We believe that every member of true Israel is an eternal part of the new Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God. Although there is great diversity of ranks and roles among the saints, all are members of the one Body of Christ.

True Israel is the Kingdom of God, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Wife of the Lamb, the Body of Christ, the new Jerusalem. Israel has been chosen by God from the creation of the world to be His royal priesthood.

And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:6)

We Gentiles who have been grafted on the root of Abraham through the Lord Jesus Christ are an integral part of the "kingdom of priests," the "holy nation" of Israel.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people [people for God's own possession]; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; (I Peter 2:9)

By "true Israel" we mean every member of the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ began as a purely Jewish institution. It will be concluded as a Jewish institution. Although in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, it remains true that the Kingdom of God is of Israel. We believing Gentiles have been grafted on Israel.

We shall be an inseparable part of Christ when He is crowned King on the Throne of David in Jerusalem.

This may come as a humbling shock to us Gentiles, for we regard Christianity as a Gentile institution. In actuality, Christianity is a Jewish institution. Let us not forget that. The Gospel of the Kingdom is to the Jew first, last, and always. We Gentiles have been added, by the will of God, to what is of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

There are many errors in Christian theology. None of them has done more to destroy straightforward biblical interpretation than the unscriptural doctrine that Jesus the Christ (Yeshua Hamashiach ), the Son of David, will reign over a spiritual Gentile kingdom in Heaven and a physical Jewish kingdom on the earth. Such deception has robbed the Lord's people of their ability to understand the Prophets.

There are those who believe that the Messianic revelations and promises found in the Prophets apply only to physical Israel and not to the Church of Christ. A little reflection on the consequences of such a position should cause any serious Bible student to abandon it. (Do the Twenty-third Psalm and the Fifty-third chapter of Isaiah apply to the Christian saints?)

Recently a young college student approached an internationally known Christian Bible teacher. She asked him, "How can you teach there are two churches, a Jewish church and a Gentile church when the Scriptures state there is only one body?"

His reply was incredible. Yet, it reveals the thinking of our foremost teachers and scholars.

He said, "In Paul's day the Gentiles were grafted on the Jewish church. Today the Jews are being grafted on the Gentile church."

On what passage of the Scriptures could he have based such an answer? Are we seriously amiss in calling for a reformation of Christian thinking?

To be continued.