Dispensationalism: Essential Beliefs and Common Myths: Revised and Updated

by Michael J. Vlach

While affirming that salvation is always by grace through faith alone, dispensationalists have often tried to identify the various ways God has worked in history, noting that there are several dispensations in redemptive history. One explicit example is the Mosaic dispensation between Moses and Jesus when the Mosaic Law was operative for the people of Israel. This was followed by the era of the church in Christ, characterized by Holy Spirit indwelling and freedom from the Mosaic Law. The difference between the two eras is seen in John 1:17: “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” With Ephesians 1:10 Paul speaks of a future kingdom era when he says, “with a view to an administration [oikonomia] suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth.” So there are different and identifiable eras in the unfolding of history. Four are clearly evident although more than four certainly exist—(1) Adam to Moses; (2) Moses to Christ (i.e. Law); (3) Christ’s first coming to His second coming (i.e. the church), and (4) Jesus’ kingdom after His second coming.