What is dispensationalism? Dispensational means something that has to do with dispensations. The word dispensation means, "A specific arrangement or system by which something is dispensed." The word "dispensation" is found in the Bible. The English word "dispensation" is used four times in the New Testament, and comes from the Greek word oikonomia which means an "economy" or a household administration. It is used by Paul to refer to God's arrangement of redemption's plan. Dispensation in this sense is Biblical. The difference is when it becomes an "ism." What the word dispensation means within Dispensationalism is something different.
Dispensationalism is an elaborated system, promoting certain theological assumptions extraneous to the Bible. Dispensationalism, as an "ism," is a scheme for reading Scripture [Cp. "How Do We ‘Read' the Bible"]. It functions like stained glass letting in sunlight. It colors the light as it comes through and even bathes everything it shines on with the color of the glass. In like manner, many groups' interpretations of the plan of salvation are deeply colored by the stained glass of dispensationalism, as the light of Scripture is refracted through it. Historically: "Dispensationalism is a form of premillennialism originating among the Plymouth Brethren in the early 1830's." ["Dispensationalism: A Return to Biblical Theology or Pseudo Christian Cult?," Gospel Plow web site, http://www.frii.com/~gosplow/disp2.html]
The word dispensation means an "order of things regarded as established or controlled by God" (Oxford Dictionary, 4th edition, p.233). According to Walvoord it is a "stage in the progressive revelation of God constituting a distinctive stewardship or rule of life." Ryrie says it is a "distinguishable economy in the outworking of God's purpose." [Greg Herrick, "Dispensationalism and God’s Glory," Online. Accessed 7 June 2001 @ http://www.bible.org/docs/theology/dispen/glorydis.htm]
"According to premillennial dispensationalism the present dispensation, the Church, would end in judgment and the "historical kingdom of Christ on the earth [would] be established in a future millennium." [Randall J. Stephens, More Recovered: A Review of Recent Historical Literature on Evangelicalism in the Late Victorian Era, Quodlibet Online Journal of Christian Theology and Philosophy, Winter 2001 Issue, p. 8, footnote 12, Accessed 18 June 2001 At: http://www.quodlibet.net/stephens-victorian.shtml]
Cyrus I. Scofield defines the idea of dispensations in this manner:
"These periods are marked off in Scripture by some change in God's method of dealing with mankind, in respect to two questions: of sin, and of man's responsibility. . . . Each of the dispensations may be regarded as a new test of the natural man, and each ends in judgment -- marking his utter failure in every dispensation." [Timothy Weber, "The Dispensationalist Era," Christian History, Issue 61: Vol. XVIII, No. 1, p. 34.]
Although early dispensationalism held to three dispensations, typical dispensationalism teaches seven dispensations, which are: 1) Innocence (before the Fall); 2) Conscience (Fall to the Flood) 3) Human Government (Noah to Abraham); 4) Promise (Abraham to Moses); 5) Law (Moses to Christ); 6) Grace (the church age), and 7) Kingdom, Millennial or Divine Government (the millennium).
"Dispensational theology centers upon the concept of God's dealings with mankind being divided into (usually) seven distinct economies or "dispensations", in which man is tested as to his obedience to the will of God as revealed under each dispensation." [Horton, "The New Millennium," Op. Cit.]
The key distinction of dispensationalism is the teaching that God has two plans at work in salvation history: one for Israel and one for the Church.
"What separated dispensationalists from everybody else was their novel method of biblical interpretation. Everything in the dispensationalist system seemed to rest on the conviction that God had two completely different plans operating in history: one for an earthly people, Israel, and the other for a heavenly people, the church." [Weber, Op. Cit.]
"The essence of dispensationalism, then, is the distinction between Israel and the Church. This grows out of the dispensationalists' consistent employment of normal or plain interpretation, and it reflects an understanding of the basic purpose of God in all His dealings with mankind as that of glorifying Himself through salvation and other purposes as well." [Keith A. Mathison, Dispensationalism: Rightly Dividing the People of God?, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishers, 1995), pp. 4-8.]
"Dispensationalists see God as pursuing two distinct purposes throughout history, one related to an earthly goal and an earthly people (the Jews), the other to heavenly goals and a heavenly people (the church)." ["Dispensationalism: A Return to Biblical Theology or Pseudo Christian Cult?," Gospel Plow web site, http://www.frii.com/~gosplow/disp2.html]
This cannot be understated: the dispensational distinction between Israel and the Church creates serious implications for the nature of the Church and the Gospel itself. Since the Church is considered by dispensationalists to be a "parenthesis" in God's plan for Israel, dispensationalists say the promises to Israel in the Old Testament are not - cannot be - fulfilled in the Church. The Church came about because Israel rejected the Kingdom Christ offered to them. "God suspended his timetable for the Jews at the end of Daniel's sixty-ninth week and began building a new and heavenly people -- the church." [Weber, Op. Cit.]
"The church, according to Darby, did not come into existence until Pentecost. Even from the beginning it was never composed of "natural branches" (as were the Jews). Moreover, the church was not even revealed in the Old Testament. Israel had been an earthly kingdom with material promises and blessings. Christ came to fulfill the promises and ideals of that earthly kingdom but was rejected by His people. When that happened, God stopped the prophetic clock and instituted the church. Not until the rapture of the church will this clock start again, at which time God again will resume His purposes for His earthly people, Israel. Because the church, as the body of Christ, is heavenly, it must be raptured out of the earth in order that God's earthly program with Israel might be resumed." [Mark Sarver, "Dispensationalism: Part II - The Genesis and Development of Dispensationalism in Nineteenth-Century England," Online, Accessed: Sep 14, 2001, Available at: http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/full.asp?ID=654]
Thus, Christ went to the Cross to bring salvation to the Gentiles and create the Church. But, since God will not work with two peoples at once, He will not pick up His plan for Israel until after the Church is raptured. These beliefs: 1) that the prophecies for Israel are not fulfilled in the Church, 2) that the Church was a parenthesis in God's plan, 3) and that the Church must be removed in order for God to resume His plan for Israel, necessitated a new teaching (an uncommon teaching in the first 1800 years of Church history): that Christ's Second Coming will take place at two different times. The first is said to occur before the "Tribulation Period" (Daniel's 70th Week) when Christ returns in the air (for his saints) to catch the Church up into Heaven. God's program for the Jews then resumes with the Tribulation, Antichrist, bowls of wrath, 144,000 Jews preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and Armageddon. Then, after the Tribulation, Christ returns (with his saints) to set up His earthly Kingdom to rule Israel and the world.
It is extremely important to understand that the idea of the "rapture" as the first stage of Christ's Second Coming grew out of this issue of God having two plans for two different people (Israel and the Church). It came about over a debate about the place the Old Testament believers held in God's plan of salvation:
"It must be emphasized that the crux of the debates that took place over the rapture was a more fundamental issue: the relationship between Old and New Testament saints. Darby made a radical separation between the two groups of saints, positing that the church (Pentecost to rapture) has a special glory and that the Old Testament saints had an inferior relationship to God." [Saver, Op. cit.]
I will address the error of this split between the Old and New Testament believers later. What is necessary here is to realize that the division of God's plan into dispensations and, consequently, the claim of two separate plans for the Church and Israel are the key distinctives of dispensationalism. It is these distinctions which I believe have undermined the teaching of the Gospel in many churches today.
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The Bible is open to those that want Truth, and if they want Truth, they find Truth. They watch individuals squabble over Bible symbolism on the Internet, and leave the Message boards to enter into the real world where live people dwell, and they find Truth. The World Wide Web is full of Internet Ayatollahs who speak their mind. There is only one Truth, and it is not hidden. No matter what anyone says, Truth still converts the sincere. -DD Benincasa, 12/06/03
1)Why didn't Paul continue on his travel to Damascus to persecute and arrest Christians?
2)Would you baptize a person that had not yet repented of their sins?
3)Is it your belief Ananias would have baptized Paul, if he wasn't repentant of all his actions?
Interestingly, my posts are properly quoted as for the White quote and Gillespie and Seagraves...
and all means all, Corinthian ... it is an absolute ...
btw, thank you quoting the eis source.
It is apparent that you will not address your non-definition of apoulos .... or the plausible and sound interpretation offered by one-steppers to Acts 22:16
Lastly, the Synadelfos website is a site I admin and post at ... those were posts I made in response to Steve Mulle and here on various occassions.
Now that we've dealt w/ your obsfucation and inability to discuss beyond your pet doctrine of baptismal regeneration.
Let's answer your questions:
1. He didn't continue because he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and was repentant of his deeds.
2. I will baptize someone who has professed faith in Jesus Christ and has repented in response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ .. do I know if they have done so genuinely ... I can't peek in people's hearts anymore because I left witchcraft years ago.
3. Ananias baptized Paul because Paul was repentant. This however does not address your conclusion or assertion that our sins our remitted/washed away/blotted/ at baptism.
A person who has genuinely placed their faith and has repented will be baptized ... necessarily ...
The question will never be if we are to be baptized, Corinthian ... in our future discussions .. but rather when is our New Birth begin and what causes it; also if baptism is to be mysticized like some have w/ the miracle of the mass.
Please address the misinformation on the Greek you provided and the plausible interpretation of Acts 22:16I shared based on the aorist tense which disproves that the washing away is caused by baptiism and how our remission of sin is linked to the biblical principle of believer ... and not the baptizer .... calling on the Lord.
Please support the view also that the blood is applied at a properly administered baptism as commonly held by baptismal regenerationists. Please give scriptural support.
A person who has genuinely placed their faith and has repented will be baptized ... necessarily ...
The question will never be if we are to be baptized, Corinthian ... in our future discussions .. but rather when is our New Birth begin and what causes it; also if baptism is to be mysticized like some have w/ the miracle of the mass.
Daniel,
From reading this thread, it appears this topic has been much discussed already. I apologize for not seeing the other threads (I only visit periodically), but I'm quite interested to understand your thoughts on the purpose of water baptism.
Thanks in advance, and sorry if you have already explained in the past.
God bless.
Here is a question of course we know Jesus Name baptism is not an option see MARK.16:16
However the word remission and forgiveness are the same word in Greek.Check it out.
Ok when someone repents and asks God for forgiveness of their sins,does Jesus forgive them at repentance ?
Ok when a person who is a Christian makes a mistake do they have to get baptized over in order to receive the forgiveness of their sin ?
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People who are always looking for fault,can find it easily all they have to do,is look into their mirror.
There they can find plenty of fault.
Here is a question of course we know Jesus Name baptism is not an option see MARK.16:16
However the word remission and forgiveness are the same word in Greek.Check it out.
Ok when someone repents and asks God for forgiveness of their sins,does Jesus forgive them at repentance ?
Ok when a person who is a Christian makes a mistake do they have to get baptized over in order to receive the forgiveness of their sin ?
Bro. Scott, watch out! You are asking some very good questions.
Daniel,
From reading this thread, it appears this topic has been much discussed already. I apologize for not seeing the other threads (I only visit periodically), but I'm quite interested to understand your thoughts on the purpose of water baptism.
Thanks in advance, and sorry if you have already explained in the past.
God bless.
*** Why am I suspecting some here believe in re-incarnation? ****
Maestro,
Baptism is necessary for obedience .... it is a command of Jesus Christ ... and to be practiced by genuine believers during their intial walk w/ Jesus Christ. All of His commands are to be obeyed. Yet does loving my neighbor cause my New Birth? Does obeying the ordinance of communion remit my sin?
In baptism, we identify ourselves w/ the Work of the Lamb and profess our faith as disciples of Jesus Christ. Peter the preacher at Pentecost states that baptism is the answer of good conscience towards God ...
How can one have a good conscience if your sins have not been washed away prior to baptism?
The following quote from, a a good friend and poster here, reflects my belief on what the purpose of baptism is ....
Quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by J-Roc
We do not reenact Jesus’ death, burial or resurrection to be saved. We, on an individual level, simply trust in, confess and rehearse it. We rehearse it in water baptism. We rehearse it in the Lord’s Supper. We rehearse it in the preaching of the Gospel every week. We rehearse it in worship by exalting the work of Christ rather than focusing on our own actions or experiences. We rehearse it in living lives dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ. In repentance we turn from what we could not do, to accept and claim what God has done for us. Water baptism is not an application of the death of Jesus but a recital that shows forth the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord. It was done for us two thousand years ago. We cannot distort or pervert holy baptism by making it a way to qualify people for salvation. Water baptism is the telling of the Gospel of Jesus in visual, tangible language, not the means of obtaining salvation. Our salvation was obtained by Jesus on that Cross long ago.
The means of salvation is humble faith IN Christ, not obedience TO baptism. We do not baptize out of fear of falling short of salvation. We baptize, not to recreate or reenact Christ’s work, but to symbolically show what He has done. Christians go wrong when they turn from reciting the Gospel to reenacting the Gospel through baptism. This is where “salvation is not said to be by God’s act outside us in Christ, but by its reenactment in us.” We are commanded to baptize because, it shows that we fell far short by our sin, but Jesus saves us to the uttermost through his freely taking away our sins on the Cross. He ever lives to make intercession for us!
Receiving the Holy Spirit is not something that we do to get saved. It is a gift, given to those who trust in the finished work of Christ alone. Instead of laboring in prayer at an altar for days and weeks trying to “get the Holy Ghost” so that one can know they are saved, the Bible teaches that we are given the Holy Spirit when we trust in Christ. We “get” the Spirit when we “get” Christ (Ephesians 1:13). How could it be otherwise? It is impossible to have Christ and still be missing something essential to our salvation. The “fulness” is in Christ.
One baptismal regenerationist poster once asked ....
Quote:
But you just said you believe in "obey all of His commandments". IF you believe this, then you believe in re-enacting what Jesus did (i.e death, burial, resurrection)
My answer:
No sir ... I believe in identifying with His death, burial and resurrection in many ways ....
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1. The Lord's Supper
Luk 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake [it], and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup [is] the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Now does this we are to believe in transubstantiation?? ... or that the Lord's Supper must be done for salvation????
No, of course not ... Yet we participate, because we love Him and appreciate the salvation He afforded.
Romans 6:3-5. In it is a strong comparison between our baptism and Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.
"3Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,"
In baptism we see imagery of his death, burial and resurrection ... but He did these things once and for all ... I identified with these things and made a public proclamation of faith through obedience when I was baptized ....
The same writer of Romans tells us that we are saved through faith and not by our works so that we may boast ....
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Again we are baptized because we are saved through faith ... evident by obedience. Faith in Him justifies us ... our faith is justified by our works.
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3. I also identify with his death, burial and resurrection EVERYDAY
Paul says:
I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 1 Corinthians 15:31
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20
Now .... t does this mean that Paul was water baptized everyday of his Christian life???
Paul identifies with Christ death, burial and resurrection ... as we do .. daily in KNOWING HIM more and more each day ...
In Phillipians he states:
3:7 However, what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ.
3:8 Yes most assuredly, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ
3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
3:10 that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death;
3:11 if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Paul is relating his experience of the unsurpassed value of knowing Christ, not based upon his own effort but based upon the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ ....
Paul has gone down the road of trying to impress God, and has seen that it has failed and it is worthless. He is seeking to know God’s righteousness now and in the resurrection.
Again, we obey all of his commandments through our faith in the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the power of His Spirit living through us.
Daniel,
From reading this thread, it appears this topic has been much discussed already. I apologize for not seeing the other threads (I only visit periodically), but I'm quite interested to understand your thoughts on the purpose of water baptism.
Thanks in advance, and sorry if you have already explained in the past.
God bless.
its mostly about getting wet in public.
__________________ If I do something stupid blame the Lortab!
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