transcript and extract from the bible answer man november 1, 2007.

"...and the essence of romans is clear, concise, and relevant, the just shall live by faith. and of
course the just that paul has in mind consists of both jewish and gentile believers. as such
romans is bent on eradicating attitudes of superiority that are based on racial affiliation and today
being fomented by men like john hagee. the message in the book of romans in its entirety is that
the church has not replaced the jews as the true people of god, but rather that it has been placed
or planted into the one cultivated olive tree representing the one true people of god the tree
symbolizes true israel, its branches those who believe in its root jesus christ. natural branches
broken off represent jews who reject the messiah. wild branches grafted in, according the apostle
paul, represent gentiles who receive jesus. you know paul says it about as clearly as it can be
said for they are not all israel who are of israel, nor are they all children because they are the
seed of abraham, that is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not, says paul, the
children of god, but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. jesus is the one genuine
seed of abraham, and all clothed in christ constitute one congruent, chosen, covenant community
connected by the cross, and so paul can say in romans 11:26 "all israel will be saved" and of
course we have that beautiful picture in the book of revelation of the 144,000, the twelve tribes of
israel, the twelve apostles of the lamb times thousand, as a beautiful numeric component pointing
to the full compliment of god's people, not based on their racial affiliation but their relationship to
yahweh the god of israel. god is not a racist and he's not a land broker. so again romans is a
beautiful book to get into and absorb and its very eerily relevant to what’s going on today
particularly with respect to people's view regarding the middle east." says hank hanegraaff.

be it true that the natural branches cut out represent jews who reject their messiah, and wild
branches grafted in represent gentiles who receive jesus. yet how do you explain how the
believing wild branches are subsequently cut out, and the rejecting natural branches are grafted
back in? we believe that these wild branches cannot lose their salvation, and likewise it is
impossible to renew the natural branches again to repentance. the meaning of this passage is
beyond what hank hanegraaff has assigned. salvation cannot be the primary thought expressed
in this parable. that is why the gentiles are warned not to boast against the branches, not to be
high-minded but fear, not to be wise in their own conceits, not because they will lose their
salvation but be removed from the place of witness, as the saints of ephesus are told to repent
lest he remove their candlestick out of his place. the chapter deals primarily with the question:
"hath god cast away his people?" if the subject of the chapter were about the unity of true israel,
why does paul not answer the question: "god forbid, for i also am a christian of the spiritual seed
of abraham."? in the view of the salvation of true israel, how can there be any question of god
casting them away? the fig tree is a better representation of israel than is the olive tree. the olive
tree speaks rather of testimony, and the oil of the olive for the light of the lamp. israel having
failed to bear testimony to the nations, and the gentile is grafted in his place. when the fullness of
the gentiles comes in, (perhaps the collapse of the christian era, the apostasy 2 thessalonians 2),
represented by the wild branches being cut out, the jew is again restored to the place of
testimony. that is why paul exhorts the wise gentiles not to be ignorant of the mystery of the olive
trees and the blindness of israel. the "all israel" is the natural branches which are grafted back in
subsequent to the wild branches being cut out. to say "they are not all israel which are of israel" is
not the same as to say "they are israel which are not of israel." hank hanegraaff is fomenting
doctrine that is contrary to the true meaning of passages regarding israel.