Dispensationalism vs. Biblical Covenant Theology — Part 2: The Church as the Bride of Christ (NT Fulfillment)

2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27 — Part 2 of 5 — This lesson explores how the New Testament expands the bridal imagery from Israel to the Church. Dispensationalists teach that the Church is a 'parenthesis' in God's plan—a separate entity from Israel—and that God has two distinct peoples with two different destinies. In contrast, the SDA and historic Protestant view holds that the Church is spiritual Israel, the true seed of Abraham by faith (Galatians 3:7, 29), and that there is one bride, one body, one people of God across both Testaments. The apostle Paul explicitly connects Gentile believers to the olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17-24). Ellen G. White affirmed: 'The church is the bride of Christ, the lamb's wife, the city of God' (Early Writings, p. 19). The Reformation taught covenant continuity—Calvin, Luther, Wesley, and the early Adventist pioneers all rejected the idea of two separate peoples of God. KEY THEME: 'When the fullness of the time was come' (Galatians 4:4) — The Church was not an afterthought or parenthesis. Christ came at the exact prophetic time (Mark 1:15), fulfilling what God had planned from eternity (Hebrews 1:1-2). The bridal relationship moves from Israel to the Church not as replacement but as expansion of the same covenant.