Who Is The Bride Of Christ: Israel Or The Church?
Q: I heard it said that God cannot have two brides, relating to whether the church is the true bride of Christ or biological Israel is still God’s chosen; there is also the question of whether the church superseded Israel. Do you have any teaching on whether the true church is the bride of Christ? Or are the church, Israel, and the Bride all different? I would appreciate any Scriptures that you can share to clarify the difference or prove that they are one and the same.
A: There is a distinction in the way that the Old and New Testaments refer to this topic. In the Old Testament, the image is mostly of Israel being the wife of Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel. This is mentioned in terms of Israel’s unfaithfulness and spiritual adultery. God found them, cared for them, cleaned them up, married them, provided them with all things, was faithful unto them, and they, like an adulterous wife, were unfaithful to the Lord. That’s the main idea and imagery used in the Old Testament. It’s most often used in the context of rebuking Israel for their unfaithfulness towards the Lord.
We also see beautiful New Testament passages that speak of the church. Ephesians 2 describes the Body of Christ as one new man being made out of the two. The bride of Christ is described as awaiting the consummation of the marriage supper of the lamb with Christ. These passages are clear that we are still waiting for that wedding day. I could see how a man might think, “I don’t want to be a bride of anybody,” but these are figures of speech, speaking of how precious and how beautiful God’s church is to Him, and describing something that we’re waiting for in the consummation. This imagery is focused on the future.
These are really two different images being used for different purposes. In the Old Testament, this imagery was almost always to rebuke Israel for their disobedience and their spiritual adultery. The image in the New Testament is very aspirational, pointing to a beautiful thing that is to come in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, I don’t put these two images on the same level at all. They are different illustrations used for different purposes.
Is Israel still God’s chosen or has the Church superseded it? Here’s what we need to ask, and I believe not enough people are asking this question: What is Israel presently chosen for? What are the Jewish people presently chosen for? They are not chosen universally to be the people of God, in the sense that they are all saved. No. The Bible says that salvation will come to them, but that happens in the future and will be through faith in Jesus Christ. The Jewish people are a chosen people right now, and they are chosen to have an enduring, important role in God’s unfolding plan of the ages.
They are not chosen in the sense that they are all saved, as we might say of the church. There is a sense in which everyone in the church is elect and chosen unto salvation. It’s not the same for the Jewish people. They are chosen for God’s future promise that He will fulfill, because the word of God cannot be broken. The Jewish people have an enduring place in God’s unfolding plan. I get frustrated when people assume that since Israel is chosen, there must be a second path to salvation other than Jesus Christ. But that is categorically false; all who are saved much come through faith in Christ.
Yes, the Jewish people are chosen. They are chosen right now. They are chosen to have an enduring place in God’s unfolding plan of the ages. God is not finished with the Jewish people, as Paul wrote eschatologically of them in Romans 11, that all Israel will be saved. Jesus said in Matthew 23:39 that, “You shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” When Jesus Christ returns in glory, He will be welcomed by the Jewish people, who will be largely a Christ-accepting people instead of a Christ-rejecting people. And that must happen, because God has promised it, and not a promise of God shall be broken.