Israel & the Church - their relationship (Laying Deep Foundations)

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Indeed, the visit was a cold one: The trip, two years after the publication of the Nostra Aetate, did lay the foundations for a further amelioration in the improvement of ties between the Holy See and the Jewish state. We are no more a wandering people. This is a major revolution in Christian thought. Upon his return to St. Jerusalem Post Christian News.

Pope’s 1964 Holy Land trip laid foundations for ties with Israel

Share on facebook Share on twitter. As one of our loyal readers, we ask you to be our partner. Pope arrives in transformed Ireland as abuse crises rage. Nearly new immigrants arrive to Israel from the Ukraine. No, because it was his decision.

The Relationship of the Church to Israel | bahana-line.com

The same is true with the election of God. He chooses whom He will, and that is not unrighteous. It is not because someone is willing, nor is it because someone is striving to have God choose him that he is chosen.

It is simply the mercy and grace of God. We are saved by grace through faith, not through desiring or striving, or works; it is the free gift of God. Therefore we cannot boast that we had anything to do with God choosing to save us. We did not do it; He did Ephesians 2: God grants them salvation.

The rest of the world, those that do not believe in Christ as Savior, are condemned to eternal separation from God. This is from Exo 9: Pharaoh had nothing to do with it. For who hath resisted his will? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Some would say that this is the height of unfairness. If we cannot resist God then how can he blame us? A potter can make a lump of clay into something of beauty or into something ugly.

‘This visit could be of enormous historical importance,’ Paul VI said

It is his decision; after all, he is the one forming the clay. The clay cannot question what the potter intends to do.

It has no say. But there is more to it than just this. He was a pagan who had his own beliefs and gods; in fact he considered himself to be deity. He would never become a believer in the One True God; it was not going to happen, forget it. Hence God could display His power to His chosen People. But, as the LORD already knew, that would never happen.

Pharaoh was hell bound and ultimately bound for the lake of fire by his own choice. God did not force him to be an unbeliever. Pharaoh, being an unrepentant unbeliever was a person who would ultimately be cast into the lake of fire and that will be his destruction. Thus God is not really unfair. The Scripture also tells us that God is revealed in His creation and that if one will accept that and, because of the creation, seek the Lord, then he will find Him e.

Pharaoh was not unfairly treated. God was patient with him and he had no excuse for not seeking the LORD. Everyone has the ability to see God through His creation.

Everyone has the ability to seek God. Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? Included are all saved people, both Jews and Gentiles. This is a reference to believers in Christ as Paul makes known in the next few verses. This is a reference from Hosea 1: In the first passage, God rejected his people Israel because of their idolatry.

Idolatry is called whoredom in the KJV in Hosea. Idolatry, then, is spiritual adultery against God. God illustrated this in Hosea by commanding the prophet to marry a prostitute. This is not a study of Hosea so we will delve no further into Hosea than is necessary to enhance our current study. I heartily recommend an in-depth study of Hosea. Yet, even though God rejected his people because of their idolatry, there was a time coming when God would once again call them His people, i. The implication is that If God would allow His chosen people to be rejected and then return to Him, He will also do the same for the Gentiles, who were already not His people.

This is confirmed in Hosea 2: These would not be Israelites, but Gentiles. This is a direct quote of Hosea 2: Thus both Israelites and Gentiles, which can mean the heathen or the people of the nations, would be called the children of the Living God. Here Paul, using the Scriptures of his day the Old Testament today , explains that out of the myriads of the children of Israel, only a portion of them, a remnant, will be saved.

In the KJV, Isaiah But the Septuagint LXX says the remnant will be saved. Paul used the LXX for his reference. There were always unbelievers among them. These folks, because of custom, went along with the religious rites that applied to Israel. Their hearts were not right but their outward appearance was that they were Israelites.

God spoke of these people many times in Scripture e. The same can be said for our nation. We were once considered a God-fearing people. Yet God blessed us. He blessed the whole nation because of the believing remnant. The same is true of Israel. Yet, the day is coming when God will no longer bless the unrighteous because of the believing remnant.

He will one day finish His work and the righteous will be saved while the unrighteous will be consigned to the fiery lake.

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God will destroy unrighteousness and righteousness will reign. When He begins His work the end will come quickly see Isaiah But that has not happened yet. If there were no remnant of believers, the Lord of Hosts would have already destroyed everyone; He would have spared none. Since loving God was the first and all-embracing condition of the covenant promise, it became the first and great commandment in the law: This love is not a service done for God to earn his benefits. It is not a work done for God, but rather a happy and admiring acceptance of His commitment to work for those who trust him Psalm Thus the Mosaic Covenant begins with a declaration which holds great promise for Israel: The command to love God is a command to delight in him and to admire him above all else and to be content with his commitment to work mightily for his people.

In its finest expressions, it became the all-consuming passion of life Psalm If a person admires and worships God and finds fulfillment by taking refuge in his merciful care, then his behavior toward his fellow man will reflect the love of God. The second great commandment of the Old Testament, as Jesus called it Matthew I am the Lord.

But in Leviticus I am the Lord your God. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. The Israelites are to show the same love to the sojourners as God has shown them. So the intention of the chapter is to give specific instances of how to be holy as God is holy.

The Meanings of Love in the Bible

Seen in the wider context of Deuteronomy We should notice that the love commanded here relates to both outward deeds and inward attitudes. And to love your neighbor as yourself does not mean to have a positive self-image or high self-esteem. For other texts on self-love see Proverbs And his mercy extended beyond the bounds of Israel Genesis Therefore, we find instructions to love the enemy. See also Proverbs But this enemy-love must be qualified in two ways: His people were a distinct ethnic and political group and God was their law-giver, their king and their warrior in a very direct way.

Thus, for example, when God decided to punish the Canaanites for their idolatry he used his people to drive them out Deuteronomy This act by Israel cannot be called love for their enemies cf. We should probably think of such events as special instances in redemptive history in which God uses his people to execute his vengeance Deuteronomy Do I not loathe them that rise up against thee?

I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. But as strange as it may seem, this hate does not necessarily result in vengeance. This is seen in Psalm There may be two ways to justify this hate. On the one hand, it could sometimes represent a strong aversion toward the ill will that seeks the destruction of person.

On the other hand, where there is a will for destruction expressed, it may represent the God-given certainty that the evil person is beyond repentance with no hope of salvation and therefore under the just sentence of God expressed by the psalmist compare 1 John 5: Besides these more religious dimensions of love, the Old Testament is rich with illustrations and instructions for love between father and son Genesis Especially worthy of note is the Song of Solomon, which expresses the wholesome delight in the sexual fulfillment of love between a man and a woman.

There are a few instances in the Old Testament of simple, everyday love of things: Isaac loved a certain meat Genesis But usually when love is not directed toward persons it is directed to virtues or vices. Men are to love the good and hate evil Amos 5: On the negative side, we find people loving evil Micah 3: What makes the New Testament new is the appearance of the Son of God on the scene of human history. In Jesus Christ we see as never before a revelation of God. For in a real sense, Jesus was God. But the coming of Christ not only brings about the revelation of God.

By his death and resurrection Christ also brings about the salvation of men Romans 5: This salvation includes forgiveness of sins Ephesians 1: Therefore, when dealing with love, we must try to relate everything to Jesus Christ and his life, death and resurrection. And through faith, the Spirit of Christ, living in us enables us to follow his example.

In the Old Testament we saw that God loves his own glory and delights to display it in creation and redemption. A deeper dimension of this self-love becomes clear in the New Testament. It is still true that God aims in all his works to display his glory for men to enjoy and praise Ephesians 1: In short, Christ is God and has eternally existed in a mysterious union with his Father John 1: This love within the Trinity itself is important for Christians for two reasons: First, the costly beauty of the incarnation and death of Christ cannot be understood without it.

Second, it is the very love of the Father for the Son which the Father pours into the hearts of believers John The ultimate hope of the Christian is to see the glory of God in Christ John This does not mean that God is an old-fashioned name for the ideal of love. It is his nature to love.

Love for God Is a Gift from God

But we must not imagine that Christ is loving while God is angry. Nor should we think of the Father forcing the Son to die for man. And the love of the risen Christ guides 2 Corinthians 5:

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