Church -Israel

"Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D.
Introduction
Dispensationalists and non-dispensationalists disagree sharply on the issue of Israel. Dispensationalists maintain that the nation Israel will be saved and restored to a place of service to the nations. Non-dispensationalists, on the other hand, argue that the nation Israel will never again have a role as a nation in the plan of God. Important to this non-dispensational understanding of Israel is Christ’s role as “true Israel.” In sum, the non-dispensational argument goes like this: “Jesus is the complete fulfillment of Israel and, thus, is the ‘true Israel.’ As a result, all those who are ‘in Christ,’ whether Jew or Gentile, are now part of Israel. Thus, there is no future significance for the nation Israel.” Our purpose here is to show that this non-dispensational understanding of Christ as “true Israel” is not supported by Scripture. On the contrary, we will argue that Christ’s identity as the true Israel is the basis for national Israel’s restoration. So instead of leading to the end of national Israel’s significance in the plan of God, Christ’s identity as true Israel guarantees the nation Israel’s significance."