Many people today are falsely taught that anyone who is saved today becomes a member of Israel, but not the real Israel. Instead, they are taught that believers become part of a ‘spiritual Israel.’ But is this Biblical?

This ‘spiritual Israel’ concept is created from a failure to understand the dispensational shift from God’s dealing with Israel to “the Church,” which is “the body of Christ.” Those who subscribe to the idea of ‘spiritual Israel,’ most always teach that Israel was an allegory for the church today, often referring to themselves as ‘the true Israel.’

By their own proclamation these teachers do not take the natural reading of the words of the Scriptures. Words mean something, but not to them. Instead, they try to take the promises, covenants for Israel as allegorically applying to the church of this age of “the grace of God.”

However, the teaching of a separate spiritual Israel is not found anywhere in the Bible. To squeeze this erroneous idea into the Scripture, they must do three things:

1. Deny the precise fulfillment of prophecy given specifically to Israel.
2. Reject the significance of the God ordained separation of Israel from the Gentiles.
3. Ignore the teaching of “Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery (secret)” that was revealed to Paul for the Gentiles (Rom. 16:25, Eph. 3:1-5).

Old Testament Prophecy and the words of Jesus of Nazareth in His earthly ministry we ‘Given to’ and ‘Concern Israel’:

Over ninety percent of the Bible was given to and about the physical nation Israel, God’s chosen people in time past. To teach that we are the allegorical fulfillment of prophecy given to Israel would take nothing less than a gross distortion of plain words.

For example, in Isaiah 2 the time of the ‘last days’ is described where the ‘LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains’ (Isaiah 2:2). This prophecy is specifically speaking about Judah and Jerusalem:

“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:1)

It is from Jerusalem that the nations will ultimately be judged by the Lord, and to ‘the house of the God of Jacob’ in Zion that many people will go (Isaiah 2:3).

To spiritualize this passage along with hundreds of other prophecies becomes unnatural. The natural reading and meaning of entire passages is lost in order to accommodate the false idea of ‘spiritualization.’ Starting with Ezekiel 40 there are 8 chapters detailing “the holy city.” This is pointless if it is allegorical and will never exist.

Who assigns the spiritual definition to the tribes, or the gates, or the arches, or the borders? Without a Biblical key to explain the spiritualization, the real meaning of the words becomes construed to fit the imaginative contrivances of a thousand confused scholars.

This kind of spiritualization destroys the authority of the Scripture and the meaning of God’s ultimate prophetic plan and purpose for Israel.

God’s Separation of Israel from the Gentiles:

Numbers 23:9 says, “For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall NOT be reckoned among the nations (the Gentiles). Numbers 23:9 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 7 plainly tells Israel why Israel is to be different from the other nations:

“For thou (Israel) art an holy (set-apart) people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6)

It was to this special people that God would give the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the service of God, and the promises (Romans 9:4). It was to be through glory of this special people that God would offer salvation to the world.

“I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.” (Isaiah 46:13)

“He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” (Psalm 98:3)

It was the separation of Israel from the nations that God would ultimately use in order to bring salvation to those nations. God’s plan was not for every Gentile to become a member of Israel, but instead to receive salvation from the God through Israel.

“His (God’s) name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.” (Psalm 72:17)

It would not only Israel that finally receives salvation… it is the whole believing world. However, Israel would be ministers and priests of the Lord to that end, administering the law of God. We now know this will not occur until the Tribulation and Millennial Kingdom

“But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.” (Isaiah 61:6)

To say that the saved today, during this grace age, become part of Israel denies the purpose for which God separated Israel from among the nations (Gentiles).

Now, The Jesus Christ According to the Revelation of the Mystery:

“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, According to The Revelation Of The Mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,” (Rom. 16:25)

Since what was revealed to Paul for the Gentiles “was not made known unto the sons of men” then no prophetic scripture, spiritualized or literal, refers to the church of “His body” today.

Contrarily, Paul announces something “kept secret” and “hid” which was separate from Israel and separate from God’s purpose of prophecy, it was the subject of “the body” of Jesus Christ as the church (Rom. 16:25, Col. 1:27, 1 Cor. 12:13).

Paul says in this age of God’s pure grace there is “neither Jew nor Gentile today in Christ” (Gal 3:28). Since the grace of God is now offered freely on the merits of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no way for “the law” to bring righteousness. Today the righteousness of God comes to believing men by faith in Jesus Christ alone (Romans 3:21-24).

Instead of becoming part of Israel, Paul announces a whole “new creature,” called the “body of Christ.”

“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain (Gentiles and Jews) one new man, so making peace” (Ephesians 2:15)

Out of two groups, Jews and Gentiles, Christ made this “one new man” to His agency for salvation for “all men” during today’s “dispensation of the grace of God.” This special new agency is what we together become when we are saved by grace  today.

We do not know any man “after the flesh” (racially), whether it is Israel, or American, or Asian, or European.

“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” (2 Corinthians 5:16)

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor 5:17)

The false teachings that commonly exist today among Christendom that promote the idea of Christians being ‘spiritual Israel’ is dangerous to a natural proper reading of the scripture, preventing sincere students of the word from recognizing important unique truths for today’s “dispensational age of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:2, adapted).

In order to understand exactly who we as believers are today, we must realize that that God did not write the Bible in hidden codes or ambiguous allegories. He uses plain speech, that is easy to understand if we will simply accept the natural reading of the Biblical text… believing its words as written.