Dispensationalism
by Lyndon Conn
Dispensationalism is a popular teaching within many Christian Churches today. It is the separation of ages throughout time, since the creation of man; usually seven dispensations or less, which all describe different ways that God dealt with man. These are: the dispensation of innocence, which is the age before the fall of man: Conscience, the age after the fall of man: Human Government, when man began to organize themselves together as a people (at Babel, against God): Promise, the age in which God made covenant with Abraham: Law, the age in which God gave the Law, in which men must obey: Grace, the age in which all men might be saved through the death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and the age we presently live in: And the last is the dispensation of Christ's kingdom on earth in the millennium, which most believe will take place after the return of Christ and the seven year tribulation period.
Although most Christians will agree that God had dealt differently with man in most of these dispensations, there are a few problems with this idea. Calvinists believe that because we are in a new age of "grace" that many of the Old Testament writings do not apply to us today; but only to those who were under the law. Because we are not under the Law, those scriptures that warn against breaking the Law and falling under the judgment of God are not valid. But although Gods method of dealing with man had changed at times, His Character and His hatred for sin has never changed. God cannot change! Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." The Law was given for the purpose of instructing man in righteousness, in which "grace"did not come for the purpose of ending. Paul said in Romans 6:15 "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." The Law that Paul speaks of that we are not under is the ceremonial Law. The Law of "righteousness" was never done away with, but has been fulfilled through Christ.
It is interested to note that the Old Testament give both promises of blessings and warnings for judgment. Calvinists have no problem at all accepting the promise of blessing as being for us in this dispensation, but reject the possibility of judgment for Christians. Although such judgment will be covered in a later chapter, I must mention that a true Christian may be saved and only lose reward in heaven, suffering loss (1 Cor. 3:15). But a backslider will not make it to the judgment of Christians because of their rebellion, being reserved for the judgment of the unrighteous, where no man will be saved. This is the promise of both Old and New Testament scriptures that must not be ignored.
Grace did not do away with the law of righteousness. Jesus explained the necessity of the law of righteousness by saying, Matthew 5:17 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." It was not prophesy that Jesus said He came to fulfill, but the law. Obviously through scripture Jesus did not speak of ceremonial law, but of righteousness, as He continued to speak to His disciples in Matthew 5:20 "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." These men were considered to be the most righteous of all men, keeping every part of the law. But they trusted in their own righteousness, not God's. The law still needs to be kept, but keeping the law alone can save no person. But when Christ enters a man by His Holy Spirit, man then has the ability and the new nature that will enable him to keep the law. He still has free will and can rebel against the Spirit, falling into sin. The fulfilling of the law does not mean that law has been done away with, but rather men who have the Spirit of grace within them can now keep it.
The Greek word for "fulfill" is pleroo (play-ro'-o); to make replete. Replete is defined by Webster's dictionary as "fully or abundantly provided or filled". It is through Christ that we are able to live according to the Laws of God written in the Old Testament. Christ has fully and abundantly provided all that we need in order to live a holy and righteous life before God, so that we are without excuse if we choose not to do so. With this kind of provision, Old Testament commandments that were hard for them to follow then are made easier for us through His provision, so that we are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"
Calvinists are very strong dispensationalists! Without believing in such a way they would have no excuse for teaching that a person can live in sin and still be saved. If God's Old Testament warnings do not apply to us today then they can just be ignored, along with all New Testament scriptures that refer to them. Those scriptures such as Ezekiel 18:20-30 and 33:12-19 are said to be only for those who were under the Law, not under grace. These scriptures (which are explained in the chapter "Can righteousness save men?") are warning man against the practice of sin, telling us that a man's previous righteousness cannot save him if he returns in sin. It also says that a man's previous sin will not be held against him if he will begin to live a righteous life apart from sin. God has never changed His view or judgment of sin. In Romans 6:16 Paul said "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Then in Romans 8:13-14 he says it again, "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." He is speaking to the brethren in Christ and says ye "shall" die. In other words there will be certain spiritual death if we who are now saved choose to live in sin again. Being once saved does not cover us with grace if we return to sin! He then says that those who are led by the Spirit shall live, and they are the sons of God. The condition is certainly placed upon being led by the Spirit! A son of God must walk as a son, being led by the Spirit, or he will fall into the same judgment of sin promised to all who live after the flesh. There is great emphasis place upon the deeds or works of a man in these scriptures. We must do right and refuse sin, walking in the Spirit.
In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul says that these warnings in the Old Testament were given for a reason: 1 Corinthians 10:6-12 "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." How could these things in the Old Testament possibly be written for our example if we cannot be judged for sin, because we are under grace? It is because, just as those who try to be saved by keeping the Law alone are "fallen from grace", so also are those who go to the opposite extreme and believe that they have no need of keeping the Law in order to be saved. Both are fallen from grace! (Galatians 5:4) So as Paul mentioned here, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Since faith is the very thing that obtained grace for salvation, if we lose faith or prove that we no longer have faith by living in sin, then we fall from the grace that saves. If salvation is by grace then a person cannot be saved if they are fallen from it. Without faith we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6), and without faith we cannot obtain grace, for it is by grace we are saved, through faith (Ephesians 2:8). We would be wise to follow the examples of the Old Testament, seeing that their lack or loss of faith cut them off from God. As said in the previous verse to the above text in 1 Corinthians 10:5 "But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness." This overthrowing was when God killed many who were in rebellion and sin. Their bloodline was not enough to save their souls without proper forgiveness for their sins. Those who died went into eternal torment. God did not only judge them through physical death, but they died in their sins in a state of spiritual death; in which no man can be saved. We would be wise to follow this example, understanding that we are not eternally secure just because we got saved one day.
The thing that is different between the Old Testament and the New Testament is the method in which man is saved. We are not saved by our works or by keeping the Law. Man was not able to keep the Law without falling at some point and needing to bring a sin offering every year for his sins. Through Christ, if we sin all we need to do is repent and we can be forgiven. No more sacrifices have to be made, since Jesus was the one-time sacrifice for all time. But since man could not faithfully keep the Law without falling, Calvinists assume that man naturally has the same problem today in the Church. There is no doubt that there is a problem with sin in the lives of many proclaiming Christians today. But this does not prove that man cannot overcome sin. The main difference between now and then is that we now have the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Or at least we should! It is with this in mind that Paul stated in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Even the prophets understood this as God spoke it to them as in Zechariah 4:6 "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts". Jesus said it in John 15:5 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." Then also in Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." We have much more than the command of God to keep the Law today! We have His Holy Spirit within us, so that there is no excuse for not keeping the Law of righteousness. We can do all things through Christ, as His Spirit dwells within us.
Things have certainly changed between the Old Testament and the New Testament! But these changes make it much easier for us to keep the Law of righteousness than it was for them. They had different signs from heaven and God appearing or speaking audibly at certain times. But even all of that cannot compare to His presence living in our lives every day. Since God cannot change in His character and His view on sin, we must live apart from it! He has given us all that we could possibly need to do so. If we return to sin we are under the same judgment as those of the Old Testament, since we are without excuse!
Dispensationalists will explain many New Testament scriptures to refer to the coming kingdom of Christ, rather than our present time. Matthew 18:23-25, which speaks of the king and his unforgiving servant (who would be thrown into outer darkness), is said to be speaking of the Kingdom age, which is yet to come. In Matthew 24:13 "But he that endure unto the end, the same shall be saved", is explained to mean only for the tribulation period. Although Jesus was speaking of coming Great Tribulation, He was also speaking directly to His disciples that all must endure till the end, whether it is through this coming period or through ones own Christian life. What many miss is that in Matthew 18:35 Jesus said "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." The story of the unforgiving servant applies to all Christians, not to those in the coming kingdom age. Jesus was teaching His disciples things that would apply to them at their time, as well as its application in the coming age.
The dispensational approach to Eternal Security is another attempt to prove something that the Bible does not teach at all. They assume that since we are under grace that we are also covered in God's righteousness so that God cannot see our sin. In this case, if sin cannot be seen, then we cannot be judged. So what they are actually saying is that God is deceiving Himself so that we can be saved. The Bible speaks of righteousness being "imputed" to us through Christ. Romans 4:24 "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;" This word means "to reckon, take into account" or to be "counted" as righteous. This does not indicate at all that God covered our unrighteousness with His righteousness. It simply means that we are counted as righteous because of Christ in us; but it does not give the indication that anyone can be saved without living a holy life. As long as we abide in Christ, Christ also dwells in us; therefore we can be counted righteous. Many Calvinists have taken this scripture to mean that God has "imparted" His righteousness to the Christian. But this is not what the scripture is saying at all. If God imparted righteousness to a person who is full of sin, then how would that person escape the judgment of God against all sin? To say that unrighteousness is covered so God cannot see it is absurd and contrary to both the nature of God and scripture.
If we were to have God's righteousness imparted to us, then certainly all sin would be dispelled, causing us to be holy. But sin could never be "covered"! How can we believe that all sin will be revealed and cannot be hidden from God, but yet at the same time believe that God hides our sin under His righteousness? The Bible is clear that God will judge sin and all who partake of sin. God has no purpose in hiding sin from "Himself" so that He will not judge a person. God knows all and sees all! Nothing will be hidden from Him! The Day of Judgment will reveal every man's works whether they are good or evil (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). This scripture says that God will judge a man for his works: not whether or not he said a prayer or had gotten saved at some point in his life. Saying a prayer for salvation is only the first of many other works that must follow in the salvation experience. Giving our lives to Jesus is the main point of salvation, but it will bare the fruit of good works continually. This scripture will be covered in more detail in later chapters, but the point in this chapter is that God keeps record of every work, whether they are good or evil, as he has throughout the ages. In this regard the dispensation of grace is no different than the dispensation of law. The method in which salvation is obtained is different, but God's view of sin and His judgment of works is the same, just as He himself never changes.
If evil is recorded for the life of every person, including Christians, then God must know about sin, seeing it all. Nothing will be covered, not even by grace. Grace takes away sin, but it never covers it! If God sees our sin in our lives, then according to scripture we are in danger of judgment! Therefore, every Old Testament scripture that warns us again the judgment of those who live in sin are for us today, just as much as it was for them then. To deny this is self-deception and dangerous ground to walk on. For the Word of God holds true for all men: as it says in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. God never changes, and He will remain faithful to His promise to judge all sin! Grace never changed this fact, but only made it easier for us to live holy, leaving every man with no excuse for sin.
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