DCF, We all try to make the Bible complex when in truth, pnce ot is studied, rightly divided, then God's Word becomes plain and understandable. When I attempted to show you that you started straining knats and swallowing camels. I did not present the Word of God to you for argument and knat straining. I simply wanted to be a friend and show you what I have found. Perhaps it was not meant to be....
"What Difference Does it Make?
Although no one may actually come right out and say it, when it comes to the distinctive ministry and message of the Apostle Paul, many believers apparently think, "What difference does it make?" While such a question is understandable when it comes from someone unfamiliar with Pauline dispensationalism, the question is quite disturbing when it comes from those within the "Grace Movement."
The "third generation syndrome"1 that afflicts Christianity in general also seems to affect the Grace Movement. By the third generation, we see many descendants of Pauline grace believers going back to denominationalism or other belief systems. When asked why they are reverting back to what their grandparents or parents came out of, they often answer, "What's the big deal?" or, "What difference does it make?"
While those of us who stand for the Grace message may chafe at such a question, it is still vitally important that we know the answer to such a question. What difference DOES it make?
The answer to the question, "What difference does it make?" will depend largely on whether or not we place a high premium on God's Word. If we take God's Word and living a God-honoring Christian live seriously, the Grace message makes a tremendous difference. But if we are noncommittal to God, apathetic to His Word, and don't care to live a Christ-honoring life,
then it will not make much of a difference at all.
But let us say that you take the Bible and your walk before Him seriously. If you do, then the knowledge of God's Word rightly divided will affect all areas of your life. However, for the sake of discussion, we will focus on just three areas: Bible Interpretation, Evangelism, and our Christian Walk.
Bible Interpretation
Understanding the distinctive ministry of the Apostle Paul is absolutely necessary if we are going to be able to consistently interpret the Word of God. Many times critics of the Bible say that they cannot believe it to be true because it is full of contradictions. Of course, we do not believe that it is "full of contradictions," but it is true that without a full understanding of God's different dispensations the Bible does appear to contradict itself.
Proper Method
The only method of biblical interpretation that allows the Bible to mean what it says and say what it means—to whom it was written—is the literal method of interpretation. By literal interpretation we mean letting the Bible speak with the normal meaning of words. While the Bible is a supernatural book, we read it as we would any other book, letting the normal rules of grammar and word meanings speak to us.
Even those who do not accept dispensationalism admit that if you stick to a literal method of interpretation you will have to be a dispensationalist. If you do not believe in dispensationalism then you are forced to explain away the contradictions in the Scriptures — which are not contradictions when properly understood in their dispensational context.
Many dispensationalists understand the difference between Israel and the Body of Christ. That such a distinction exists cannot be missed if you literally interpret Paul's epistles. Many dispensational Bible teachers of the past and present (such as Scofield, Darby, Chafer, Walvoord, McGee, Swindoll, etc.) understand that we are now in the dispensation of grace, or as some call it, "the Church Age."
But unfortunately, they fail to see the distinctive message and nature of Paul's apostleship. By failing to see and accept this clearly stated distinction they fail to see the kingdom nature of the gospel accounts and read the Body of Christ back into them. They understand the principle of progressive revelation and know not to read doctrines about the Body of Christ back into the Old Testament, but they do not see that this same principle should also apply to the gospels as well.
They constantly take us back to the earthly ministry of Christ to the Jews as our model of conduct for today. They do this in spite of the fact that even they themselves do not believe that the Church, the Body of Christ began until Pentecost. This leaves the question of how Christ can be speaking to the Body of Christ in the gospels when it did not come into existence until afterward?
It is also hard to understand how dispensationalists who claim to interpret the Bible literally can believe that the Body of Christ is in the gospels when even Christ Himself clearly states that He did not come to the Gentiles (Matt. 10:5-6; 15:24). How can they not believe and accept Paul's unique apostleship and message when he proclaims it so clearly? (Acts 9:15; 22:21; 26:17; Rom. 11:13; Gal. 2:8-9; Eph. 3:1; 3:8; Col. 1:27; I Tim. 2:7; II Tim. 1:11).
Proper Message
Only by interpreting the Bible literally and being a consistent dispensationalist will we arrive at the proper message for us today. There are many preachers and Bible teachers who proclaim the truth of salvation by grace through faith alone. They quickly run to Paul's epistles to expound on the great doctrines of the Christian faith. They do not go to the gospels or the general epistles to prove salvation by faith alone—because you will not find it there! As the late C. I. Scofield said in the preface to Paul's epistles in his original reference Bible:
"The Epistles of the Apostle Paul have a very distinctive char-acter...Through Paul alone we know that the church is not an organization, but an organism, the body of Christ; instinct with His life, and heavenly in calling, promise, and destiny. Through him alone we know the nature, purpose, and form of organization of local churches, and the right conduct of such gatherings. Through him alone do we know that 'we shall not all sleep,' that 'the dead in Christ shall rise first,' and that living saints shall be 'changed' and caught up to meet the Lord in the air at His return. But to Paul was also committed the unfolding of the doctrines of grace...Paul, converted by the personal ministry of the Lord in glory, is distinctively the witness to a glorified Christ, Head over all things to the church which is His body, as the Eleven were to Christ in the flesh."
It is unfortunate that the editors of the New Scofield Bible chose to water down Dr. Scofield's clear teaching on the distinctive nature of Paul's apostleship.
Many Bible teachers today properly teach salvation by grace through faith alone for this dispensation, but because they fail to understand Paul's unique apostleship and message to the Gentiles, they often take us back to the gospels or general epistles for many teachings today.
While Paul himself says that all Scripture is profitable, we must still understand the difference between what is written for us and what is written to us. Only Paul's epistles are written to us, but all Scripture is for us. That is, we build our doctrine from Paul's epistles. We are then free to study all of Scripture in light of Paul's gospel and draw application and principles from all of the Bible and apply it to our life (Rom. 15:4; I Cor. 10:6; II Tim. 3:16).
Evangelism
Proper Message
We are often criticized for our lack of emphasis on evangelism. Thankfully, many grace believers are starting to develop a renewed emphasis on evangelism. However, before we can evangelize, we first need to know what message it is that we are proclaiming for salvation.
It is interesting that even those who reject Pauline dispensationalism go to Paul's epistles to get the majority of their evangelistic texts. This is because anyone who is saved in this dispensation is saved by believing the gospel of the grace of God as given to and through the Apostle Paul. In a way, ALL believers today are "grace believers." NO ONE is saved today apart from understanding Paul's gospel of faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.
There is only ONE gospel for salvation today—Paul's gospel. Some balk at calling it that, but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit this is what it is called (Rom. 2:16; 16:25; II Tim. 2:8). This good news is clearly laid out for us in I Corinthians 15:3-4 and it includes the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"But what about Peter?" you may be thinking. "Didn't he preach the same thing as Paul?" It is true that he also preached about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, BUT he preached about it in keeping with Israel's earthly kingdom program. When we look at Acts 2:22-36 and 3:13-15, we see that he preached about the crucifixion of Christ as the cause of judgment upon the Jews. You do not find Peter preaching faith alone at Pentecost.
Peter told the Jews to repent of killing Jesus Christ. If they would repent (as a nation), then the times of refreshing from God would come upon the nation Israel. While it is true that Jesus Christ is the source of the good news for both Jew and Gentile under both the prophetic and mystery programs, we certainly cannot say that Peter understood the gospel of the mystery at Pentecost (after all, it was not revealed until the Apostle Paul).
When Paul preached about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he did it not according to prophecy, but according to the mystery,:
"Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith" (Rom. 16:25-26).
The proper application of the gospel in this dispensation of grace is FAITH ALONE. Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly states, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
"What difference does it make?" It makes a BIG difference! If we do not understand Paul's distinct apostleship and message we may wrongly try to evangelize by preaching the gospel (the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ) according to prophecy and not according to the revelation of the mystery.
Ephesians 2:8-9 flatly contradicts the message of faith plus works as the expression of their faith that we find in the gospel accounts (Matt. 5:19-20; 12:50; 23:3; Mark 11:26; Luke 3:10,12,14; 6:46; 8:21; 10:28; 17:10; 18:18-20). If we fail to "rightly divide" the Scriptures we will have a contradictory gospel. The New Testament clearly teaches both the gospel according to prophecy and the gospel according to the mystery. In an attempt to harmonize the Scriptures, most theologians do one of three things when faced with these facts:
•Superimpose the kingdom gospel into Paul's gospel
•Read Paul's gospel back into the kingdom gospel
•Rightly divide the Scriptures
The first choice is what some Bible teachers have done in an attempt to make sense of the kingdom gospel and the gospel of the dispensation of the grace of God. An example of this is the Lordship Salvation teaching of Pastor John MacArthur.
The second choice is what most evangelicals and fundamentalists do. They understand the gospel of salvation as revealed in Paul's epistles. They teach that salvation today is apart from works and totally by faith alone in the finished work of Christ. They are forced to explain away, rationalize, or spiritualize the clear teachings of the gospels that teach faith plus works.
The third choice, right division, is the only choice that allows God's Word to say what it means and mean what it says. Understanding Paul's unique apostleship and message allows the Bible to teach what the literal sense of the words clearly indicates—a message of faith plus works to the Jews in keeping with their earthly prophetic program under the dispensation of law and a message of faith alone to everyone today in keeping with the heavenly mystery program under the dispensation of the grace of God."
Santiago
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