Written by Rev. Fred Klett |
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Through Jesus, Israel has been expanded in a glorious way, not replaced. Fulfillment of the promise to Abraham has come and will go forward until its completion when Messiah returns. Jesus must reign until all his enemies are placed under his feet. He will conquer all nations, including the Jewish nation, with the gospel.

Much fuss has been made in our Jewish evangelism circles regarding “replacement” theology, the idea that the church has “replaced” the Jewish people in the plan of God. Some have even accused all who think New Covenant believers are “Spiritual Israel” as being guilty of this “replacement theology,” that is, of replacing the Jewish people with the church. Charges have been made that this idea of “Spiritual Israel” leads to anti-semitism.
Ironically my first exposure to the idea of all believers being spiritually Israel came about through involvement in “Messianic Judaism”! Way back in 1975 I attended a seminar by Manny Brotman, president of the “Messianic Jewish Movement International” on “How to Share the Messiah.” In the seminar notes I read: “When a Gentile asks the Messiah into his heart and life, he is accepting the Jewish Messiah, the Jewish Bible, and the Jewish blood of atonement and could be considered a proselyte to biblical Judaism and a child of Abraham by faith!” Isn’t this essentially a statement of the “Spiritual Israel” idea?
Getting the Big Picture
We must submit our thinking to the scriptures and derive even our method of interpreting of the Bible from the Bible itself! We must learn how the text interprets itself! Many have not done this. We can’t base our understanding of doctrine on “spiritual” intuition or emotional arguments. We must strive, asking wisdom from the Spirit, to interpret the word of God correctly, and this certainly means we submit to the approach used by the apostles the Messiah appointed to represent Him. And we must understand how the whole Bible fits together and derive our doctrine of Israel within that framework.
God has had one purpose and plan for mankind ever since the Fall: to restore a people for Himself from fallen humanity through Messiah Jesus. Because of the Fall of Adam we have all come under the curse of God, or as the Puritans put it “through Adam’s Fall sinned we all.” The Jewish people, and ultimately the Jewish Messiah, brought to the world the Abrahamic promise of blessing to redeem us from the curse of the Fall. Jesus brought the blessings of Abraham “first to the Jew” and then expanded the blessing “also to the Gentile” (see Galatians 3:14 and Romans 1:16). There are not two sets of Covenant promises and Covenant obligations, one for Jewish believers and one for Gentile believers, there is one New Covenant people and one faith (Eph. 2:16 and 4:5).
God has had but one program from the beginning: salvation through Jesus. God purposed to restore blessing once again to a cursed world. The core of the Abrahamic promise was to bring a restoration of blessing to all peoples through the seed of Abraham. This seed is ultimately the King of Israel, the Messiah. Psalm 72:17 tells us this by applying the very words of the Abrahamic promise to the Son of David: “May his name endure forever…all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.”
National and ethnic Israel can only find true meaning within the larger context of the renewal of all things through the Messiah. God’s purposes are one. God created the Jewish people to bring Messiah to the world. You cannot divorce any of the promises to Israel from the “big picture” of redemption from the Fall through Messiah.
God has not withdrawn His promises to the Jewish people. Rather, Paul clearly tells us, “no matter how many promises God has made, they are “yes” in Messiah” (2 Cor. 1:20). The New Covenant promise of eternal life through faith in Jesus is greater than any other blessing of God ever given. Indeed this is the fulfillment of the blessing promised to Abraham. The curse of death and separation from God is overturned through Messiah. Paul clearly says “He redeemed us in order that THE BLESSING PROMISED TO ABRAHAM MIGHT COME TO THE GENTILES through Messiah Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit” (Galatians 3:14). Only through Jesus can people truly come to the blessings of Abraham, life in the Spirit.
Whether we are Jews by birth or Gentiles, we who trust Messiah Jesus have one common faith. As Paul put it “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.” (Eph. 4:4-6)
Some Jews who are for Jesus call their movement “Messianic Judaism.” A few of these Jewish believers distinguish “Messianic Judaism” from “Christianity.” I believe it would be better theology to distinguish between a culturally Jewish expression of New Covenant Judaism and a culturally Gentile expression of New Covenant Judaism. Our New Covenant faith is the true, Biblical Judaism.
Gentiles who come to believe in the Jewish Messiah convert to Biblical Judaism! Our New Covenant faith is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant faith. Christianity is New Covenant Judaism, the true religion of the Jewish people—even if most Jewish people don’t know it yet! The concept of “Spiritual Israel” is a Biblical doctrine. It doesn’t mean “replacement.”..it means EXPANSION! God has joined Gentiles to the true faith of Israel—He has expanded the nation spiritually!
Kingdom Blessings Depend Upon Following the King
To be a member of a kingdom means to swear allegiance to its king. Jesus is the King of Israel and those who follow him are members of his kingdom. Consider the implications of these passages:
John the Baptizer, said: “For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham” (Luke 3:8).
The Scriptures teach that all those who believe are Jesus’ brothers (Romans 8:29 and Hebrews 2:10-11). Jesus said “whoever who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35). Jesus said he had other sheep, not of that flock (10:16). All believers are Jesus’ family and the sheep of His flock.
Paul says Gentile believers are grafted in to the tree of Israel, become Abraham’s children by faith, become heirs to the blessing of Abraham and are citizens of Israel (Romans 4:16-18; 11:17-21; Galatians 3:14; and Ephesians 2:19).
So, we see that every believer is a brother of Jesus, a child of Abraham, part of the flock of the Shepherd of Israel, grafted into the tree of Israel, an heir to the promise given to Abraham, and a citizen of the commonwealth of Israel! How wonderful to have become, spiritually, part of Israel!
The New Covenant
We are all covenant breakers before God. God made a covenant with Adam and we have all followed in the footsteps of our first father. What was said of Israel is also true of us “They like Adam have transgressed the covenant.” (1) We can only be saved from the curse of the first covenant of Works made with Adam if God provides a Covenant of Grace for us. This is what is in focus in the covenant made with Abraham.(2) The blessings promised to the nations refers to the reversal of the curse we came under through Adam. The New Covenant(3) brings to fruition the promise of blessing for the nations made to Abraham.(4) Without the New Covenant all are in Adam and under the curse. Yet, the New Covenant is made with the house of Israel and the House of Judah!(5) Gentiles must join themselves to the Holy Nation in order to be a part of this covenant. Yet amazingly I have been told by an opponent of the “Spiritual Israel” doctrine that Gentile believers do not have the New Covenant! He told me that since the covenant was made with Israel only Jewish people have it! Oy Vey! Do you see where the denial of the doctrine of “Spiritual Israel” logically leads?
Can it really be doubted that all believers are spiritually Israel? The scriptures tell us that Gentile believers are spiritual members of the Jewish family of faith along with the remnant of Jewish believers, even if most of the natural family members have temporarily left the household of faith by rejecting the New Covenant. By adoption Gentiles come into a relationship with the Jewish people and so should have a concern for the estranged members of their own faith family, just as they should be concerned for the spiritual return of children of Christian parents who have departed from the faith.
How can anyone reasonably deny that through the great salvation provided through the Jewish Messiah, Gentile believers have become spiritually Israel? This is the truth Jesus taught and this is the doctrine Paul taught—pretty good theological company to find oneself in!
A Key Passage: Romans 11
Though all believers are spiritually Israel, if we truly understand Romans 11 there should be no question about the fact that God still has a claim on the Jewish people. The natural children of Abraham are still in some way chosen because of the patriarchs, even in unbelief. He will restore the Jewish people to faith one day. Romans 11:28 clearly tells us “As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account, but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs.” Consider these comments by leading Covenantal theologians:
John Calvin
“I extend the word Israel to all the people of God, according to this meaning, -When the Gentiles shall come in, the Jews also shall return from their defection to the obedience of faith; and thus shall be completed the salvation of the whole Israel of God, which must be gathered from both; and yet in such a way that the Jews shall obtain the first place, being as it were the first born in God’s family.
…as Jews are the firstborn, what the Prophet declares must be fulfilled, especially in them: for that scripture calls all the people of God Israelites, it is to be ascribed to the pre-eminence of that nation, who God had preferred to all other nations…God distinctly claims for himself a certain seed, so that his redemption may be effectual in his elect and peculiar nation…God was not unmindful of the covenant which he had made with their fathers, and by which he testified that according to his eternal purpose he loved that nation: and this he confirms by this remarkable declaration, -that the grace of the divine calling cannot be made void. (6)”
Charles Hodge
“The second great event, which, according to the common faith of the Church, is to precede the second advent of Christ, is the national conversion of the Jews….that there is to be such a national conversion may be argued…from the original call and destination of that people. God called Abraham and promised that through him, and in his seed, all the nations of the earth should be blessed…A presumptive argument is drawn from the strange preservation of the Jews through so many centuries as a distinct people.
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The pastor to whom I had confessed my sin years earlier has walked with us through many rough times; I am grateful that he is still my pastor today. He loved me, and he showed up as the hands and feet of Christ when I did not think myself worthy of God’s love.

“Godly husband, godly father, godly leader in the Church.” That was how I so wanted to be perceived by others, but it was a lie, and I hated myself because of it. The truth was that, for decades, I had struggled with sexually addictive behaviors: masturbation, pornography, and—eventually—binges of phone sex with other men. This was a secret that I was once convinced I would take to my grave because, if anyone knew the truth of who I was, I was sure I’d be despised, rejected, and abandoned by all, including my wife and children.
The fact that I struggled with sexual brokenness isn’t surprising, especially in light of my story and the fact that I have a sinful nature and live in a fallen world. I grew up in a Christian home with godly parents, but I carried a deep wound. My dad excelled in whatever he did, and others fully expected me to follow in his footsteps, but what he excelled in was not what I wanted to pursue. Indeed, I avoided his world because I feared that I might fail and be rejected by him and others. And so any deep connection with my dad was absent. He didn’t give me the physical touch, the play, the frequent affirmation that I so desperately wanted and needed.
A therapist said to me decades later, “You were a nine- or ten-year-old boy, walking across an emotional desert, desperate for a drink of water, and you found one. It just happened to be from a polluted well.” The polluted well was the attention of an older neighborhood boy who introduced me to sexual activity. This would set in motion a decades-long history of struggle with same-sex attraction and sexual acting out. While I was still attracted to women, there was always the pull of the other that produced overwhelming guilt, toxic shame, and repeated, desperate calls to God to remove this despised thorn.
My early sexualization was punctuated by two other traumatic events during adolescence. When I was 14, my dad invited a 24-year-old man with whom he had a professional relationship to spend the night—to share my room—when this man was in town for a special event. Little did my dad or I know that the conversation this man engaged me in after the lights were out would quickly turn sexual and would lead to sexual activity that left me devastated with guilt and shame. Similarly, a sexual encounter with a predatory college professor at age 18 would also reinforce the extent of the brokenness I felt.
During my time in professional school, I fell in love with a wonderful Christian woman, and we married soon after. Finally, I thought; surely marriage would fix me. Marriage was what I needed in order to quit doing the things that brought so much pain. And it did work, for a while. But, gradually, the same old sexually addictive behaviors crept back into my life. I told myself that I was only trying to reduce the stress resulting from my job.
I thought that once we had children, I would stop. I would have to stop. But the children came, and my sin didn’t stop. Against a backdrop of frequent masturbation and binging on pornography, I kept trying to find a way to stop, believing that God and I could sort this out, that no one else needed to know.
When I was in my mid-30s, my family and I were members of a small, reformed church in the Midwest. I was approached about serving as an elder. I resisted at first, feeling like a hypocrite, but after repeated overtures from the pastor and a godly man on the church’s session, I agreed to have my name placed before the congregation. I told myself that if I were elected to the office of ruling elder, I would have to stop doing what brought so much guilt and shame. I was elected to the office of ruling elder and ordained, but, much to my disappointment, the miraculous healing I was seeking did not materialize. It was not long before I was engaging in the same old addictive patterns, at times contemplating whether suicide wouldn’t be a better alternative.
And so the pattern was set, and the decades passed. Where was God in all of this? Why wouldn’t he remove this thorn? I became more and more convinced that there might not be any hope for me, disregarding all that I had been taught throughout my life about God’s faithfulness. In my early 40s, my wife and I were in a new city as a result of my work, and the evidence of God’s faithfulness to me began to take form, although I would not see that until years later. My wife, while serving on the missions committee of the church in which I was also serving as a ruling elder, came across a request for support from Harvest USA. I can remember her saying while she was reading the literature, “This is the most grace-filled, redemptive approach to helping individuals escape their bondage to sexual sin that I have ever seen.” I was intrigued and began reading it myself. I found a modicum of hope, but I was still too prideful to confess my sin to my pastor or my wife.
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By request of the Defense, the trial for Mr. Jared Olivetti has been moved to the week of March 7, 2022, and the trial for the ruling elders (Mr. David Carr, Mr. Ben Larson, and Mr. Keith Magill) has been moved to the week of March 28, 2022. These are the final dates. Location and logistics for these trials are being worked out by the SJC.

In the 2021 meeting of Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA), the court assumed original jurisdiction for the matter pertaining to complaints associated with events at Immanuel Reformed Presbyterian Church (IRPC). The Synod Judicial Commission (SJC) has been often heartened and encouraged by word from many in the denomination who have been regularly praying for our work. We continue to invite and encourage the entire denomination – members and churches alike to be in prayer for the IRPC congregation, their current and former members and all those who have been impacted by these events. The SJC is regularly in prayer for each and together we seek the blessing of the Great Shepherd in this work.
This is a report of a few recent actions and upcoming milestone dates for the work of the SJC.
We previously reported that the SJC had approved accusations against the elders of IRPC. After that action, the SJC arranged to conduct pre-trial hearings on November 30th with both Prosecution and Defense participating. It was a purposeful and meaningful exchange about hard things. In the hearings, the SJC heard objections to actions of the SJC and received requests and motions from the Defense. Each of those topics have been addressed by the SJC and results communicated to the parties. As previously reported, the approval of accusations does not pre-judge the case, but simply acknowledges that they conform to the requirements of the Constitution of the RPCNA. The judicial process must run its full course to determine the outcome.
Regarding the judicial process now underway, the following actions and decisions have been recently confirmed by the SJC:

The SJC denied the motion of the Defense to vacate all charges and nullify the investigation. The SJC determined that the denial of judicial process was unfair to all – accusers and accused alike. A full, fair, and impartial opportunity to fully ‘address this matter’ is necessary to bring it to completion.
In the accusations approved against the ruling elders of IRPC, the SJC has removed Mr. Zachary Blackwood and Mr. Nate Pfeiffer from the list of the accused. Both Mr. Blackwood and Mr. Pfeiffer resigned their office (Mr. Pfeiffer also resigned his ordination) earlier in 2021 in response to the recommendations of the Great Lakes Gulf (GLG) Presbytery Judicial Commission.
By request of the Defense, the trial for Mr. Jared Olivetti has been moved to the week of March 7, 2022, and the trial for the ruling elders (Mr. David Carr, Mr. Ben Larson, and Mr. Keith Magill) has been moved to the week of March 28, 2022. These are the final dates. Location and logistics for these trials are being worked out by the SJC.
As permitted by the RPCNA Constitution Book of Discipline (II.2.9), the SJC has imposed the requirement for Mr. Olivetti to refrain from the exercise of the office of teaching elder until the judicial process is complete. By imposing this requirement, the SJC in no way pre-judges the case, but acknowledges the gravity of the accusations against Mr. Olivetti. The SJC has not imposed the same requirement to refrain on the ruling elders at this time.

The SJC acknowledges the significant amount of time, efforts and sacrifices that have been invested in this matter in recent months. Many have given inordinate amounts of energy on behalf of the Synod, and this includes not only the SJC, but the investigators (who now serve as Prosecutors) and the accused (now the Defense). The SJC is pleased to report that healthy patterns of communication have been established between all the parties and even in difficult concerns we trust the Lord will give light and stamina to all as we continue in this process.
Because the judicial process is ongoing over these next few months, the SJC is not soliciting general communications or input from members of the denomination unless they are urgent for the good of those involved. The SJC is focused on carefully carrying out the process as described in the Constitution and seeks to conduct each step decently and in order. The SJC is not responding to any requests from the media as our charter from Synod is wholly an ecclesiastical matter. Further, the SJC cautions each and every one to be careful in their conversations about this matter. We remind ourselves and all to remember Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” We are a communion of saints, and we love our brothers and sisters in every dimension of this matter. Our words ought always to give grace to all who hear. The Lord directs our hearts even in difficult matters such as this and we are ever encouraged to love one another…without exception.
Please continue in your prayers and petitions. Our Lord reigns.
The 2021 Synod Judicial Commission
TE Mr. Bruce Backensto, SJC Convener, First RP Church, Beaver Falls, PARE Dr. John Bower, Covenant RP Church, Aurora, OHTE Mr. Brian Coombs, Messiah’s Church, Clay, NYRE Mr. Tom Fisher, SJC Clerk, Cambridge RP Church, Cambridge, MATE Mr. Kelly Moore, Tri-Lakes Reformed Church, Colorado Springs, CORE Mr. Tom Pinson, Springs Reformed Church, Colorado Springs, CORE Mr. Keith Wing, SJC Moderator, College Hill Reformed Church, Beaver Falls, PA
January 6, 2022