The God who spoke to Abraham is the same God who walked among men as Jesus of Nazareth. There has never been a shift in divine identity. From Genesis to Revelation, Yahweh is the name revealed to Israel, and Jesus is shown to be Yahweh incarnate. This continuity is critical. If Jesus is not Yahweh in the flesh, then His claims have no weight, and the cross is powerless. But if He is, then the covenants He made before His incarnation still hold, and the standard for faithfulness has not changed.
The Abrahamic Covenant Still Stands
God’s promise to Abraham was everlasting. That covenant included a land, a people, and a mission to bless the nations. It was not conditioned on perfect obedience but on God’s own faithfulness. While Israel at times fell under judgment due to breaking the later Mosaic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant was never revoked. Paul reaffirms this in Romans and Galatians, explaining that the promise to Abraham came first and was fulfilled in Christ, who is both the seed of Abraham and the true Israelite. That means Israel still has a place in God’s plan, not by ethnicity alone, but through covenant loyalty to Yahweh, now fully revealed in Christ.
The Sinai covenant, given after Israel’s redemption from Egypt, was never a means of salvation. Yahweh had already saved His people. The Law was given to shape them into a holy nation, to guard them from corruption, and to point forward to the Messiah. Paul makes clear that the Law, which came centuries after Abraham, did not annul the promise. Salvation was always grounded in believing loyalty to Yahweh, not in legal observance, but the Law served as a guardian until Christ came.
Jesus Is Yahweh in the Flesh
Jesus was not a new deity or a created being sent by another god. He was and is the visible image of the invisible God. When He spoke, He used phrases that only Yahweh had used. When He forgave sins, calmed seas, and raised the dead, He did so with divine authority. His role was not to replace the God of the Old Testament, but to make Him known fully. This is what Israel had been waiting for, even if many could not recognize it at the time.
Covenant Loyalty Before Full Revelation
Before Christ came in the flesh, salvation was still possible. Those who followed Yahweh in faithful loyalty, trusting in His mercy and living in obedience to what had been revealed, were counted as righteous. This is why Abraham, Moses, and David are not outside of salvation even though they lived before the Incarnation. They were not saved by their works, but by their loyalty to the God who would ultimately fulfill the covenant through the Messiah.
God’s Justice Toward the Unevangelized Gentile
The Bible acknowledges the reality that not every Gentile hears the good news in their lifetime. Yet it also shows that Yahweh is perfectly just in dealing with them. His judgment is not limited to external circumstances, but penetrates the heart and its inclinations.
Jesus said that if His miracles had been performed in Tyre, Sidon, or even Sodom, those cities would have repented. This shows that God knows not only what people actually did but what they would have done under different circumstances. Likewise, when David asked God about Saul’s pursuit at Keilah, God revealed what would happen if David stayed, even though David’s choice altered the outcome. These passages reveal that Yahweh’s knowledge includes both actual history and potential history.
Gentiles who never heard the name of Christ are not outside this justice. Paul explained that their consciences bear witness to the law written on their hearts, and that God will judge the secrets of all through Christ Jesus (Romans 2:14–16). This means Yahweh knows the full posture of a person’s heart toward Him, even in the absence of explicit revelation.
God does not strip anyone of free will. But He knows perfectly how each person leans, what possibilities they considered, and what their response would have been if given more light. No one who would have been loyal is condemned unfairly. Whether through providence, as with Cornelius who was sent Peter, or through His perfect judgment at the end of the age, Yahweh ensures His justice is true.
These examples also remind us that Tyre, Sidon, and even Sodom were not completely ignorant of Yahweh. Through Israel’s presence in the land, trade, conflict, and even alliances, His name was known. The difference was that they never experienced Yahweh physically walking among them, healing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom. Jesus’s comparison drives home the weight of rejecting greater revelation: the outsiders with limited knowledge would have repented if given more, while those with full access to God’s presence in Christ still turned away.
Jews and Gentiles Are Both Accountable
Once the Messiah came, the truth was revealed to all, Jew and Gentile alike. This did not erase Israel’s story or uniqueness, but it clarified the path of salvation. The same Jesus who fulfilled the Law and the Prophets also opened the door for Gentiles to be grafted in. However, that same door still swings on the hinge of loyalty to Yahweh, who is now revealed as Jesus.
Salvation was never about merely belonging to a group. Many Israelites perished in the wilderness despite being covenant members by birth, because their hearts were not loyal. The prophets consistently warned that outward signs like circumcision meant nothing without inner faithfulness. In the same way, Gentiles cannot assume that church membership or moral standing alone secures salvation. What God has always required is believing loyalty, faith expressed in trust, obedience, and allegiance to Him.
For Israelites, covenant loyalty to Yahweh has always been the basis of salvation. Now that Yahweh has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus, rejecting Christ is no different from rejecting Yahweh. Yet the prophets also foresaw a day when Israel would recognize Him at last. Zechariah declared that they will look on the one they pierced and mourn for Him, and Revelation affirms that this moment will come on the day of the Lord. This shows that God has not abandoned His people. Many who do not yet see clearly will one day weep in repentance when their Messiah is revealed.
There Are Not Two Paths, But One Fulfillment
This is not about supersessionism, which teaches that the Church replaced Israel. It is also not pluralism, which claims that all faiths lead to God. Nor is it Marcionism, which pits the God of the Old Testament against the God of the New. Instead, it is a biblical unity that affirms Jesus as the fulfillment of what God always promised. Salvation has always come through faithful trust in Yahweh. Now that He has come in the flesh, that faith must include recognition of Jesus as Lord.
The Danger of Getting This Wrong
To deny that Jesus is Yahweh is to reject the gospel. To claim that Jews can be saved apart from Christ is to invent a second way of salvation. To pretend that the Church has replaced Israel is to ignore the promises of God. Each of these errors leads to a distortion of the gospel, whether it’s by undermining the covenants, corrupting the character of God, or redefining salvation. The goal is not to create separate categories of who is in and who is out, but to proclaim the one true God, revealed in Christ, to all people.
A Difficult and Divisive Topic
The relationship between Israel, the Church, and salvation is one of the most debated subjects in Christian theology. Over the centuries, believers have held different perspectives, with some stressing replacement, others continuity, and still others proposing parallel covenants. At times these debates have been clouded by political concerns or even by harmful attitudes toward the Jewish people. At other times they have been shaped by a strong reaction in the opposite direction.
Christians must also be honest about the terrible ways this debate has been twisted through history. Misunderstandings of Israel’s covenant role fueled centuries of antisemitism, ranging from social exclusion to outright violence. At times, theology was used to justify hatred rather than faithfulness to Christ. These distortions stand as warnings. How we interpret Israel’s place in God’s plan is not an abstract debate. It shapes real attitudes toward the Jewish people, and it carries consequences in the world.
This lesson does not claim to resolve every viewpoint, but simply seeks to anchor the discussion in Scripture. What remains clear is that salvation has always rested on believing loyalty to Yahweh, and that His covenant promises never fail.
Conclusion
Israel was chosen, and that calling has not been revoked. The promises made to Abraham still matter, and they are fulfilled in Christ, who is Yahweh in the flesh. Salvation has never depended on ethnicity or moral performance. It has always depended on believing loyalty, the trust and allegiance of the heart directed toward the God of Israel.
Now that the Messiah has come, the way of salvation stands in full clarity. What was once known through promise and shadow is now seen in its fulfillment. Jews and Gentiles alike are invited into the same covenant family, bound not by bloodline or ritual, but by faith in the One who keeps His word. God has proven Himself faithful, and He calls His people to respond with faithfulness in return.
Discussion Questions
- How does the identity of Jesus as Yahweh clarify the continuity between the Old and New Covenants?
- In what ways did the Abrahamic covenant remain active even after Israel’s failures under the Mosaic covenant?
- Why is it a problem to suggest that Jews have a different path to salvation today?
- How does God’s knowledge of unrealized possibilities (like Tyre and Sidon) shape our view of His justice?
- What does Zechariah’s prophecy that Israel will mourn for the one they pierced tell us about God’s ongoing plan for His people?
Want to Know More?
- Joel Richardson, When a Jew Rules the World
Explores the ongoing covenant role of Israel, critiques replacement theology, and highlights the biblical promise of Messiah’s future reign from Jerusalem. - Carmen Imes, Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters
Demonstrates how the covenant at Sinai was not a burden but a mission, and how it points forward to Christ. - Darrell Bock & Mitch Glaser, The People, the Land, and the Future of Israel
A collection of essays by Christian scholars and Jewish believers addressing the ongoing role of Israel in God’s plan. - N.T. Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God
A deep look at Paul’s theology and how he understood the continuity between Israel, the covenants, and Christ. - Randall Price, The Coming Last Days Temple
Examines Israel’s prophetic future, including how passages like Zechariah 12:10 anticipate a national recognition of the Messiah.
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