“Replacement theology”

Some people use the term “Replacement Theology” to mean that the Christian Church has “replaced” Israel as God’s chosen people. Other people use that term to maintain that God cannot possibly abandon Israel and so he will establish an earthly kingdom for Israel during the millennium.

Romans 9-11 helps us understand things correctly. That section of Scripture explains that the Christian Church is not a replacement of Israel but a continuation of the real Israel. God explains through the apostle Paul that when it comes to Jews, it is not ancestral heritage that saves (Romans 9:6-8). It is faith in Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, that saves. And so in that part of the Bible God pictures Jews who reject Jesus, the promised Messiah, as branches broken off a tree, and Gentiles who are led to believe in Jesus as the Messiah as branches grafted to a tree (Romans 11:17-24). Those who have the faith of Abraham—trusting in the promised Savior, Jesus Christ—are the real Israel (Romans 9:8)