People need to be warned concerning the abhorrent teaching of John Hagee. One particular error that he has become notorious for is what is called the “Two Covenant Theory”, teaching that the Jews are covered under the Old Testament covenant and really do not need to be evangelized. Despite the fact that he has often attempted to deny that this is what he teaches, an examination of his teaching proves otherwise. I am not going to go into detail his various statements over the years right now, but just listen to his advertisement for his book “In Defense of Israel” in this video clip below.
But Scripture tells a different story concerning Christ and salvation. The book of Hebrews was written to exhort the Hebrews to embrace saving faith through Jesus Christ. The whole book is a plea to embrace Jesus as their Savior.
Unfortunately, it appears that those who espouse this dual covenant theory believe that the passages in Romans 10 & 11 mean that there is a remnant in Israel saved by God’s election and relation to Abraham, and not by the cross of Christ. Essentially, men like Hagee believe that Jesus came to provide a covenant of grace for the Gentiles, but the Jews are covered by a separate covenant of election.
But that is not at all what those passages mean. This philosophy is an attack on the very Gospel that was preached by Jesus and the apostle Paul. In fact, Paul had “great sorrow and unceasing grief” because of the rejection of Jesus by his Jewish brethren (Romans 9:1-8). Paul’s desire and prayer was for their salvation through Jesus Christ (Romans 10:1-4).
Furthermore, the salvation spoken of in Romans 11 is yet future as God deals with His people at the approaching of the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is when God will remove the blindness of their hearts so that they will receive Jesus as their messiah. Incidentally, this does not mean that every single individual will be saved simply because they are Jews. Salvation is dependent on the individual placing their trust in Christ, and it is clear in Scripture that just as there are Gentiles who will not be saved due to their unbelief, so there will also be Jews who will not be saved because of their unbelief as well. The phrase “and so all Israel will be saved” in verse 26 is in no way meant to imply that all Jews are saved simply because of their ethnic background.
It is amazing just how many people fall prey to false teaching. Just because someone may sound authoritative and has become popular, does not mean that they are correctly teaching from Scripture. All teaching must be scrutinized by the text of Scripture, and false teaching should be exposed as such.
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2 comments:
Eric,
It has been some time since I have been here, and left a comment. It isn't that you don't have great articles, and interesting too. Mostly I just find myself to be in agreement with you, and this one is no different. I know that sometimes an encourageing word goes a long way.
I have listened to John H. on television a few times, and agree with a some of what he says. I cannot agree with him on the Two Covenant thought though. You are correct in the New Testament showing the only way for the Jew and the Gentile is through faith in Jesus Christ.
They may not come to trusting faith in him now, at least as a nation, but I believe according to Old and New Testament prophecies they will. It will be by calling on Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
T.A.
Tim,
Thanks for your comment. John Hagee is definitely wrong on this. But there are many more concerns with Hagee as a result of his affiliation with the Word-Faith crowd.
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