The study of how God deals with mankind
Definition
of Dispensation: the act of dispensing or
something dispensed; a specific arrangement or system by which something is
dispensed. As an example, Moses dispensed the Law and was entrusted with
the dispensing of the Law; he was God's steward of that dispensation! The word
dispensation does not mean a period of time.
If this is the first time you are hearing about
"dispensations" then you have been victimized by The Adversary through ignorant
men acting as "angels of light"....but you will be enlightened if you have an
open mind concerning the goodness and graciousness of Christ as he revealed it
to our apostle Paul, which is the main theme of this site!
Since the beginning of
creation, God has dispensed instructions for man to follow. God did this for
mankind's well-being, prosperity and most importantly, to assure that His
relationship would never be broken with man. However, since man's rebellion in
the Garden of Eden, he continually disobeys God to his own destruction as well
as to the destruction of others!
Because of God's grace,
love and mercy, the bible shows us that God gives man repeated opportunities to
respond to Him. Man, in turn, responds with disobedience. God judges man and
then counters man's rebellion with the ushering in of a new set of dispensed
instructions called dispensations.
Since the beginning, the bible
has been
broken into eight (8) of God's dispensations that in essence, all (except
"The Dispensation of The Fullness of Times") have
the same conclusion through the first seven:
-
God dispenses
instructions for man to follow so that man will take God at His word
-
Man rebels through
unbelief and rejects God's instructions
-
God judges man
-
God in His grace, love
and mercy ushers in a new set of instructions
-
Parts or components of
each of God's instructions may or may not carry into the next one (such as
marriage). However, the requirements to satisfy what God would approve of in
regards to salvation
change due to His love, mercy, justice and grace to man!
In another
example, murder is still wrong in the sight of God even though we are not under
the law! The steward of a household is given the responsibility of dispensing
the affairs assigned by his master.
Today,
The gospel of the grace of God and the
Dispensation of Grace was committed to Paul. It was his responsibility to
dispense this “good news” to the Gentiles. While alive, he was God's steward for
this dispensation to “pass the baton” to us!
How should
I read the bible?
If you are like me, when you read the bible you come across many passages or
chapters of the bible that are troubling. Yet, in our ignorance, we know that
its not God’s Word that is the problem but instead our lack of understanding!
Our sin nature is more attracted to man’s
tradition (what man says about God) rather than holding obeisance to the bible
(what God says about man). Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry to Israel used
an awesome illustration of the principle of stewardship or management in Matthew
25 while talking to the apostles.
-
Christ went on to describe the accountability
of each servant based on the responsibility given to him.
-
Later, the
resurrected, risen Christ revealed to the apostle Paul doctrine (our
marching orders for Christian living today) on this very issue of
stewardship which is greatly neglected by believers today.
“Let a man so
account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries
of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”
- 1 Corinthians 4:1-3
Before a child of God can truly begin to apply
God’s Word to His life while studying the bible, he must understand some
important concepts such as:
-
How is God dealing with mankind at this time
(or in other words, what are the current marching orders of the day)?
-
Who is God talking to?
-
What is the context of the conversation?
Hebrews 13:8 states: "Jesus Christ IS the same
yesterday, today and forever" but thank the Lord, He has indeed changed His
dealings with mankind! God’s dealings with mankind are called “dispensations”.
The word “dispensation” is not made by man but in fact used several times in
scripture.
The very sound of
the word "dispensation" strikes fear into many bible teachers and it spawns anger in
others. Why you may
ask????? P-R-I-D-E, plain and simple. Back in the Garden of Eden, the devil
himself used the same subtlety when he asked Eve, “hath God said”?
Unfortunately, it
is more acceptable to follow man’s tradition and check your mind at the door of
the church rather than heed to the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit through
the Pauline Epistles, all made possible through the completed, sufficient work
of Jesus Christ!
Failure to
understand the true teaching of dispensations and the distinctive ministry of
our apostle Paul has led many to make false applications of the Bible. This is
nothing short of “covenant theology” (A belief that the Body of Christ has
replaced Israel and will receive all of her promises and blessings.) Some, who
do not understand the truth about dispensations, have attacked the very teaching
of it and even refuse to believe that God has ever changed His dealings with
mankind!
The purpose of this web site is to answer these objections and to equip the
believer so that they can understand the true nature of dispensations as well as
Paul’s distinctive ministry, which has not been faithfully taught.
“And I
thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me
faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a
persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love,
which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am
chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ
might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting.” – 1 Timothy 1:12-16
|
