Pauline Dispensationalism

[BlessedinHim]

YES!
It's SOOOO Much!!! :faint

yes it is, and that is why I am trying to put in just a little at a time. I am excited about this thread. I love the truth.

Have you guys ever heard of Les Feldi ck? yes, that is one word there at the end, you cant write the persons name without those stars coming up.:scratch

Well, anyway, he was on TV, and he was going over some scripture. and then I started reading this stuff, and like wow, this is just what he was saying. I felt like this was confirmation.

If we do not divide the word rightly, then it will be misunderstood, and misinterpreted. I know through the years I have changed my mind about some of the stuff I thought I knew, to line up with what was there when it was opened to me. I love those light bulb moments when the scripture really comes to life.

So I am very glad for this.:)

:praying that we glean the truth out of this to help us grow to be more like Jesus.:pray

[Sing4Him]

I recommend William R. Newell's book on Revelation. (given to me by a very special dear friend :hug)

Have you read it?? :thumb

[BlessedinHim]

I recommend William R. Newell's book on Revelation. (given to me by a very special dear friend :hug)

Have you read it?? :thumb

No, I havent, I will have to look into that.:)

[BlessedinHim]

Infinitely Above -- All the while the Lord Jesus’ heavenly Gospel in content and position is infinitely above the Kingdom Gospel that He shared with earthly Israel—which they rejected.

Those who do not center in the truths which the ascended Lord communicated directly to Paul will not know who and where they are in Christ, nor what their portion is in the purpose of the Father. Neither will they know their privileges and responsibilities. Those who are ignorant of, and hence not centered in, the Pauline Gospel as set forth exclusively in his Church Epistles, are constantly astray in their interpretation of the Gospel, to say nothing of all-important Church truth.

“Few are restful and enlightened enough to ascend from earth to heaven, and therefore there are so few who can descend from heaven to earth to manifest the Lord Jesus and to share His mind and thoughts as regards things here. The great secret of all blessing is to come from the Lord. Every Christian goes to Him.” —J.B. Stoney

If Paul’s Gospel were not other than that of Jesus’ earthly Kingdom Gospel, he would naturally have been instructed by the Apostles who had been with and taught by Jesus all during His earthly ministry. On the contrary, the Apostles had to be indoctrinated by Paul concerning most of the new-creation truth.

“…even as our beloved brother, Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his Epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:15, 16). Be warned, all ye who would wrest, rather than rest and rightly divide! There is a heavy penalty involved in forsaking Pauline Dispensationalism for Covenant Theology, or even Neo-Dispensationalism.

“The sublimest truths are still needed to enforce the simplest responsibilities. As the laws which mould the stars and move the gigantic orbs of Saturn and Uranus in their tremendous circuits shape the dew-drop that glistens at the end of a blade of grass, so should everything in the Christian’s life be regulated by the principles which lie in the Person and Cross of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ. To isolate Christian morality from Christian theology is to rend asunder the teachings of the Pauline Epistles, as to their deepest and most vital elements.” —W.G. Scroggie

“The laws of the Kingdom are not required to be combined with the teachings of Grace, since every item within those laws which could have any present application, is exactly and amply stated in the Pauline teachings of Grace.” —Chafer (Grace, p. 233)

“If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, unto which thou hast attained” (1 Tim. 4:6).

[BlessedinHim]

PAULINE GOSPEL
Miles J. Stanford


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWELL KNEW! -- Dr. Wm. R. Newell well knew the scriptural difference between Jesus' Kingdom Gospel to Israel, and His heavenly Grace Gospel to the Church.
Saul already stood in clearer light regarding the ascended Lord Jesus than did the other Apostles; for they had known Him primarily in His humiliation, and they were messengers to Israel, of whom is Christ "as concerning the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more" (2 Cor. 5:16).

But Saul's first vision of Christ was as the glorified One, the Eternal Son of God, in blinding ascension glory. Paul, we may say, never saw aught after his conversion "but the glory of that light" that burst into his life from the glorified Lord. See Acts 22:11; Phil. 3:7-10).

We do not mean that the other Apostles did not recognize Jesus as Son of God. They had, long since (Matt. 16:16; John 1-14; 2:11; 20:28, etc.). But their first testimony at Jerusalem and to Israel had been of the Messiahship and Lordship of Jesus as Israel's King.

But Paul received his teaching from heaven, from the Lord Jesus Christ, rather than from Jesus on earth in His Jewish connections. Paul had been so completely taken out of Judaism [it may have taken awhile to get the Judaism out of him] and all connections with "old things" that the Jews would never acknowledge him again.

And the Jewish Christians constantly misunderstood Paul [even as they do now]. Today the "Messianic Jews" naturally gravitate to Jesus' Kingdom Gospel in the Synoptics--as do many others! Such liberty as Paul had come into was totally unknown before [and has been all too little known since!]." (Paul vs. Peter, pp. 11,12).

Paul had no connection whatever with the Apostles before him, whether in his conversion or in the revelation of the heavenly Gospel to him. "I went up [to Jerusalem] by revelation, and communicated unto them that Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles" (Gal. 2:2). The Lord Jesus, according to His [Kingdom] Gospel, said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 15:24).

"But of these who seemed to be somewhat (whatever they were, it maketh no matter to me; God accepteth no man's person)--for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me. But, on the contrary, when they saw that the Gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the Gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter ...they gave to me ...the right hands of fellowship" (Gal. 2:6,7,9).

The heart of the Pauline Gospel is that the old Adam life is condemned in death (not forgiven), and another Adam--even the glorified Lord Jesus--is given to us as our Christian life, by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Father identified us with Christ on the Cross, making us positionally dead unto sin, and alive unto God in Christ. "I have been crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20).

"But God forbid that I should glory, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation." "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation" (Gal. 6:14,15; 2 Cor. 5:17).

"All is to us a new creation. It is not a new creature. A butterfly is a new creature; it is not a new creation. But the new man is not the old man changed or renovated [reformed] ; he is a new creation of the Father (2 Cor. 5:17)."

[graceforme]

Being a devoted dispensationalist myself, I have found the comments on this thread to be interesting, and I'd only like to expound on what has been said, and maybe add some insight to the information given.

"Rightly dividing" the Word is so simple. It means recognizing that while God never changes, the way He has dealt with mankind throughout the ages HAS changed. Simply reading the Bible will reveal that this is true. The "Mystery", or progressive revelation is the observation that God did not give all revelation or information at one time, but instead He has gradually revealed information throughout history. It goes like this - God, in his divine prerogative, gave new revelation to man as time progressed. Thus, Noah knew more than Adam did because Noah knew everything that Adam knew, plus Noah received new information from God. Moses knew more than Noah did, because He knew everything Noah knew, plus God gave him some new information. As time moves forward God gives new revelation, or information, to mankind. The resurrected Jesus Christ gave some information to Paul through divine revelation that had not been revealed to mankind previously. Therefore, Paul knew everything that the disciples knew, plus new information that was given to him. He didn't get this information from the disciples. They didn't have this information. In Galatians 1:11-12 Paul states, "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." He goes on to say that God revealed His Son in Paul, that he might preach him among the heathen, and that he conferred not with flesh and blood.

One mistake that many groups make is that they attempt to read the four Gospels and the book of Acts and adopt their doctrine from these books. Now, before everyone gets all upset, consider this. Jesus Christ came to minister to the Jewish nation. He raised up Paul to minister to the Gentile nation. Peter and the other disciples continued to minister to the Jewish nation. They didn't know about the dispensation of grace - it had not ocurred when Christ was involved in his earthly ministry.

There is a wonderful little booklet called "Questions and Answers About Dispensationalism." by David W. Reid

This booklet and many other publications can be ordered from

www.graceimpact.org

There is also a lot of valuable information concerning dispensationalism on this site and also

www.bereanbiblesociety.org

2 Timothy 2:15 says, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
(emphasis mine)

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." "Perfect in this context simply means "spiritually mature."

While we firmly believe that we can learn from ALL scripture, it is clear that not all Scripture is written TO us or ABOUT us in this dispensation of grace. I can learn so much about faithfulness and obedience from the story of Noah, but I won't be building an ark anytime in the near future. So, it's clear that God's instructions to Noah do not apply to me today.

The basic 3-fold dispensational outline in the Bible is as follows:

Time Past (Man under Law) Genesis thru mid-Acts
But Now (Man under grace) Mid -Acts and Romans thru Philemon
Ages to Come (the prophetic kingdom) Hebrews thru Revelation

The book of Acts is simply a transition book, yet many churches adopt almost their entire doctrine from it.

Careful study of the Pauline epistles show these general divisions:

Romans, Corinthians, and Galations contain instructions for Christian life.
Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians contain deeper doctrinal issues.
Thessalonians contains information about the rapture and our hope.
Timothy deals with the congregation. This includes Pastoral instruction.
Titus and Philemon are doctrinal books (practice and persuasion)

Look at the divisions in the book of Romans:

Chapter 1-5 deal with salvation issues
Chapter 6&7 deal with sanctification issues
Chapter 8 deals with the security of believers
Chapter 9-11 deals with dispensational issues - what happend to the nation
of Israel.
Chapter 12-16 deals with the practical application of doctrine that has been
presented.

I guess what I'm trying to say is the dispensationalism is not some weird, "far out" cult of strange believers. We simply believe in keeping what God has given us simple, unlike many denominations who have made the salvation issue so complicated that people turn away, simply because they feel they can't "measure up." They are trying to "maintain" their salvation by living under the Law. And it's impossible. Romans clearly tells us that if we attempt to live by the Law and break even one, we have broken them all.
The Law was given to show man that he needed a Savior. I praise God that He provided a way for us to be forgiven and secure in our salvation.

I have been attacked on some other message boards because of my beliefs. I would like to emphasize that dispensationalists firmly believe and teach that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to salvation. And that living in the freedom of grace does not mean that we can live any lifestyle. We are called to live holy lives, be Bereans, and allow Christ to live His resurrected life through us. Yes, we have left the Law of Moses behind, but we are led by something much stronger - sincere love and gratitude to Jesus Christ for what He has done for us on the Cross, and by the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Resting in peace (but more alive than ever)
graceforme

[graceforme]

Also, I would like to highly recommend the following books for anyone who still has questions:

"Our Great Commission" (with bible index) by C.R. Stam\
"Exploring the Unsearchable Riches of Christ" by Paul M. Sadler

All of these and many others that clearly explain dispensationsalism are available through the web site www.bereanbiblesociety.org

[BlessedinHim]

Also, I would like to highly recommend the following books for anyone who still has questions:

"Our Great Commission" (with bible index) by C.R. Stam\
"Exploring the Unsearchable Riches of Christ" by Paul M. Sadler

All of these and many others that clearly explain dispensationsalism are available through the web site www.bereanbiblesociety.org

which dispensationalism? The one began by Paul in the bible, or the one that began in the 1800's?

[BlessedinHim]

OH , wonderful post up there. I have much more to post. I started this thread to learn and help others learn about the Pauline Doctrine, that which he got from God. I read your very last post and then I read your other post when I had scrolled up and saw that you had made a huge post. You seem to have a good grasp on Pauline doctrine from what you wrote and from what I have learned so far. I am just now learning about all this. to me, dividing the word was somewhat of a mystery until just recently, this past week. The word has been opened up in a way it never was before. I knew part of it was written to the Jews, and part to the gentiles, you know general hermeneutics. Now that I have the boundaries surveyed to me, wow!!!

[tekton]

Forgive me if I've missed the obvious (I haven't had my coffee yet) but lets say I have two friends, one a Jew one a Gentile. I'm going to witness to my two friends, according to Pauline Dispensationalism do I witness to the Jew with one Gospel and the Gentile with another? If they both accept Christ will one receive kingdom promises and the other grace promises? Or is the dispensation of the kingdom gospel past and the gospel of grace for everyone?