The Remnant of Israel Is Not the Body of Christ
Romans 9:27 says, “Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.”
There should be no confusion about whose remnant Paul is describing in Romans 9. The verse plainly says Isaiah is speaking “concerning Israel.” Yet one of the most common errors in studying Israel’s prophetic program is to identify this believing remnant found in the Scriptures with the church, the Body of Christ.
The remnant of Israel is not the Body of Christ.
What Is a Remnant?
A remnant is something that remains from something already in existence. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines a remnant as the “residue; that which is left after the separation, removal or destruction of a part.” This perfectly describes what we find throughout Israel’s history. When the nation fell into unbelief and judgment, God preserved a faithful portion who believed His word.
Isaiah wrote, “Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah” (Isa 1:9). Paul quotes this prophecy in Romans 9:29. Israel deserved judgment, but God preserved a seed through whom His promises could ultimately be fulfilled.
Hosea and the Restoration of Israel
Romans 9:25-26 makes the same point by quoting Hosea. The context of Hosea makes the identity of this remnant unmistakable. God commanded Hosea to marry Gomer, “a wife of whoredoms,” as a living picture of Israel’s spiritual adultery in departing from the Lord after other gods. Even the names of their children became pronouncements of judgment against the nation. Jezreel pointed to coming judgment upon the house of Israel, Loruhamah signified that God would “no more have mercy upon the house of Israel,” while still showing mercy upon Judah, and Loammi declared, “for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.” (Hos 1:4-9).
Yet these judgments were not the end of the prophecy. God also promised their future restoration:
"and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." - Hosea 1:10
“And I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God” - Hosea 2:23.
Paul’s quotation in Romans 9 reaches directly back into a prophecy of Israel’s unbelief, judgment, preservation, and eventual restoration. The passage is not describing the formation of a new Gentile church, but God’s promised mercy toward His fallen nation that had gone astray.
Because Romans 9:24 mentions Jews and Gentiles immediately before these quotations, some assume Hosea was prophesying about Gentiles becoming members of the Body of Christ. But Hosea was not describing the Body nor Gentiles at all.
The Remnant Is Prophecy, the Body Is Mystery
This distinction matters because the Body of Christ was not the subject of Israel’s prophets. Paul explains how the Body of Christ was a mystery, not made known before Christ revealed it to him:
“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:” - Ephesians 3:2-9
He likewise speaks of “...my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest...” (Rom 16:25-26).
If the Body of Christ was hidden, a mystery kept secret until revealed through Paul, then Hosea and Isaiah could not have been prophesying about it. This is a key principle of right division: prophecy and mystery are not the same. The remnant of Israel belongs to prophecy. The Body belongs to the mystery.
A Remnant Is Not Something New
The nature of the two groups is also different. Israel's remnant consists of faithful Israelites preserved out of the nation. The Body of Christ is not a smaller, purified version of Israel or that which is left over from the whole. It is something new entirely.
Paul writes, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2Co 5:17). In this dispensation of God's grace, believing Jews and Gentiles are baptized by the Spirit into one Body by faith in the gospel of Christ and the spiritual distinction between Jews and Gentiles is erased completely (1Co 12:13, Gal 3:26-28). Christ has made of twain (two), both believing Jews and Genitiles, “one new man” in the Body of Christ:
“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” - Ephesians 2:14-16
The Body is not called Israel. A remnant is what remains of something old. The Body is part of the mystery of Christ, and is something new.
Romans 11 Confirms the Distinction
Romans 11 strengthens this distinction. Paul speaks of “a remnant according to the election of grace” within Israel that was a believing portion of the nation (Rom 11:1-7), but he also explains that “blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom 11:25). Israel's blindness is temporary. God has not abandoned His promises to that nation. After His present work through the Body of Christ is complete, He will fulfill His covenants with Israel, “for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Rom 11:29).
The faithful remnant will ultimately inherit the kingdom promised to Israel. This is why the Lord told His believing Jewish disciples, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Notice the word "little." It is a small subset of the believing nation that inherits the prophesied kingdom when Christ returns to judge the nations and the unbelieving portion of Israel.
We should therefore resist the temptation to make Israel's remnant into the Body of Christ. Doing so confuses prophecy with mystery, Israel with the church, and God's earthly promises to the nation with our heavenly position in Christ.
God has not replaced Israel with the Body, nor is Israel's remnant the Body. He is presently accomplishing a previously hidden purpose through the new spiritual entity, the Body of Christ, while Israel's prophetic promises await their literal fulfillment.
Why It Matters
When the Body is confused with Israel's remnant, believers begin claiming promises (or curses) that were never addressed to them: earthly blessings and curses, physical signs, and national covenants. The result is often spiritual instability, confusion, double-mindedness, and disappointment. Right division lets Israel's promises remain Israel's, fully and literally, while the Body rests in its own distinct riches in Christ (2Ti 2:15).
Even though the Body is distinct from the remnant, there is also comfort in the remnant principle. In every age, the faithful have been few. If the truth of right division seems unpopular today, that has never made it untrue. God's word is truth, whether many believe it or few.
