What Did Early Christians Mean by Israel of God?
Early Christians often said the Israel of God is the people who belong to Christ by faith. Justin Martyr, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Novatian, and Cyprian used Bible passages like Galatians 6:16 and Romans 9:6 to make that case. They also kept talking about Israel in the flesh, so the topic is broad but not simple. The main pattern is clear: true Israel is tied to faith, Christ, and the Church.
115 early-church witnesses · 200 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the Israel of God?
Early Christian writers often read "the Israel of God" as the people who belong to Christ by faith, not as flesh-only Israel. Justin Martyr, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Novatian, and Cyprian all connect true Israel with believers, the Church, or the Spirit rather than bloodline alone. The Bible passages in Galatians 6:16, Romans 9:6-7, Galatians 3:7, and related texts give the main frame these writers use.
The evidence is broad and repeated across the second and third centuries, though some writers also keep a place for ethnic Israel and the original covenant promises. So the early Christian view is not one simple slogan, but it strongly favors a spiritual or Christ-centered reading of Israel of God. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Justin Martyr and Origen said true Israel is not bloodline alone, but people joined to Christ by faith.
- Galatians 6:16 and Romans 9:6-7 are key passages behind this early Christian reading.
- Some writers still speak of Israel after the flesh, so the theme is spiritual, not a denial that ethnic Israel exists.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians understand the Israel of God spiritually?
Several early writers say there is an Israel according to the Spirit alongside Israel according to the flesh. They identify true Israel with spiritual discernment, faith, or those who belong to Christ.
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching
22. Since he taught us that there is one Israel according to the flesh, and another according to the Spirit, when the Savior says, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," we do not understand these words as those do who think in earthly ways, that is, the Ebionites, who derive the name poor from their very name, for Ebion means poor in Hebrew. But we understand that there exists a race of souls which is called Israel, as the meaning of the name itself shows. For Israel is interpreted to mean a mind, or a man seeing God. The apostle again makes a similar revelation about Jerusalem, saying, "The Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." And in another of his Epistles he says, "But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, and to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, and to the Church of the first-born which is written in heaven." If, then, there are certain souls in this world who are called Israel, and a city in heaven which is called Jerusalem, it follows that those cities said to belong to the nation of Israel have the heavenly Jerusalem as their metropolis. And, in agreement with this,
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
For this true opinion was derived from what follows: Hear, it is said, O Israel;
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
Israel, then, is the light of the likeness which is according to the Scripture.
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Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Direct teaching
...rison with Him. He has found all the way of knowledge and has given it to Jacob His servant, and to Israel His beloved." He speaks well. For who is Jacob His servant, Israel His beloved, except the One of whom He cries out, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear Him"? After receiving all knowledge from the Father, the perfect Israel, the true Jacob, afterward showed Himself on earth and lived among men. And again, who is meant by Israel except a man who sees God? And no one sees God except the Son alone, the perfect man who alone declares the will of the Father. For John also says, "No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." And again, "He who came down from heaven testifies to what He has heard and seen." This, then, is He to whom the Father has given all knowledge, who showed Himself on earth and lived among men.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness
and if Israel is the man who sees God, the Lord was beautifully showing that it was not only a man who was then wrestling with Jacob, but God also.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness
For his seed is the Church, which receives the adoption to God through the Lord, as John the Baptist said: “For God is able from the stones to raise up children to Abraham.” Thus also the apostle says in the Epistle to the Galatians: “But ye, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise.” And again, in the same Epistle, he plainly declares that they who have believed in Christ do receive Christ, the promise to Abraham thus saying, “The promises were spoken to Abraham, and to his seed.
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Galatians 6:16 Direct teaching
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
Did early Christians say the Church is the true Israel?
A number of sources explicitly call the Church the true Israel or say that believers from the nations are God’s peculiar people. The theme appears in both patristic commentary and church-order texts.
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching
21. This, then, being the state of the case, the holy apostle desiring to elevate in some degree, and to raise our understanding above the earth, says in a certain place, Behold Israel after the flesh;
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness
21. Such, then, being the state of the case, the apostle, elevating our power of discernment (above the letter), says somewhere, Behold Israel after the flesh, as if there were an Israel according to the Spirit.
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness
and let not the Israel according to the flesh, which is called by the apostle flesh, boast in the presence of God.
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Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness
But the number of believers is small who belong to Israel according to the flesh;
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1 Corinthians 10:18 Direct teaching
Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
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Romans 9:6 Supporting witness
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness
A certain nation is declared by holy Scripture to have been chosen by God upon the earth, which nation has received several names: for sometimes the whole of it is termed Israel, and sometimes Jacob;
How did early Christians connect the Israel of God with the children of Abraham?
The supplied sources repeatedly say that those of faith are Abraham’s children and heirs of promise. They use this to explain why believers in Christ belong to the promised people of God.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
Ezekiel 3:12 But Israel, Your Church on earth, taken out of the Gentiles, emulating the heavenly powers night and day, with a full heart and a willing soul sings, The chariot of God is ten thousandfold thousands of them that rejoice: the Lord is among them in Sinai, in the holy place.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
For by Him You have brought home the Gentiles to Yourself for a peculiar people, the true Israel beloved of God, and seeing God.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Typology
...zzle does eat, but does not eat it all up, so you who labor on the threshing floor, that is, in the Church of God, should eat from the Church. This was also the case with the Levites, who served in the tabernacle of testimony, which was in every way a type of the Church. Indeed, even its very name showed that the tabernacle was appointed beforehand as a testimony of the Church. Therefore, the Levites who served at the tabernacle shared in the things offered to God by all the people: gifts, offerings, firstfruits, tithes, sacrifices, and oblations. They did this without disturbance, they and their wives, their sons, and their daughters. Since their work was ministry at the tabernacle, they had no lot or inheritance in the land among the children of Israel, because the oblations of the people were Levi's lot and the inheritance of their tribe. Therefore, O bishops, you are to your people priests and Levites, ministering in the holy tabernacle, the holy Catholic Church. You stand at the altar of the Lord your God, and offer to Him reasonable and unbloody sacrifices through Jesus the great High Priest. To the laity you are prophets, rulers, governors, and kings; mediators between Go
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Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ Supporting witness
In their person Israel remained outside, while the new disciples who kept close to Christ within, hearing and believing, represented the Church, which He called mother in a preferable sense and a worthier brotherhood, with the repudiation of the carnal relationship.
How did early Christians read Galatians 6:16 about the Israel of God?
Galatians 6:16 is the clearest Bible passage in the supplied set for the phrase “the Israel of God.” The surrounding patristic material reads the verse in a spiritual, faith-based, or Church-centered way.
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Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching
‘Therefore, saith the Lord, I will raise up to Israel and to Judah the seed of men and the seed of beasts.’ And by Isaiah He speaks thus concerning another Israel: ‘In that day shall there be a third Israel among the Assyrians and the Egyptians, blessed in the land which the Lord of Sabaoth hath blessed, saying, blessed shall my people in Egypt and in Assyria be, and Israel mine inheritance.’ Since then God blesses this people, and calls them Israel, and declares them to be His inheritance, how is it that you repent not of the deception you practise on yourselves, as if you alone were the Israel, and of execrating the people whom God has blessed?
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness
...od, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Know therefore, that those who are of faith are the children of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, announced beforehand to Abraham that in him all nations would be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” For these reasons, the apostle declared that this man was not only the prophet of faith but also the father of those who believe in Jesus Christ among the Gentiles, because his faith and ours are the same: he believed in future things as if they were already accomplished, because of the promise of God; and similarly, we also, because of the promise of God, see through faith that inheritance stored up for us in the future kingdom.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness
...last times, He became visible and able to suffer, and He spoke with humanity so that He could raise children for Abraham from the stones and fulfill the promise God gave him, making his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. John the Baptist says, “For God is able to raise children for Abraham from these stones.” Jesus accomplished this by moving us away from the worship of stones, taking us from hard and fruitless thoughts, and establishing in us a faith like Abraham’s. Paul also confirms this, saying we are children of Abraham because of our similar faith and the promise of inheritance.
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
...m strange water, and do not drink from a strange fountain,” if you leave the sealed fountain of the Church, take up strange water for yourselves, and pollute the Church with unhallowed fountains? For when you join in the baptism of heretics, what else are you doing than drinking from their swamp and mud? And while you yourselves are cleansed by the Church’s sanctification, you become defiled by contact with the filth of others. And do you not fear the judgment of God when you give testimony for heretics against the Church, although it is written, “A false witness shall not be unpunished”? Indeed, you are worse than all heretics. For when many, as soon as their error is known, come over to you from them so that they may receive the true light of the Church, you help along the errors of those who come. You darken the light of church truth and heap up the darkness of the heretical night. And although they confess that they are in sins and have no grace, and therefore come to the Church, you take away from them the remission of sins that is given in baptism. You do this by saying that they are already baptized and have obtained the grace of the Church outside the Church. And you do
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
...it was counted to him for righteousness. You know, then, that those who are of faith, these are the children of Abraham. But the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, announced beforehand to Abraham that all nations would be blessed in him; therefore those who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” Galatians 3:6-9. Therefore in the Gospel we find that children of Abraham are raised up from stones, that is, gathered from the Gentiles. Matthew 3:9. And when the Lord praised Zacchaeus, He answered and said, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.” Luke 19:9. Therefore, in Genesis, so that the blessing concerning Abraham by Melchizedek the priest might rightly be celebrated, the figure of Christ’s sacrifice comes first, appointed in bread and wine. This the Lord, completing and fulfilling, offered in bread and the cup mixed with wine. And so He who is the fullness of truth fulfilled the truth of the prefigured image.
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Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness
...e they lived, because they had part in Him who said, "I am the life," and, as the heirs of so great promises, received the vision not only of angels but of God in Christ. For they saw, perhaps, the image of the invisible God, since he who has seen the Son has seen the Father. And so they are recorded to have known God, and to have heard God's words worthily, and therefore to have seen God and heard Him. Now I consider that those who are fully and truly sons of Abraham are sons of his actions, spiritually understood, and of the knowledge that was made manifest to him. What he knew and what he did appears again in those who are his sons, as the Scripture teaches those who have ears to hear, John 8:39, "If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham." And if it is a true proverb, Proverbs 16:23, which says, "A wise man will understand what proceeds from his own mouth, and on his lips he will bear prudence," then we must at once reject some things that have been said about the prophets, as if they were not wise men and did not understand what proceeded from their own mouths. We must believe what is good and true about the prophets: that they were wise men, th
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Acts 3:25 Direct teaching
Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
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Genesis 28:4 Supporting witness
And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
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Genesis 21:12 Supporting witness
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
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Galatians 3:29 Supporting witness
And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.
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Galatians 3:7 Supporting witness
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
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Galatians 4:28 Supporting witness
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
Common Questions
Did early Christians think the Church was the Israel of God?
Many of them did. Justin Martyr, Origen, Tertullian, and Cyprian spoke of believers or the Church as the true Israel.
Did early Christians deny the Jewish people were Israel?
Not all of them. Some kept a place for Israel after the flesh while still saying believers in Christ are the true Israel.
What Bible verses did they use?
They often used Galatians 6:16, Romans 9:6-7, Galatians 3:7, and 1 Corinthians 10:18.
Source Index for the Israel of God
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 200 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 115
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 85
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.