Posted on 05/22/2015 4:54:44 PM PDT by OK Sun
I have been taught Dispensationalism from my mother’s womb. I was born in a dispensational environment. It was assumed at my church to be a part of the Gospel. There was never another option presented. It made sense. It helped me put together the Scriptures in a way that cleared up so much confusion. And, to be honest, the emphasis on the coming tribulation, current events that prove the Bible’s prophecy, the fear that the Antichrist may be alive today (who is he?) was all quite exciting. But what might be the biggest attraction for me is the charts! Oh how I love charts. I think in charts. And dispensationalism is a theology of charts!
The first time I came across someone who was not a Dispensationalist was in 1999. I am not kidding. It was the first time! I don’t think I even knew if there was another view. It was when I was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary (the bastion of Dispensationalism) and I was swimming with some guys who were at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Once they discovered I was a dispensationalist, they giggled and snickered. They made fun of the rapture, the sacrificial system during the millennium, and the mark of the beast (which, at that time, was some type of barcode). It was as if they patted me on the head and said “It’s okay . . . nice little dispensationalist.” I was so angry. I was humiliated. I was a second-rate theologian. They were “Covenantalists” (whatever that was). But they were the cool guys who believed in the historic Christian faith and I was the cultural Christian, believing in novel ideas.
(Excerpt) Read more at reclaimingthemind.org ...
Verse 6 says that they (at least Peter, James and John) added nothing to what Paul told them. Why?
Verse 7 tells us. When they SAW that the gospel Paul preached, the gospel of the uncircumcision was COMMITTED TO PAUL; just as the gospel of the circumcision was COMMITTED TO PETER they knew that he that wrought effectually in Peter as the apostle of the circumcision, the SAME HE was mighty toward Paul, as the apostle of the uncircumcision. Verse 8. That He would be Jesus Christ.
Do Peter, James, or John try to teach Paul anything? When they hear his gospel of the uncircumcision do they SEE that there is a DIFFERENCE between what they have been commissioned to preach to the circumcision and what Paul has been commissioned to preach to the uncircumcision?
Verse 9 gives us the outcome of this meeting. When James, and Peter, and John PERCEIVED THE GRACE THAT WAS GIVEN TO PAUL,they gave to Paul and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship. The GRACE that was GIVEN TO PAUL. Surely it doesn't mean his way of speaking, that he was graceful in his preaching. It was the gospel of the grace of God that Christ gave to Paul to give to the Gentiles. THAT is what they perceived and gave their hands of fellowship to Paul for. They would go to the circumcision and Paul would go to the uncircumcision (heathen).
Notice something BIG happening here? The "Great commission", the kingdom gospel, that Peter and the 11 were given, to go to ALL THE NATIONS, beginning at Jerusalem was changed to THEM STAYING AND MINISTERING TO THE JEWS with the KINGDOM GOSPEL, and PAUL MINISTERING TO THE GENTILES WITH HIS GOSPEL.ANd we know that what they bound on earth was bound in heaven and what they loosed on earth was loosed in heaven. That, too, was part of the "great commission.
So, did Paul receive and preach a different gospel than Peter and the 11?
"IN THE DAY WHEN GOD SHALL JUDGE THE SECRETS OF MEN BY JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO MY GOSPEL". Rom. 2:16. Clearly he did. Unless he was lying in Rom. 2:16. And countless other places in his epistles.
Are you a disciple of Les Feldick ? Is it from him that you imbibed your doctrine of two different gospels ?
What is your problem? Do you want to study Scripture or just insanely repeat yourself? If you care to study God’s word, give me some Scripture to support your “views”. Just as I give you Scripture.
Nowhere does the Bible say that anyone was raised, in fact John 3:13 states emphatically that no man has ascended but he that came down from heaven.
The spiritual resurrection is at the last trump.
Many like to misinterpret verses to create imaginary resurrections.
It is you that are twisting.
The apostasy, and the coming of the man of sin are one event that is the result of the casting down of Satan to Earth.
That is the taking away of he who lets (Satan) from the throne room of God.
I change nothing, ever.
Nice try on trying to turn the apostasy into a resurrection.
Marvelous magical eisegisis.
Your gymnastics fail on every level.
Apostasy is the turn away from the truth of God’s word.
Well .. I’m sorry to disagree with you, but the “ROCK” Jesus was talking about was “REVEALED KNOWLEDGE”.
The “rock” statement has been used by the Catholic Church to say that the POPE is THAT “ROCK”.
Sorry again .. but Jesus was talking to the Disciples and Jesus said to Peter, “Who do YOU say that I am”. Peter answered correctly, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of GOD.” Then Jesus said - THIS INFORMATION - THIS STATEMENT .. not PETER .. is what Jesus was going to build his church on - the REVEALED KNOWLEDGE WHICH PETER RECEIVED FROM GOD TO PROPERLY IDENTITY JESUS AS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD. Peter had the knowledge of who Christ was revealed to him .. and Jesus wanted to build HIS church on THAT.
The Catholic Church has always said Jesus established the “church” on Peter - which is just not factually true. Remember, Jesus cautioned us to “rightly divide the Word of Truth”.
I’ve had GOD directly reveal information to me .. that no earthly person knew. The best way to be able to receive this “revealed knowledge” is by being Baptized in the Holy Spirit .. with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
I met a Priest a few years ago who was audibly speaking in other tongues .. and he preached the most awesome messages.
Remember, GOD’s Word never returns void; but it always accomplishes that which it was sent to do. I’m praying that over you; that GOD will reveal the truth to you.
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This is in my opinion criminal:
Using the presence of the word ‘Dispensation’ in a very few verses in an attempt to support dispensationalism, which is nowhere to be found in the scriptures.
Matthew 5 makes it plain that the word of God is not to be sliced and diced to create separate applications of the word.
Since Torah remains until the end of the physical universe, such would not be possible.
Paul stated clearly in Hebrews that the gospel he preached was the exact gospel that Moses preached, so where does the word of God fracture to satisfy the apostasy that you present?
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Henry Ironside (pastor of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago) addressed Bullingerism back in the 1930’s
http://www.biblelineministries.org/onlinebooks/wrongly-dividing-the-word-of-truth/ch1.html
Having had most intimate acquaintance with Bullingerism as taught by many for the last forty years, I have no hesitancy in saying that its fruits are evil. It has produced a tremendous crop of heresies throughout the length and breadth of this and other lands, it has divided Christians and wrecked churches and assemblies without number; it has lifted up its votaries in intellectual and spiritual pride to an appalling extent, so that they look with supreme contempt upon Christians who do not accept their peculiar views; and in most instances where it has been long tolerated, it has absolutely throttled Gospel effort at home and sown discord on missionary fields abroad. So true are these things of this system that I have no hesitancy in saying it is an absolutely Satanic perversion of the truth. Instead of rightly dividing the Word, I shall seek to show that these teachers wrongly divide the Word, and that their propaganda is anything but conducive to spirituality and enlightenment in divine things.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I do not have a dog in this “fight.” I simply chimed in to remark on the fact that setting Paul as separate and apart from the Apostles is a 19th century invention. It’s a good example of the confusion that sola scriptura must produce.
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The word of god says plainly that the grace of God was dispensed to Abraham, so is that where this “dispensation” begins?
There are no dispensations in the manner that you employ the word.
This is false doctrine, plain and simple.
The “system” to which you allude does not exist in the scriptures.
The adversary doesn’t attack it; he invented it.
It is his crowning glory to have deceived so many that seek the path.
It is all going to come crashing down when these deceived sheep come face to face with the man of sin, uneducated, and without recourse but to die for refusing his mark.
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Go back and try to read from Scripture instead of reading into it. GB
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him. Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
Concur; well read
Matthew 5:
[17] Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
[18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
[19] Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
[20] For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
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To think that Paul just suddenly changed the subject of his epistle, to throw in a verse out of nowhere, that completely contradicts everything he taught in every other epistle, is more than way out. .
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Nice sarcastic remark, but totally inappropriate, and inapplicable.
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Excellent post!
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It will still just be dismissed.
Their ears ache for something different.
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>> “setting Paul as separate and apart from the Apostles is a 19th century invention. It’s a good example of the confusion that sola scriptura must produce.” <<
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Not so!
It is a perfect example of what arises when one adds their own ideas to scripture.
It is the finest support for Sola Scriptura that can be imagined.
It is “churchianity” running free.
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**I told you that the first part of Acts had to be understood before we could go on to Cornelius.**
Is chapter 5 still close enough to ‘the first part of Acts’? Peter is still preaching to the Jews there:
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand”..(his ‘right hand’, not his left hand or both hands?? But, that’s another subject)..”to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give REPENTANCE to Israel, and FORGIVENESS OF SINS. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him”. Acts 5:30-32
It looks to me that Peter is still preaching the Acts 2 message in chapter 5. Matter of fact, he was only preaching what Jesus Christ (in Luke 24:46-49) had commanded him to:
“Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that REPENTANCE and REMISSION of SINS should be preached in his name among ALL NATIONS, BEGINNING at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”
You see, when Jesus Christ began to preach, it was with this: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17), and also: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel”. (Mark 1:15), He was not announcing that it had begun, but that it was immenent. He still kept the Law up until the cross, even telling the leper he had healed, to go and show himself to the priest, and offer the things commanded by Moses.
**Here is an example of this: “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou AT THIS TIME RESTORE AGAIN the KINGDOM TO ISRAEL?” (Acts 1:6).**
At that point, the apostles still hadn’t received the power and wisdom of the Holy Ghost, that the Lord said would then happen to them. See John 14:16-26; 15:26; 16:7-15.
**BTW: you’ll note that Peter is given this vision in Acts 10. Paul is saved in Acts 9. Important?**
Are you questioning the Lord’s choice in not sending Paul to Cornelius? Peter was indeed slow to grasp the Lord’s inclusion of the Gentiles. But, put yourself in his position: You also would’ve wanted to be absolutely sure you were called to do such a thing. The end result is that he DID obey the Lord’s command. Peter was given the ‘keys’, and was the man to be present when the three main groups of people, the Jews, the Samaritans, and the Gentiles, received the Holy Ghost.
Now Paul’s conversion, which is further described in chapter 22:16, and in his testamony to king Agrippa in chapter 26:18,19,20:
Ananias said to Saul/Paul, in 22:16; “And now why tarriest thou? arise”..(why did he have to arise? because Ananias wasn’t going to carry him to the water.)..”and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord”. (sounds like Ananias knew Acts 2:38).
26:18,19,20 (beginning in the middle of the Lord’s command to Paul). “..To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do WORKS meet for repentance”.
After his first missionary journey into Asia Minor, Paul was staunchly against the Jewish Christians that still had trouble letting go of the Law, but, on his next mission DID circumcise Timothy to help reduce the complaint of the unbelieving Jews.
**Dispensationalists believe that the dispensation of the grace of God began with Paul and not before. Eph. 3:2,3,5,6,9.**
Some dispensationalists may believe that, but they are wrong. Just go read Acts 19: 1-7. And even though Paul was sent to Gentiles, he didn’t entirely pass up preaching to the Jews. For conversion, the apostles all taught the same thing. In a nutshell, it’s Acts 2:38,39.
**Times and seasons. Dispensations. That God the Father has in His own power. That are given according to His purposes and will.**
Indeed. But God hasn’t ‘shifted gears’ since Acts 2.
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