Replacement Theology

By: Donna J. Kazenske

What is Replacement Theology and where did it originate? Why are we beginning to hear more of this kind of teaching today? Is it Biblical?

Replacement Theology is basically a doctrinal teaching that was introduced to the Church nearly 1,900 years ago. What began as Judaism eventually separated into Judaism and Christianity as a result of religious and social differences. As time went on, the gap between the two became wider and wider. Anti-Semitism prevailed and much persecution followed.

Replacement Theology teaches: 1) Israel has been replaced by the Christian Church, 2) Since the day of Pentecost, the term “Israel” (as referred to in the Bible) now refers to the Church, 3) The blessings, covenants, and promises that were given to Israel in the word of God have been taken away from the Jews and given to the Church, 4) The Jews are subject to the curses found in the word of God as a result of their rejection of Jesus, 5) The Jewish people are no longer a chosen people, and 6) The Jewish people have no future, hope or calling in the plan of God.

Replacement Theology is false doctrine wrapped in anti-Semitism. Scripture does not support the views of this erroneous teaching. (For further study, read Romans Chapter 11).

Replacement Theology causes the Church to become arrogant and self-centered. These attitudes open wide the doors for anti-Semitism to spread like wildfire. Scripture becomes confusing when one tries to replace “Israel” with the Church.

What should be the Church’s proper perspective and role concerning the Jews and the land of Israel?

Romans 11:28-29 – Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

Even though the Jewish people were disobedient and rebellious (like many of us), the Lord still used them and called them “His chosen people.”

Romans 11:32 – For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. We must show love, honor and mercy to our Jewish friends.

Psalm 122:6 – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.

We must pray for the Jews and the land that God has given to the Jewish people. If we refuse to do so, we will not prosper.

Though they have been blinded for a time, God’s plan is to save them and graft them back in.

Romans 11:23, 25 – And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”

The Lord is not finished with Israel. The blessings, covenants and promises that God made to Israel are still in place awaiting fulfillment.

Genesis 12:1-3 - Now the Lord had said to Abraham: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

If we turn our backs on Israel and refuse to stand with her in her time of need, we will be a cursed people.

Psalm 105:6, 8-12 – O seed of Abraham His servant, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones! He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, and confirmed it to Jacob for a statue, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance,” when they were few in number, indeed very few, and strangers in it.

Psalm 89:34 – My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.

God will keep His covenant with Israel. He is not a man that He should lie. What He has spoken, He will also perform.

We have the word of God today as a result of the dedication and obedience of the Jewish people. We are saved today because we have believed in a “Jewish” Messiah. All of the apostles and disciples were Jews. Sixty-four of the sixty-six books in the word of God were written by Jews.