One People

What is the relationship between Israel and the Church? Are they two separate groups? Has one replaced the other? Or does Jesus create something new by making them both one?

Through the mystery of Christ, Paul teaches that Jewish and Gentile believers are of the same body, of the same heirs, of the same partnership. Meaning neither one can experience the fulfillment of every promise apart from Christ and one another. Why? Because they are now one people (see Ephesians 2:11-22). The fact that all believers are united to Christ makes it impossible for Jewish believers and Gentile believers to exist as two separate groups, to enjoy an inheritance that the other won’t also enjoy.

Because Christ is the true Israel, all who are united to Him are also the true Israel. The Church and the true Israel are the same, made of believers from every ethnicity, tribe, and language. This is God’s One People of His Kingdom.