Grafted In

 

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

—Galatians 3:26-27

“I don’t understand why you Evangelicals are so pro-Israel? Don’t you see how awful it is for the Palestinians who have lost their homeland?”

This great mystery that seems to confound many—including the majority of the mainline Protestant denominations and most left-leaning non-Evangelicals—stems from an ignorance of both history and Scripture.

To understand our position, one must carefully study the events surrounding the people of Israel becoming an independent nation back after World War II. Please let me explain.

In the Old Testament times, God gave His chosen people far more of the land, a portion of which they have now re-occupied. The land is theirs. God gave it to them forever.

Furthermore, with permission of the United Nations, the United States, Great Britain, France, and most of the post-World War II leading nations of the world, a treat was drafted creating the state of Israel. The Israelites were willing to live peacefully with the Palestinians who surrounded them.

But, the Palestinians—a people who lived as outcasts in the rest of the Arab world—objected. They were not willing to go along with the decision made by the leaders of the world. So, it was the Palestinians who would not sign the treaty and, instead, the Palestinians chose to declare a war against the newly created state of Israel back in 1947 and 1948.

In addition to all of that well-documented history—which, sadly, far too few people are willing to learn about or remember—we who follow the Lord Jesus Christ clearly recognize that we have been grafted into the people of Israel and have become brothers and sisters with God’s chosen people. This is a complicated theological issue that would take far more pages to fully explore. But, let me make a more simplistic attempt to explain.

There are many passages in the New Testament that declare this truth. For example, here’s Galatians 3:26-29:

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Of course, we must look on all people through God’s eyes of love and join with God in acknowledging that He has chosen some people from every tribe and nation to belong to Himself.

We must pray for peace in the Middle East. We must show compassion for those Palestinians who have become children of God through Christ. We must recognize that the government of Israel may not have always made the right decision in every situation.

But, when it comes to choosing to whom our first loyalty belongs, we must choose those to whom we have been joined by God.

Many will likely strongly disagree with what I have written. Nevertheless, when someone asks me why so many Evangelicals show favor to Israel, I have now explained why.

But, above all else, we must not let any political matter ever interfere with our most important role. We are, first and foremost, Christ’s ambassadors. We must show forth His love to all people. Even people who hold vastly different political views than we do.

 

Based on a blog originally posted on Thursday, November 5, 2015

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