Refuting Dispensationalism

-The Proper Application of Scripture

-The application of Scripture is very closely related to exegesis- if a wrong application or use be made of a verse, then our explanation of it is certain to be erroneous.”

-For example Catholics insist and teach that “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17) was Christ’s bestowal upon Peter of a special privilege and peculiar honor, being one of the passages to which that evil system appeals in support of her contention for the primacy of that apostle. Yet there is nothing whatever in Peter's own writings which indicates that he regarded those injunctions of his Master as constituting him "Universal Bishop." Instead, in his first epistle there is plainly that to the contrary, for there we find him exhorting the elders or bishops, "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock" (v. 2, 3).

-Thus it is quite clear from the above passage that Christ's precepts in John 21:15-17, apply or pertain unto all pastors.

-On the other hand, our Lord's words to Peter and Andrew, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19) do not apply to the rank and file of His disciples, but only unto those whom He calls into and qualifies for the ministry. That is evident from the fact that in none of the Epistles, where both the privileges and the duties of the saints are specifically defined, is there any such precept or promise.

-we must ever beware of unwarrantable restricting the scope of a verse.

-we also must ever beware of unwarrantable restricting the scope of a verse.

-Scripture ever interprets Scripture, so familiarity with the contents and diligent- prayerful comparison of one part with another is necessary before anyone is justified in dogmatically deciding the precise meaning or application of any passage.

-doing this will expose the modern and pernicious error of Dispensationalism. This is a device of the enemy, designed to rob the children of no small part of that bread which their heavenly Father has provided for their souls; a device wherein the wily serpent appears as an angel of light, feigning to "make the Bible a new book" by simplifying much in it which perplexes the spiritually unlearned.

-Dispensationalism is modern- it was unknown to Christendom until little more than a century ago.

-Dispensationalism is supposedly based upon 2 Timothy 2:15, "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Very little or nothing at all is said upon the first two clauses of that verse, but much on the third one, which is explained as "correctly partitioning the Scriptures unto the different peoples to whom they belong."

-Dispensationalism teaches that all of the Old Testament from Genesis 12 onwards belongs entirely to Israel after the flesh, and that none of its precepts (as such) are binding upon those who are members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, nor may any of the promises found therein be legitimately appropriated by them.

-That teaching is taught without a single word to that effect by either the Lord or any of His apostles, and despite the use which the Holy Spirit makes of the earliest scriptures in every part of the New Testament.

-For example the Holy Spirit through Paul teaches "For whatever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the (Old Testament) scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4).

-Dispensationalism also teaches that the four Gospels are Jewish, and that the epistles of James and Peter, John and Jude are designed for a "godly Jewish remnant" in a future "tribulation period," that nothing but the Pauline epistles contain "Church truth.”

-Yet God Himself has not uttered a single word to that effect.

-There is nothing whatever in 2 Timothy 2:15, to justify the sectioning of Scripture between different "dispensations.”

-If Timothy 2:15, be carefully compared with Matthew 7:6, John 16:12 and 1 Corinthians 3:2, its meaning is clear. The occupant of the pulpit is to give diligence in becoming equipped to give the different classes of his hearers "their portion of meat in due season" (Luke 12:42). To rightly divide the Word of Truth is for him to minister it suitably unto the several cases and circumstances of his congregation: to sinners and saints, the indifferent and the inquiring, the babes and fathers, the tempted and afflicted, the backslidden and fallen.

-While there be great variety in the teaching of the Word, there is an unmistakable unity underlying the whole. Though He employed many mouthpieces, the Holy Scriptures have but one Author; and while He "at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets" and "has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2), yet He who spoke by them was and is One "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17), who throughout all ages declares: "I am the Lord, I change not" (Malachi 3:6). Throughout there is perfect agreement between every part of the Word: it sets forth one system of doctrine (we never read of "the doctrines of God," but always "the doctrine": see Deuteronomy 33:2; Proverbs 4:2; Matthew 7:28; John 7:17; Romans 16:17, and contrast Mark 7:7; Colossians 2:22; 1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 13:9) because it is one single and organic whole. That Word presents uniformly one way of salvation, one rule of faith. From Genesis to Revelation there is one immutable Moral Law, one glorious Gospel for perishing sinners. The Old Testament believers were saved with the same salvation, were indebted to the same Redeemer, were renewed by the same Spirit, and were partakers of the same heavenly inheritance as are New Testament believers.

-It is quite true that the Epistle to the Hebrews makes mention of a better hope (7:19), a better testament or covenant (7:22), better promises (8:6), better sacrifices (9:23), some better thing for us (11:40), and yet it is important to recognize that the contrast is between the shadows and the substance. Romans 12:6, speaks of "the proportion [or "analogy"] of faith." There is a due proportion, a perfect balance, between the different parts of God's revealed Truth which must needs be known and observed by all who would preach and write according to the mind of the Spirit. In arguing from this analogy, it is essential to recognize that what is made known in the Old Testament was typical of what is set forth in the New, and therefore the terms used in the former are strictly applicable unto the latter. Much needless wrangling has occurred over whether or not the nation of Israel were a regenerate people. That is quite beside the real point: outwardly they were regarded and addressed as the people of God, and, as the Spirit through Paul affirmed, "who are Israelites: to whom pertains the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises: whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came" (Romans 9:4-5).

Regeneration or non-regeneration affected the salvation of individuals among them, but it did not affect the covenant relationship of the people as a whole. Again and again God addressed Israel as "backsliders," but never once did He so designate any heathen nation. It was not to the Egyptians or Canaanites that Jehovah said, "Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings," or "Turn, O backsliding children... for I am married unto you" (Jeremiah 3:22, 14). Now it is this analogy or similarity between the two covenants and the peoples under them which is the basis for the transfer of Old Testament terms to the New. Thus the word "circumcision" is used in the latter not with identity of meaning, but according to analogy, for circumcision is now "of the heart, in the spirit" (Romans 2:29), and not of the flesh. In like manner, when John closes his first epistle with "Little children, keep yourselves from idols," he borrows an Old Testament term and uses it in a New Testament sense, for by "idols" he refers not to material statues made of wood and stone (as the prophets did when employing the same word), but to inward objects of carnal and sensual worship. So too are we to see the antitypical and spiritual "Israel" in Galatians 6:16, and the celestial and eternal "mount Zion" in Hebrews 12:22.

-The Bible is a single living book consisting of many parts which are vitally interdependent upon each other.

-Within that unity there is much variety but no contradictions. It is consistent throughout all of its teachings.

-The oneness yet triunity of God, the deity and humanity of Christ united in one Person, the everlasting covenant which secures the salvation of all the election of grace, the highway of holiness and the only path which leads to Heaven, are plainly revealed in Old and New Testament alike.

-The teaching of the prophets concerning the glorious character of God, the changeless requirements of His righteousness, the total depravity of human nature, and the way appointed for restoration therefrom, are identical with the apostles' teaching.

-Why has God divided the Bible into two testaments? First, to set forth more distinctly the two covenants which are the basis of God's dealings with all mankind: the covenant of works and the covenant of grace—shadowed forth by the "old" from Sinai and the "new" or Christian one. Second, to show more plainly the two separate companies which are united in that one Body which constitutes the Church of which Christ is the Head, namely redeemed Jews and redeemed Gentiles. Third, to demonstrate more clearly the wondrous providence of God: using the Jews for so many centuries to be the custodians of the Old Testament, which condemns them for their rejection of Christ; and in employing the papists throughout the dark ages to preserve the New Testament, which denounces their idolatrous practices. Fourth, that one might confirm the other: type by antitype, prophecy by fulfillment.