Who Is Israel in the New Testament? The Church, Gentiles and the Covenants Explained
Few questions cut closer to the heart of biblical theology than this one: who exactly is Israel in the New Testament? The answer reshapes how you read prophecy, covenant, law, and salvation itself. Get this wrong, and nearly every other doctrine starts to drift.
Key Verse
“For they are not all Israel which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” — Romans 9:6-7
Romans 9:6-8 — Not All Israel Are Israel
Paul's statement in Romans 9:6 is one of the most overlooked and misunderstood verses in the entire New Testament. He writes plainly: 'They are not all Israel which are of Israel.' This is not Paul inventing a new theology — he is unpacking what was always true from the beginning. Physical descent from Abraham never guaranteed covenant standing before God. Ishmael was Abraham's biological son, yet he was not the covenant child. Esau came from the same womb as Jacob, yet God said 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated' (Romans 9:13). The covenant line was always defined by faith and divine calling, not bloodline alone.
Romans 9:8 drives this home with precision: 'They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.' This single verse dismantles the popular teaching that ethnic Israel holds an unconditional, unbreakable claim on all Old Testament prophecy regardless of their response to the Messiah. Paul is not being anti-Semitic — he is being biblical. The children of promise are those who, like Abraham, believe God and walk in obedience to His word (Genesis 26:5, Romans 4:12).
This matters enormously for how we interpret end-times prophecy. Entire theological systems — dispensationalism, Christian Zionism, the rapture doctrine — are built on the assumption that ethnic Israel and covenant Israel are the same group. But Paul says explicitly they are not. The promises belong to the seed of promise, and as we will see in Galatians 3, that seed is defined by faith in Messiah Yeshua.
Galatians 3:29 and Ephesians 2 — Gentiles Are Abraham's Seed
Galatians 3:29 is crystal clear: 'And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.' Paul is not creating a separate track for Gentile believers — he is saying that faith in Messiah grafts you directly into the Abrahamic covenant. There is no 'church covenant' floating separately above Israel's story. Gentile believers become genuine heirs of the very promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is not replacement theology — it is fulfillment theology. God always intended to include the nations (Genesis 12:3), and now in Messiah that inclusion has come to full expression.
Ephesians 2:11-13 confirms this from another angle. Paul reminds Gentile believers of what they were before faith: 'aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.' Notice the phrase 'covenants of promise' — plural. Their problem was not merely being outside a spiritual feeling or religious club. They were outside Israel's covenants. But verse 13 gives the remedy: 'But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.' The blood of Yeshua does not create a new nation — it brings outsiders near to an existing one.
Ephesians 2:19 seals the argument: 'Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God.' The Greek word for 'fellowcitizens' here is sympolitai — fellow members of the same polity, the same commonwealth. Gentiles who trust in Messiah are not forming a new entity. They are being welcomed into Israel's household and are now obligated by Israel's constitution — which includes God's Torah.
Romans 11 — The Olive Tree and the Grafting In
Romans 11 is Paul's most extended treatment of Israel's identity in the New Testament era, and it uses one of the most instructive metaphors in all of Scripture — the olive tree. The root of this tree is holy (Romans 11:16), representing the patriarchs and the covenant promises. Natural branches — ethnic Israelites who rejected Messiah — were broken off because of unbelief (Romans 11:20). Wild olive branches — Gentile believers — were grafted in against nature to share in the rich root of that same tree. One tree. One root. Two kinds of branches.
Paul's warning in Romans 11:20-21 is severe and is almost never preached in modern churches: 'Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.' This is a direct refutation of once-saved-always-saved theology. A grafted branch can be cut off. Continuance in the tree depends on continued faith and obedience — not on a one-time decision. Paul is talking to Gentile believers who had become arrogant over Jewish unbelief, and he is telling them that the same standard of faithfulness applies to them.
Romans 11:23-24 also holds out hope for ethnic Israel: those natural branches can be grafted back in if they do not continue in unbelief. This is the full picture — not replacement, not two separate tracks, but one covenant people shaped by faith. Jewish believers and Gentile believers are united in one redeemed community under one King, walking by one Torah. The olive tree has always been Israel, and it remains Israel today.
The Four Covenants — What Changed and What Didn't
To understand Israel's identity in the New Testament, you must track the four major covenants: the Abrahamic (Genesis 12, 15, 17), the Mosaic (Exodus 19-24), the Davidic (2 Samuel 7), and the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Each covenant builds on the previous one — they are not competing systems but progressive revelations of God's single redemptive plan. The Abrahamic covenant established the people and the promise of land, seed, and blessing. The Mosaic covenant gave that people a governing constitution — the Torah. The Davidic covenant promised an eternal king from David's line. The New Covenant promised that Torah would be written on hearts rather than stone.
Here is what the New Covenant changed: the atonement mechanism. The blood of bulls and goats never actually took away sin (Hebrews 10:4) — they were shadows pointing forward. Yeshua's once-for-all sacrifice fulfilled and replaced the sacrificial system. Access to the covenant no longer requires a Levitical priesthood, a physical temple, or animal blood. It requires faith in the risen Messiah and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who empowers Torah-keeping from the inside out. Jeremiah 31:33 does not say 'I will remove my law' — it says 'I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.'
What did not change: the moral and ethical content of God's law. The Sabbath was not nailed to the cross. The food laws were not abolished by Peter's vision (Acts 10 is about people, not pork — read Acts 10:28). The commandments against idolatry, adultery, and theft are not optional suggestions. Sin is still defined as transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). The New Covenant community — whether Jewish or Gentile — is still called to walk in God's commandments (Revelation 12:17, 14:12). The covenants progress; the law endures.
John 10:16 and the One Flock — The Church as Continuation of Israel
In John 10:16, Yeshua says something that most Bible readers pass over too quickly: 'And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.' The 'this fold' is the house of Israel — the Jewish people to whom he was primarily sent (Matthew 15:24). The 'other sheep' are the Gentile nations. His mission was to gather both into one fold under one shepherd. Not two flocks with two separate destinies. One flock.
This is the New Testament picture of the church in its most foundational form. The church is not a replacement for Israel — it is the ingathering of Israel plus the nations, exactly as the prophets foretold (Isaiah 56:6-8, Amos 9:11-12, Acts 15:16-17). James quotes Amos directly at the Jerusalem council to explain why Gentiles are being saved — not because a new organization has been formed, but because the fallen tabernacle of David is being rebuilt. The restored Davidic kingdom includes people from every nation who call on the name of the Lord.
This understanding destroys the artificial wall between 'the church' and 'Israel' that dispensationalism has constructed. That wall has produced disastrous fruit — it has led millions of Christians to believe they are exempt from Torah, to support geopolitical agendas on theological grounds, and to await a rapture that Scripture never teaches. The truth is simpler and more glorious: if you belong to Messiah, you are Abraham's seed, a citizen of Israel's commonwealth, an heir of the covenants, and a member of the one flock that Yeshua is building and will one day fully restore.
Frequently Asked Questions
What chapter in Jeremiah contains the New Covenant prophecy?
Chapter 31. The New Covenant prophecy is recorded in Jeremiah chapter 31, a foundational passage for understanding God's redemptive plan for Israel.
According to Jeremiah 31, with which two houses is the New Covenant made?
The house of Israel and the house of Judah. Jeremiah 31 explicitly states the New Covenant is made with 'the house of Israel and the house of Judah,' not with Gentiles or any other group by name.
According to Ezekiel 36, what had Israel done to God's great name among the nations?
Profaned it. Ezekiel 36:22 states that Israel 'profaned' God's great name among the nations — their disobedience and exile caused the nations to dishonor God's name.
What historical event does Jeremiah 31 reference when describing the old covenant that was broken?
The giving of the law at Mount Sinai after the Exodus from Egypt. Jeremiah 31 refers to the covenant made 'on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt,' pointing to the Mosaic covenant at Sinai.
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