Of Covenants and Dispensations – Part 1
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! [1 Corinthians 10:11-12]
I incessantly teach that Christians are not under the Law. We are under grace. We are not required to obey the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses was the legal code for the Israelites while they inhabited the Lord’s land, the Promised Land.
There have been occasions where folks have taken exception to this teaching. Some of them are covenantalists, as contrasted with dispensationalists. We won’t spend words on defining these two positions, dear friends. It is not the subject for today’s study.
Suffice it to say that covenantalism holds to the tenet that God is always the same throughout time and eternity, and so He always operates the same. This means that the way God interacted with Adam and Eve was the same way He interacted with Noah, with Abraham, and with the Church.
Dispensationalism, contrariwise, embraces the tenet that, yes, God is always the same. He never changes. However, mankind does, and God varies His approach at different times in order to effectively interact with man. For example, in Genesis 2 before man sinned, God came down to the Garden of Eden to spend time fellowshiping with man.
In Genesis 3 man sinned and God booted him out of the garden. It is obvious that God no longer related to man in the same way thereafter. Man was no longer in the garden! This fact precluded God from coming down to the garden to visit with man! Genesis 2 was one dispensation, one way in which God decided to interact with man. Genesis 3 was another dispensation entirely.
Some of the folks who’ve objected to me not teaching obedience to the Law were covenantalists. They believe God rejected Israel permanently and replaced Israel with the Church. God’s method of interacting with Israel, you see, now became God’s method of interacting with Christians. Christians, rather than Israel, are now obligated to keep the Law.
Belief in covenantalism does not in and of itself equate to not being a Christian. The two are not exclusive, the belief is just a wrong understanding of the Scriptures.
Some of the folks who took exception to me teaching that Christians are not obligated to obey the Law—well, they did so for other reasons. Some cults still insist on obedience to the Law.
A cult is a religious group which professes belief in the Bible and Jesus, but denies the Father and the Son (cf., 1 John). Or the group denies that Jesus has come in the flesh (cf., 1 John). They don’t accept that Jesus is literally God the Son, eternally and fully God. They don’t believe Jesus is the only way to be brought back to the Father. In one or more ways they reject the true, Biblical Jesus.
They are therefore not really Christians but wolves in sheep’s clothing, regardless of good intentions or anything else (cf., 1 John). Christianity is not a religious system or a set of doctrines. It is the Person and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. The churches are full of folks who hold to a set of doctrines and practically never leave the church building. Alas, but they know not Jesus personally and, because of this, they are not Christians.
We must take our leave at this time. The day is far spent. The night falls fast. Let’s spend time with Jesus before we hit the pillow. He has much to teach us from our study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I incessantly teach that Christians are not under the Law. We are under grace. We are not required to obey the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses was the legal code for the Israelites while they inhabited the Lord’s land, the Promised Land.
There have been occasions where folks have taken exception to this teaching. Some of them are covenantalists, as contrasted with dispensationalists. We won’t spend words on defining these two positions, dear friends. It is not the subject for today’s study.
Suffice it to say that covenantalism holds to the tenet that God is always the same throughout time and eternity, and so He always operates the same. This means that the way God interacted with Adam and Eve was the same way He interacted with Noah, with Abraham, and with the Church.
Dispensationalism, contrariwise, embraces the tenet that, yes, God is always the same. He never changes. However, mankind does, and God varies His approach at different times in order to effectively interact with man. For example, in Genesis 2 before man sinned, God came down to the Garden of Eden to spend time fellowshiping with man.
In Genesis 3 man sinned and God booted him out of the garden. It is obvious that God no longer related to man in the same way thereafter. Man was no longer in the garden! This fact precluded God from coming down to the garden to visit with man! Genesis 2 was one dispensation, one way in which God decided to interact with man. Genesis 3 was another dispensation entirely.
Some of the folks who’ve objected to me not teaching obedience to the Law were covenantalists. They believe God rejected Israel permanently and replaced Israel with the Church. God’s method of interacting with Israel, you see, now became God’s method of interacting with Christians. Christians, rather than Israel, are now obligated to keep the Law.
Belief in covenantalism does not in and of itself equate to not being a Christian. The two are not exclusive, the belief is just a wrong understanding of the Scriptures.
Some of the folks who took exception to me teaching that Christians are not obligated to obey the Law—well, they did so for other reasons. Some cults still insist on obedience to the Law.
A cult is a religious group which professes belief in the Bible and Jesus, but denies the Father and the Son (cf., 1 John). Or the group denies that Jesus has come in the flesh (cf., 1 John). They don’t accept that Jesus is literally God the Son, eternally and fully God. They don’t believe Jesus is the only way to be brought back to the Father. In one or more ways they reject the true, Biblical Jesus.
They are therefore not really Christians but wolves in sheep’s clothing, regardless of good intentions or anything else (cf., 1 John). Christianity is not a religious system or a set of doctrines. It is the Person and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. The churches are full of folks who hold to a set of doctrines and practically never leave the church building. Alas, but they know not Jesus personally and, because of this, they are not Christians.
We must take our leave at this time. The day is far spent. The night falls fast. Let’s spend time with Jesus before we hit the pillow. He has much to teach us from our study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
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