Introduction
The question of modern Israel’s status in God’s redemptive plan continues to stir debate among Christians, especially in light of ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts and prophetic speculation. Many claim that Israel, as a nation, remains God’s chosen covenant people and that modern geopolitical events involving Israel fulfill end-time biblical prophecy.
The Former Adventists Philippines (FAP), embracing a consistent Partial Preterist, New Covenant Theology (NCT), and Reformed Arminian framework, holds a biblically grounded perspective on this issue, centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ and the nature of the New Covenant.
Romans 11:25–29 in Context
The Apostle Paul, in Romans 9–11, addresses the tragic unbelief of ethnic Israel and God’s sovereign purposes through it. In Romans 11:25–29, he reveals a “mystery” — that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has entered the kingdom.
Many have interpreted “all Israel will be saved” (v. 26) to mean either a future national conversion of Israel or ongoing prophetic significance for modern ethnic Israel. However, from the Partial Preterist and NCT perspective:
- “All Israel” refers to the totality of God’s elect people, including both believing Jews and Gentiles, united under the New Covenant in Christ.
- The promises made to Israel in the Old Covenant era were fulfilled in Jesus Christ and now apply to those who are in Christ by faith.
As Paul earlier clarifies:
"Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac." Romans 9:6-7 (CSB)
This establishes a distinction between ethnic Israel and the spiritual Israel of God — the Church.
The Partial Preterist Interpretation
Partial Preterists affirm that many of Israel’s prophetic promises and judgments, including those involving national Israel, were fulfilled in the first century, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (cf. Matthew 24:34).
Romans 11 addresses:
- The hardening of Israel in Paul’s day
- The inclusion of Gentiles into the covenant blessings
- The eventual salvation of elect Jews who come to faith in Christ
The “all Israel” being saved is not a reference to modern Israel as a political nation but to the full number of the redeemed from both Jews and Gentiles under the reign of Christ.
New Covenant Theology: The One People of God
New Covenant Theology teaches that the Old Covenant has been abolished (Hebrews 8:13), and God’s promises now find their fulfillment in the New Covenant community — the Church.
According to NCT:
- There’s one people of God: those united to Christ by faith, regardless of ethnicity.
- Ethnic Israel no longer holds special covenantal status apart from faith in Jesus.
- The designation “chosen people” is now applied to the Church, both Jewish and Gentile believers.
As Paul writes:
"And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:29 (CSB)
Reformed Arminianism and Salvation for All Peoples
Reformed Arminian theology upholds both God’s sovereign election and human responsibility. Within this view:
- Israel’s hardening was judicial, partial, and purposeful — to open the way for Gentile inclusion.
- Individual Jews, like Gentiles, can still be saved through faith in Christ alone.
- God’s call remains open to ethnic Israelites, but they have no distinct redemptive advantage apart from the gospel.
"Since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him." Romans 10:12 (CSB)
Doctrinal Conclusion
The Former Adventists Philippines affirm the following:
- Modern ethnic Israel, as a political nation, is not God’s chosen covenant people today.
- The promises made to Israel under the Old Covenant were fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
- Under the New Covenant, the Church — composed of both believing Jews and Gentiles — is the true people of God.
- Salvation is available to all people, including ethnic Jews, but only through repentance and faith in Christ.
- Modern events involving Israel, while significant politically and historically, are not fulfillments of biblical prophecy in the eschatological sense.
Supporting Scriptures
Romans 9:6-8 (CSB)
"Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac. That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring."
Romans 11:25-29 (CSB)
"I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs, since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable."
Galatians 3:28-29 (CSB)
"There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise."
Hebrews 8:6-13 (CSB)
"But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. But finding fault with his people, he says: See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. I showed no concern for them, says the Lord, because they did not continue in my covenant. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins. By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away."
Galatians 6:16 (CSB)
"May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy even to the Israel of God!"
Ephesians 2:11-22 (CSB)
"So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh — called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands. At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit."
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:9-10 (CSB)
Final Word
While loving and praying for all people, including ethnic Jews, Christians must resist sensationalist prophecy claims and hold fast to the sufficiency of Christ’s work and the unity of His New Covenant people. The hope for Israel, like all nations, is found in one place: the gospel of Jesus Christ.
"There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (CSB)
For more inquiries, contact us:
Email: formeradventist.ph@gmail.com
Website: formeradventistph.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/formeradventistph
Phone: 09695143944
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