DYSFUNCTIONAL BRIDE -- Classic, or
Traditional Dispensationalism has never been Pauline-pure. From Darby, Scofield, and
Chafer, Dispensationalism has always, to some degree, related the Church to Israel's New
Covenant.
Such New Covenant collusion placed the Church on a
collision course with Israel's Sermon on the Mount, and her Millennial Kingdom. The
inevitable crash has resulted in the inclusivistic Neo-Dispensationalism, infant
step-child of Covenant theology.
This "progressive modification" of
Dispensationalism has recently been introduced via the book, Dispensationalism, Israel
and the Church, edited by the Dallas Theological Seminary professors, Dr. Craig A.
Blaising, and Dr. Darrell L. Bock (Zondervan, 1992, 402 pages).
TOTAL ADEQUACY -- The epistles of Paul,
as ministered to the Church from her ascended and glorified Head, are totally adequate for
the growth and glory of the heavenly Body of Christ. She is not only complete in His Life
(Col. 2: 10), but the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed her "with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3).
The heavenly Bride is complete in her heavenly Bridegroom,
and requires no supplementation from Israel whatsoever. Pauline Dispensationalism
disassociates the Church from Israel, including her New Covenant, her Sermon, and her
Kingdom. If the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, as ministered by the Spirit of Christ in and
to the Church is inadequate, then it is off to the far country of earthly, kingdom-bound
Neo-Dispensationalism.
ON TO IDENTIFICATION -- F.J. Huegel
summed up the situation by saying:
If the great Luther, with his stirring message of
justification by faith, had with Paul moved on from Romans 5 to Romans 6 with its amazing
declarations concerning the now justified sinner's position of identification with his
crucified, risen, and ascended Lord, would not a stifled, law-burdened Church be on higher
ground today? (The Cross of Christ, p. 84).
The only way to keep the Church totally free of Israel is
to center in Paul, because Paul's source and center is the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, at
the right hand of the Father. The inclusivistic condition of dispensationalists causes
them to become somewhat paranoid when it comes down, or up, to this!
ARCH-APOSTLE -- The simple fact is that
while Fundamentalism/Evangelicalism generally, along with Modernism and Roman Catholicism,
have considered Paul merely as one of the Apostles, entrusted with the same message the
Twelve were sent to proclaim, the Scriptures clearly teach that this is not so. Paul's
message and ministry were distinct and separate from theirs; to him was committed the
doctrine and the program for a new dispensation, a new creation, the Church, never before
even contemplated, except in the mind and heart of God.
HEAVEN-COMMISSIONED -- Paul did not
appoint himself the apostle to the Gentiles, nor invent the message he proclaimed to them.
Concerning the Gospel which he preached among the Gentiles he said: "For I speak
to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the Apostle to the Gentiles." "For I delivered
unto you first of all that which I received" (Rom. 11:13; 1 Cor. 15:3).
Paul received his commission and authority directly
from the glorified Lord Jesus Christ Himself, not by some indirect method. He neither saw
Him merely in a subjective vision or dream, but by direct face-to-face revelation. "I
certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I
neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by revelation of Jesus
Christ" (Gal. 1:11,12).
Hence today we are to conform our teaching and practices
to the great revelation committed by the glorified Lord to the Apostle Paul. The whole
Word of God, of course, is for our profit, but all must be viewed in the light of the
Pauline revelations.
SCRIPTURAL DISCERNMENT -- Many years ago
Dr. Chafer wrote:
"All Scripture is ... profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16), but all
Scripture is of primary application to a particular person or class of persons which
the Bible designates as such. All Scripture is not for the angels, nor is it all for the
Gentiles. In like manner, not all Scripture is addressed to the Jew, nor is it all
addressed to the Christian (Dispensationalism, p. 417).
Paul Wilson likewise admonished:
A Christian cannot pick up his Bible and read just
anywhere and find direction for his feet. If he does not read discerningly, he may think
it his duty to help rebuild a temple in Jerusalem today, or do any of thousands of things
that would be totally inconsistent with his position as a Christian, whose life,
commonwealth, and hopes are in heaven (Col. 3:1-3).
ODIOUS COMPARISON -- How many, even among
those otherwise doctrinally sound, have fallen into the sin of the Corinthians and keep
forever comparing Paul's merits with those of the other Apostles or with those of Christ,
arguing, "Was Paul so much better or greater than the other Apostles?" and,
"Which are more important, the words of Jesus or the words of Paul?"
Frequently such people feel they have won a great victory
when they quote the words of Paul himself: "If any man teach otherwise, and
consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the
doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting on
questions ... from which withdraw thyself" (1 Tim. 6:3-5).
ISRAEL'S SERMON AND COMMISSION -- First
let us inquire why these critics thus compare "the words of Jesus" with those of
Paul, and why they quote the above passage. Is it because they are so sincerely desirous
of obeying the words which the Lord Jesus spoke while on earth? It is not,
for they constantly disobey them, from the Sermon on the Mount to the Great
Commission.
Do they sell what they have and give alms? (Lu. 12:33). Do
they refrain from laying up treasures on earth? (Matt. 6:19). Do they take no thought for
the morrow? (Matt. 6:24). Do they "give to him that asketh thee, and from him
that would borrow of thee turn not away"? (Matt. 5:42). They do not quote I
Timothy 6:3 because they really mean to obey the words of Jesus on earth, but
because they are determined to minimize what God has magnified: the office of Paul as
Apostle of the Gentiles--"I magnify mine office" (Rom. 11:13).
Even a superficial examination of 1 Timothy 6:3-5 should
show them that far from supporting them in their contention, this passage proves a
boomerang to them, for it is in connection with the instructions which Paul, by the
Spirit, had given to Timothy, that he wrote: "If any man teach otherwise, and
consent not to... the words of our Lord Jesus Christ... he is proud," etc.
HIS PERSONAL SPOKESMAN -- In other words,
Paul is here insisting that his words are "the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ" and that therefore it is the more serious to disobey them. Paul writes
in the same vein to the carnal Christians who had belittled his apostolic authority,
comparing him with Apollos, Cephas, and Christ. "If I come again, I will not
spare: since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me" (2 Cor. 13:2,3).
Those who, like the Corinthians, would minimize the office
of Paul, should learn that it is not a question of personalities, but of a message
and a program committed by the glorified Lord to one man--Paul--for us.
For as they fail to recognize Paul's God-given authority, they thus fail to glorify Christ
as they ought, since it was to and through Paul that the absent Lord revealed His infinite
glory at the Father's right hand.
HEAVENLY WORD, VIA PAUL -- It was Paul,
and no one until Paul, who said, "Wherefore, henceforth know we no man after the
flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no
more" (2 Cor. 5:16).
The point to remember is the simple fact that the risen,
ascended, exalted Lord --after His earthly ministry and His commission to the
Twelve, after Israel's rejection of the message of Pentecost--raised up another
apostle and committed to him the message and the program for the dispensation in which we
live. From this we conclude that it is our solemn responsibility to pay particular
attention to the Word of God through Paul, in order that we may understand it
thoroughly and obey it fully.
PAUL'S SUPREMACY -- Today it would be disobedience
to place ourselves under the law of Moses, or submit to someone else binding us. Spiritual
authority is no longer vested in Moses, but in Paul--and Paul informed the
Galatians of this in no uncertain terms.
The Galatians, after having come to know Christ through
Paul's "preaching of the Cross," had begun to submit themselves to the
law of Moses. They were adding the teachings of Moses to those of Paul. By this
they were denying that to Paul had been committed the particular message and
program for them, and for this they were rebuked and called disobedient: "O
foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?"
"Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?"
(Gal. 3:1; 5:7).
WRONG COMMISSION -- In seeking to obey Moses,
they disobeyed the truth, for God had since brought in the dispensation of grace
through Paul. Alas, many today still continue to disobey the truth as they go on under the
law. Indeed, many disobey the truth as they strive in vain to carry out the so-called
Great Commission with its legalism--its baptismal salvation, its miraculous gifts--(Mark
16:15-18)--for God has since given to Paul and to us a greater commission: that of 2
Corinthians 5:18,19.
We can be thankful that many who presume to be working
under the so-called Great Commission do not even try to carry out its details, for if they
were able to they would be still more seriously out of the will of God--but they think
only of going into "all the world" with "the Gospel."
Their failure to see that this commission has been superseded by that later given to Paul,
only serves to confuse them and those to whom they minister.
How important, then, to remember that while all Scripture
was written for us; that is, for our learning and profit, it is not all addressed to
us, nor is it all written about us. Our "private mail" is to be found in
the Epistles of Paul.
FATAL FACTOR -- Speaking of private mail,
there is a telling tale told by Dr. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Academic Dean at Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School, in the Bock and Blaising book, Dispensationalism, the
Church and Israel (p. 369):
When Israel and the Church were viewed as sharing one
and the same New Covenant [Israel's], the possibilities for major rapprochement between
Covenant theology and Dispensationalism became immediately obvious.
Moreover, that one factor ended the major roadblock in
a key hermeneutical rule that Dispensationalism has repeatedly stressed in the past:
"Keep Israel's mail separate from the [Pauline] mail that was written exclusively for
the Church." On the same basis, the Sermon on the Mount was released from its future
kingdom setting for us by the whole Body of Christ now.
PAUL: CHURCH -- And what of Israel's
Sermon on the Mount in relation to the Church? Why should the heavenly Church be subjected
to Jesus' pre-Cross message of the kingdom to Israel? What He gave to Israel in His
humiliation does not compare with what He gave to His Body in His glorification, from His
heavenly position via Paul in the Church Epistles.
SERMON: ISRAEL -- There is nothing in all
of Scripture to compare with what the Church's glorified Head has given her through Paul,
so why wander into the far country for sustenance? The Sermon on the Mount is directed to
earthly, not heavenly, people. Dr. Chafer, commenting on the Beatitudes, brings out the
distinction between Israel and the Church:
NINE LEGAL BEATITUDES -- The Sermon on
the Mount, this kingdom message, opens with the record of the nine-fold blessing which is
promised and provided for the faithful child of the kingdom (Matt. 5:1-12). These
blessings are won through personal merit. This is in sharp contrast to the blessings in
the exalted position of the Christian which he instantly obtains in Christ at the moment
he believes.
(1) "Blessed are the poor [humble] in spirit: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (vs. 3). To the Christian it is said: "Put
on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness,
humbleness of mind" (Col. 3:12). In the teachings of grace, "put
on" does not mean to pretend, or assume; it is the manifestation of the
regenerate life through the power of the Spirit (Eph. 4:24; 6:11).
(2) "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall
be comforted" (vs. 4). Mourning does not belong to the Bride of Christ. To her a
different message is given: "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say,
Rejoice" (Phil. 4:4).
(3) "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit
the earth" (vs. 5). Under grace, meekness is wrought in the Christian by
the Spirit (Gal. 5:23), and is never rewarded. While the meek in the kingdom will inherit
the earth, the believer has an "inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (I Peter 1:4).
(4) "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (vs. 6). The Christian may crave
a closer walk with the Father; but he is already "made the righteousness of God
in Him [Christ]" (2 Cor. 5:21).
(5) "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall
obtain mercy" (vs. 7). In the kingdom mercy from God will be made to depend
wholly on the exercise of mercy toward others. This is pure law. Under grace, the
Christian is besought to be merciful, as one who has already obtained mercy (Eph. 2:4,5;
Titus 3:5).
(6) "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they
shall see God" (vs. 8). Opposed to this, and under grace it is written: "God,
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the, face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor.
4:6).
(7) "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall
be called the children of God" (vs. 9). In the kingdom there will be special
distinction given to those who promote peace. "They shall be called the children
of God." Under grace, no one is constituted a child of God by any works
whatever. "For ye are, all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus"
(Gal. 3:26).
(8) "Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness sake: for theirs is the [millennial] kingdom of heaven" (vs. 10).
The issue here again is righteousness. The Christian under grace, on the
contrary, suffers with Christ and for His sake, and his reward is in heaven.
(9) "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you,
and persecute you... for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you" (vs.
11). In grace the believer is called to suffer for Christ's sake: "For
unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to
suffer for His sake" (Phil. 1:29). It should be noted that when the children of
the kingdom are compared to any class of men in suffering, they are taken back to prophets
which were before them, and not to the saints who comprise the Body of Christ.
NINE-FOLD GRACE-FRUIT -- A careful
comparison should be made of the nine-fold blessing which is promised under the kingdom,
with the nine-fold blessing which is prepared under grace ("the fruit of the
Spirit"). It will be seen that all that is demanded under the law of the
kingdom as a condition of blessing, is, under grace, divinely provided.
The two aspects of life which are represented by these two
groups of characterizing words are most significant. The total of all the blessings in the
kingdom is not comparable with the super-abundant "fruit of the Spirit''-"love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance"
(Gal. 5:22,23). The very tense of the verb used is important. Under grace, the
fruit of the Spirit is, which indicates the present possession of the blessing
through pure grace; whereas under the kingdom, the blessing shall be to such as
merit it by their works.
The Christian is appointed to manifest Christ (I Pet. 2:9;
2 Cor. 4:10), but the children of the kingdom are appointed to manifest their good works
(Matt. 5:16) (Systematic Theology IV:216-218).
BLESSING LOSS -- Paul warned believers
that they would lose the blessings intended for them if they departed from the truth and
the program made known through him. Indeed, some had already begun to depart, and the loss
of the blessing had immediately become evident. The Galatians are a striking example of
this--and a lesson to us.
EYE FOR AN EYE -- How they rejoiced when
Paul first came to them with "the preaching of the Cross" and "the
Gospel of the grace of God" As they heard him preach, and noted the difficulty
and perhaps the pain he experienced with his eyes, one said to another, "I wish I
could give him my eyes."
But Paul had hardly left them before they were taken in by
the Judaizers who "zealously affected [courted]" them to draw them away
from Paul and his message of grace (Gal. 4:17). And now Paul had to write to them: "I
marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto
another gospel" (1:1).
"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched
[charmed] you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been
evidently [plainly] set forth, crucified among you?" "Where is then the
blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye
would have plucked out your own eyes, and had given them to me" (3:1; 4:15).
MOSAIC PENALTY -- The blessedness was
gone! Those who had rejoiced together in the riches of God's grace proclaimed by Paul, had
now turned back to Moses and the law. Though God had sent Paul to declare: "Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law" (3:13), these Galatians had "desired
to be under the law" (4:9;21) and had left Paul for Moses. In doing this they "disobeyed
the truth" (3:1; 5:7) and lost the blessedness.
Thus it is still today. The Church has lost "the
blessedness" (Gal. 4:15) and reaped the curse (1:8,9) in the measure that she
has forsaken Paul and his message. Even when, professing a desire to obey God more
perfectly, she goes back to Moses and the law, to the Sermon, the Synoptics, or to the
Great Commission, she does not fulfill "the righteousness of the law"
(Rom. 8:4) nor truly obey the Great' Commission, nor can the law ever
produce the fruit that grace consistently yields.
ASCENSION AUTHORITY -- As Paul said by
the authority received from the ascended Lord: "Stand fast, therefore, in
the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke
of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you... Christ is become of no effect unto you,
whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace" (Gal. 5:1,
2, 4).
It should be clearly understood that "the law was
given by Moses" (John 1:17) while to Paul was committed "the
Gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24). But one might object that only part
of John 1: 17 has been quoted; that it goes on to say, "but grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ," not by Paul. But there is a flaw in this objection.
"The law was given by Moses," but not
at the time of his birth, nor even forty years after that, when he returned to deliver
Israel. It was not until the Passover lamb had been slain, and Israel had crossed the Red
Sea, that Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the law from the hands of God.
HEAVENLY GRACE AND TRUTH -- Just so "grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ," but not at the time of His birth, nor later
during His earthly ministry, nor even when He died and rose again. It was not until after
His death, resurrection and ascension that grace (consistent with truth) came
(historically) by Jesus Christ--and He committed the dispensation of it to Paul.
This could not be stated more plainly than it is in
Ephesians 3:1-4:
"For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus
Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is
given toward you, how that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote
before in few words, by which, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery
of Christ)."
HEAVEN VERSUS EARTH -- As "the
law was given by Moses," then "the Gospel of the grace of God"
was committed by the glorified Lord to Paul, to dispense to us. Note well that this
dispensation of the grace of God was committed to Paul by the Lord Jesus Christ from
His glory in heaven. The Church, alas, has turned largely to the teachings of
Christ on earth for her program and has thereby brought untold confusion and
division into her midst by her blunder.
She has forgotten that Christ on earth was "made
under the law" (Gal. 4:4) and that He taught His disciples also to be subject to
those who sat "in Moses' seat" (Matt. 23:1-3). Some suppose that this
was changed after the resurrection, and so strive vainly to carry out our Lord's Great
Commission given to the Eleven.
LEGAL COMMISSION -- But even in this they
only bring disruption into their ranks, for the program of the Great Commission differs
widely from that later outlined for us by Christ in heaven through the Apostle
Paul. Nowhere, in any of the record of our Lord's commission to the Eleven do we read
anything of "the dispensation of the grace of God" or "the
Gospel of the grace of God."
Nor do we read of "the preaching of the
Cross" (as good news). Nowhere is it revealed that now it is no longer
necessary to observe Mosaic statutes and ordinances. On the contrary, the Eleven were
strictly enjoined by the Lord to teach those to whom they were sent that they should "observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:20), and the evidence from
Acts is clear that under their commission these Apostles (now Twelve, Acts 1:26) did
observe the law closely, as their Master had done before them and had commanded them to
do.
It is not until Israel had again rejected Christ and His
kingdom, until Saul of Tarsus had led his nation in a flaming rebellion against Christ,
until sin had abounded indeed, that "grace did much more abound,"
as the rejected Lord reached down from heaven to save His chief persecutor and make
of him the great example of His matchless grace.
HEAVENLY GOSPEL -- Paul's true "Gospel
of the grace of God" includes our glorious inheritance in Christ, and our
position in Him in the heavenlies. He declares that it is our present inheritance,
a position that we may now occupy by faith. "But God, who is rich in
mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ; and hath raised us up together and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6).
POSITIONED IN CHRIST -- This is our
position by virtue of our baptism (by the Spirit) into Christ, and it is on the basis of
this positional fact that Paul writes to the Colossians: "If [since] ye,, then,
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye died,
and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:1-3).
Oh, that the Church might make better response to Paul's
challenge than Israel did to that of Moses! The Church as a whole has done no better than
Israel. She remains almost totally indifferent to [and ignorant] of, the riches and grace
and glory held out to her. Like Israel, she fails to enter in because of unbelief (Heb.
3:19).
RESIDENTIAL REST -- But her unbelief does
not affect the fidelity of God, nor make His Word of none effect (Rom. 3:3). Let us
therefore, like Joshua and Caleb, accept the challenge of God and say with respect to our
inheritance in the heavenlies: "Let us go up at once, and possess it,"
and so appropriate and enjoy by faith the "all spiritual blessings in the
heavenlies" which are ours in Christ (Eph. 1:3).
HIS INHERITANCE -- We not only have the
riches of grace and glory as our inheritance in Christ, but we are Christ's
inheritance. "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know
what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints" (Eph. 1:18).
By grace He will yet make His Blood-bought Body the glory
of the universe, for it is the Father's immutable purpose for "the ages to
come," to "show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:7).
Our Lord will come into the full enjoyment of His
inheritance in a future day when we are finally and fully transformed into His
likeness--glorious body, and all. But we may begin giving Him the joy of His inheritance now
as we enter into those glorious truths by faith and let them control our lives and
transform us into His likeness.
"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as
by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18). [Partially selected and adopted]