The "church" as defined by God are those who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. The church is not some ragtag bunch of this or that club or nationality or group that men wish could be a "church" but never will be.
It's really very simple and I, again, will go with who God states is His church, not what fallen mankind claims.
Yes it does. Many times we're told that believers become part of Israel - Romans 11, Gal 3, Eph 2, Eph 3:5-6.
We're grafted into THEIR tree.
Well, actually, it does.
Just from Galatians:
6Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."[a] 7Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."[b] 9So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. -- note that it says that you are a child of Abraham if you are of faith.
14He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus -- Gentile believers are recipients of the blessing promised to Abraham
16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed,"[g] meaning one person, who is Christ. -- the promises were given to the "seed" and those who are incorporated into the "seed" (plural vs singular noted)
26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
-- This passage is most telling. The old distinction of Jew and Greek is now done away with altogether, and ALL who believe are "Abraham's seed" and "heirs according to the promise." All the promises of Abraham are, and were intended for, not a national group of ethnic persons, but a true worldwide body including both Jew and all others.
WE are the true recipients of the promises, and there is no reason to argue that we are not, nor that the "real" promises have to be "fulfilled" by some wooden literalism.
The NT claims the right to re-interpret the Abrahamic promises, and does so. The covenant salvation began in the garden, post fall. The "seed" was promised as one who would undo the effects of the evil one and crush his head. That "seed" motif was simply picked up in Abraham. The promise PREVIOUSLY GIVEN is the same promise given to Abraham, just amplified and specified as coming through the particularized offspring of Israel. This is the SAME PROMISE given in figurative and pictorial language to Moses..., the law and the sacrificial system were not some "other way of salvation" but simply amplifications of the necessity and the glory of the coming sacrifice for sins, along with the picture of "God with his people" (the temple). Jesus said that the entire Old Testament, from Moses through the prophets was concerned exclusively about HIM. Not about some series of failures of men to cooperate with God, but about Jesus.
This, and only this, is why it is worthwhile even discussing the issue. I have great relationships with many of my dispensationalist brothers. Many of them are better Christians than I am, so it ain't like I am saying the theology makes me "better." I do truly believe, though, that seeing the Bible as one grand unified message of God coming to save and dwell with his people is done harm by the insistence on finding different plans and peoples, and (from some, not all) actually multiple means of salvation. As much as I love my brothers, this is, I believe, truly an affront to the claim that the one message through the bible is the grace of God through Christ offered in faith.
Please don't hate me for saying so, as I don't believe you are wrongHEARTED, just wrongMINDED.
Back to your original objection, those are just a few of the passages that identify the NT Church as "Israel." I have a bunch more if you need them.
Love and Grace. DoP