The "mystery" is not the existence of a brand new people's of God called "The Church"
The mystery was that the the Gentiles were able to come into Israel's covenant people without going through physical circumcision and the rest of it.
And guess what, the early church consisted of both Gentiles and Jews, which once again shows this idea of Church Age as a parenthesis as nonsense.
My last reply to you for the sake of others who may be learning.
False. OT saints (such as JTB and Moses and Elijah) are NOT members of the mystery virgin Bride Church
that BEGINS at Pentecost and ENDS at the rapture.
Jhn 3:29
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
The mystery cannot simply be that Gentiles could receive salvation without circumcision, because Gentile blessing was already clearly revealed in the Old Testament:
“In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
— Genesis 12:3
“I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”
— Isaiah 49:6
Gentile salvation was therefore
not itself the hidden mystery.
Paul defines the mystery more specifically:
“That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body...”
— Ephesians 3:6
The issue is not merely Gentiles joining Israel without circumcision. It is the creation of a previously unrevealed corporate body in Christ.
Paul calls it:
“One new man.”
— Ephesians 2:15
and:
“One body.”
— Ephesians 2:16
That is not “Israel plus Gentiles.” It is a
new organism composed of believing Jews and Gentiles.
THE CHURCH DID NOT EXIST IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Christ placed the Church in the future:
“Upon this rock I will build my church.”
— Matthew 16:18
He did not say, “I have been building My Church since Abraham.”
The Church was still future during Christ’s earthly ministry.
Paul tells us how membership in that Body occurs:
“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body...”
— 1 Corinthians 12:13
But immediately before Pentecost, Spirit baptism was still future:
“Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
— Acts 1:5
Peter later identifies Pentecost as:
“the beginning.”
— Acts 11:15
He then connects it directly with Christ’s promise of Spirit baptism:
“Then remembered I the word of the Lord... ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.”
— Acts 11:16
Therefore:
Spirit baptism forms the Body.
Spirit baptism began at Pentecost.
Therefore the Church as Christ’s Body began at Pentecost.
OT saints were saved, but they were
not members of a Body that did not yet exist.
JOHN THE BAPTIST DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF FROM THE BRIDE
John 3:29 is especially significant:
“He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom... rejoiceth greatly.”
John identifies three categories:
Bridegroom — Christ
Bride — belonging to Christ
Friend of the Bridegroom — John
John does not identify himself as the bride.
That is perfectly consistent with the fact that John died before Pentecost and therefore before the formation of the Church.
Christ likewise said:
“Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
— Matthew 11:11
John stands at the climax of the pre-Church prophetic order, not as a member of the subsequently formed Body of Christ.
THE CHURCH IS PRESENTED AS CHRIST’S BRIDE
Paul writes:
“I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
— 2 Corinthians 11:2
Ephesians 5 explicitly compares Christ and the Church to husband and wife:
“For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church.”
— Ephesians 5:23
Then:
“This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
— Ephesians 5:32
John’s distinction between the Bridegroom, the bride, and himself as the Bridegroom’s friend therefore fits the later revelation perfectly.
PAUL SAYS THIS CHURCH WAS PREVIOUSLY HIDDEN
“The mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest...”
— Colossians 1:26
“The mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest...”
— Romans 16:25–26
Israel was not hidden.
Gentile blessing was not hidden.
The Abrahamic Covenant was not hidden.
Messiah’s kingdom was not hidden.
Israel’s restoration was not hidden.
What was hidden was the formation of the
one Body of Christ, in which believing Jews and Gentiles possess equal standing through Spirit baptism.
DANIEL’S 69TH AND 70TH WEEKS REQUIRE AN INTERVAL
Daniel 9:24 says:
“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city.”
Daniel’s people are Israel; his holy city is Jerusalem.
After the 69th week:
“Messiah shall be cut off.”
— Daniel 9:26
Then Jerusalem and the sanctuary are destroyed.
Only afterward does Daniel describe the final week:
“He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.”
— Daniel 9:27
Therefore events occur
after week 69 but before week 70.
That is an interval whether one likes the word “parenthesis” or not.
The NT reveals what God is doing during that interval: forming the mystery Body of Christ.
ISRAEL’S REJECTION IS TEMPORARY
Romans 11 proves the Church has not simply absorbed Israel.
“Hath God cast away his people? God forbid.”
— Romans 11:1
Paul then explains:
“Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”
— Romans 11:25
Notice:
“in part” — not total.
“until” — not permanent.
“Israel” — still identifiable as Israel.
Then:
“And so all Israel shall be saved.”
— Romans 11:26
Thus the Church exists during Israel’s temporary national hardening. It does not erase or replace Israel.
THE SIMPLE BIBLICAL SEQUENCE
Israel existed before Pentecost.
Gentiles could be saved before Pentecost.
OT saints were genuinely redeemed before Pentecost.
But the
Church as the Body of Christ did not yet exist, because the Spirit baptism that places believers into that Body did not begin until Pentecost.
Therefore:
OT saints ≠ the Church.
Israel ≠ the Church.
Gentile salvation ≠ the mystery.
The mystery is the creation of
one new man, one Body in Christ, composed of believing Jews and Gentiles on equal spiritual ground.
That Body begins at Pentecost during the interval between Daniel’s 69th and 70th weeks, while Israel undergoes temporary national hardening.
And John the Baptist’s words fit the distinction exactly:
“He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom... rejoiceth greatly.”
John called himself the Bridegroom’s friend.
He did
not call himself the bride.