DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY: IS IT BIBLICAL? I) AN INTRODUCTION TO DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY A) A SIMPLE DEFINITION OF DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY [Renald E. Showers states, (THERE REALLY IS A DIFFERENCE! A COMPARISON OF COVENANT AND DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY, The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc., Bellmawr, N.J., 1991, p. 27-53)]: Dispensational Theology can be defined very simply as a system of theology which attempts to develop the Bibles philosophy of history on the basis of the sovereign rule of God. It represents the whole of Scripture and history as being covered by several dispensations of Gods rule. C. I. Scofield states, (THE NEW SCOFIELD STUDY BIBLE, NIV, Oxford Univ. Press., New York, 1967, p. 3): A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect to his obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God. Three important concepts are implied in this definition: (1) a deposit of divine revelation concerning Gods will, embodying what God requires of man as to his conduct (2) mans stewardship of this divine revelation, in which he is responsible to obey it (3) a time-period, often called an age, during which this divine revelation is dominant in the testing of mans obedience to God. The dispensations are a progressive and connected revelation of Gods dealings with man, given sometimes to the whole race and at other times to a particular people, Israel. These different dispensations are not separate ways of salvation. During each of them man is reconciled to God in only one way, i.e., by Gods grace through [faith in] the work of Christ that was accomplished on the cross and vindicated in His resurrection. Before the cross man was saved in prospect of Christs atoning sacrifice, through believing the revelation thus far given him. Since the cross man has been saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ in Whom revelation and redemption are consummated. On mans part the continuing requirement is obedience to the revelation of God. This obedience is a stewardship of faith. Although the divine revelation unfolds progressively, the deposit of truth in the earlier time-periods is not discarded; rather it is cumulative. Thus conscience (moral responsibility) is an abiding truth in human life (Rom. 2:15; 9:1; 2 Cor 1:12; 4:2), although it does not continue as dispensation. Similarly, the saved of this present dispensation are not under law as a specific test of obedience to divine revelation (Gal. 5:18; cp. Gal. 2:16; 3:11), yet the law remains an integral part of the Holy Scriptures which, to the redeemed, are profitable for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17; cp. Rom. 15:4). The purpose of each dispensation, then, is to place man under a specific rule of conduct, but such stewardship is not a condition of salvation. In every past dispensation unregenerate man has failed, and he has failed in this present dispensation and will in the future. But salvation has been and will continue to be available to him by Gods grace through faith. Seven dispensations are distinguished in this edition of the Bible: Innocence (Gen 1:28); Conscience or Moral Responsibility (Gen 3:7); Human Government (Gen 8:15); Promise (Gen 12:1); Law (Ex 19:1); Church (Acts 2:1); Kingdom (Rev 20:4)... [Showers, cont.]: B) HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF DISPENSATIONALISM There is evidence from early church writers of dispensational thinking. Ref. The Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Ennis. Writings of Justin Martyr, (A.D. 110-165) Iranaeus (A.D. 130-200) Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150-220) Augustine (A.D. 354-430) Pierre Poiret (1646-1719) John Edwards (1637-1716) Isaac Watts (1674-1748) John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) C.I. Scofield (1843-1921) Lewis Sperry Chafer Charles Ryrie Dwight Pentecost John Walvoord C) THE MEANING OF THE WORD DISPENSATION The word which is translated dispensation in the New Testament is oikonomia, from which the English word economy is derived. The New Testament word is a combination of two words - oikos, which means house and nemo, which means to dispense, manage, or hold sway. 11 Thus, the word literally means house dispensing or house managing. It rDISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY: IS IT BIBLICAL? I) AN INTRODUCTION TO DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY A) A SIMPLE DEFINITION OF DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY [Renald E. Showers states, (THERE REALLY IS A DIFFERENCE! A COMPARISON OF COVENANT AND DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY, The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc., Bellmawr, N.J., 1991, p. 27-53)]: Dispensational Theology can be defined very simply as a system of theology which attempts to develop the Bibles philosophy of history on the basis of the sovereign rule of God. It represents the whole of Scripture and history as being covered by several dispensations of Gods rule. C. I. Scofield states, (THE NEW SCOFIELD STUDY BIBLE, NIV, Oxford Univ. Press., New York, 1967, p. 3): A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect to his obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God. Three important concepts are implied in this definition: (1) a deposit of divine revelation concerning Gods will, embodying what God requires of man as to his conduct (2) mans stewardship of this divine revelation, in which he is responsible to obey it (3) a time-period, often called an age, during which this divine revelation is dominant in the testing of mans obedience to God. The dispensations are a progressive and connected revelation of Gods dealings with man, given sometimes to the whole race and at other times to a particular people, Israel. These different dispensations are not separate ways of salvation. During each of them man is reconciled to God in only one way, i.e., by Gods grace through [faith in] the work of Christ that was accomplished on the cross and vindicated in His resurrection. Before the cross man was saved in prospect of Christs atoning sacrifice, through believing the revelation thus far given him. Since the cross man has been saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ in Whom revelation and redemption are consummated. On mans part the continuing requirement is obedience to the revelation of God. This obedience is a stewardship of faith. Although the divine revelation unfolds progressively, the deposit of truth in the earlier time-periods is not discarded; rather it is cumulative. Thus conscience (moral responsibility) is an abiding truth in human life (Rom. 2:15; 9:1; 2 Cor 1:12; 4:2), although it does not continue as dispensation. Similarly, the saved of this present dispensation are not under law as a specific test of obedience to divine revelation (Gal. 5:18; cp. Gal. 2:16; 3:11), yet the law remains an integral part of the Holy Scriptures which, to the redeemed, are profitable for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17; cp. Rom. 15:4). The purpose of each dispensation, then, is to place man under a specific rule of conduct, but such stewardship is not a condition of salvation. In every past dispensation unregenerate man has failed, and he has failed in this present dispensation and will in the future. But salvation has been and will continue to be available to him by Gods grace through faith. Seven dispensations are distinguished in this edition of the Bible: Innocence (Gen 1:28); Conscience or Moral Responsibility (Gen 3:7); Human Government (Gen 8:15); Promise (Gen 12:1); Law (Ex 19:1); Church (Acts 2:1); Kingdom (Rev 20:4)... :28-29]: (v. 28) God blessed them [men and women, (v. 27)] and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. (v. 29) Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. [Gen 2:15-17]: (v. 15) The LORD God took the man [Adam] and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (v. 16) And the LORD God commanded the man [Adam], You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; (v. 17) but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. [Heb = die, dying indicating both an immediate spiritual death and an eventual physical death] [Gen 2:24]: For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. ...God revealed that man was to abstain from eating the forbidden fruit and was to cultivate and keep the Garden of Eden. As male and female, human beings were to live together in a marital, one-flesh relationship, reproduce themselves, and exercise dominion over animal and plant life. 3) SECONDARY GOVERNING RULES OVER MANKIND a) Be fruitful and fill the earth. Multiply. Gen. 1:28 b) Rule over all creatures and the earth. Gen. 1:28 c) All plants are for mans food. Gen. 1:29 d) Man is to take care of the Garden of Eden. Gen. 2:15 e) Man may eat of all trees in the Garden. Gen. 2:16 6. f) Man MUST NOT eat of the Tree of Moral Knowledge. Gen. 2:17 g) Man will have marital unity. Gen. 2:24-25 4) CONCLUSION: FAILURE OF THE FIRST DISPENSATION Mans responsibility during the first dispensation was to obey God on the basis of his unconfirmed favorable disposition toward Him. This responsibility subjected man to the following test: Would man obey God on the basis of his unconfirmed favorable disposition? Man failed the test. Satan entered the garden and confronted him with an alternative to being favorably disposed toward God. The alternative was for man to reject Gods rule over him and assert his own self-rule - just as God is His own Self-Ruler. Man chose to adopt this alternative rather than to remain favorably disposed toward God. He displayed his choice outwardly by eating the forbidden fruit in violation of Gods command. Mans failure resulted in judgment which consisted of several tragic consequences. Man died spiritually as soon as he made his fateful choice... [Gen 2:16-17]: (v. 16) And the LORD God commanded the man [Adam], You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; (v. 17) but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. [Hebrew = die, dying indicating both an immediate spiritual death and an eventual physical death] ...A great separation took place between man and God. Man lost his favorable disposition toward God and replaced it with a disposition of enmity against God... [Rom 5:10]: For if, when we were Gods enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life. ...This is evident from the fact that Adam and Eve hid from God when He entered the garden to talk with them after their original sin... [Gen 3:8]: Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Because man had chosen to go this route, this disposition of enmity was a confirmed disposition. Man was so thoroughly locked into it that he could not rescue himself from it. Only the redemptive work of God could accomplish such a rescue. In addition to spiritual death, man became subject to disease, deformity, accidents, and physical death. The woman was cursed with pain in childbirth and with the desire to rule the man. The ground was cursed, thereby making mans work of growing food much more difficult. Man lost his perfect environment. Because man followed Satans lead to rebel against Gods rule, Satan was able to usurp the rule of the world system away from God temporarily. Instead of living in a world system ruled by the benevolent God Who loved him, man was doomed to live in a world system dominated by a tyrant who would use man for his own selfish ends. In the midst of this dismal tragedy, at the end of the first dispensation God gave a ray of hope. In Genesis 3:15 He pronounced the first promise of the Redeemer Who would be born of woman into the world during the course of history. As God progressively worked out His purpose for history, two of the great things which He would accomplish through the Redeemer would be the provision of redemption for fallen man and the defeat of Satan. B) THE DISPENSATION OF CONSCIENCE 1) INTRODUCTION The second dispensation extended from the fall of man through the Noahic Flood. The Scripture which covers this dispensation is Genesis 4:1-8:19. Inasmuch as man had lost his favorable disposition toward God, that ruling factor of the first dispensation was no longer available. As a result, in the second dispensation God administered His rule over man in a different way. It appears that He used two ruling factors to govern man during the new dispensation. 2) FIRST NEW RULING FACTOR: THE HUMAN CONSCIENCE The first new ruling factor was the human conscience. In Romans 2:14-15, For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, the Apostle Paul indicated that human beings have a conscience. That the conscience functions as a ruling factor over human beings is evident, for Paul declared that it caused pagan Gentiles to do by nature the things contained in the law, even though they had never been given the Mosaic Law. Paul also indicated that the awareness of good and evil which exists inside of human beings. Genesis 3:5 and 22 indicate that man obtained this awareness of good and evil as a result of eating the forbidden fruit. In other words, the human conscience began when man rebelled against God. Since the conscience functions as a ruling factor over human beings, it became one of the ruling factors of the new dispensation. Because of this, Dispensational Theologians have chosen to name the second dispensation after this new ruling factor. 3) THE SECOND NEW RULING FACTOR: THE RULE OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE CONSCIENCE OF MEN The second ruling factor which God began to use in the second dispensation was the restraint by the Holy Spirit. In Genesis 6:3, Then the LORD said, ’My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years’, God talked about His Spirit striving with man during the days prior to the Noahic Flood. The verb which is translated strive signifies to rule. Thus, the Holy Spirit was also a ruling factor during the second dispensation. 4) SECONDARY GOVERNING RULES OVER MANKIND a) Spiritual Salvation is by God alone (grace) thru believing (faith) (Eph. 2:8-9) in Christ alone (Rom. 6:23). This governing rule will never be set aside. Spiritual death that became a reality happened at the Fall. Rom. 2:16; Heb. 11:4; Gen. 3:15; 4:7. See Rom. 3:23-27 where faith in the shed blood of Christ on the cross; i.e., propitiation for the sins of the whole world, provides justification unto eternal life. b) Women shall experience pain and trouble in childbirth. Gen. 3:16 c) Womens desire is for her husband and he shall rule over her. Gen. 3:16; Eph. 5:22 d) The ground is cursed that no longer bears freely and abundantly. Gen. 3:17 e) Mans food is from the ground: plants it will grow. Gen. 3:18-19 f) Man must till the ground and work hard for food. Gen. 3:18-19 f) Mans physical body will decay back into dust: physical death. Gen. 3:19 5) CONCLUSION In Genesis 4:3-7 God accepted Abel’s blood sacrifice but rejected Cain’s bloodless sacrifice. This implies that the special revelation which God gave to man for the second dispensation was that man was to approach God only by means of a blood sacrifice (cf. Heb. 11:4). Sinful man, no matter how sincere, could not come to God in his own way. He could come only in the one way that God had ordained. Mans responsibility during the second dispensation was to obey God on the basis of his conscience and the restraint by the Holy Spirit. This responsibility subjected man to the following test: Would man obey God on the basis of his conscience and the restraint by the Holy Spirit? Man failed the test miserably. Cain refused to bring the kind of sacrifice which God required. When God rejected his improper sacrifice, Cain then began to build a godless civilization which became characterized by polygamy and violence. By Noahs day the wickedness of man was great in the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen. 6:5). Things had become so bad that God could find only one righteous man left - Noah. This serious failure brought horrible judgment. Through a worldwide flood, God destroyed the perverted segment of mankind. Through the ark, God preserved Noah and his family. In essence, God wiped the slate clean in order to give man a fresh start. It should be noted that murder began as the result of man’s rebellion against God’s rule and that the flood took place because of that rebellion and God’s judgment of it. C) THE DISPENSATION OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT 1) INTRODUCTION: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ORDAINED BY GOD The third dispensation extended from the Noahic Flood to the call of Abraham. The Scripture portion which covers this dispensation is Genesis 8:20-11:32. Inasmuch as man had failed to obey God on the basis of his conscience and the restraint by the Holy Spirit during the second dispensation, once the flood ended God started a new dispensation by instituting a new ruling factor. Since the fountainhead of all human corruption prior to the flood was the continued existence of the first murderer, Cain, God determined that never again would He allow murderers to infect the rest of humanity with their rebellious attitudes. Shortly after Noah and his family left the ark, God ordained capital punishment for murderers (Gen. 9:5-6). 2) NEW RULING FACTOR: HUMAN GOVERNMENT Capital punishment necessitates a human government agency to administer the sentence of execution. God required that the murderer’s blood be shed by man. Thus, when God ordained capital punishment, He was thereby instituting human government as a further restraint against the lawless rebellion of man. In Romans 13:1-7 the Apostle Paul indicated that governmental authority derives its existence from God, that it was ordained for the purpose of restraining evil, and that it functions as the minister of God when it uses the sword for capital punishment. Human government, then, with its authority to administer capital punishment, was the new ruling factor which God instituted for the third dispensation. 3) SECOND & THIRD RULING FACTORS CONTINUED: HUMAN CONSCIENCE & RESTRAINT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT Human conscience and the restraint by the Holy Spirit continued on as ruling factors in this new dispensation (indeed, Rom. 2:14-15, 2 Thess. 2:7 and other passages indicate that they continue as ruling factors even into today’s dispensation). Thus, the third dispensation had three ruling factors which God used to govern man: human conscience, the restraint by the Spirit, plus human government. Dispensational Theologians have named the third dispensation after the new ruling factor, since that is the factor which made the third dispensation distinct from the second. 4) THE SPECIAL REVELATION WHICH GOD GAVE TO MAN FOR THE THIRD DISPENSATION IS RECORDED IN GEN 9:1-17: [Gen 9:1-17]: (v. 1) Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. (v. 2) The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. (v. 3) Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. (v. 4) But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. (v. 5) And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. (v. 6) Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. (v. 7) As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it. (v. 8) Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: (v. 9) I now establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you (v. 10) and with every living creature on earth. (v. 11) I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. (v. 12) And God said, This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: (v. 13) I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. [Note: the text here does not indicate that the rainbow was at this time created, but that it would now represent a sign of the covenant between God and the earth of never again causing a world wide flood] (v. 14) Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, (v. 15) I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. (v. 16) Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. (v. 17) So God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant I have established between Me and all life on the earth. 5) SECONDARY GOVERNING RULES OVER MANKIND a) All creatures, man, to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. Gen. 8:17; 9:1 b) Never again be destruction of all by a flood. Gen. 8:21; 9:8-17 c) Earth has fixed cycles, seasons that wont be changed. Gen. 8:22 d) All creatures given the fear of man. Gen. 9:3 e) Every creature now becomes food for man. Gen. 9:3 f) Man can not eat blood of any living creature. Gen. 9:4 g) Capital punishment instituted (to be done by man). Gen. 9:5-6 6) CONCLUSION [Showers, cont.]:
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 22:14:03 +0000
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