schools in the CUS insist that all professors affirm that evolution and women serving as pastors is contrary to Scripture. Here LCMS evolutionist Matthew Becker, who taught in CUS schools, told the truth. Evolution is being taught as fact in CUS schools says evolutionist Becker who is now at Valparaiso University.

Resolution 6-17 is declining Overture 6-11 “To Make Available International Center Salaries and Benefits”, claiming it “Violates Missouri Law.” Any member of a congregation can find out what his pastor is being paid. There is no reason why members of the LCMS should not know what church officers and executives, whom they are asked to support, are being paid.  Officials should be paid according to the district salary scale for pastors in their district. Yet some of these bureaucrats get paid several times the salary of the average pastor. The LCMS’s “unelected ruler,” CPH’s Paul McCain’s salary is $186,000 a year plus benefits. Harrison’s is about $171,000 a year plus benefits. Why should these church officials be paid far more than the average pastor when the LCMS says the pastoral ministry is the highest calling? There should be full financial disclosure.

Some 50 overtures will not be submitted to the LCMS convention. Among them are Ov. 2-10 “To  Speak Boldly re  Employment of Women in  Military Combat,” Ov. 3-26 “To Reject Use of NIV in Catechism,” Ov. 4-03 “To Evaluate Fellowship with AALC,” Ov. 4-17 “To State that Women Are Not to Have Authority Over Men in the Church,” Ov. 4-20A “To Reaffirm Scriptural Teaching of Women in Congregation and Synod Offices,” Ov. 4-47 “To Clarify  Synod Position re Joint Prayer with Those Who  Deny Christ,” Ov. 4-49 “To Recognize It is Contrary to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions to Join in Public Prayer with Those Who Deny Jesus Christ is the Only Way to Heaven,” Ov. 5-50 “To Proclaim Boldly Jesus to the World.” Such “controversial” overtures are being referred to the President of the LCMS, CTCR, Council of Presidents or CCM .The Harrison administration wants to keep them off the floor of the convention. The bureaucrats will take care of them without any voice from the laymen and average pastor. Big brother knows best. Bureaucratitis Grows in the LCMS. The pro-Loehe, hierarchilists, anti-Walther Congregationalist, and liberal faction are winning.

R.I.P., Boy Scouts of America

By Matt Barber

Christian News, Vol. 51, No. 22, June 3, 2013

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)

It’s a sad day for both Scouting and for freedom. Indeed, it’s a sad day for America. The century-old Boy Scouts of America (BSA) – created in 1910 to “prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes” – has betrayed its own constituency, mission, oath and law.

Last Thursday, approximately 1,400 adult BSA delegates from around the country gathered in Texas and decided, in a disgracefully lopsided vote, to welcome into its ranks, “open and avowed” homosexuality (boy-on-boy sexual attraction and behavior), thereby disavowing the “morally straight” Scout Oath its members are sworn to uphold. They voted unwisely.

History will reflect that on this day the BSA turned from morally straight to immorally bent – that this once great organization – founded on “honor,” “reverence” and biblical morality – was crushed beneath the worldly weight of pagan idolatry.

Whereas, for over a century, millions of boys have raised their right hands, swearing “on my honor” to “do my duty to God and my country” – on this day, hundreds of adult delegates likewise raised their right hands, shook their fists at God and flipped their middle fingers at both the boys they serve and the parents who trusted them.

While endeavoring to “gain the world,” this once honorable institution has forfeited its soul.

Scripture admonishes:

“The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23). This was a catastrophic miscalculation. It was sin, and, tragically, through this sin, the BSA has now effectively sealed its own fate. It has set into motion its own demise.

Even by its own estimates, BSA leadership admits that the decision will likely result in a mass exodus from Scouting. They anticipate that as many as 400,000 Scouts and Scouters will leave the organization (acceptable casualties in the war on morality, I guess). Still, as devastating as this number is, it too represents a gross miscalculation.

Consider, for instance, that when Canada’s version of the Boy Scouts voted in 1998 to welcome open homosexuality, its membership rolls plummeted by over half in just five years, forcing camp closures, staff layoffs and huge budget cuts. Looking north of the border for clues, then, we can expect that, with current membership at around 2.6 million, it’s more likely that roughly 1.5 million Boy Scouts and troop masters will walk.

Then again, we’re talking about “progressive” Canada. This is the good ol’ USA. With over 61 percent of Scouts, Scouters and parents opposing the homosexualization of Boy Scouts, and over 70 percent of U.S. Scout groups sponsored by churches and religious organizations, it’s not unreasonable to expect that defections will even exceed this estimate.

In short, BSA’s betrayal may well result in near-total ruin. The wages of sin is death.

Here’s the reality: Reality has not changed. Objective truth did not suddenly and miraculously reverse itself on May 23, 2013. As BSA has always acknowledged (until Thursday), homosexual behavior remains empirically disordered and immoral. The only thing that has changed is politics.

Ultimately, this decision had nothing to do with “tolerance” or “inclusivity.” Neither did it concern the best interests of the boys who make up Boy Scouting. Instead, this decision was rooted in pure evil. It had everything to do with money. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10). And wandered from the faith they have. Now come the many griefs.

Really, three things drove this decision: Fear, greed and politics. A number of high-dollar corporate donors threatened to pull funding from BSA if they maintained the existing policy on sexual morality. Additionally, a number of extremist pressure groups, aided by a sympathetic left-wing media, brought tremendous pressure to bear.

But the pressure’s not going away. The BSA made a critical error in judgment. It showed weakness. This has only whipped these radicals into a heightened frenzy. Within moments of the “gay” announcement, Nancy Pelosi called the move “an important first step.” The Human Rights Campaign demanded “the new policy doesn’t go far enough,” and Mother Jones, a liberal online publication, posted an article titled, “Boy Scouts: You Can Be Gay Until You’re 18.”

Sin is never satisfied. The homofascist thirst for absolute affirmation is unquenchable.

What’s the next step? Activists now demand that adult men who desire sex with other males (“gay” scout masters) be allowed to take your sons camping overnight. Soon they’ll be insisting that “transgender boys” (girls who wish they were boys) be allowed to join as well.

What a camping trip. Imagine the pup tent. Your son and Jimmy – who’s got a crush on him – along with Billy and Billy’s boyfriend Bobby, all snuggly warm in the middle of nowhere. But make room for Sammy (formerly Suzie) and Sammy’s boyfriend Gary (formerly Gertrude).

Don’t forget to hang the disco ball.

And “always be prepared.”

You think there won’t be new membership stagnation? Who wants to sign their boy up for the “Gay Scouts”? What’s a kid gotta to do to earn his “tolerance badge”? Parents, you might want to get out while the gettin’s good. As one Eagle Scout told me, “I’m not leaving the Boy Scouts, the Boy Scouts left me.”

It’s only a matter of time until BSA caves on these demands as well. They’ll admit “gay” men and girls soon. They have no choice. Now that they’ve opened the door, they’ve waived the only legal defense they once had: religious and moral conviction.

But here’s the good news. I and dozens more will be convening for a coalition meeting of pro-family leaders next month in Louisville, Ky., to discuss the creation of a moral alternative to the Boy Scouts. Nature abhors a vacuum. We intend to fill it.

Still, until then, please join me as we mourn the loss of this once honorable organization. The Boy Scouts of America: Born Feb. 8, 1910 – Died May 23, 2013.

May it rest in peace.

Matt Barber(@jmattbarber on Twitter) is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action. (This information is provided for identification purposes only.)

ARE THE JEWISH PEOPLE THE CHOSEN PEOPLE OF GOD TODAY?

By Dennis Hipenbecker

Christian News, Vol. 51, No. 21, May 27, 2013

It is the belief of many people, especially within the evangelical or fundamental Christian community, that the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants is an irrevocable everlasting covenant. This writer disagrees and believes that since the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, God declares no nation, no country, no people of particular ethnic descent as being his “chosen people” receiving special material and or spiritual benefits or blessings. The relationship between God and the descendants of Abraham in the Old Testament times was unique.  As a nation, Israel was a theocracy. God was the king. Such uniqueness was not to be retained or duplicated after the coming of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior of all nations or peoples.

If the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants is still in effect, who is covered? Who are the physical descendants of Abraham today? Can any person who claims to be a Jew trace unbroken physical descent back to Abraham? (This descent would come through Sarah. Abraham had children with other women. But Jewish people do not claim descent through those other women) Over the centuries there has been intermarrying with Gentiles, so that in many cases a blood tie with Abraham is very thin. It is said that in 740 A.D. at the eastern edge of  Europe there lived a tribe of people known as the Khazars who en mass took up Judaism.

It is claimed that many of the Jewish people today come from that tribe. It has also happened that Gentile couples converted to Judaism with their children and grandchildren claiming to be Jewish, yet no physical tie to Abraham. The question of who is a Jew is debated.  Some say it is descent. “If your mother was a Jew, you are a Jew.” Others say, “You are a Jew because of your faith.” And still others claim that both religion and descent must be present. Some years ago, Sammy Davis, the black comedian converted to Judaism. Was he a Jew? There was disagreement.

I come back to the original question. If the covenant to Abraham and his descendants is in force today as when first given, who are his descendants?  Who is covered? Who is among the “chosen’‘? Does it make any difference? Does only God need to know? That does not seem to be the case with those who hold this belief. Their belief effects their preaching, speaking, lobbying, and view of world politics.

If the covenant to Abraham and his descendants is in force today as when first given, a more important question is: what are the benefits or blessings to the “chosen ones”? If there are no specific benefits or blessings, the title “Chosen people of God” is meaningless. Are the benefits material in nature?  Will the “chosen ones” receive from God better protection from various enemies or disasters than the non-chosen? Such does not seem to be the case as we review the history of the Jewish people for the past two thousand years. Will the “chosen ones” be blessed with more wealth, artistic and intellectual ability than the non-chosen? Some people believe this is part of the benefit of being chosen. It is true that the Jewish people have contributed much in the areas of science, medicine, law, arts, finance, etc. Many fine examples could be given. On the other hand Jewish people have been involved in activities and movements that have been detrimental to humanity. For instance, most of the architects of communism were secular Jews. Many of the leaders of the pro-abortion movement are Jews. Whether God caused it or allowed it to happen, both Jews and Gentiles have brought forth both good and evil with their gifts and abilities.

Is possession of the land promised to Abraham part of the benefit of being among the “chosen” people today? Many will answer “yes”. Many believe in the continuity and irrevocability of God’s promise of land to the people Israel, even though for 19 centuries few Jews lived in Israel. They rejoiced with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, claiming this to be proof of the irrevocability of the covenant given to Abraham. They quote such passages as Genesis 13:15, “All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.” The Hebrew word, “olam“ translated as “forever“ is also used when referring to the establishment of ceremonial laws. For instance, Exodus 30:21 reads, “So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and his seed throughout their generations.” (King James Version). The NIV reads, “They shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.” As Christians we believe the ceremonial laws were fulfilled in Christ and are abrogated. Therefore, the word, “olam” is used in a conditional sense.

Are the benefits or blessings given to the “chosen ones” spiritual in nature? For instance, are  Jewish people being given special revelation from God today as in the Old Testament? There seems to be no evidence for  or claim of  such revelation. Do the Jewish people have a different way to eternal life than the Gentiles? A growing number of people, including Christians, believe this to be a present day benefit of being a “chosen one” of the Abrahamic covenant that is irrevocable. The thinking is this:  Jews were not replaced by Christians as the people of God, but both traditions live under a covenant with God to be God’s people. For Jews that covenant was established with Abraham and specifically revealed with Moses at Mt. Sinai as recorded in the biblical book of Exodus. For Christians the covenant was established through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Neither faith need exclude the other from being called,  “people of God.” Both faiths, as well as other faiths, are valid expressions of God’s will. All faiths can lead to eternal life. Christians who try to convert Jews are working against the will of God.

But this flies in the face of nearly 2,000 years of traditional Christian teaching – that Christianity completes and supersedes Judaism, as the New Testament completes and supersedes the Old Testament. Luther, as well as countless other Christian theologians, taught that Christians are the Israel of God in the New Testament, whether Jew or Gentile. They also taught that all of the believing Jews of the Old Testament are part of the assembly of saints, the church, the forever people of God.

The benefits or blessings of the covenant which God made with Abraham and his descendants are clearly spelled out in the Bible. Genesis 12:2-3 reads, “I will make you into a great nation and I  will bless you; I   will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I  will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I   will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God promises to Abraham many descendants, numerous as the stars. God blessed Abraham with wealth, protection in many difficult circumstances, a long life, etc. The name and person of this Abraham is revered worldwide. He was a blessing to many in his day, we think especially of Lot. Abraham’s faith and trust has been a blessing to millions down through the years. God indeed blessed those individuals and nations that befriended Abraham and his descendants. God also punished those individuals and nations that sought to harm Abraham and his descendants.  Time does not allow for the many examples that could be given. All people on the earth have indeed been blessed through Abraham. From him came the promised Messiah or Savior, Jesus Christ, according to the flesh, Abraham and his descendants were the chosen people of the Old Testament to be the bearer of the Messianic promise. “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” Deuter-onomy 7:6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.” Deuteronomy 14:2

In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul lists benefits or blessing enjoyed by those included in the covenant with Abraham. “Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.

Theirs are the patriarch, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” Romans 9:4-5 

Israel had been adopted or accepted as God’s son “Then say to Pharaoh, This is my first born son, and I told you, Let my son go so he may worship me.” Exodus 4:25 The glory and presence of the Lord was shown in the appearance of a special cloud and by many miracles of such magnitude never shown among any other people.

Covenants and promises were made to and through Abraham, Moses, David, Jeremiah, etc. The Law or Word of the living God came through Moses and many other prophets. The elaborate temple worship with the sacrificial system came through these covenant people among their family tree were great men of faith and action such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others. Indeed there were many benefits and blessings that came to Abraham and his descendants, God’s chosen people of the Old Testament era.

The covenant with the physical descendants of Abram was conditional ‘’Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:5-6 “The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 28:9

The Lord warned Israel of the consequences of disobedience. “However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.” Deuteronomy 28:15 “Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. Then the Lord will scatter you among all nation, from one end of the earth to the other.” Deuteronomy 28:63-64 “Remember the instructions you gave your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations.” Nehemiah 1:1

Israel a chosen people, a people blessed by the unmerited love of God, a nation redeemed from Egyptian slavery, was unable to live up to the standards of the covenant of the law, as given by God through Moses.  God in His mercy introduces a new covenant, which was really the covenant or promise God made with all of humanity at the fall of Adam and Eve. God spoke to Satan and said, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15  

The new covenant of forgiveness of sins and salvation was part of the Covenant with Abraham, but somewhat veiled in the words, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Abraham, along with Adam and Eve and all the faithful believers of the Old Testament looked for a deliverer from death.

The new covenant was revealed and promised by various prophets, especially Jeremiah who clearly said, “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant though I was a husband to them declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest declares the Lord. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34

The writer of Hebrews says, “But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is the mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said...(Here the writer to Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34) By calling this covenant “new” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon “disappear.” Hebrews 8:8-12

God’s selection of Abraham and his descendants as the chosen people of the Old Testament was in view of the coming Savior. The people of Israel were in a sense the “womb” carrying the precious Savior and Life of the world. During the Old Testament era, this “womb” or people enjoyed special protection and privileges from God. It is the belief of this writer that since the Savior of the world has come the role of national Israel as chosen people no longer exists. The coming of the Messiah has changed many things. God no longer requires that the Old Testament ceremonial laws be kept. They found their fulfillment in Jesus. Even the Jews do not keep those laws especially since the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. In the New Testament writings not one word is said of God declaring any nation, or any ethnic group as being his “chosen people” receiving special benefits to the exclusion of other peoples.

The nation of Israel as a whole did not accept Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah.  ‘’He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” John 1:11 Jesus said that the Jews who did not believe in Him were not Abrahams descendants.

“Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, ‘’then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does.” John 8:39-41 The Gentiles are to take the place of Jews at the heavenly banquet. “I  say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 8:11-12 John the Baptist said God could make descendants of Abraham from stones if need be. “And do not think you can say to yourselves,  ‘We have Abraham as our father. I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” Matthew 3:9    

    

The parable of  the vineyard tenants teaches that God’s kingdom will be taken from the Jews because the majority rejects Jesus as their Messiah. No doubt you  remember the parable. A landowner planted a vineyard. He had everything in tip-top shape and then rented it out, since he  had to go on a journey. The tenants didn’t want to pay rent. They treated the servants poorly, and finally they killed the owner’s son.   Near the end of the parable Jesus gives the interpretation: “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” Matthew 21:33-44 Jesus also speaks of the nation of Israel being left desolate. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.” Matthew 23:37-38 This would seem to refer to the future destruction of Jerusalem and other parts of the land of Israel in 70 A.D. by the Roman armies.

Jesus of Nazareth is the prophet that Moses spoke about and whoever does not listen to him shall be destroyed or cut off. “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him for this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said ‘Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.’” The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. I  will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If  anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I will call him to account.” Deuteronomy 18:15-18 “For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’” Acts 3: 22-23

As earlier mentioned in Exodus 19:6, a special designation is given to Old Testament Israel: “Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The Apostle Peter transfers this special designation to New Testament Christians. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” I Peter 2:9-10  This is an extremely important verse.  It shows that the chosen people of the New Testament era are believers in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles. Although it would seem Peter  is directing his remarks more to Gentiles since he refers to  his readers as previously not being the people of God and not obtaining  mercy. That has all changed with faith in the Messiah, Jesus.

Those who believe that the Jews are still considered by God to be his chosen people will argue that this verse does not negate the fact. Some will argue, as mentioned earlier, that the Jews were not replaced by Christians as the people of God, but both traditions live under a covenant with God to be God’s people. But it is not Scriptural, or  logical, or reasonable, to transfer a special, unique designation or status from one group to another, and then say both are unique.

In Romans chapters nine through eleven, the Apostle Paul speaks at length concerning Israel, the descendants of Abraham. In chapter nine he speaks of his great sorrow for his Jewish people, the majority who will not believe in Jesus as their Savior. In verse 6 he says, “It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel (physical descent) are Israel (spiritual Israel, believers). Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children.”  He goes on to point out that God’s people, those who will be saved, are people of the promise. They believe in salvation by grace, through faith in the Messiah. In chapter ten, verses 1-4,  Paul says that the majority of the people of Israel did not know or accept the righteousness provided by God but sought to establish their own righteousness.

In  Chapter eleven  verse one, the Apostle Paul writes “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.“ On the surface, the phrase, “his people” would seem to include all the living descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people, to whoever reads the epistle. The verse has been used by some to back their belief that the Jewish people today en masse are the chosen people of God  as in the Old Testament era. But in verse two, Paul qualifies his statement. He writes: “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.” The word, “foreknew” is a telling  one. It is the same word used by Paul in Romans 8:29 when he presents God’s doctrine or truth of election. Therefore, Paul in effect is saying, “God did not reject the elect among the Israelites.” Paul uses as example the apostasy during the time of Elijah, who was so depressed as to cry out that he alone was left to worship the true God. God told him he was not alone. Many others (seven thousand) had not bowed to Baal. In verse five Paul says: “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” In verse seven he uses the word; “election”. “What then? What Israel (the people as a whole) sought so earnestly it  did not obtain but the elect did.” The words “remnant”‘ and ‘‘elect” are used synonymously and interchangeably.

Just as it is with the Gentiles, so it is with the Jews. God’s election of grace is at work just as it is in the New Testament era, so it was in the Old Testament era. God’s election of grace was and  is at work. God’s people are the elect, those who were brought to faith in  a coming Messiah and those brought to  faith in a Messiah come.

In verses 11-24 Paul says that the rejection of Jesus by the majority of the descendants of Abraham has resulted in a benefit to the Gentiles, in that God has directed his saving Gospel to be carried to them. Paul is confident and prays that many of his fellow Jews (elect Jews) will be saved. In verse 13 he says, “I make much of my ministry  in the hope that I  may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.”  In verse 16 he says, “If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy. If the root is holy so are the branches.” Paul does not want his Gentile believers to gloat over the fact that many of the Jewish people had rejected Christ. They must remember salvation comes from the Jews. God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, (the roots) that the Savior would come from them. God was faithful to his promise. He will save his people, the elect, both Jews and Gentiles. The tree represents  the entire mass of true spiritual children of Abraham, Jew and Gentile, the communion of saints of all times. Every person that accepts the Messiah by faith is a branch of the tree.

In verses 25 and 26, Paul says, “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved.” Again, we must interpret these verses in light of the doctrine of election. The phrase “full number of Gentiles” is the total elect. The phrase, “all Israel” is the total elect of the Jewish people.

There are many people who believe the day is coming when literally all Israel, every Jewish person living at that time will be converted to Christ. This is not a correct interpretation. In addition to the above-cited verses, another key verse for use in interpretation is verse 6b chapter nine. “For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.” Not all who are physical descendants of Abraham are believers in the Messiah. They are not part of spiritual Israel, the elect, the remnant, the eternally saved.

By way of deduction, and I emphasize the word “deduction”, this truth means that in the Old Testament when all of the descendants of Abraham were referred to as the chosen people of God, some were not saved for eternity. The benefits to such people had to be temporal or material, even though they were numbered with the chosen people. A parallel truth would be this: not every Christian church member is a Christian. Such people will not be saved eternally, but they may enjoy some temporal or material blessings from membership and association with Christians.

Do those who believe that the Jewish people are still the chosen people of God believe the word “chosen” is synonymous with “elect”.  That every Jewish person will be converted and saved for eternity? I don’t think so. Therefore, I come back to my two original questions: What are the benefits to the Jewish people today and who is included?

As mentioned, God’s selection of Abraham and his descendants as the chosen people of the Old Testament was in view of the coming Savior. He has come, and as Simeon said, “He is the glory of his people Israel.” Since his coming God declares no nation, no country, no people of particular ethnic  descent  as His “chosen people” receiving special material and or spiritual benefits.

The Christian Church, composed of  both Jews and Gentiles, is the New Testament Israel and legitimate successor to the Old Testament promises. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:28-29  “For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus” Philippians 3:3

The Messiah, Jesus Christ, is the ultimate “Promised Land” to which the Old Testament people of God were to look and we New Testament people of God do look. There is not one New Testament passage that speaks of the restoration of the state of Israel. The modern state of Israel is not Old Testament Israel in its reborn form. Israel of old was a theocracy. Reading the Old Testament as a land contract for the state of Israel forever distorts the role of the Messiah as the consummation of God’s s saving revelation.

There are Christians “Zionists” who are more radical in their determination to bring about the state of Israel than many Jewish “Zionists.” Israel plays center stage in their dispensational, millennial interpretation of Scripture. It goes something like this: The creation of the state of Israel (1948), next the rebuilding of the temple with the re-introduction of animal sacrifices, next the rapture, the seven year tribulation, Armageddon, conversion of all the Jews, the return of Christ to rule a thousand years from the temple in Jerusalem, and  the great white throne judgment.

The belief that the Jewish people are still the chosen people of God is not some mere academic matter, but has serious ramification for American foreign policy. These people believe that America must support Israel no matter what they do, for God will bless those who help Israel and will curse those who do not help Israel. Their belief has influenced our nation’s foreign policy in the Middle East to the point where we have tilted very much in favor of Israel personally, I believe this has and will continue to cause problems for our nation.