Philippians 3:3 records Paul’s words to the Philippian church: “We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” The Jewish Israelites were often called ‘the circumcision’ in scripture. So, why does Paul say “we are the circumcision” to a predominantly Gentile church? It turns out, there is a parallel between this and the fact that the church is also called the ‘Israel of God’. How can Gentiles be the circumcision? How can Gentiles be the Israel of God? In the end, we will find that both of these things are connected to what we might call inward or spiritual realities, as opposed to external realities. Those who had only the external realities thought that their justification could come through the keeping of ceremonial law, such as physical circumcision. But Paul says in Romans 2:29 that “a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.” Hence, true circumcision and, as we will see, the true Israel, is not based on outward form. God has always looked past the outward forms, working the true realities of his promises into the heart of man. Let’s look further at these ideas, beginning with what Paul calls the “Israel of God”.
The Israel of God
Do you know that if you belong to Christ, you are a part of Israel?
In the Bible, the name Israel can refer to a person, a people, or a place. A person – the patriarch Jacob who was given the name Israel in Genesis 32; a people – the twelve tribes of Jacob – who are all descendants of Abraham; or a place – the geographic region that God promised to Abraham’s descendants. (The nation Israel was named after the patriarch with the same name.) So, why would I say that all Christians are part of Israel?
In Galations 6:16, Paul labels the church of Galatia – consisting of both Jews and Gentiles, the “Israel of God”. Why? Well, the short answer is because all saints for all of time, whether Jew or Gentile, whether having lived in the era of the old testament or the new, are part of one united covenant people of God.
There are not two separate peoples of God – one of them being old testament Israel and the other being the new testament church. In Romans 9:6-12, Paul makes light of this when he states that “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.” Paul is clear that to be a descendant of Abraham did not necessarily make a person part of the Israel to which he is referring here. We can see that Paul speaks of Israel in some sense other than the one we might expect – the blood line of Jacob. Again, sometimes scripture does refer to the twelve tribes of Israel, Abraham’s descendants, as Israel. But Paul, here in verse 6, must be speaking of Israel in another way – an Israel that is not made up only of ethnic Jews. So, just what does Paul mean by this Israel?
The True Israel
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” (Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:13).
Being a part of the true Israel has nothing to do with whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, whether you are physically circumcised or not, but rather has everything to do with whether or not you are united to Christ. You see, the true Israel is the person Jesus Christ, the son of God. Matthew confirms this when he applies the words of Hosea 11:1 to Jesus. Thus, if you are united to Christ, you are part of the true Israel, the Israel of God, the chosen race, the holy nation, the royal priesthood that is spoken of in reference to God’s people both in the old testament and in the new testament. (Exodus 19:5-6 and 1 Peter 2:9.)
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son”
Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:13
Belonging to the chosen people of God is not based on a physical or material reality, but exclusively on a spiritual reality. The sense in which Paul spoke of Israel in Romans 9:6 was a spiritual sense. God’s spiritual people Israel, are his people according to his gracious covenantal promise, not because of their ethnicity. The children of God are not given their status because “of the flesh” (Romans 6:8), but solely because of God’s promise. In other words, being a physical descendant of Abraham did not guarantee a person to be counted as a child of promise (Romans 6:8).
So then, who are Abraham’s true offspring, spiritually speaking? Paul gives us the answer to this in Galations 3:7, saying “it is those of faith who are sons of Abraham”. This is precisely why I said that if you are united to Christ, you are a part of Israel – because the true Israel is a spiritual people who are recognized on the basis of faith in Christ alone. It is to this spiritual people that God gives his unconditional promise in Genesis 17:7-8, saying “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” The promise given to Abraham was a gospel promise, just as all of God’s covenant promises throughout his story of redemption are gospel promises, beginning way back in Genesis 3:15.
“the true Israel is a spiritual people who are recognized on the basis of faith in Christ alone”
Although God’s promise to Abraham did include the inheritance of land, the ‘earthly’ fulfillment was not all that God was really promising. The physical/earthly land of Canaan was a mere foreshadowing of the true and eternal land which God promised His people would possess. A land flowing with milk and honey. He was referring to the land in which will we live for all of eternity with the Lord. Canaan is an earthly type of an even greater spiritual reality to come. But Canaan was not the true and final fulfillment. The land of Canaan was symbolic of the new heaven and new earth, which is to be understood as the true end and promised inheritance in store for God’s people, where he will dwell with us and we will be his people, forever. Jesus, Immanuel – which means “God with us” – will dwell with us and reign over us for all of eternity. Remember, God’s kingdom is not of this world! Jesus said so himself (John 18:36). Even Abraham is said to have been looking forward, not to an earthly inheritance in Canaan, but to a heavenly city (Heb 11:10).
Covenant God
Our God is a covenant God, and it is crucial to understand that His covenant promise has always been one and the same to all who belong to Him through faith in Christ. God’s promise is that He will be our God and we will be His people forever (Gen 17:7, Ex 6:7, Ez 36:28). Therefore, the promises given to Abraham were never intended to be limited only to Abraham or his sons, or to the nation of Israel, or to ethnic Jews. The same great and precious promises are repeated all throughout scripture. Every covenant that God has made (after the Covenant of Works), beginning in Genesis 3:15, is a gospel covenant and contains the same basic promises repeated over and over. Whether we look at God’s covenant with Noah, or Abraham, or Moses, or David, all of these covenants are the same in their essence or substance. All of the great and precious promises found throughout scripture are for you and me. They are everlasting promises to the Israel of God, who are all of God’s people for all of time.
God’s covenant promises are unconditional promises. When thinking about God as a covenant God, we should keep in mind that all people have always been saved in the same way – by grace alone through faith alone. There was no separate way of salvation in the ‘old covenant’. Sometimes people may mistakenly think that salvation came through the old testament sacrifices according to the law of Moses, as though God was reinstating a a covenant of works. But this is not so! The “blood of bulls and goats” could not atone for sin (Heb 10:4). Only Jesus blood has ever been capable of forgiveness of sin. Old testament sacrifices were of no value unless they were done in faith – a faith that looked forward to the prophesied Messiah (who in many ways was shrouded in mystery, thus requiring great faith!) The sacrifices of the old covenant did not save anyone, ever. The outward form alone was not enough. Only sacrifices made in faith brought forgiveness. Only faith in God’s promises could bring salvation.
In the new covenant, we are greatly blessed in that we are able to look back to the events of the cross. The events of the cross were shrouded in mystery for the people of the old testament. But now those mysteries have been revealed to us. The peoples of the old covenant had only the shadows of Christ, we have the substance. The life, death and resurrection of the One Messiah and Savior is known to us because the prophesied events have taken place. Christ Jesus has come and given himself as the final sacrifice. He has died and been raised. And we have the great benefit of looking back to these events and placing our faith in he who has come, just as peoples before the cross looked forward and placed their faith in the same Savior that we do. Although there are many differences in the circumstances surrounding our faith (again shadow vs. substance, type vs. reality), it is the same faith in the same God and Savior. There has only been one faith in one Savior, and one gracious gospel promise that has ever saved anyone throughout the history of the world!
Although Jesus death on the cross occurred at a midpoint in the history of redemption, between the old and new covenants, his death was applied to people throughout all of history. Christ died not just for a future people, but for all whom he “chose before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25). The church that Christ died for includes both the old testament saints and the new testament saints. Again, there is only one covenant people of God. This is why Paul tells the Gentiles of the Ephesian church that “you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph 2:19-21). How many structures are there? One!
“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25). The church that Christ died for includes both the old testament saints and the new testament saints.
If you haven’t previously seen this glorious truth, I hope you will now begin to take hold of it. The church, Israel, all of the saints – they are God’s chosen people, all united by Christ Jesus. This was always God’s plan. To adopt unto Himself a people for Himself. To give an inheritance – the inheritance that rightly belongs to His true Son – to give that same inheritance to his adopted children who He makes part of His spiritual family by grace through faith. The same faith that counted Abraham as righteous also counts us as righteous today. The same God who gave the everlasting covenant to Abraham also gave everlasting covenant to us.
We are God’s covenant people. We are the circumcision. We are Israel. All of redemptive history comes together in this: One God, one people, one plan of redemption, finding a uniting common thread in the One Savior, Jesus Christ, the true Israel of God.