I did keep up with my reading plan of Schreiner’s book yesterday, but not my posting of it. so here’s some quotes from yesterday’s reading:
“The gospel of Christ fulfills what was written in the Old Testament scriptures, and believers inherit the promises made to Abraham” (73).
Schreiner then moves into a brief history of Israel.
I thought this was a quaint quote:
“The promises of land and seed were substantially fulfilled at this juncture [Joshua’s conquest], but there was little evidence that all nations would be blessed through Abraham” (74). What does substantially fulfilled mean? Obviously Dr. Screiner does not even see Joshua’s conquest and the completion of the promise made to Israel regarding the land.
The most fun portion of Schreiner’s chapter is his discussion of the Gentiles being included in the community of Israel through the gospel. He is careful throughout, not to refer to the Jew/Gentile oneness as “the church,” but as “the people of God.” This is language that will suit his position well, but not that which is used in the salient passages he quotes.
Romans 2:28-29 are not verses directed at Gentiles who can become Jews, but rather Jews who have never understood God’s original intentions for their Jewishness. Gentiles are never called Jews in Romans (81). He further acknowledges the great debate of “the Israel of God” in Galatians 6:16. Plausible interpretations can be made for it referring to Gentile inclusion with the Jews as well as Israel as an ethnic reference (82-83).
Ephesians 2:11ff never calls the Gentile-Jew oneness Israel. In fact he states that both groups have become one new man that in chapter 3 he designates as the church. Ephesians never calls Gentiles Jews or refers to them as Israel. Dr. Schreiner does not discuss Paul’s term “one new man” in Ephesians. He does state, though, “We should not understand Ephesians to say that the significance of ethnic Israel has been fulfilled altogether, for we shall see . . . that Paul believes in a future salvation for ethnic Israel” (83).
He notes regarding Romans 9-11: “The primary issue in these chapters is whether the saving promises made to ethnic Israel will be fulfilled, whether God is faithful to his covenant promises” (84). Paul “believed that the mission to the Gentiles was the only means by which ethnic Israel would be saved” (85).
