Why I wrote my Statement on Israel and the Jews - God keeps His Covenant with both the Jews and the Church! - We reject Replacement Theology!

This is NOT what we want!

I believe it is time for the global Apostolic Movement to make an unambiguous statement on Israel, the Jews and the Church that is not purely RA-RA and sentimental. Ultimately, it is our theology that decides, not our RA-RA´s!

When we established European Coalition of Apostolic Leaders (ECAL) in July 2013, I was well aware of the Replacement Theology tendencies in parts of our movement in the Western world, but I noted that major global apostles such as Rene Terra Nova (Brazil), Paul Gitwaza (Rwanda), Naomi Dowdy (Singapore), Chuck Pierce (USA) and Sandor Nemeth (Hungary) are committed to the Jewish people as the chosen people of God.

The US part of the Apostolic Movement has a historic involvement with Kingdom Now, Reconstructionism, Dominion Theology and related expressions that tend to deny that Israel has a place in God´s plan or His covenants. This is intertwined with our unifying vision of «The Seven Mountain Mandate» (The Creation Mandate), which in itself is compatible with our pro-Israel stance. The Replacement tendency is evident throughout their writings, even though it is not specifically spoken at the annual international apostolic gatherings in USA. But there is absolutely no doubt that some of these apostles are actively working to «educate» the rest of the world in their views. This is packaged in charming words about «I love Israel» and «my relative was Jewish»....

A few months ago, one of these leading US apostles cautioned me about my leadership of European Coalition of Apostolic Leaders, saying: «ECAL will never be able to succeed if you promote a strong pro-Israel stance». 

Being a man of conviction myself, my response to this was to write a balanced statement that I named «The Peace of Jerusalem». I cannot sell my spiritual integrity for the sake of acclamation, platform exposure and flattery! 

Although Europe has a terrible history of antisemitism, which is even growing in my home country Norway, I have been grateful to see a stronger support for Israel and the Jewish People among evangelicals, pentecostals and charismatics in Europe during the past 20 years, due for a large part to such excellent organizations as European Coaliton for Israel (ECI) and International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ). 

Therefore, the ECAL statement «The Peace of Jerusalem» affirms (in line with the Lausanne Papers):

The Church is an elect people and unity in and with Christ is open to both Jew and Gentile through faith and baptism (Galatians 3:27-28).

«However, God called Abraham from among the nations and established a universal covenant with the patriarch and his seed to be a blessing to all peoples (Genesis 12:1-3). This promise includes the preservation of Israel to carry out God’s purpose, which was reaffirmed by Jeremiah (31:35-37). Paul echoes the promise in Romans 11:1, «Did God reject his people? By no means», and again in Romans 11:28 «...but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs». God has therefore preserved Israel according to the flesh and he is not yet finished with the Jewish people in his redemptive plan for mankind» (Lausanne Occasional Paper 7, 1980).

I am happy to see the strong Israel commitment that is being strengthened in the movements of Rene Terra Nova (Brazil and worldwide) and Paul Gitwaza (Rwanda and worldwide), and I believe that they will not allow any intrusion from Replacement Theology, even in the guise of «Apostolic».

I believe it is time for the global Apostolic Movement to make an unambiguous statement on Israel, the Jews and the Church that is not purely RA-RA and sentimental. Ultimately, it is our theology that decides, not our RA-RA´s!

Knowing my friends in all segments of the Apostolic Movement, I know that some will be furious that I am so impertinent as to write this ECAL article. However, this has to be addressed, and that is not being done when we are gathering internationally. Our movement of apostles must be open to interaction without fearing isolation and exclusion. It has to do with maturity.