Post by ambassador on Aug 22, 2009 0:37:32 GMT -5
“Rightly Dividing” the Scriptures: Why the Transition from Law to Grace?
God is sovereign; that is, He is absolute in power and knowledge, and He can deal with mankind however He wants. A “dispensation” is simply a time period in which God “dispenses” a particular set of instructions to a specific group of people. While there are seven main dispensations (time periods) in the Bible, we want to focus on two of them in this article: Law and Grace. Why the transition from Israel to Gentiles, and from Law to Grace?
From Abraham (circa 2000 B.C.) to the middle portion of the Book of Acts (approximately A.D. 37), God had been dealing almost exclusively with the Nation of Israel on the basis of the Mosaic Law and the other Jewish covenants. During this 2000-year period, the prophetic promises given to Israel in the Old Testament were being fulfilled, one of which was Jesus Christ’s First Coming. God planned on converting the entire Nation of Israel and then use them to evangelize the pagan Gentile world. However, Israel rejected their King Jesus Christ and crucified Him. In Acts 7 (about seven years after Calvary), a believing Jew named Stephen begged the Jews to repent of killing their Messiah, but they refused and stoned Stephen!
Instead of bringing in wrath and vexation of the Tribulation that was promised in Psalm 2:4-5, God’s grace had already motivated Him to do something else. Now that the Jews killed their Christ/King in unbelief, God would set aside Israel nationally (they “fell” from their position and were spiritually blinded; see Romans 11:11-12, 25-26). Consequently, God would minister to the Gentile world without using the Nation of Israel. The Lord selected one Jew, Saul of Tarsus (Paul), and made him the apostle of the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). To the Apostle Paul alone, God revealed the Gospel of Grace (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), and God revealed to Paul many other “secrets” that were not made known in the Old Testament.
Today, we live in the “mystery [secret] program” because God has interrupted prophecy: “mystery” simply means that the Body of Christ and our present-day Church Age was keep secret from the Old Testament prophets (Romans 16:25-26). For the past two millennia, God has been dealing primarily with the Gentile, or non-Jewish, world. The Body of Christ is being formed as more and more Gentiles are placing their faith in the Gospel of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. As soon as the Body of Christ is complete, and the Rapture happens, God will once again pick up with where He left off with Israel nearly 2000 years ago (Romans 11:25-25). Israel’s spiritual blindness will be lifted, the Tribulation will commence, and then the Millennial Kingdom of Christ will be brought in.
All of the Old Testament prophecies that have not been fulfilled will one day be brought to fruition, but the Body of Christ is separate from prophecy, which ensures a pre-Tribulation Rapture.
See attached diagram for clarity:
God is sovereign; that is, He is absolute in power and knowledge, and He can deal with mankind however He wants. A “dispensation” is simply a time period in which God “dispenses” a particular set of instructions to a specific group of people. While there are seven main dispensations (time periods) in the Bible, we want to focus on two of them in this article: Law and Grace. Why the transition from Israel to Gentiles, and from Law to Grace?
From Abraham (circa 2000 B.C.) to the middle portion of the Book of Acts (approximately A.D. 37), God had been dealing almost exclusively with the Nation of Israel on the basis of the Mosaic Law and the other Jewish covenants. During this 2000-year period, the prophetic promises given to Israel in the Old Testament were being fulfilled, one of which was Jesus Christ’s First Coming. God planned on converting the entire Nation of Israel and then use them to evangelize the pagan Gentile world. However, Israel rejected their King Jesus Christ and crucified Him. In Acts 7 (about seven years after Calvary), a believing Jew named Stephen begged the Jews to repent of killing their Messiah, but they refused and stoned Stephen!
Instead of bringing in wrath and vexation of the Tribulation that was promised in Psalm 2:4-5, God’s grace had already motivated Him to do something else. Now that the Jews killed their Christ/King in unbelief, God would set aside Israel nationally (they “fell” from their position and were spiritually blinded; see Romans 11:11-12, 25-26). Consequently, God would minister to the Gentile world without using the Nation of Israel. The Lord selected one Jew, Saul of Tarsus (Paul), and made him the apostle of the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). To the Apostle Paul alone, God revealed the Gospel of Grace (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), and God revealed to Paul many other “secrets” that were not made known in the Old Testament.
Today, we live in the “mystery [secret] program” because God has interrupted prophecy: “mystery” simply means that the Body of Christ and our present-day Church Age was keep secret from the Old Testament prophets (Romans 16:25-26). For the past two millennia, God has been dealing primarily with the Gentile, or non-Jewish, world. The Body of Christ is being formed as more and more Gentiles are placing their faith in the Gospel of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. As soon as the Body of Christ is complete, and the Rapture happens, God will once again pick up with where He left off with Israel nearly 2000 years ago (Romans 11:25-25). Israel’s spiritual blindness will be lifted, the Tribulation will commence, and then the Millennial Kingdom of Christ will be brought in.
All of the Old Testament prophecies that have not been fulfilled will one day be brought to fruition, but the Body of Christ is separate from prophecy, which ensures a pre-Tribulation Rapture.
See attached diagram for clarity:
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