interpretation of the biblical revelation. The church is the initial phase of the prophesied messianic salvation involving the creation of a new humanity in which both Jews and Gentiles share a new relationship with God as his people through the new covenant initiated by Christ’s saving work. It is not a new Israel replacing the Israel of the Old Testament prophecies and thus fulfilling the role of that nation in the as yet unfulfilled historic plan of salvation. In this section, we will consider