DISPENSALIALISM - DEFINED AND CLARIFIED

DISPENSALIALISM - DEFINED AND CLARIFIED
"Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God." Col. 1:25"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:" "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:" Eph. 3:2, 9

 

The Scriptures, when interpreted in their natural, literal sense, reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man's responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these-the dispensations of law, grace, and the millennial rule of Christ-are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (John 1:17; 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1:10; Col. 1:24-25; Heb. 7:19; Rev. 20:2-6).

Further Clarification Regarding Dispensationalism

When God's Word, the Bible, is taken in a consistent, literal manner it will result in dispensationalism. Dispensationalism is the result of a consistently literal and normal interpretation.
A dispensation is a unique stage in the outworking of God's program in time, whereby mankind is to have a believing response, being responsible to be a good steward of the particular revelation which God has given (Eph. 3:2, 9; Col. 1:25; Exodus 34:27, 28; Gal. 3:10-12; 1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10; etc.).
In order to be "rightly dividing the Word of truth" it is essential to distinguish things that differ and to recognize certain basic Biblical distinctions, such as the difference between God's program for Israel and God's program for the Church (Acts 15:14-17; Rom. 11:25-27), the separation of 1000 years between the two resurrections (Rev. 20:4-6), the difference between the various judgments which occur at various times (2 Cor. 5:10; Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 20:11-15), the difference between law and grace (John 1:17; Rom. 6:14-15; Rom. 7:1-6) and the difference between Christ's present session at the right hand of the Father as the Church's great high Priest and Christ's future session on the restored Davidic throne as Israel's millennial King (Heb. 1:3; 10:12-13; Acts 15:16; Luke 1:32).