SPIRITUAL ISRAEL OR BRIDE OF CHRIST?

I had an unexpected thought fill my consciousness today! I was confronted by a Seventh-day Adventist who told me I had to join the nation of Israel—become part of “Spiritual Israel”—or God could not save me.

Now, I am a gentile and a member of the body of Christ. I see no evidence that I must become part of a so-called “Spiritual Israel”. In fact, when Adventists talk about “Spiritual Israel”, they generally refer to their internal, organizational understanding that goes something like this: God’s people are those who keep His law of Ten Commandments, exemplified by their honoring of the seventh day, as evidence that they have accepted Jesus as their Messiah. In this way, they assume the role of “Spiritual Israel”.

The fact that the Bible never connects Sabbath-keeping with honoring Jesus as Messiah is beside the point. Adventists say that the Sabbath is the seal of God—or the “sign of the seal”—and will be the mark of all those who are ready to be taken to heaven when Jesus returns.

Sabbath-keeping, they say, is the visible evidence that they are part of the church that “keeps the commandments of God” and has “the faith of Jesus”.

Sabbath-keeping, they say, is the visible evidence that they are part of the church that “keeps the commandments of God” and has “the faith of Jesus”. Thus, their reasoning goes, they are the TRUE Israel of God, the “Spiritual Israel” who will inherit all the blessings God promised to the nation of Israel—including salvation.

As I encountered this confrontation from an Adventist, I am quite sure God spoke in my head or heart or wherever He dwells. I replied, “Why would Jesus want us, Gentile believers, to join the nation of people who rejected Him and had Him crucified? Furthermore, why would we want to cling to the Sabbath that He gave them so their nation of Israel would remember that He led them out of slavery in Egypt?”

Here is what Deuteronomy 5:15 commands Israel:

“You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

After all, as Gentiles, we never were enslaved in Egypt, and observing the Sabbath does not have the same historical meaning for us that it did for Israel. Even more importantly, we live on the other side of the cross from Israel. The Lord Jesus has fulfilled every shadow of the law, including the Sabbath (Col. 2:16, 17), and He has broken the curse of sin. We now have HIM instead of a shadowy day!

I shared this message with the confrontational Adventist, and so far, silence has ruled.

As a gentile believer in Jesus and His finished work, I am not a spiritual Israelite. I am part of the body of Christ, a part of His bride. If I were to embrace the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, I would be looking AWAY from my Lord Jesus and clinging to a mere lifeless shadow of what He came to complete.

I rejoiced today in the miracle and mystery of this unexpected insight into my identity and inheritance as a gentile believer in my Lord Jesus!

Source: https://blog.lifeassuranceministries.org/2023/05/18/spiritual-israel-or-bride-of-christ/