THE CHILDREN OF GOD (THE TRUE ISRAEL) SEARCH AND SHARE MINISTRY www.searchshareministry.com Overview: God calls people out of darkness to His marvelous light and offers them a righteous life, the life of His Son that they may become obedient to His law. To those who respond and accept the offer become His children. The children of God are those who come to God through His Son, in worship and in service. God gives them life and power to become overcomer and be called Israel, the overcomer of God and men (Gen. 32:28). Their lineage were identified with Christ (Lk. 3:23-38), with Israel, with Abraham (Jn. 8:39), Adam and God (Lk. 2:38). The true Israel accepts the Son of God as their Lord and Saviour (Eph. 2:13). Theme: CHRIST, OUR TRUE BROTHER. I. THE TRUE SONS OF GOD Jn.8:42; 1:12 God's children are those who accept God through His Messenger. Matt. 3:9, 10 They are those who bears good fruit. Rom. 9:6-9 They are the children of promise, not through flesh. John declared to the teachers of Israel that their pride, selfishness, and cruelty showed them to be a generation of vipers, a deadly curse to the people, rather than the children of just and obedient Abraham. In view of the light they had received from God, they were even worse than the heathen, to whom they felt so much superior. They had forgotten the rock whence they were hewn, and the hole of the pit from which they had been digged. God was not dependent upon them for the fulfilling of His purpose. As He had called Abraham out from a heathen people, so He could call others to His service. Their hearts might now appear as lifeless as the stones of the desert, but His Spirit could quicken them to do His will, and receive the fulfillment of His promise. DA 106 And now also," said the prophet, "the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Not by its name, but by its fruit, is the value of a tree determined. If the fruit is worthless, the name cannot save the tree from destruction. John declared to the Jews that their standing before God was to be decided by their character and life. Profession was worthless. If their life and character were not in harmony with God's law, they were not His people. DA 107 II. UNBELIEF FORFEITS SONSHIP
Rom. 9:27 Unbelief causes rejection Rom. 11:1, 2, 7 God did not reject Israel but as a nation rejected God Rom. 9:31 Those who claimed righteousness by their own works were the ones rejected Rom. 9:33 Those who accepted God's righteousness through Christ are the accepted ones Rom. 11:4-6 The remnants who by grace obtained salvation through faith Through unbelief and the rejection of Heaven's purpose for her, Israel as a nation had lost her connection with God. But the branches that had been separated from the parent stock God was able to reunite with the true stock of Israel --the remnant who had remained true to the God of their fathers. "They also," the apostle declares of these broken branches, "if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again." "If thou," he writes to the Gentiles, "wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. AA377 III. ISRAEL BY ADOPTION Rom. 9:4, 5 By adoption we become God s children Gal. 4:5 Through Christ anyone could receive adoption Rom. 11:17 Grafting from the wild olive tree to the true olive tree is one illustration of adoption. Rom. 11:17-23 God's children, the true olive tree, are the true religion. Rom. 11:21 Israel, the natural branches. 1Pet. 2:9, 10 The Gentile believers are grafted to God's people. Eph. 2:11-13, 19 They became citizens of Israel. Gal. 3:6 They became the children of God. Eph. 2:19 They shall live according to Israel's standard of living. Jn. 1:12, 13 Those who accept the Son of God through faith have the privilege to become the sons and daughters of God. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. Jehovah did not deem the plan of salvation complete while invested only with His love. He has placed at His altar an Advocate
clothed in our nature. As our Intercessor, Christ's office work is to introduce us to God as His sons and daughters. He intercedes in behalf of those who receive Him. With His own blood He has paid their ransom. By virtue of His merits He gives them power to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. And the Father demonstrates His infinite love for Christ by receiving and welcoming Christ's friends as His friends. He is satisfied with the atonement made. He is glorified by the incarnation, the life, death, and mediation of His Son. 8T177 IV. ISRAEL BY THE LAW Rom. 9:4, 5 The believers through Christ became citizens of Israel and ought to obey the law of Israel. Rom. 3:29-31 They are to obey the law as the manifestation of their faith. Acts 15; 5, 19, 20 The believers (including the Jewish believers) are no longer required to keep the type but to observe its fulfillment (the anti-type) or af salvation. They are required to keep the moral law, natural laws and health laws. Rom. 2:29 They are not obliged to be circumcised in the flesh as the ceremonial law demands. But they are to be circumcised in the heart. Acts 17:11; 26:22, 23; 28:23; 1Thes. 2:13; 2Tim.3:15-17 The Jews and Gentile believers in the early Christian church used the same Holy Scriptures. They have the same doctrines and teachings to follow. The Old Testament was their foundation of every teaching. Some of their doctrines which founded on the Old Testament were written in the letters and testimonies of the disciples and apostles now called the New Testament. Rom. 13:8; Gal. 5:14; Jas. 2:8-12; 2Pet. 2:21; 1Jn. 4:21 The Jewish and Gentile believers have the same law to be followed. There is no discrimination in their teachings (Rom. 10:12). V. ISRAEL THROUGH CHRIST Eph. 2:11-13 The believer became an Israelite through faith. Eph. 2:14 For Christ has broken the barriers between the factions among men and between God. He has opened the way for the world to gather together in His fold. Col. 2:14 This is through the erasing of the records of judgment against the sinners to free them from sin. Gal. 3:13 Those were the records of curses of the law against the sinners. Col. 2:14 Those records were written in the ordinances (decrees);
Eph. 2:15 (ton nomon ton entolon en dogmasin. Gk.) (the law of commandments in ordinances or dogma).the laws I ordinances which enforces the judgment or condemnations and curses written against the commandments breaker were abolished to provide salvation for the repentant sinners as the fulfillment of the type the ceremonial law. The moral law or the written laws on the tables of stones were not abolished at the cross. The cross shows that breaking the law means crucifying Christ on the cross (Heb. 6:6) and the transgressors are cursed and had put judgment upon themselves (Gal. 3:13). These curses or judgments were abolished and taken by Christ into Himself at the cross. But these curses remain for those who will reject His mercy and sacrifice (Rev. 20). Gal. 3:13; Col. 2:13-17 Christ took the curse of the law and abolished it by nailing fulfilling its judgment or curse on the cross by becoming an object of curse to take the sinner's place. This is to open the way for the forgiveness of sin. Gal. 3:10 Those who disobey the law are those under the curse of the law. By faith in Christ, those curses are taken away from them. See: THE MORAL LAW AND THE CEREMONIAL LAW. VI. ISRAEL BY JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION Rom. 10: 17 Faith comes by hearing the gospel, the word of God. 1Pet. 2:9-12 Through the gospel the believers are called to a new status of life. Gal. 3:22-24 Throughout the Scriptures (and the law) the believers were confined and then lead to Christ for justification. Rom. 5:13; 7:7 The law convicts a sinner of his sin and of his need of the Savior. Rom. 3:19-30 By faith in Christ God forgave his sin. Christ's righteousness is imputed to him. He is forgiven, justified by the blood of Christ. His life now is of Christ s and his is given up at the cross (Gal. 2:20) Justification is our title to heaven. Through the merits of Christ we are free from the penalty of transgression to the law of God. Our sins are forgiven and are being treated as having never sinned as the sons of God. Justification is our acceptance of a new life, the life of Christ, the seed that is implanted and sprouted in our heart. His obedient life becomes ours as the guarantee of our acceptance of God. Justification is not just a declaration of forgiveness but of giving a new life, a new birth, the life which can grow and continue to live a righteous life. For it is impossible for the old nature to become obedient to God s law. Rom. 3:31 By the same faith he who is forgiven shall uphold the law.
1Thes. 4:1-7 The purpose of forgiveness is to give us obedient life that we may walk according to the principles of God s law. Obedience is the fruit of faith, the process of sanctification. The keeping of all the commandments of God is sanctification. 3SM204 Sanctification means very much more than a flight of feeling. Excitement is not sanctification. Entire conformity to the will of our Father which is in heaven is alone sanctification, and the will of God is expressed in His holy law. The keeping of all the commandments of God is sanctification. Proving yourselves obedient children to God's word is sanctification. The word of God is to be our guide, not the opinions or ideas of men. Let those who would be truly sanctified search the word of God with patience, with prayer, and with humble contrition of soul. Let them remember that Jesus prayed. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." RH1902-03-25 p. 8 Righteousness within is testified to by righteousness without. He who is righteous within is not hard-hearted and unsympathetic, but day by day he grows into the image of Christ, going on from strength to strength. He who is being sanctified by the truth will be self-controlled, and will follow in the footsteps of Christ until grace is lost in glory. The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven. RH.1895-06-04 p.7 Sanctification is our fitness for heaven. Through the merits of Christ we are made obedient to God's law, making it possible by the power of His grace. His obedience becomes our power and guarantee to overcome evil tendencies and temptations. Christ empowers us to make our obedience to the law perfect. This could be accomplished by faith alone. Obedience to the law is not our means for salvation. Christ's merit is our only means for salvation. Obedience to the law is a sign of our acceptance to Christ (Rom. 3:31). It is the fruit of God's work in us, the salvation through Christ wrought for us (Eph. 2:10). "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." How careful is the Lord Jesus to give no occasion for a soul to despair. How he fences about the soul from Satan's fierce attacks. If through manifold temptations we are surprised or deceived into sin, he does not turn from us, and leave us to perish. No, no, that is not like our Saviour. Christ prays for us. He was tempted in all points like as we are; and having been tempted, he knows how to succor those who are tempted. Our crucified Lord is pleading for us in the presence of his Father at the throne of grace. His atoning sacrifice we may plead for our pardon, our justification, and our sanctification. The Lamb slain is our only hope. Our faith looks upon him, grasps him as the one who can save to the uttermost, and the fragrance of the all-sufficient offering is accepted of the Father. Unto Christ is committed all power in heaven and in earth, and all things are possible to him that believeth. Christ's glory is concerned in our success. He has a common interest with all humanity. He is our sympathizing Saviour. RH1891-09-01 p.2
The sinner can not depend upon his own good works as a means of justification. He must come to the point where he will renounce all his sin, and embrace one degree of light after another, as it shines upon his pathway. He simply grasps by faith the free and ample provision made in the blood of Christ. He believes the promises of God which through Christ are made unto him sanctification and righteousness and redemption. And if he follows Jesus, he will walk humbly in the light, rejoicing in the light, and diffusing that light to others. Being justified by faith he carries cheerfulness with him in his obedience in all his life. Peace with God is the result of what Christ is to him. The souls who are in subordination to God, who honor Him, and are doers of His Word, will receive divine enlightenment. In the precious Word of God, there is purity and loftiness as well as beauty that, unless assisted by God, the highest powers of man can not attain to. ST.1898-05-19 p.13 REFLECTION Salvation can never be earned by human works, but only by God's work through the Son. If a man submits his whole life to Christ it will result in perfect obedience to God's will. No disobedient person can enter heaven (Gal. 5:19-21). The new life grows through the leading of the Holy Spirit and bears fruit of righteousness and his life is no longer condemned by the law (Gal. 5:16-26). By grace we are saved through faith. Such grace empowers us to do good works out of the new life, the life in Christ in us (Eph. 2:8-10). Through Christ we become the children of God.