Did a New Dispensation Start
With Paul?
There are some who read the Scofield Reference Bible from the bottom up instead of from the top down. That is, they gain their theology from the footnotes instead of the inspired text.
There are some that actually believe that the gospel of grace or dispensation of grace did not begin until the Apostle Paul was called to the ministry. Some even go so far as to state that it did not begin until after the church conference at Jerusalem in Acts 15.
Dr. Roy L. Aldrich in the April, 1961 BIBLIOTHECA SACRA characterized such hyper dispensationalists as believing the following:
“(1) The great commission in Matthew and Mark are Jewish. (2) The ministry of the Twelve was only a continuation of the ministry of Christ. (3) The church (mystery or body of Christ) did not begin at Pentecost. (4) The sign gifts were Jewish and related to the kingdom period only. (5) Water baptism is not for this age. (6) There is a distinction between Paul’s early and later ministries. (7) The mystery of the church began with Paul. (8) That Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16, Luke 7:30, etc. teach a legalistic plan of salvation different from the grace plan for this age.”
Although some “hyper dispensationalists”
might disagree with a point or two but generally this characterization
accurately describes their position.
This writer believes that there has been
and there will never be more than ONE gospel, ONE way, ONE name and ONE Savior
for all ages. Listen to the Apostle Paul’s words carefully when speaking to
King Agrippa long after his call to the ministry:
Act 26:22 Having
therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to
small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets
and Moses did say should come:
Act 26:23 That
Christ should suffer, and that he should be the
first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people,
and to the Gentiles.
Paul clearly identified his ministry and
message with “NONE OTHER THINGS” than
which “the prophets and Moses did say should come.” And what was that? The
message of Christ death and resurrection unto the Jews and Gentiles – “shew
light unto the people, and TO THE GENTILES”
Paul also identified his own “hope” of
salvation to be one and the same as that promised to the fathers and to Israel
long ago:
And now I stand
and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: (Act 26:6)
Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's
sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. (Act 26:7)
The apostle Peter claims this same Old
Testament gospel preached by all the prophets is the same gospel that he
preaches unto the Gentile house of Corneilius:
To him give all
the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins. (Act 10:43)
Like Paul, Peter defines the gospel unto
the gentiles to be the very same gospel preached by “all the prophets.” Specifically, he states that salvation in
the Old Testament was obtained “through his name whosoever believeth in him
shall received remission of sins.”
The writer of the book of Hebrews also
claims that the very same gospel preached to the children of Israel while in
the wilderness under the leadership of Moses is still the same gospel being
preached “unto us.”
For
unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them:
but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them
that heard it. (Heb 4:2)
The apostle Paul claimed that the gospel
of grace, which he preached, was according to the Old Testament Scriptures (I
Cor. 15:3-4) and that there was no other gospel (Gal. 1:6-7). Anyone who
preached any other gospel than this Old Testament gospel was to be accursed
(Gal. 1:8-9). He goes on to show that every true believer in Christ is a “child
of Abraham” in the sense that true children of God believe in Christ as their
Savior just as Abraham did:
Even as Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Know ye therefore
that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would
justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be
blessed. (Gal
3:6-8)
The phrase “in thee shall all nations
be blessed” is expounded later by Paul to be understood as the promised
“seed” or Messiah (Gal. 3:16) that would come through the loins of Abraham. Jesus said that “Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it,
and was glad. (John
8:56). Paul tells these Gentile Galatians that the covenant of
GRACE was given to Abraham 430 years BEFORE the giving of the law on Mount
Sinai:
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (Gal 3:17)
The Apostle to the Gentiles told the
gentile Roman Church that Abraham is the model for justification by faith under
the covenant of grace:
Therefore
it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to
the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of
the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the
father of us all, (Rom 4:16)
How could Paul claim that the Old
Testament Abraham was the “father of us all” in regard to saving faith by grace
if salvation was by the law prior to Acts 15 or prior to Acts 9 or Acts 2????????
If there is one thing that the Apostle to
the Gentiles makes very very clear it is the fact that no man, no flesh has
ever been justified, saved by the law or by sacrifices under the law:
But
that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident:
for, The just shall live by faith. (Gal
3:11)
Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the
law shall no flesh be justified.
(Gal 2:16)
Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight:
for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
(Rom 3:20)
The writer to the Hebrews tells these Jewish believers that the
sacrifices under the Law never ever LITERALLY took sins away but were simply
pictures or types of Christ that took sins away figuratively (just like
baptism):
For
the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very
image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they
offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
For it
is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins. (Heb 10:1-4)
The
apostle Peter tells the gentile Cornielius how Old Testaments saints literally
received remission of their sins:
To him
give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in
him shall receive remission of sins.
(Act 10:43)
The ceremonial
sacrificial laws and offerings were merely types or figures of the gospel but
actual remission of sins was by faith in the coming Christ. The Old Testament
believers offered up the sacrifices as TYPES or PICTURES of what their faith
was really in – the coming Christ. As such they correspond with the church
ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
What is the Purpose of the Law Then?
To Make Known what Sin Is:
Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for
by the law is the knowledge of sin.
(Rom 3:20)
What
shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by
the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not
covet. (Rom 7:7)
Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the
law. (1Jo 3:4)
The civil, ceremonial and
moral laws given to Israel covered every aspect of their life so that they
could clearly see what is right and what is wrong and come to see themselves as
sinners in need of a Savior.
Now we
know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the
law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
God. (Rom 3:19)
The immediate context has been to prove that
both Jews and Gentiles have failed and come short of the glory of God. God has
written His law upon the hearts of the gentiles as much as He has written it
upon stone for the Jews (Rom. 2:15-16).
The law cannot give life but it can point to One who can:
Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. (Gal 3:21)
A School Master to Lead us to Christ:
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (Gal 3:24)
The Law revealed our sin and condemnation before God and thus led us
away from SELF-righteousness to seek righteousness from another – the coming
Savior that all the prophets gave witness to and that all the sacrifices gave
witness to. The law was never given to
take away sins but to show that all are sinners and the need for remission of
sins.
Old Testament Sinners no Diffferent than New
Testament Sinners
It should be
obvious but unfortunately it must be pointed out to “hyper dispensationalists”
that mankind living before the cross had the exact same problem as mankind
living after the cross – THEY ARE SINNERS.
Indeed, the apostle Paul used
quotations from the Old Testament to describe the sinful state of man (Rom.
3:9-11 with Psa. 14:1-3).
They have the same sinful
nature that is in rebellion against God and is not subject to the law of God
and “neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7). They are spiritually “dead” in
trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). The solution to their problem is the SAME
solution to our problem – they must be born again.
Jesus told Nicodemus long
before Pentecost, long before Paul’s call to the ministry:
Jesus
answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
(John 3:3)
When Nicodemus asked, “how can
these things be” the Lord rebuked him for being a Master of Israel and yet not
understanding these things. In other words, He rebuked him for not seeing the
new birth clearly taught in the Old Testament:
As soon as God gave the ten
commandments to Moses as second time after they had violated them, He said to
Him:
O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! (Deut 5:29)
The Old Testament spoke of the need of a
“circumcised” heart instead of merely the cutting off of the literal flesh.
The problem has always been the same – SIN
– and the answer for sin has always and always will be the same – Christ the
Savior. Jesus claimed there was no
other way to God but by Him:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
Yet,
the doctrine of “hyper dispensationalism” calls Christ a liar and says that
prior to the Pauline dispensation men were saved a different way. Peter says
there is no other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved:
Neither
is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Act 4:12)
Yet, the doctrine of “hyper
dispensationalism” says there is salvation in another way and there is
something given under heaven besides the gospel of Christ whereby men were
saved.
Paul said there was no other true gospel
but the one He preached and all others are accursed (Gal. 1:6-9). He placed under his curse any earthly or
heavenly being that preached another gospel and yet just two chapters later He
says that God preached “the gospel” to Abraham. Now which gospel did God preach?
The Accursed gospel or Paul’s gospel?
Talk about confusion, here is a subject
that “hyper dispensationalism” has utterly confused. Both John the Baptist and
Jesus came preaching “the gospel of the kingdom.”
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into
Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, (Mar 1:14)
Now what Gospel did The Baptist and Jesus
preach? The accursed gospel or the
gospel preached by all the prophets in all ages (Acts 10:43)? The Baptist and Jesus plainly tell us what
gospel they preached. Jesus defined his gospel as follows:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
John the Baptist defined His gospel of the
kingdom as follows:
He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)
Jesus called such “fools” that did not see
that all the prophets including John preached the gospel of Christ:
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:26-27)
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake
unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which
were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms,
concerning me. Then opened he their
understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and
thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: (Luke
24:44-46)
Paul is recorded by Luke at the end of
the book of Acts preaching the kingdom of God just as John the Baptist and
Jesus did:
And
Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came
in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those
things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man
forbidding him. (Act 28:30-31)
Why don’t “hyper dispensationalists” see
this truth clearly? Because they think
the cross was plan “B” and not the real purpose of Christ’s coming. They think
that Christ came to offer the millennial kingdom to Israel. However, Christ told His disciples many
times that His purpose for coming was to die on the cross. Indeed, He was so
clear about this that Peter began rebuking Him for saying it (Mt. 16). He told
those He healed to be quiet about the fact that He was the Christ. He left a
crowd of 5,000 men who wanted to install Him as the King of Israel. Peter told
the Pentecostal crowd that God had foreordained that Christ should go to the
cross. CHRIST NEVER CLAIMED HE CAME TO GIVE ISRAEL THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM AT
THAT TIME.
The kingdom that Jesus preached was a
SPIRITUAL one and the kingdom that was nigh was the kingdom that you must be
BORN into (Jn. 3:3). The kingdom that was “nigh at hand” was in the person of
the King, submitting to His rule and authority over their lives.
“The law and the prophets were until
John” (Lk. 16:16). That is up until John the coming of Christ was yet prophetic
and future. All the prophets predicted it in the future but not so with John.
John announced that the “kingdom” had
come in the person of the king – “Behold the lamb of God that taketh away the
sin of the world.” With that
announcement many were trying to take the kingdom by force. Yet, Jesus
consistently resisted His followers taking Him and ushering in a physical
kingdom. No doubt, Judas went out and hung himself in deep regret because he
thought that his betrayal would force Christ to use His power to overthrow the
kingdoms of this world and set up the millennial kingdom. However, that never
was Christ’s plan. He always told them that his “hour” was coming and for that
“hour” He had come into this world. That was the hour of the cross.
The “hyper dispensational” heresy would
have the cross as the after thought of God, plan “B” as it were, instead of the
single purpose of God as a “lamb slain FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”
The “hyper dispensational” heresy demands
ANOTHER GOSPEL prior to Paul’s ministry.
The term “dispensation” simply means an allotted time or a period of
time. The “dispensation” of Paul simply refers to the time of His calling and
ministry to the Gentiles. However, Jesus included the ministry to the Gentiles
when He gave the Great Commission in Acts 1:8 “unto the uttermost parts of the
world.”
Prior to the earthly ministry of Christ,
the physical manifestation of the Kingdom of God was the nation of Israel.
However, with the advent of Christ the Church was established during His
earthly ministry (Mt. 18:17 present tense “tell it unto the church” along with
Acts 2:21-22). The power of the “keys” was taken from Israel and its leadership
and given to the church (Mt. 16:19 with 18:17-18). The physical manifestation of
the Kingdom of God at this present time is in the churches of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is in His churches that His rule is seen and made manifest to all.
The “mystery” of the Church given to Paul was that the gentiles should serve in
the same divine institution side by side with Jews and every other ethnic race.
However, that “mystery” was also given to Peter in Acts 10. However, the 12
apostles were ordained to go unto the circumcised whereas Paul was the ordained
apostle to the Gentiles. Both preached the same gospel about the same kingdom.