2 Timothy, Part Two
Israel and the Church are One
2 Timothy 1v3a
22nd May 2026
2 Timothy 1v3a
I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did...
Paul says here that he serves the same God as did his ancestors. He says this to assert that he had not turned his back on the Old Testament or on the Israelite nation. He had not rejected the traditions of his forefathers. He didn't stop being Jewish when he became a Christian, any more than I stopped being English when I became a Christian. We Christians serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is continuity between Old Testament religion and New Testament religion. The New Testament is not a contradiction of the Old Testament. It's its fulfilment. Jesus said:
Matthew 5v17
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not
come to abolish them but to fulfil them.”
The Old Testament saints believed in the Messiah ("Christ" is the Greek translation of "Messiah") but, of course, the ancient Israelites didn’t understand who the Messiah is as well as we do. They lived before He was born; we have 2,000 years of Christian theology to help us. They didn't know His name would be "Jesus". They prophesied a great deal about His birth, life and death, but they didn’t have the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to give them the detail that we have. Nevertheless, they looked forward to His coming with great hope. For example, Moses prophesied:
Deuteronomy 18v15
"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you,
from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen”
Isaiah 9v6-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be
upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the
throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with
justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The
zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
And:
Isaiah 53v3-6
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we
esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him
stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we
are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own
way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The great tragedy of the Jewish nation is that when Jesus came, and ever since, most of them rejected Him, and they’re still waiting for a Messiah who came 2,000 years ago. It should also be said that the majority of Gentiles have also always rejected Jesus.
As I've said, there is continuity between Old Testament religion and New Testament religion. There is also continuity between the Israelite nation and the church. Paul served God as [his] ancestors did. The church is rooted in the Jewish nation. Jesus and many early Christians were Jewish. Many Jews are Christians today. There is only one people of God. Old Testament saints and New Testament Saints are one.
Some Christians seem to believe that the Jews are God's chosen people and the church are not, which plainly contradicts much of the New Testament, particularly 2 Peter 1v9, which tells both Jewish and Gentile believers "… you are a chosen people…". Some other Christians seem to believe that the church has completely replaced the Jews as God's people. Both groups are mistaken. Paul wrote to a group of Gentiles:
Romans 11v17
… you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now
share in the nourishing root of the olive tree
The church is not less significant than Israel and it is not a replacement for Israel. The church has been grafted into Israel. Throughout history, believing Jews and believing Gentiles are one.