THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

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204 The Hope of Israel: What Is It?
the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the
son of the freewoman," were a prophecy that the natural
descendants of Abraham should not share the inheritance
with his spiritual seed, the elect remnant.
Manifestly therefore, those who now maintain that
the natural Israelites as such are the heirs of God's
to understand
promise to Abraham, do not only fail
the allegorical significance of his family history, but
they also close their eyes to the clear explanation thereof
in Galatians 4 :21-31.
In Romans 9:6-8 the same truth is
stated in these
words :
"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. That is, 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 Scripture gives us, in addition to the important
truth that not all Israelites are included in the "Israel"
of God's prophetic purposes, the closely allied truth
that "the children of God," that is, those who are saved
by the gospel, are "the children of the promise" (definite
article in the original) ; and that they are "counted
for the seed" (of Abraham). By this passage it is also
seen that Romans IX continues a subject that was begun
in Chapter VIII, the inheritance of the whole redeemed
creation by the children of God. For in Chapter
VIII it is written:
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"The Spirit Himself beareth wtness with our spirit that we
are the children of God : and if children, then heirs, heirs of God
and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:16, 17).
And the suceeding verses show that the inheritance
here referred to is the entire creation of God, which