Grafted in

Clyde Jacobs on June 1, 2021 at 7:33 am said:

• I’m offering some questions concerning identity;
• aren’t we grafted in?
• Doesn’t something grafted become the identity of the tree or vine?
• Is it possible that the so-called lawless church is suppose be a nation of people?
• Isn’t there just one Flock? Is Israel a geographical location or a mysterious ancient assembly where two or three are gathered together in Covenant with Messiah?

My initial response to Clive Jacobs was the following:

Yes,now we are grafted in. Paul was dealing with identity regarding Gentile Christians in part due to the question whether Gentiles must become Jews to become Christians. So the illustration referring to grafting. All are one in the Body of Christ.
Jewish genes and Jewish belief can be confusing. 21st century concepts are different than 1st century ones,we’re new Believers just as chosen as the Jews believed they were.

Grafted – we have been discussing this at our weekly Bible Study

The first question we asked ourselves was just exactly how does the grafting process entail, so therefore, what does it mean to be grafted in? So: The assumption is that Paul spoke of the Grape Vine, Israel was renowned for wine making therefore there are many referrences to Grapes and wine in the Scriptures. His listeners ,perhaps, understood his meaning far more than city dwellers like us, here in Maroubra Australia. The fllowing paragraph is extracted from https://homeguides.sfgate.com/purpose-grafting-grapes-23622.html

Wine makers and consumers change their preferences in grape varieties throughout the years. Commercial growers lose money if their grapes are no longer desired. Grafting new varieties onto the existing root-stock allows the growers to exchange less desirable grape cultivars for those in demand. The process is referred to as top-working, because the top of the existing grapevine is removed and replaced with new canes. The scions take approximately one year to grow and grape production proceeds the following year. The growers lose one year of production instead of three or more years if they replaced the entire grapevine.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/purpose-grafting-grapes-23622.html

The Jews were the Root Stock

The gentile Christians formed the scions as the graft is called, however the process refers to the old top of the vine – which bore the fruit of Israels works – is removed and actually replaced by non Jewish believers, Implying, perhaps that there are no longer Jew or Gentile. I am proposing this as per the following information:

  Tissue grafting includes applications ranging from plant breeding to animal organ transplantation. Donor and recipient are generally believed to maintain their genetic integrity, in that the grafted tissues are joined but their genetic materials do not mix. We grafted tobacco plants from two transgenic lines carrying different marker and reporter genes in different cellular compartments, the nucleus and the plastid. Analysis of the graft sites revealed the frequent occurrence of cells harboring both antibiotic resistances and both fluorescent reporters.Our data demonstrate that plant grafting can result in the exchange of genetic information via either large DNA pieces or entire plastid genomes. This observation of novel combinations of genetic material has implications for grafting techniques and also provides a possible path for horizontal gene transfer.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/purpose-grafting-grapes-23622.html

Sandra Stegemann AND Ralph Bock

Put more simply, the grafting process does alter the DNA,via a process called epigenetic transmission, the turning on or off of various genetical markers resulting in an homogenous vine which is different than before, so it is not so much that gentiles become jews, rather that both become a new creation.

WE ARE ALL ONE BODY IN JESUS CHRIST an adaptation of I Corinthians 12 :27 A NEW CREATION IN JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD adaptation of 2 Corinthians 5:17

The question of the Lawless Church

Personally, I take the Lawless Church to be the congregation which has departed from Truth, apostates? I assume you are referring to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 in which Paul speaks of the man of lawlessness?