The Gospel brings life to those who receive it. But it often leads to hostility from those who do not. Thus, the desire to comprise the Word is ever-present as compromise may lessen or even eliminate one’s suffering. For Paul, the presence of the Holy Spirit is the key. Timothy can guard the treasure “through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us”.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7

“By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” 2 Timothy 1:14

Sadly, many people in our institutional churches including leaders have never been born again by the Holy Spirit. He indwells all true believers and provides the power and love, and self-control to live the Christian life. He will produce the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22, all 9) and provide the ministry gifts (all 9).

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will display at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:12-16

NOTE: “Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ which He will display at the proper time.”

As I have mentioned many times previously there are many more prophesied signs of Jesus’ second coming (2,000) than there were of His first coming (300). The religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees and Sadducees totally misread the signs of His first coming and sadly most of the institutional/denominational church is miss reading the many signs preceding Jesus’ second coming.

Supersessionism or Replacement Theology is one of the main reasons. The source of Replacement Theology came about in the first century.

The following article is largely taken from the lead page of Jewish Voice (www.jewishvoice.org).

The Messianic/Christian debt to Hebrew Scripture, Jewish exegesis, and divine revelation was evident to all followers of The Way. In fact, Jewish-Christian relations, in spite of second and third-century Christian elitist assaults upon all things Jewish, continued with good rhythm and solid relationship until the mid-fourth century with the advent of the First Council of Nicaea. At the Council of Nicaea, under Constantine’s oversight, the Church formally disconnected from the Jewish roots of Christian theology and practice, by separating the celebration of Easter from the Celebration of Passover.

But the sentiments of the Bishops at Nicaea have their foundations in debates that began in the second century. Justin Martyr crafted his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew on the heels of the Bar Kochba uprising in the Land of Israel, then under Roman rule, and first called “Palestine,”, in 135 C.E. The Dialogue was finally published in 150 C.E. some 15 years before Justin’s martyrdom. Here Justin made his strong case for a “New Israel,” a “True Israel,” in replacement of biblical Israel―hence, the term “Replacement Theology” or “Supersessionism” (that the Church Supersedes Israel).

Although we find warnings against Replacement Theology (Supersessionism) in the Book of Romans, Paul attacks it at its roots and reminds Gentile followers of Yeshua that “the root (that is, Israel) supports you (Romans 11:18b). However, what begins with Justin’s Dialogue, an increasingly hostile disposition towards the Jewish people, the God of the Hebrew Bible (sometimes referred to as the “demiurge”), the Torah and any expression of faith that was linked to these began to flourish in the newly forming institutional Church.

For historical reasons too complex to explain here, the Church fathers sought to create a new “wall of partition” between Jewish and Christian people. This would not only result in thousands of assaults upon Jewish people over the next 1,500 years but also cripple Christian self-understanding as a “daughter” of the Faith of Israel. God intended for Israel and the apostolic fruit of Jewish efforts at winning non-Jews to Yeshua to labor for the Kingdom in total partnership under Yeshua. The Christian negation of all things Jewish helped to foster Jewish resistance to the Gospel message.

This Christian elitist antipathy toward Jews and Judaism became woven into the fabric of Christian theology and thereby into Western civilization. Martin Luther and the other reformers inherited this anti-Jewish theological posture and cultural prejudice. Luther, heralded as the Father of the Reformation and an avid student of Paul is credited for his justification by faith emphasis as newly discovered in Romans. But in the processing of his new insights, he took severe liberties to castigate the Jewish people, even Jewish Believers in Yeshua. This led Luther to craft during the final decade of his life horrific written sermonic siege upon the Jewish world. That collection informed much of the Western expressions of anti-Semitism over the centuries that followed and was quoted oftentimes by the Nazi Regime in the days of Hitler.

However, the re-establishment of the Land of Israel in 1948 and the recapture of the City of Jerusalem in 1967 have forced the Church to reconsider long-held attitudes towards the Jewish people. In a time when Israel did not inhabit the Land promised to them by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, it was a bit easier to believe that He may have abandoned His Covenant promises to Israel. With the nation re-born in a day (Isaiah 66:7-8) and the City now under Israeli sovereignty (Luke 21:24), Christians of many denominations are seriously reconsidering many long-held theological positions concerning Israel and the Jewish people. May the Lord eradicate the fallacy of Replacement Theology from His Bride, the Church, in our lifetime and in our days. Jesus in the Oliver Discourse makes it clear that the miraculous re-establishment of Israel as a nation back in 1948 was the prime sign of His soon-coming return. Please make sure you get a copy of the Free book 10 Signs the Last Days Have Begun from http://www.lastdaysovercomer.org. where you will find this sign (Israel reborn) plus nine other related signs.