Is Israel Still God’s Chosen People? Understanding the Three Biblical Views

In this episode of Q&A with Pastor Charlie, we tackle a question many Christians are asking today: Is Israel still God’s chosen people?

With global events constantly bringing Israel into the spotlight, believers often wonder how Old Testament promises relate to the church and God’s plan under the new covenant. Pastor Charlie walks through the biblical story of Israel, explains the historical and theological background, and carefully explores the three primary Christian perspectives:

• Dispensationalism

• Replacement Theology

• Covenant Theology

Rather than creating division, this conversation highlights how faithful Christians can hold different views while remaining rooted in Scripture and united in Christ. Pastor Charlie also shares where he personally lands and why Romans 9–11 plays such a crucial role in understanding God’s ongoing redemptive plan.

If you’ve ever wrestled with how Israel, the church, and God’s promises fit together, this episode offers clarity, humility, and biblical insight.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to another episode of QA with Pastor Charlie. This week we have a question from one of our members here at Firstborn. And they're wanting us to talk about whether or not Israel is still God's chosen people, which is pretty relevant in light of all the things going on in our world right now. So what do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01 0:17

All right. Well, this is a tough question. And uh it's a question that I think a lot of people have strong feelings about. It's a question that I think sometimes is really hard to answer clearly from a biblical perspective because there's different passages of scripture that get interpreted different ways. And so what I'm going to try to do today is give you the primary views of how people interpret this question and their understanding of Israel under the new covenant, under the future, uh, or about the future, and then I'll try to tell you where I land as far as my beliefs and feelings, which have kind of wavered over time. Uh, you know, my interpretation of some of these things has changed and it might change again in the future. Uh, but you know, I think one of the things that uh we we're probably looking at is I think the question is referring to national Israel or ethnic Israel. And so are we saying that this nation uh that still exists in the middle of the Middle East that God formed from a man by the name of Abraham, uh, do they, are they still God's covenant and God's chosen people? Now, before I answer this question, I think it's important to notice that there are different people who have different views about this, and all of the views that I'm gonna share with you have biblical merit. They they are scriptural in now the interpretations might be different based on scripture, but their understanding of this is rooted in scripture. And so I do believe there are God-fearing, God-loving people uh who follow the Lord daily and regularly and uh who love the Lord with all their heart who are gonna have different opinions on this. And the reason I want to point that out is because I think there are issues in the Bible that are not always as clear as we want to make them out to be. And it's possible for us to have different views but still love the Lord, and I think we got to be careful that we don't automatically put people in camps and give them labels just because they might not agree with us on this. Now, before we answer this question, are is Israel still God's chosen people? I think we need to answer the question, at least from a biblical standpoint, well, who is Israel? Because I think naturally our mindset automatically goes to this tiny little country in the middle of the Middle East that's surrounded by people that uh have been waging war with one another for thousands of years, and uh they still are in the middle, and there's always this constant fighting that goes on. I mean, it's it through every generation, it's almost hard to look at any type of news and not find Israel in the middle of it. It just seems to be they're always there at the forefront. But Israel is definitely more than just a nation in the middle of the Middle East. And so the first thing that we would say about Israel is that Israel, from a biblical perspective, is actually a person. And so if we go all the way back to Genesis chapter 12, we see that God, uh, just solely according to the purposes of his grace, decides that he's going to make a people for himself, and he calls out a man by the name of Abram, later known as Abraham, and basically says, Abram, I want you to follow me, and I'm going to make you uh a great nation, and all of the nations of the world are gonna be blessed through you. And so he gives this vague little promise that he unfolds along the way, and God calls out Abram according to his grace and according to his purpose, and then Abraham responds by faith with his wife, and they begin this journey. Now, we know from the story that Abraham is old, his wife is barren, and so this whole idea of God making a great nation from him is just really too hard to believe anyway. But yet Abraham believes and it's credited to him as righteousness, the Bible says, and eventually from them comes a child by the name of Isaac. Now, Isaac is this promised son whom Abraham has very late in life, and from Abraham he has two sons. He has a set of twins by the name of Jacob and Esau. And by God's divine plan, he chooses the younger of the twins, Jacob, to be the one whom through the blessing is going to pass through. And we see that along the line, God renames Jacob Israel. And this is the beginning of what we know as Israel in the Old Testament. From Israel, there's twelve sons that later become the twelve tribes of Israel. And from them we we see this nation forming known as Israel. And so Israel was originally a nation made up of twelve tribes. We see that they inherit the promised land. Later, Israel becomes a kingdom, and so we see that they have a king. That kingdom gets divided up into two kingdoms. We see it in Judah and in Israel. And then we know that over a period of time, because of their disobedience, their rebellion against God, God allows them to be overtaken. They're taken captive, and they're held in various forms of captivity without really a nation state or a place, up until about 1948. Now, there's a lot more going on in history, of course, throughout this time. This is just the high notes. But in 1948, after World War II is over and the Holocaust has taken place, the United Nations get together and they decide to divide parts of the Middle East into Palestine, which is in between a Jewish and an Arab state. And so since 1948, we have this little nation that operates democratically on some level in the middle of all of these other Arab nations, and that nation is known as Israel. And so all of that being said, the question is now, how do we interpret, how do we understand these promises that God made to this people, this person and these people in the Old Testament today corresponding with this nation that still exists? And so the question again is, is Israel still God's chosen people? And I think the question is, are they God's chosen people as described, promised in the Old Covenant? Now, some of those old promises were basically like this: anyone who blesses you, I'm gonna bless them. Anyone who curses you, I'm gonna curse them. Are those promises still intact? Is the promise of Israel inheriting this land that's talked about all throughout the Old Testament? Is that still intact? And and that's where things get difficult and how we interpret it. So I'm gonna give you the three primary views. Two are on opposite ends of one another, and then there's a third one that's in the middle, and then we'll see kind of where we land on that. The first view uh is the dispensationalist view. Now, one thing is I'm sharing these views with you. There's a lot of differing views that flow from these views, there's a lot of different interpretations, and I'm just gonna give you the very general uh high note or you know, Cliff Notes version of it. But the dispensationalist view, uh, which many of us in our region and area would fall into, I think a lot of it because of the teaching of like Dallas Theological Seminary. And so in this area of the United States, this is a very prominent view. It's the view that I grew up being taught a lot. Uh, it got popular really in the 70s and 80s with some books and things that were written. In the 90s, you had the Left Behind series that came out that everybody thought was so great, which was written from a dispensationalist perspective. And it would say, yes, Israel is still God's chosen people, that there are still future promises and blessings for this ethnic group of uh of Jews or Israel, uh, which makes up the nation of Israel. They would say that there is a clear distinction between Israel and the church. And so we see that Israel's in the Old Testament, but God has future plans, and then in the new covenant we have the church, but they're distinct from one another. And their view is gonna be based on God's promises to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, later in chapter 15, uh, as God gives these covenants to Abraham, and they're gonna say, those covenants God made, and he's gonna keep those covenants. And so this people, this nation that God was gonna form, they are still uh recipients of God's divine blessing. They're gonna interpret this out of Romans chapter 9, verses 11, which is one of those passages that it's important in our answering of this, but can people can interpret different ways. Uh and then this view of Israel shapes their end times uh eschatology with clear, distinct place for ethnic Israel and God's final redemptive purpose and plan. And so in dispensationalist theology, the bulk of them would believe that there's gonna be a silent rapture of the church, meaning that the Gentile believers that exist will be taken up to be with the Lord. But during this time of tribulation, there is gonna be a return of the nation of Israel to the Lord, and this is gonna bring in a bunch of events that are ultimately gonna lead to a second coming of Christ that's gonna usher in this millennial reign, with Israel being in the middle of that. So that's one view, and it's a very prominent view, uh, especially in this area, this region. Uh there's some problems that I personally have with this view. One of them is the idea of dispensationalism didn't even start until the 1800s, and so, you know, we we got a lot of church history that has gone on where dispensationalist type of thinking wasn't even prevalent. It didn't show up till late in the uh game. So that's one of the issues that I have with it. But all of that being said, there's very much merit to it. Uh there's some great godly men and women who have held this view, who have taught on this view. So that's that's the first view. The second view is supersessionism, or also known as replacement theology. And essentially what replacement theology says that no, Israel is no longer God's chosen people. They rejected their Messiah, they've operated in disobedience, they're apostate, and because of that, God has replaced ethnic Israel with the church. And so in the New Covenant, we see a replacement for Israel. Uh and this is this new Israel, this new people is God's chosen people, the church who have trusted in Christ, repented of their sins, and believe in him. Now, where they're gonna support this with scripture is places like in 1 Peter chapter 2 9, where Peter refers to as New Testament believers as God's chosen people. And so they're gonna say, no, the new Israel, the replacement for Israel is the people who have repented, turned to the Lord because they've rejected him, and God's called out a separate people that has replaced the Old Covenant, Old Testament Israel. They're also gonna use places like Romans 2, 28 through 29, Galatians 3, 28 through 29, where uh Paul talks about the true Israel uh being a people who are inward, not outward. And so that the rather than the outward sign of circumcision, you have the inward sign of the heart, and essentially they are a people who are walking with God by faith. Now, here's where I think the merit to this view is. We do know that Israel has rejected Jesus as their Messiah. We do know that he came, that he walked amongst them, and they said, crucify him, crucify him, they turned their back on him. We know that they don't believe. We know that they are operating in an apostasy where they've truly rejected that. Uh I think the fact that when we look throughout the Bible, the truest definition of Israel is a people called out by God, by his grace, for his purpose, to walk with him by faith. That was what God was doing in Israel from the very beginning. I don't think his plan was just to make a nation in the sense of a nation on the earth, although he does do that. I think his purpose was I'm gonna make a people for the glory of my name, who are going to show, bear a testimony to the world of my goodness, my faithfulness, who I'm gonna bring this deliverer through, and the call is to walk by faith. And I think always throughout the history of Israel, there has been a part of Israel that wasn't Israel, meaning they weren't walking with God by faith. There's always been this remnant that the Bible talks about with Israel that is the true followers of the Lord who remain faithful even when nobody else was. So then we get to the third view, which is a more middle ground view. And this is the idea of covenant theology. And it sees not the church as a replacement of Israel, but a continuation of God's redemptive plan of what he's been working all throughout history. And what we see, especially in Romans chapter 11, verse 17 through 24, is that the church has been grafted into Israel. And so the church hasn't replaced Israel, but he says, you know, we're a wild olive shoot that's been grafted in. And the picture that he gives here is God's plan for Israel has always been this people that he's calling to himself. And as we get under the new covenant, his plan has expanded to include Gentiles, which is what we see in Ephesians chapter 2, where it says this mystery that's been revealed from the Apostle Paul is that the wall of hostility and the dividing wall that used to separate Jews and Gentiles has been torn down in Christ, and God's created one people out of the two. And so there's not a replacement, it's a continuation that God, what he's doing in the old covenant, has now expanded to the Gentiles in the new covenant. And essentially, that the promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 that all the nations of the world will be blessed through you has come to fruition in Christ and come to fruition in the church. Now I would tell you this is the direction that I tend to lean, and I'll tell you why I tend to lean there. What I see God doing in the new covenant is the exact same thing that I see him doing in the old covenant. Under the old covenant, he calls out Abraham, he calls out Israel according to what? His grace. That's just the simple reason that he does it. We have no idea why he chose Abraham of all the people in the world outside of according to God's grace and eternal plan. And he calls Abraham to walk with him by faith and says, If you'll walk with me by faith, there's a blessing that I'm going to give you. And we fast forward that through, and we see how God worked by grace in their life and blessed them. And even though they were rebellious, he would call them back unto himself. And if they would repent, he would forgive them of their sin. We see that God delivers the Messiah through this people, Israel. And then we see in the New Testament something spectacular happening through the resurrection of Jesus Christ that God says, My plan from the beginning was to call a people to myself that includes both Jew and Gentile, and the wall of hostility is now tore down, and the church is just an extension of what God was doing in the Old Testament. It's a covenant of grace where he's chosen us not because we deserve anything, but solely according to his goodness and grace, and we walk with him and respond with him by faith. Now, where does that leave Israel? And that's the question. You know, well, so does God have no plans for Israel? Are they just being, you know, grafted in and now we're all recipients? And I would say, and this is where I think there's a middle ground, that God has some purpose for Israel that connects to his Old Testament covenants. And here's why I believe that. And it comes out of Romans chapter 11. There are several things that Paul seems to be saying in there. And the first one is this is that God has not fully rejected Israel. And the Israel that he's talking about in chapters 9 through 11 is speaking of this nation, this old covenant people that God made some promises to. And he's in Paul's arguing like God has not fully rejected them. A second thing that he says in Romans chapter 11 is their hardening and unbelief are not permanent. He says there's been a temporal hardening of their heart. And so it's not permanent, it's temporal. He tells us that the New Testament church hasn't replaced Israel, but's been grafted in. And it seems that he's talking about some future plan for Israel that will lead to the salvation of at least some of Israel. And so God's promises to Israel in some ways, I think, are still valid. Now I don't think that that means necessarily in the form of a nation as as we want to see it, like this country that exists in the middle. It could. I think what he's saying, though, is that this group of people that seem to have wandered away from me. There's always been a remnant of them that God has seemed to call back into himself. And from my reading of Romans 11, I think that something is going to happen in Israel toward the end times that's going to lead at least some of them back to the Lord, where God's going to fulfill his promises. All of that being said, that is the nuts and bolts of it. Now, one of the things that I think is interesting, and this kind of goes back to part of the dispensationalist view, and this is probably my greatest defense of some view of the nation of Israel still being recipients of God's divine blessing, is they're still here. I mean, you look historically at how many times people have attempted to eradicate, eliminate, destroy this nation, and yet they're still here. And that's one of the things that just baffles my mind sometimes. Like, how has this group of people still exist, although everything that's gone on around the world, it seems, throughout the ages has tried to destroy them. And the only answer that I can come up with is the protection and providence of God. So so he has managed, I think, in my mind to do something there. Now, what that's going to end up in the end times, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

I have a follow-up question if we can cut it if you want. But I uh sometimes wonder how the idea of Israel being God's people gets interpreted in light of like election and predestination. And if if God truly elects people for salvation, why would he not elect his own people for salvation?

SPEAKER_01 18:22

And I think that does is the great supporter of this idea that God has some plans for Israel. And it's one of the reasons that I do believe that God has some plans for Israel because I see the doctrine of election in both the New Testament and Old Testament. And that is one of the great arguments that says, hey, if God elected these people, just as he's elected believers, and uh and and we know that that election ultimately results in us walking by faith. And so true election is always going to result in people walking by faith. But I think that's one of the great arguments that says, hey, he has something special in store for Israel. Now, whether that means ethnic national Israel or this people that he's called to himself, and that's why I tend to go more the people that he's called to himself versus just a national, ethnic Israel, because election always results in people walking with God by faith. And so, but that is one of the great arguments for it. And I and I see election in both the New Testament and Old Testament. The reason Israel exists is election. The reason that the church exists is God chose them. And that doesn't negate our responsibility to believe because clear Israel is clearly not believing right now. And I don't think that being born a Jew naturally means you've got a place in heaven. If you fail to repent and believe, then you're gonna be separated from God eternally. Any other question that goes along with that?

SPEAKER_00 19:45

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

All right, great question.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

All right, well, I think that's all we have for this week. Thanks for tuning back in for another QA podcast with Pastor Charlie. And we'll see you guys in a couple weeks.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

All right.