Basic Introduction to Dispensationalism

My last post was in response to a blog that was against Dispensationalism, but since there are a lot of readers/friends that might not be entirely or accurately familiar with what Moderate Dispensationalism teaches, or at least what I believe, I decided to put together a post to help explain what Dispensationalism.

Explaining Dispensational theology in one post is about as explanatory as describing an internal combustion engine by saying that it burns gas and turns a shaft to run a car. By that, I mean that Dispensationalism is such a vast and complex topic that a cursory explanation does little more than create a thousand questions in the minds of the readers, and in this case, almost every reader is going to have a thousand different questions than any other reader! However, I think it is important to make an attempt, if simply to help provide a well-rounded experience when it comes to Bible doctrine, as well as to open up dialogue with people who have never seen the Bible in this light.

Buckle up: here we go!

The Sons/sons of God

Recently, a topic came up that I thoroughly enjoy discussing, but about which there appears to be a lot of misconceptions. (This will in no way be exhaustive; many books have been written on these topics, and I hardly have the space to do a worthy study on them in a blog post!)

We begin our study in the usual place: at the beginning. (Note: all Scripture is from the King James Bible, and no authority other than It shall be appealed to, especially "The Greek" or "The Hebrew.")

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

The key word here is not what one would usually pick up on or make of any importance: the word to note is "image." Obviously, this verse supports the Triune nature of God ("our image"), and dually it speaks of man's triune nature as well: body, soul, and spirit. Adam was made in God's perfect image, a triune being, and certainly in the likeness of His physical appearance also.

As a result of that likeness and image, check out how Adam is referred to later:

Luke 3:38: Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Do note that in this instance, "son" is lower-case, denoting that Adam was not a deity: he was simply made in the image of God, and therefore was called the "son of God." Thus, the vast importance of the precise wording of John 3:16 is made apparent: Jesus is the only "begotten" son of God, or God the Son (capital "S"), so dropping the "begotten" (meaning God's direct progeny or "genetic" offspring) makes Jesus a liar, as there are many other beings that are called the "sons of God."

Now, we'll sally back to the first place in the Bible where the actual phrase "son(s) of God" is mentioned.

Genesis 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

The typical argument here is that these "sons of God" are simply righteous descendants of Seth, as opposed to the unrighteous descendants of Cain. This is certainly a lousy exegesis, since Seth himself was said to have been born in Adam's image, not God's (Genesis 5:3). The fact is that when Adam sinned, he lost that perfect image of God: his spirit died. From that point on, man was unregenerate, fallen, and existed as a dichotomy: body and soul, with a dead, worthless spirit inside. Man's communion with God had been cut off, and from then on, man was born in the image of Adam (1 Cor. 15:49).

We'll conclude then, based on the evidence given in the book of Genesis, that the phrase "sons of God" cannot refer to human beings, since not only is there a precise distinction between God and mankind in this verse, but that indeed the image of God had been lost (and still is in unregenerate man). Therefore, these "sons of God" are something entirely different, and we'll look and see what the Bible says about them.

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

Now, without getting into the Genesis 1:1-2 issue, let us simply state here that since it is the sons of God that are presenting themselves before God, and Satan is among them, that he is indeed numbered among these sons of God, though in an obviously fallen state. Why else would he show up? These are supernatural, angelic beings (Job 38:7) who were present at the creation, though Satan, among them, obviously no longer retains his office as the LORD's light-bearer (Ezekiel 28:14). These sons of God, then, are not based on their standing with God: they are called sons of God based on their creation (Genesis 6 details sons of God that were involved in vile sexual practices!). So far, we have established two things:

1. These sons of God are not human

and

2. These sons of God are supernatural, angelic beings who were present at the creation.

Now, let us tie together the different uses of "son of God" between the Old and New Testaments.

A serious student of the Bible will recognize that before Christ's death, burial and resurrection, there was no "new birth," no "Body of Christ," and no forgiveness of sins. As Christ was the "last Adam," (1 Cor. 15:45), he redeemed fallen man and restored the perfect Image of God (Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:49; 2 Cor. 3:18, 4:4; Col. 3:10)

With Christ's propitiation for our sins, He conformed us to the image of God through His death. We now have the power to become the sons of God, or regain that fallen image! The reason that a person or being is called a "son of God" is because he is made in the image of God, just as genetic children retain the image or likeness of their parents. In our case, as David said, we have been made a little lower than the angels (Psalms 8:5), but we have been given the unspeakable free gift of Eternal Life, something that the angels obviously don't have (Gen. 6, 2 Pet. 2:4, Jude 6).

Questions? Leave a comment and I'll reply to the best of my ability.

Theological Rubbish

Traditionally (I hate 99% of traditions, to be honest), there are two viewpoints as far as "Theology" goes. You have "Reformed" doctrine on one side, with the other bearing the moniker of "Armenianism," though Reformed is just a fancy name for Calvinism. Most people view these two theologies as all that exist in Christianity, but to counteract a basic lack of knowledge on this issue, I'm going to give a basic overview of what these doctrines teach and what's wrong with them, as well as what the Bible truly says about this issue.

Calvinism

Hard-core Calvinism or Reformed Theology is summed up in the acronym "TULIP." Also known as "Five point Calvinism," TULIP theology teaches the "Total Depravity" of mankind, "Unconditional Election" of those destined or chosen to be saved, "Limited Atonement" or that Christ's sacrifice was only for the "Elect," "Irresistible Grace" or that the Elect cannot refuse the drawing power of the Spirit, and "Perseverance of the Saints," which means (in its purest form) that those that are saved will retain their salvation through holy living.

While these doctrines seem harmless on the surface, they are dangerous and unbiblical when studied closely. For instance, while "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him," Jesus said that He would draw all men unto Him if He were lifted up. Simply put, Total Depravity is unbiblical, in that God has placed many things in this world to draw the attention of the lost who have never even heard of God or Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:20).

Also, Perseverance of the Saints is not Biblical Eternal Security by any stretch of the imagination; contrariwise, this doctrine teaches that while salvation can be lost, the "Elect" will always regain their salvation and invariably go to Heaven when they die. This is incredibly unbiblical, and though some that hold to Reformed theology no longer believe this, instead adopting true Eternal Security, this is the doctrine that Calvin taught and is held by those that truly agree with fundamental Calvinism.

Armenianism

Armenianism is very similar to Calvinism except that where Calvinists believe certain people are chosen to go to Heaven, Armenianists believe that God's election is conditional upon faith, and while Reformed theology teaches an invariable return to salvation, Armenianism states that salvation is dependent upon continued holy living, and that those that are saved can actually go to hell.

Of course the biggest problem with this view according to the word of God is that the Bible clearly teaches that once someone in the age of Grace (i.e. Church Age) accepts Christ as his saviour, he is permanently and irreversibly saved. Our sanctification is not based upon our continued clean living, but on Jesus Christ's perfect life. We are perfected in the spirit through His blood, and neither obtaining nor retaining salvation has anything to do with our works.

Biblical Theology

The doctrines of the Bible on salvation are very clear, so it is somewhat perplexing as to how men such as Calvin came up with such ludicrous ideas. The Bible clearly teaches that God created man with a free will and the ability to choose, and that while man almost invariably makes the wrong choice, God always gives him a chance to make that choice. From Adam through Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets, each one had a choice to make, whether to obey God or serve their own will. The concept of a free will is unarguable from any standpoint, especially a Biblical one.

Secondly, the idea of Divine Predestination is out of line. Invariably, one will find that a Calvinist must take a verse out of context or apply it incorrectly to make his doctrinal house of cards stand. While Paul declared that we as a church are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, speaking to Christians, a Calvinist will say that means that certain individuals were chosen before creation to go to Heaven, when it simply means that when a man gets saved, he is placed on a path to be made perfect like Christ.

The third and final doctrine of Calvinism which I will contrast against the Biblical position is "Perseverance of the Saints." Paul states that we are "sealed unto the day of redemption" by the Holy Spirit, meaning that we have the seal of God on our souls, marking us as His purchased possession. Also, the entire book of Galatians deals with the theme "Kept by Grace," following up on Paul's in-depth salvation discourse to the Romans. He clearly states, "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" He spends the rest of the book clearly showing how that once saved by God's grace, through no effort of our own, we are kept saved the same way: by God's grace without our interference in any way.


Simply put, the "traditional" way of looking at theology is deeply flawed. I personally think that there is too much emphasis put on "theology" and not nearly enough placed on actually believing the Bible. When one interprets the Bible through the cloudy, dingy glasses of his own theological viewpoint, he becomes a private interpreter of the Scriptures, which in reality places him in no better standing than an Atheist or the Catholic Whore as far as correct doctrine is concerned.