How to make sense of the differences in the Bible

[Todd]

Introduction
When a person receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, he, with the Lord, also receives a desire to know more about his salvation and the one who saved him (John 15:26). This desire causes the new believer, possibly for the very first time in his life, to open the Holy Bible in a serious attempt to learn what God has to say. Once in the Scriptures the believer soon realizes that the Bible speaks of much more than just personal salvation and Christ dying on the cross; it speaks of God's whole program for His entire creation from eternity to eternity. It reveals what God wants man to know about God Himself, His creation, and His purpose with His creation. Unless the believer understands this and divides the Bible accordingly (2 Tim. 2:15), he may become overwhelmed by its vast scope and perplexed by its differences. All the Bible's major differences can be reconciled with some study (sometimes very little), but if the believer neglects to study and sort these differences out, he will cheat himself out of understanding not only God's plan and purpose for man in general, but also for himself in particular.
However, even though the Bible is in some areas complex and interwoven, one notable indication that it is the very word of God is the most vital and important subjects found in it are easy to understand. God has purposely made the crucial subjects of sin, man's accountability to God, Christ's substitutionary death, and personal salvation so simple a small child can understand them. He made these matters clear and easy to comprehend so any person wanting the truth about them could by faith act upon them and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as his salvation. These clear yet vital doctrines are referred to as the "simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3). Though the more complex subjects reveal more of the mind and intentions of God, knowledge of them is not necessary for one to be saved.

Needless to say, the Bible contains both simplicity and complexity by God's direction. He wanted to provide a salvation so simple that a person could understand it and get saved after only being presented with the gospel once (Acts 10:43-44, 16:31, etc.), but He also wanted some other matters more detailed and complex so one would have to labor in the Scriptures a certain degree to sort them out. In this respect some Bible subjects are so mysterious and far-ranging in their scope that no one yet has done much more than scratch the surface of the treasures within them, let alone fully grasp them. Sometimes the Lord even spoke in "parables" to purposely confound those who listen to His words with the wrong "heart" or attitude: those who don't have "ears to hear" (Matt. 13:9-15).

If a person reads the Bible very much at all he is soon confronted with various laws, judgments, ordinances, commandments, doctrines, kingdoms, covenants, testaments, dispensations, gospels, priesthoods, feasts, tribes, churches, etc., and begins to see some of the Bible's complexity. He is further introduced to events known as the Exodus, Israel's Captivity, Daniel's Seventieth Week, the Rapture, the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Tribulation, the Millennium, the White Throne Judgment, the New Heaven and New Earth, etc., that add even more to its broad variety of topics.

Once a reader gets to this point questions usually arise: Where do all these subjects belong? Do they all apply to everyone in every age? Does every precept mentioned in the Bible apply doctrinally to a Christian? What about the doctrines that appear to contradict each other? Is salvation exactly the same in every age? How is one to account for the differences? With this book we will show that the major differences in the Bible can be reconciled by rightly dividing it into dispensations and keeping the different doctrines found in the dispensations in their proper place.

In 2 Timothy 2:15 the Holy Spirit states His word has divisions and the "workman" must "study" to "rightly" divide them. When a believer obeys God's word and with study finds these divisions and applies the truths found in them to their proper place, much of the Bible's complexity disappears and many of its alleged contradictions vanish. Furthermore, many of the different manners, methods, and doctrines in the Bible which often trouble people are reconciled, and the believer begins to see the "big picture" of what God is doing.

Since properly understanding the Bible's divisions is the key to being sound in doctrine and making sense of its differences, failure to do so can lead to dangerous heresies and spiritual chaos. When a preacher or any other believer fails to rightly divide the Bible and discern its differences, he will nearly always end up wresting it. This is one reason there are so many "Christian" cults today. Instead of rightly dividing the Bible, they ignore some or all of its divisions and produce a religious system that is littered with heresies, some of them deadly. When a person takes a precept or doctrine peculiar to one dispensation and forces it to apply doctrinally to another, he ends up with a heresy every time. He may quote several Bible verses to "prove" his doctrine, but it is still a lie once it is divorced from its corresponding dispensation.

In view of this, it is essential that every believer keep in mind that God spoke the words recorded in the Bible in "sundry times and diverse manners" (Heb. 1:1): to different people at different times. Thus the Scriptures were not written only for believers in the present Church Age, they were written for believers (and unbelievers) of all the ages. In short, the Bible was written FOR everyone for their learning (Rom. 15:4) but not addressed TO everyone in every age for doctrine. True, every verse in the Bible applies doctrinally somewhere, but many verses found in it do not apply doctrinally today. Of course, any Bible passage can be used inspirationally in any dispensation to help teach a present truth, but doctrine is another matter. For instance, most will agree the laws God gave to Israel through Moses do not apply doctrinally to Christians. The Israelites had strict religious, social, and dietary laws they had to comply with (Lev. ch. 1-15), but none of these laws, as laws, apply to believers today (Col. 2:14). A Jew at that time even had to have a human priest to work in his behalf towards God; today, every Christian is a priest himself (1 Peter 2:9). If one doesn't rightly divide the word of truth he can't help but wrest it, no matter how "sincere and devoted" he is.

Concerning the dividing of the Bible into dispensations, even the most liberal Bible readers (who often criticize "dispensationalism") will acknowledge at least one division in the Scriptures: the division between Malachi and Matthew dividing to Old from the New Testament. This division is so obvious that even an atheist can find it. Anyone who has read the Bible much at all knows the Old Testament is different from the New Testament and by doing so he admits to two dispensations. This makes him a "dispensationalist" whether he refers to himself as one or not. If these critics would study their Bibles a little more and believe what they read, they would find at least six more important divisions, each one revealing vital lessons.

A very large work would be required for one to try to exhaustively categorize and reconcile every difference found in the Bible, thus this is well beyond the scope of this relatively small book. The main purpose of this book is to present to the reader in a concise manner the principal and most important divisions of the Bible by examining its covenants and dispensations.

In addition, since the subject of personal salvation from sin is the most important and relevant issue to a sinner in any dispensation (and also probably the subject that causes the most debate and controversy among professing Christians today), we will also look at the dispensations from this perspective. In the first chapter we will briefly examine each covenant and its accompanying dispensation, noting the major elements of each; then in the following chapters we will take on the crucial subject of personal salvation in the different dispensations and examine the differences between them in this context.

 

[Todd]

The Covenants and The Dispensations
Over the centuries believers have developed several methods of studying the Bible. Some study it systematically by topic, others use an inductive or deductive method to arrive at conclusions, still others divide the Bible into "stages" or sections to make it more manageable, many study guides outline studies by book, chapter, or topic, and yet others study it dispensationally. Although there is merit in all of these methods, studying the Bible dispensationally with the covenants marking the divisions is the easiest and surest way one can see the various systems God has placed in the Scriptures and get a sufficient understanding of what He is doing. The Bible's divisions do not neatly divide between books, chapters, or subjective "stages," so the best method to get the overall picture of God's program is to study the Bible using its own terms of "covenant" and "dispensation," letting them mark the divisions.
Defining the Terms
A covenant is generally defined as a mutual agreement between two parties. In the Scriptures some covenants are unconditional and continue regardless of the conduct of man, while others are conditioned on obedience. Each covenant God makes with man (with few exceptions) marks the beginning of a new dispensation. The dispensation carries on the doctrines God established with the covenant.
Another word for covenant in the Bible is "testament," thus the 27 books known as the New Testament proclaim the new covenant God has made with man through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Technically, much of the first four books of the New Testament (the gospels) refer to events that occurred under the old covenant of the Law, but the atonement Christ made with his death and resurrection as revealed in the gospels made possible the new covenant of grace in effect today.

A dispensation is usually defined as a "period of time" in which God works with and in His people in a particular way, but this is only partially true. Calling a dispensation primarily a period of time will not bear up under close scrutiny of the Scriptures. In the Bible the term "dispensation" refers to a manner, method, or particular arrangement of dealing with people God has chosen to dispense during a period of time, not the time period itself. Usually the length of time is not emphasized or even mentioned, it is the doctrines God has established to be valid during that time that distinguishes one dispensation from another. In short, a dispensation is a certain mode of testing God has dispensed to man, while a covenant is a contract or promise between God and man.

The term "dispensation" is found four times in the Scriptures (1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10, 3:2; Col. 1:25), and each passage makes it clear that God is dispensing something. In Eph. 3:2 it is "grace" itself that is dispensed, not a period of time called the "grace of God." God revealed through Paul how He was dispensing His grace to all men by making a free salvation available to them in Jesus Christ. This is contrasted with the Dispensation of the Law where God gave mainly law (though grace can be readily found in every dispensation). Under the Law obedience was demanded, obey the laws and live; break them and die (Gal. 3:10-13). In this Church Age of Grace, however, it is not obey the law but only receive Christ to be saved. In a nutshell, God simply uses covenants and dispensations to deal with man in different manners under different circumstances to teach and show him things about himself and his Creator.

 

[Todd]

The Edenic Covenant and The Dispensation of Innocence
Obviously, all things begin with God, and God's dealings with man began the moment He created Adam. Genesis chapters 1-3 tell us God didn't create Adam to only lounge in a beautiful garden, He gave him specific commands to obey and jobs to occupy him. This contract between God and Adam is the first covenant between God and any man; it is commonly known as the Edenic Covenant. In this covenant God supplied Adam with many blessings, among them life, a perfect body, a perfect environment, a world without pain, hunger, sickness or death, and also a wife. All Adam (and Eve) had to do was to keep six conditions God had laid down to keep the covenant in effect with all its blessings. God told them to:
1. Multiply and replenish the earth (Gen. 1:28).

2. Subdue the earth for their use (Gen. 1:28).

3. Exercise dominion over the animal creation (Gen. 1:28).

4. Have only a vegetable diet (Gen. 1:29).

5. Dress and keep the garden they were put in (Gen. 2:15).

6. Abstain from eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:17).

This covenant remained in force until Adam broke it by eating of the forbidden tree. God kept his part but man did not keep his. A trend that will sadly continue through every dispensation.

The Edenic Covenant introduced the Dispensation of Innocence. The doctrines or requirements God established with the Edenic Covenant (above) expressed the kind of behavior He desired from Adam while it was in force. Remember, a covenant is an agreement or contract between God and man, it may be conditional (as this covenant) or unconditional. On the other hand a dispensation is the particular method of dealing WITH man God works under (the doctrines He has dispensed to be valid during that time), and the manner of behavior He requires OF man during the time period which began with a covenant.

The Dispensation of Innocence is so named because Adam was created as an innocent creature and had no natural inclination towards evil or righteousness. Although Adam was not a "sinner" until he ate of the tree of knowledge, neither was he righteous in God's sight. He was merely an innocent, untested creature who had no evil in him to separate him from God, nor any righteousness in him to commend him to God. Before he fell Adam was in a kind of moral "limbo" which God apparently never intended him to stay in long.

Some believers mistakenly believe the condition Adam was in at creation is the position a born again believer has before God in this present dispensation. They think salvation only puts them back like Adam was before the fall; that is, in an innocent state. If this were true a Christian could lose his salvation! Adam fell from his innocent position! This is a good example of failure to properly divide the Scriptures, and the Christians who hold this view are robbing themselves of some of the most precious truths concerning New Testament salvation. More on this later.

With this case of Adam alone we can already see how dispensations differ from each other. There is very little the Dispensation of Innocence has in common with any other dispensation. Nowhere in the dispensations of Family, Law, Grace, etc., does God command anyone to subdue the earth, keep a garden, eat only vegetables, or not eat of a certain tree. These doctrines were valid ONLY as long as the covenant and following dispensation were in force. When Adam broke the covenant, its doctrines were superseded by the next one.

When Adam ate of the Tree of Knowledge he died spiritually (Eph.2:1) and acquired an evil nature, but God in an act of mercy and grace did not yet allow him to die physically. His body did begin on its trek toward the grave, but God quickly made another covenant with Adam which contained a promise of ultimate deliverance.

 

[Todd]

The Adamic Covenant and The Dispensation of Conscience
When Adam ate of the forbidden tree at the bidding of his wife, they both acquired something they before thought desirable but soon turned out to be a curse; that is, knowledge. After Adam ate they both quickly learned the knowledge they obtained was quite different from what the Serpent represented it to be. It was not just "knowledge" for knowledge's sake, but the knowledge of EVIL. Contrary to many not all knowledge is beneficial. There are some things a person should not try to learn or seek after, and the greatest of these is a knowledge of evil (Rom. 16:19; 1 Co. 14:20). It is the knowledge of evil that condemned Adam and Eve to death, and it is the same that separates one child who is accountable for his actions from another who is not. In fact, it is the knowledge of evil or sin that condemns every man as a sinner, and every person born of Adam inherits the capacity for this knowledge. That the Serpent deceived Eve and led her to think all knowledge was desirable is immaterial. Adam knew exactly what God said; he made his choice for Eve knowing they both would die (1 Tim 2:14).
After he ate, Adam knew at least three things he didn't know before. He knew he had eaten of the forbidden tree and would die; he knew he had broken God's covenant; and he knew he was naked. This new knowledge caused him to feel fear and guilt for the first time and these in turn caused him to flee from God's presence. In spite of Adam's blatant sin, God did not abandon him. Though the Edenic Covenant was now broken, God did not cast aside His new creation. By His foreknowledge and grace He made another covenant with Adam, and unlike the first one this covenant was unconditional and is still in effect today. It is called the Adamic Covenant.

Knowing the end from the beginning and the whole scheme of events He would allow to follow, God made such a far-ranging covenant with Adam, including all of his descendants, that it remains fully valid with its effects still felt today. This covenant testifies to all mankind the willing act of disobedience their father Adam performed in a garden so long ago. This covenant, given to Adam and Eve before they were expelled from the presence of the Tree of Life, is composed of several curses and a promise. The curses affect all three parties involved in the sin.

1. The Serpent, which was the fleshy tool of Satan, was cursed to crawl upon the ground and eat dust (Gen. 3:14). This curse remains in effect through the Millennium (Isa. 65:25).

2. a. As for the woman, she was to have multiplied conception. One reason for this is because the earth will be harder to fill with people with the entrance of death.

b. She also was to bear children in sorrow. She is going to have more children but will have to bear them in sorrow because she is bringing another "sinner" into the world.

c. Thirdly, the woman will have a desire for her husband and will be in subjection to him (Gen. 3:16).

3. As for the man, first of all the ground that so freely gave forth its fruit was cursed. Man must now till the ground in sorrow and sweat and endure weeds that will choke and weaken his crops. Then, after a life of labor and toil, he must pay for his sin in the garden and physically die, returning to the earth he worked (Gen. 3:17-19).

Man has spent the last six millennia trying to undo everyone of these curses (with drugs, chemicals, technology, etc.) with only superficial success, but, of course, the curse he is most desperately trying to stop is death. Ever since Adam man has sought ways to overcome death or at least delay it for even a short period (Satan knows this well, Job 2:4), but eventually death wins out. The death rate remains 100%. God cannot be beaten, what He has cursed is cursed. These curses will not be completely lifted until the renovation of the earth by fire after the Millennium.

Among these sorrowful curses, however, God has thrown in a precious promise (Gen. 3:15). Its purpose was to show mankind what kind of God the Lord is and to show him He will provide a means of deliverance that can ultimately release him from the curses. The promise (which was actually addressed to the Serpent) was the "seed" of the woman (Christ) would bruise the head of the Serpent (a mortal blow) while the seed of the Serpent (the Beast) will bruise the woman's seed's heel. To Adam (and to those many centuries after him) this likely meant that a future "seed," born of a woman, would somehow redeem them and destroy the Serpent in the process, releasing them from his bondage. This is apparently all that was revealed to Adam about a future redeemer. There is nothing mentioned about a "cross" or a "new birth," all he knew was somebody was promised to come. Anyway, by God's grace Adam now had a hope to look forward to, even though he remained joined to sin and death.

Although the Dispensation of Conscience, began with the Adamic Covenant, it does not last as long as the covenant. It is replaced by another dispensation when Noah departs the ark; long before the end of the Millennium. Here is an important lesson: even though a covenant usually introduces a particular dispensation, the covenant and dispensation do not have to end together. A covenant can still be in effect long after its original dispensation has been replaced. Unconditional covenants can overlap each other or be in effect simultaneously, but by strict definition dispensations can not. This should become clearer as we go along.

The Dispensation of Conscience is so named because during this period man had nothing to guide him but his conscience. God did not give any specific commands to anyone during this dispensation. There were no "thou shalts" or "thou shalt nots;" God just left man to his own heart to guide him. Needless to say, man utterly failed in following his conscience. For the most part he hardened it and became extremely wicked. This wickedness was the cause of the flood (Gen. 6).

Some may ask here, "How could God hold them accountable for being wicked when He gave them no specific laws to keep?" The answer is man has an unwritten law written in his heart or conscience (Rom. 2:14-15). Though this law is vague compared to a written or verbal law, it will still convict a person of guilt when he contemplates evil. For instance, when Cain slew his brother Abel, he did not break any written law against murder because none was yet given, but he did break the law God had written in his heart and was therefore guilty. Like his father, Cain had a knowledge of good and evil, and he willingly chose evil. Every accountable person even today, no matter where he is, knows murder, adultery, stealing, and the like are wrong whether he has heard of the word of God or not. These laws are embedded into every man's conscience, but the conscience imparts no power to keep man from breaking it.

Man's responsibility in the Dispensation of Conscience (and to those in every other dispensation who have had no contact with the Scriptures) was to simply follow his conscience. If one listens carefully to his conscience, it will convict him of sin and lead him to God for salvation (Cornelius, for example, Acts 10). But if he doesn't listen to it and hardens it, all he has to look forward to is judgment. Since the people from Adam to Noah ignored their conscience and followed wickedness, God was forced to bring judgment—the flood. Man fails again.

 

[Todd]

The Noahic Covenant and The Dispensation of Human Government
When Noah left the ark after the flood, God made His third covenant with man; the Noahic Covenant (Gen. 8:20-9:17). Like the previous this covenant is also unconditional and lasts until the renovation of the earth by fire (2 Pet. 3:10). In many ways God is starting over with man. Having destroyed everyone except Noah and his family because of extreme wickedness, God sought to replenish the earth through Noah because Noah found grace in His eyes (Gen. 6:8). Like the others before, this covenant contains promises TO man and responsibilities required OF man. The promises were:
1. God would not curse the ground anymore or smite every living thing (Gen. 8:20).

2. He would not flood the earth again and destroy it (Gen. 9:11).

3. The seasons and day and night will not cease (Gen. 8:22).

4. He would set the sign of a (rain)bow in the clouds as a token of His covenant (Gen. 9:12).

These promises are valid and continue regardless of man's conduct, but God also had some requirements for man to follow:


1. He was to again multiply and replenish the earth (Gen. 9:1,7).

2. They were not to eat blood from any source (Gen. 9:4).

3. They were to exercise capital punishment upon man and beast (Gen. 9:5).

God also made two other statements related to this covenant:

1. Animals would fear and dread man (Gen. 9:2).

2. Animals were now available for food (Gen. 9:3).

Through the great object lesson of the flood, God showed humanity His hatred of sin. Though man often takes sin lightly, God proved He does not and will always ultimately punish iniquity. Also seen in this is God's long-suffering nature. The Lord will sometimes delay punishment to allow space for repentance. This is clear from the grace found in the above promises to Noah. God knows that because of the fall of Adam, every man is born inherently wicked. Because of this He will not smite the earth again in the same manner since He has made His will clearly known about sin with the flood. In the future He will destroy the Antichrist and all his followers at the second advent, but he will not destroy the earth itself until his great scheme of things concerning it is over, and then only with fire.

Much of man's obligations under this covenant are still in effect today and will continue until the elements melt with fervent heat (2 Pet. 3:10). The command against the eating of blood is also found in the New Testament (Acts 15:29) and capital punishment is still God's will even if many today ignore it (Rom. 13:4). Remember, the subject of capital punishment was first brought up by God. There is no record it was ever practiced before God made the command to Noah. It is solely His idea and shows the sanctity of human life and the consequences of taking it with malice. Under the law God gave more details concerning its implementation.

 

[Todd]

Rebellion at Babel
The primary responsibility of man in the Noahic Covenant was to "be fruitful and multiply and REPLENISH THE EARTH," but in this also he miserably failed. The earth's population did rapidly increase after the flood, but all the people stayed near an area later known as Babel. God wanted man to scatter and repopulate the whole earth, not remain in one area. The failure of man to do this brought upon him another judgment.
The descendants of Noah directly rebelled against the command to scatter and sought to stay united around a great city and tower in the plain of Shinar. In a few short years they also abandoned God in all their thoughts like those before the flood, and their greatest fear was not to displease God, but that they would be scattered. They thought safety was in numbers. It appears they built the city, with its tower, to act as a political, cultural, and religious center for them to gather around and become as a group, self-reliant. They thought they did not need any God and could "make the world a better place to live in" by themselves. God looked down and saw how they were one in language and purpose (what man says he strives for today), and how they were on the verge of making their imaginations real (likely with autos, airplanes, spacecraft, computers, or similar), and He decided to scatter them Himself.

God was not yet ready for man to advance in knowledge and technology as much as the people of Babel were capable of, so He did the simplest thing; He confounded their language. There were some vital lessons God wanted man to learn about himself and his Creator over the coming centuries before He would allow them to advance that far. Clearly, God is a segregator. The world at that time was determined to stay united and integrated, but God had other plans. The confounding of their language (certainly Hebrew) and resulting scattering was also a punishment for their disobedience. The different tongues made the respective groups unfamiliar with each other, and each language group became primarily occupied with getting and keeping territory, goods, and wealth from the other, now strange, groups. Building a one world empire was in the meanwhile forgotten. Most of the wars, famines, and other forms of suffering found throughout history are a direct result of the rebellion of the world at Babel.

The Dispensation of Human Government, which ran from Noah to Abraham, made man responsible for governing himself when he did wrong. God gave him very basic principles (listed above) to guide him in this, and man was required to keep them. Since man would not listen to his conscience and let it lead him to God, God made mankind as a whole responsible for punishing the sins of individuals and keeping iniquity in check. Of course, in this also man failed, but now he cannot come to God and say he wasn't given a chance to try! Instead of forming a government that was consistent with God and His commands, man developed one that was directly against him. As the one world, global, universal, United Nations, common market, Babel of today, the Babel of 4300 years ago was more concerned about unity and progress than about their sins and God.

Before we move on there is another covenant-like setup found in this dispensation between God and Noah's three sons (Gen. 9:20-29). After Noah heard the details of the above covenant, he planted a vineyard and became drunk from the wine it produced. While he was in this drunken state his son, Ham, came in unto him and saw his "nakedness." In other words Ham sodomized his father (Gen. 9:24; Lev. 18:6). When Noah recovered from his wine and realized what Ham had "done unto him," he cursed Ham's seed in the person of his son Canaan. He didn't curse Ham himself because God had previously blessed him (Gen. 9:1). Noah then continues to make a series of prophetic statements that may have been somewhat vague to his three sons (the fathers of the three races), but events that have occurred down through history since make them clearer to us.

1. Canaan (Ham's seed) is cursed to be a servant of his brethren (Shem and Japeth). Since the descendants of Ham moved south toward Africa, making him the father of the black race, this curse begins to fall into place. For millennia members of the black race have been slaves to other men.

2. Shem on the other hand is blessed. Noah said "blessed be the Lord God of Shem," and we learn later Shem is an ancestor of Abraham and the Lord Jesus Christ. God blessed the world with a Savior through Shem.

3. Japeth also is blessed, and he was to be enlarged and dwell in the former dwelling places (tents) of Shem. If at no other time, this has come to pass in the last 500 years. Thousands of Japethites (Europeans) crossed the Atlantic into North and South America, into dwelling places of Shemites.

These blessings and curse have come to pass in every detail. Shem is the religious race (every major religion came from him); Japeth is the worldly, materialistic race; and Canaan is their servant. Of course there are many individual exceptions to this, but racially they are consistent.

 

[Todd]

The Abrahamic Covenant and The Dispensation of Promise
Nine generations after Shem, Abraham was born. Abraham was about 75 years old and living in Ur of the Chaldees when God one day spoke to him. God, through His amazing grace, wanted to make another covenant with man and chose Abraham as His partner. The covenant He made with him was again unconditional and contained many promises (Gen 12:1-3). The only hint of a condition appears to be that Abraham had to forsake his home and family and go to a land God would show him. When Abraham obeyed and entered the land the promises became fixed. God promised to:
1. Make Abraham a great nation (vs. 2). This promise has been fulfilled both physically and spiritually. Physically through Isaac and Ishmael, spiritually through all those who have Abraham's faith (Gal. 3:7).

2. To bless him (vs. 2), and He did this also both physically (13:14-18) and spiritually (15:6).

3. To make his name great (vs. 2). Still today the name of Abraham is known and respected by millions.

4. Make him a blessing to others (vs. 2). Abraham blessed people in his own time and blessed humanity by his seed Jesus Christ.

5. To bless those who bless him (vs. 3).

6. And curse those who curse him (vs. 3). God has not only blessed those who blessed Abraham, but He also blessed those who blessed the nation that sprang from his loins, Israel. On the other hand, those who cursed Israel (Babylon, Assyria, Rome, Germany, etc.) must suffer. Some have suffered already, but these promises will not be completely fulfilled until the future.

7. Bless all the families of the earth in him (vs. 3). The fulfillment of this is Christ himself, who blesses all those who believe on Him with salvation and who will also physically bless all who are in the millennium.

Though this covenant is unconditional it does not apply universally to everyone. Doctrinally, it only applies to the Hebrew race through Isaac and Jacob (Israel). Gentiles can only get in on it by receiving Abraham's promised Seed—Jesus Christ. Those who refuse to receive Him, Jew or Gentile, will be judged by Him.

Like the Noahic Covenant this covenant also has a sign, and it is circumcision (Gen. 17:9-14). Circumcision is a token of the promises God has made to Abraham and his seed, and anyone who refused or neglected to accept it was cut off from his people and the promises (excommunication). Circumcision was the only obligation Abraham and his people had under this covenant. If they performed it by faith, they had full access to all the promises. God again reconfirmed this covenant in Genenis chapter 15 after Abraham "believed in the Lord..." and asked for more details. After Abraham offered five offerings as God commanded, the Lord again affirmed the covenant and revealed how Abraham's seed would be a stranger in a land (Egypt) and afflicted for 400 years. God also revealed the boundaries of the land given to Abraham. Moreover, God promised all of this to Abraham while Abraham was asleep! This proves the covenant is unconditional. God reconfirmed the covenant again after Abraham passed his severe but revealing test of offering Isaac (Gen. 22:15-18).

Another significant thing about this covenant is it apparently has no ending. It goes beyond the Millennium and renovation of the earth and even past the New Heaven and New Earth. Therefore, the nation of Israel, governed by its Messiah and King, will still be in existence at the gate of eternity.

The dispensation that began with this covenant is called the Dispensation of Promise for obvious reasons. For the first time God has made promises to one group of people at the exclusion of all others. From the time of Abraham on in the Old Testament, the only way someone other than an Israelite could partake of the promises was to become an Israelite himself (Ruth, for example [Ruth 1:16]). Again, the only way now is to receive Jesus Christ. By some this dispensation is called the Dispensation of the Family because everything God had to say to man He said to this one family. The promises He made to Abraham He reconfirmed to his son Isaac, his grand-son Jacob, and then to Jacob's sons, the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. The manner of behavior God expected in this dispensation is much like the previous except that He told Abraham to go to a certain land and stay there (Canaan).

Abraham obeyed in going to the land, but when a famine came and times got hard he fled into Egypt for food. He could not yet trust God enough to stay. This again shows the weakness and failure of man to live up to God's requirements. In every dispensation man in some way fails to keep God's word and consequently brings judgment upon himself.

Moreover, the character of the descendants of Abraham degenerated from that of Abraham. Even though Abraham was afraid and lied in Egypt about Sarah, Isaac seemed to lie more easily (Gen. 26:7). Jacob (meaning Deceiver or Supplanter) was even more blatant in sin. He lied, deceived, tricked, and schemed it appears without a second thought (Gen. 27:6-29). Likewise, his sons (with the exception of Joseph) were even more mixed up in vice and evil. From adultery with handmaids and harlots to murder and kidnapping (Gen. 34:25, 37:23-36, 38:12-18), they all seemed to think lightly of sin. The actions of everyone concerned, from Abraham on down, and the degeneration of the character of the family in each succeeding generation caused God to send Abraham's seed into Egypt and later into bondage. It was 430 years from the call of Abraham to the exodus from Egypt, the length of this dispensation.

 

[Todd]

The Mosaic Covenant and The Dispensation of the Law
By the time Moses was born, the 75 people that went with Jacob into Egypt had grown into millions. The new king that "knew not Joseph" put them into heavy bondage and eventually the Israelites began to cry upon the Lord for deliverance. God heard their cry and sent them a deliverer from among their own—Moses. Since the self-governing of man in the dispensations of Conscience and Promise failed, God established a highly comprehensive and detailed dispensation where He could rule man Himself from a central place of worship.
After revealing Himself to Moses in the wilderness, God sent Moses back into Egypt to free his brethren from their slavery. With great signs and wonders He performed through Moses, God forced Israel's release and brought the people across the Red Sea to make a nation out of them as He promised to Abraham. On their way to the promised land (Canaan), God established His covenant with them at Mt. Sinai, and this time the covenant is completely conditional. That is, for God to continue to do His part, the Israelites had to continue to do theirs. The bulk of this covenant is called "the law," a detailed list of rules and regulations concerning nearly every aspect of life. No longer were they to be guided only by their conscience or the opinions of other men, God had given them very specific WRITTEN commands which were easily understood and could be consulted at any time.

In Exodus 19:5-6 God, through Moses, lays the covenant before the people and tells them what He will do for them "if" they obey His voice. The people of one accord reply "All that the Lord has spoken we will do" (Ex. 19:8) and the covenant is sealed. In the next chapter God gives them the "Ten Commandments," and in much of the rest of Exodus, nearly all of Leviticus, and a good portion of Numbers and Deuteronomy, He reveals more requirements. This covenant can be broken into three parts:

1. The Moral Law (Ex. 20: 1-26, the Ten Commandments, etc.).

2. The Civil (or Judicial) Law (Ex. 21:1-24:18). This was the precepts of the judicial system for the punishment of crimes and settlement of disputes.

3. The Ceremonial Law (Ex. 25:1-40:38, etc.). This was in essence their religious system and included all the details of sacrifice and worship (the tabernacle, priesthood, offerings, etc.).

This covenant also has a sign: the sabbath day—the seventh day of the week (Saturday [Ex. 31:13-17]).

Here, we must remind the reader that this covenant was only between God and the Israelites. No part of it applied to any Gentile then and neither does it now. The moral law of God found in the Ten Commandments is a reflection of God's nature and is profitable for anyone in any dispensation, but doctrinally as given in Exodus and Deuteronomy they are binding only on the Jews. All of the commandments, excluding the fifth (the sabbath), can be found in some form in the New Testament, thus making their message apply also to born again Christians, but as they are found in the Mosaic Covenant, they apply ONLY to Israel.

As we have said much of the Scripture wresting that goes on today is a result of people not properly dividing the Scriptures and forcing doctrines from one dispensational arrangement into another. The Sabbath, for instance, is one that is today heavily abused. God clearly states in Ex. 31:13-17 that the Sabbath is to and for the children of Israel alone and binding on no one else. Some think since it is found in the Ten Commandments it is an "eternal" law to everyone, but as mentioned above, no one else was ever commanded to keep it. In fact a born again Christian is not commanded to set apart any particular day for worship, not even the Lord's day (Sunday). He is free to meet on any day he esteems best (Rom. 14:5). Most believers usually meet on the Lord's day, however, by following the examples found in the New Testament (Acts 20:7, etc.). Again, when one tries to place a doctrine peculiar to one dispensation into another he will always end up with heresy.

The Dispensation of the Law lasted from the exodus out of Egypt until the cross (around 1500 years), and God kept his part of the covenant despite many failures of the Israelites to keep theirs. Just a short period of time after they promised to obey it, the Jews rebelled against the Lord, but God graciously gave them many more chances to obey. When they rebelled against Moses over the bitter water, God made the water sweet (Ex. 15:25). When they murmured about the lack of food, God gave them manna for 40 years (Ex. 16). When they became idolaters and worshipped the golden calf, clearly breaking the covenant, God again had grace and mercy on them though He had a mind to do otherwise (Ex. 32).

Over the years God was very long-suffering with Israel and overlooked many of their transgressions. When Moses died God was gracious and gave them another leader, Joshua. When he died God gave them judges to lead them. When they sought to be like the heathen and wanted a king, God warned them against it but nevertheless gave them Saul. After Saul came a man after His own heart, David. After David, God gave them His wisdom through Solomon, and on and on. God gave His people every advantage and opportunity to love obey and serve Him as He desired, but the Jews were a stiff-necked and rebellious people. With a pitiful few short periods of semi-obedience and loyalty to their credit, the Jews were usually characterized by rebellion, immorality, and idolatry.

Though God was long-suffering with Israel, He would not put up with their rebellion forever, and after almost 1000 years His patience ran out. In the meantime He sent numerous prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc.) to warn them of what He was about to do if they didn't repent, but for the most part they either ignored them or persecuted them. God faithfully protected Israel from her enemies for centuries, but around 606 BC, because of their failure to return to Him, He let their enemies have them. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried the people into Babylon to again be slaves. Only after 70 years, after a new generation came along, did God allow them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild it under Ezra and Nehemiah. Though they rebuilt it with the purest of intentions, they again, over the next four centuries, degenerated and became so filled with unbelief, self-righteousness, and hatred that they did not even recognize their own promised Messiah when He walked among them (Jn. 1:10-11)! More than that they mercilessly persecuted and then crucified Him! So much for the humanistic notions there is "a spark of divinity in every man" or "man is basically good."

God has up to this point set up five different doctrinal arrangements with man, five different methods of testing and dealing with him, and man has miserably failed in every one!

 

[Todd]

The Davidic Covenant and The Dispensation of Grace
This covenant and dispensational arrangement is different from the others because the covenant is given nearly 1000 years before it and its accompanying dispensation go into effect. Instead of starting when it was first mentioned, this covenant is not fully in effect until David's seed comes along (Jesus Christ).
Once when Israel was at peace and David was at rest from his enemies, David wanted to do something for God and proposed building Him a permanent house (temple) to dwell in. Through Nathan the prophet God told David He did not yet want a house, but appreciated the thought (1 Ki. 8:18), and He then told David He was going to make a house out of HIM.

God made three promises to David in this unconditional covenant found in 2 Sam. 7:4-17:

1. That his house (posterity) would never cease (vs. 12-13).

2. That his throne will never be completely destroyed and continue forever (vs. 13, 16).

3. That his earthly kingdom will also continue forever through his promised seed (vs. 13, 16).

In some respects this covenant could be speaking of Solomon as the seed, but Solomon's reign ended in apostasy (1 Kings 11), thus another seed of David must be the ultimate fulfillment—the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the only person who can possibly fulfill it. He is the seed of Adam, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David, and he is the only person in history who fulfills the more than sixty other prophesies God had given concerning the "seed." Before Christ was born the angel Gabriel told Mary the son to be born of her was to be the "son of the highest" (God), the "son of David" (man), and He would reign on David's throne forever (Luke 1:30-33). This covenant, like the Abrahamic Covenant continues to the gate of eternity.

Since the fulfillment of this covenant is Jesus Christ, and God is going to keep all of His promises to David in Christ, the covenant did not come into effect until Christ was born. That no seed of David has reigned in Jerusalem since the Babylonian captivity has nothing to do with the fulfillment of this covenant. It is not until after Israel's full chastisement for rejecting Christ is completed (Tribulation) that Christ comes as a King to reign on David's throne (Millennium). Christ came the first time as a Servant and sacrificial Lamb; the second time He will come as a Warrior and King.

The dispensation ushered in by the Davidic Covenant is our present Dispensation of Grace. Again, that this dispensation is named grace does not mean that God's grace cannot be found in the other dispensations, only that it is more prevalent and visible in this one. God often had mercy and grace on many in the past (Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, etc.), but now He freely offers His saving grace to everyone through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Technically, this dispensation does not begin with Christ's birth but with his death and resurrection. It extends from the cross to the calling up of all believers, dead or alive, at the rapture. (1 Thes. 4:13-18). In some ways this is a parenthetical dispensation because it is in the form of a mystery and sandwiched between the two Jewish dispensations of Law and the Millennium.

The subject of this dispensation is a group called "the church" or "the body of Christ." The Church is the mystery referred to in Eph. 3:3-9 and is so named because God had not revealed in the Old Testament that He was going to form such an organism, especially from both Jews and Gentiles. The New Testament tells us God's purpose in the Church is to gather a "people for His name" from all humanity, Jew and Gentile, in Jesus Christ to (among other things) become Christ's bride. "Whosoever will" can become a member of this living organism by simply repenting and by faith receiving the risen Jesus Christ into his heart. No works are required to obtain or keep this eternal salvation; all one must have is Jesus Christ in him. Christ has promised to freely come into and save all who will admit they are sinners, abandon all other means of salvation, and trust Him alone as Savior.

In this dispensation God is no longer dealing with man primarily as nations but as individuals. Every individual can have a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ and he does not have to go through any priest or religious system to receive atonement for his sins. Israel, as a nation, has been placed on a "back burner" because of their blindness, but individual Jews can be saved just the same as Gentiles until this dispensation ends. The "Church of God" is a distinct body from both Jews and Gentiles and has many blessings these two groups don't enjoy. God has poured many extremely rich blessings upon the saved of this dispensation that He has not given to those of any other. Even those saved in future dispensations do not have many of the precious treasures the Body of Christ has now. For example:

1. The new birth (regeneration [Tit. 3:5, etc.]). There is no clear, biblical proof that the new birth is valid in any other dispensation (More on this later).

2. A completed atonement (described under the salvation doctrines propitiation and redemption [Heb. 9:12; 1 Jn. 2:2]). Until Christ's death salvation was "on credit."

3. Eternal and everlasting life that the believer cannot loose (described under the salvation doctrines justification, adoption, reconciliation, imputation, etc. [John 3:16, 5:24; etc.])

4. Salvation by faith alone, no works at all required to obtain or keep it (Eph 2:8-9; etc.).

5. The indwelling Holy Spirit who comforts, empowers, and seals believers (Eph. 4:30).

6. A position in Christ's Body and Bride (Eph. 5:30-32).

7. The promise of a supernatural body like Christ's resurrection body (Phil. 3:21).

8. A future mansion in the New Jerusalem (John 14:1-3).

Clearly, born again Christians, by no value of their own, have been given more blessings and promises than any other group of saved people, all by the good pleasure and pure grace of God. Why God selected this group to shower these amazing privileges on is fully known only by Him, but how much more should we who are saved and partake of them obey God's wishes with love and thanksgiving?

The obligation of believers during this dispensation is simple and direct. Each believer is to:

1. Evangelize by preaching the gospel of the grace of God to every creature (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15).

2. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and let Him direct his every thought and action (Gal. 5:16; Eph.5:18).

3. Present himself as a living sacrifice for God's service and separate himself from the world (Rom. 12:1-2).

Whether the believer obeys or disobeys these duties has nothing to do with his salvation, but disobedience will cost him rewards and crowns at the Judgment Seat of Christ where every believer will give account of himself to God (Rom. 14:10).

Even with the multitude of great blessings and privileges God has showered upon believers in Christ, this dispensation still ends in failure. Their failure was hinted at by Christ before the cross. He said when He returned the times would then be like the days of Noah thousands of years earlier (Matt. 24:37-39), characterized by unrestrained rebellion, wickedness, and apostasy. With all God has given believers in this present dispensation, they have again willingly refused to consistently do as He commanded.

Soon Christ will return and secretly take away all the Christians to Heaven and judgment and let the world continue, then even faster, toward its destiny of destruction.

 

[Todd]

The Tribulation Period
Sometime after the rapture, possibly immediately or maybe years later, the Tribulation Period will began. In Jer. 30:6 this period is called "the time of Jacob's trouble" because God is going to judge Israel as a nation by allowing Satan to "trouble" them (through the Antichrist) for rejecting Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Though Satan will have his own reasons for punishing the Jews, God will allow him to do it because they said concerning Christ "crucify him, crucify him" (John 19:6) and "his blood be on us and on our CHILDREN" (Matt. 27:25). God simply gives them their request. This is the time period Christ was referring to when He said, "...for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matt. 24:21). It will be disaster and sorrow on such a scale that the strongest men will hide in caves and beg for death (Rev. 6:15-16).
When Christ said, "I am come in my father's name, and ye receive me not, if another will come in his own name him ye will receive" (John 5:44), He was speaking of the coming Antichrist (also called "the Beast," "the man of sin," the "abomination of desolation," etc.). This evil character is second only to Christ as to the amount of information the Bible gives him. Daniel tells us he will make a covenant with Israel (Dan. 9:27) for "seven weeks" (years) and then break it in the middle (at 42 months). Many Jews will think him to be their Messiah until he breaks the covenant and demands to be worshipped as the God of Heaven (2 Thes. 2:4). When the Jews refuse, the Beast (now Satan incarnate) will persecute them with a fierce vengeance. He will slaughter millions of them (and also Gentiles who refuse to worship his image or take his mark—666, Rev. 13), but 144,000 will be sealed by God and protected from harm.

Finally, after no more than seven years from the signing of the covenant, Jesus Christ will return and destroy the Beast and his armies at Armageddon. The few Jews that are left will then "look upon him whom they pierced" and receive Christ as their true Messiah and King. At that moment God will save them as a nation (Rom. 11:26). They will, after 20 centuries, have finally accepted Christ for WHO He really is—"God manifest in the flesh." Though the Tribulation will severely punish them, almost to extinction, God was forced to allow it to get them to receive the truth. Being "stiff-necked" (Acts 7:51) they would not accept it under any other means. Once they repent and receive Jesus Christ, they are then ready to receive the kingdom promised to their fathers Abraham and David.

Dispensationally, the Tribulation period is basically the Dispensation of the Law with a few added features. Since the Church will have left in the rapture, the parenthetical Dispensation of Grace will be gone along with the doctrines unique to it. Thus the nation of Israel will again be the main object of God's concern. There will be a temple in the Tribulation, sacrifices will be offered, and salvation will again have a Jewish ring to it. More on this in the following chapters.

 

[Todd]

The Palestinian Covenant, The New Covenant, and The Messianic Dispensation
1400 years before Christ, at the end of their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, God made another covenant with Israel besides the one He made at Mt. Sinai. Called the Palestinian Covenant because they were about to enter the land of Palestine, the covenant contains a promise of what God will do for them when they repent of their sins and return to Him after a period of rebellion. God promised after He dispersed them among the nations as punishment for future disobedience (ultimately the rejection of Christ), He would regather and return them to their land after they repent. This covenant is closely linked with the Mosaic Covenant, and some say the two are joined together at the beginning of the Millennium. It is found in Deut. 30:1-10 and its specific elements are:
1. Israel's dispersion for disobedience (vs. 1). Though Israel is a nation today, more Jews live in New York City than in the land of Palestine. The bulk of the Jews on earth are still scattered and those in Israel do not possess all the land promised to them.

2. Their (foreknown) repentance while dispersed (vs. 2). This is during the Tribulation.

3. The return of the Lord (vs. 3). Christ will personally regather them after the Tribulation.

4. The restoration of all their land (vs. 5). Christ will give them the entire land grant promised to Abraham.

5. Their national conversion (vs. 6). All Israel will be saved (nationally) in a day (Rom. 11:26).

6. The judgment of their enemies and oppressors (vs. 7). The judgment of the nations (Matt. 25).

7. Their national blessing and prosperity (vs. 9).

This covenant comes into effect at the end of the Tribulation period when the remaining Jews see the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him as their Messiah. They will nationally repent and mourn for their sin of rejecting Him and admit before all their acceptance of Him as King. God will then, in Christ, forgive them and bless them as He desired to bless them from their beginning. He will give them all the land promised to their fathers and reign over them Himself from Jerusalem. Christ will judge their enemies at the Judgment of Nations (Matt. 25:31-46) and place the other nations under them in privilege and importance. Israel will be the premier nation on earth, and that purely by the promise and good pleasure of God. This covenant lasts, at least, until the end of the Millennium.

The New Covenant is called "new" because unlike the previous covenants it has not yet been made. It was promised in Jer. 31:31-37 and confirmed again in Heb. 8:7-13, but it has not yet been officially given to the nation of Israel. Again, after the Jews repent and receive Christ as their Messiah, God will formally establish this unconditional covenant with them. This is the "new testament" Jesus was referring to in Matt. 26:28 when He said, "for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Thus this covenant is based on the shed blood and atoning death of Jesus Christ.

Many today insist this New Covenant doctrinally applies to the present "church age," but this is another wresting of Scripture. By letting the Scriptures speak for themselves one can easily see that the New Covenant only applies doctrinally to "the house of Israel" and "the house of Judah" (Jer. 31:31, Heb. 8:8). It has nothing to do with the born again believer or the present Dispensation of Grace. The main thrust of this "new testament" is not the Church Age, but a future covenant with Israel based on the atoning death of the Jewish "testator," Jesus Christ. Of course, the salvation Christ bought with His blood is available to all today, Jew or Gentile, but as found in Jeremiah and Hebrews the New Covenant will apply only to Israel. The specifics of this covenant are (as found in Jeremiah 31):

1. God will put His laws in each individual's heart (vs. 33).

2. God will again be their God and Israel His people (vs. 33).

3. There will no longer be any preaching or witnessing because all Jews will know the Lord (vs. 34).

4. God will completely forgive them and remember their sin no more (vs. 34).

5. It is as permanent as day and night, the moon and stars, the waves of the sea, and the unmeasurable vastness of the earth and heavens (vs. 35-37).

This covenant is in effect from the beginning of the Millennium through to the gate of eternity.

The Messianic Dispensation (the Millennium), along with the New Covenant, will begin when the Palestinian Covenant is fulfilled at the end of the Tribulation. This dispensation is the "golden age" and "utopia" man today dreams about. It will be characterized by a perfect, righteous, and holy Ruler, universal righteousness, world peace, greatly reduced sickness and death, extended life span, gentleness and compatibility of wildlife, more cooperative earth for crops, perfect climate and environment, no random natural disasters, most of the curses lifted, little or no crime, and the binding of man's constant enemy, Satan. In the Millennium man will have everything he says today he wants, but will he fare any better in this dispensation than in the others? Hardly.

There are scores of passages in the Old Testament concerning this blessed period, and in the New Testament it is called the "kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 3:2, 5:3). The kingdom of heaven truly was "at hand" when Christ began His earthly ministry, but when the Jews rejected the King it was postponed until they were willing to receive Him. The "sermon on the mount" (Matt. ch. 5-7) will essentially be the Constitution of this kingdom and lay down the rules and principles of behavior required in it. During this 1000 year period, Christ will rule with a "rod of iron" and compel everyone to obey these principles and His will. Those who don't will be punished (Zech. 14:16-19).

With Satan bound in the bottomless pit and no longer able to influence nations or individuals for evil (Rev. 20:2), man will not be able to blame him for their sins. God will remove every form of outside negative influence during the Millennium, thus giving man every opportunity to do right. But even in this much sought after environment man will ultimately fail. It appears that during this period the people will begin to get tired of compelled obedience and of the righteous King in Jerusalem and rebel against Christ in their heart (Jer. 17:9). At the end of the 1000 years, God will release Satan from prison and give him access to the nations one last time. Very quickly Satan will organize a revolt against Christ and form a huge army to oust Him from Jerusalem. He will likely use pride to convince man he can do a better job "governing himself" (remember the Dispensation of Human Government?). The entire revolt is devoured by fire from Heaven and Satan's usefulness to God is over (Rev. 20:9).

It has taken God seven dispensations to do it, but He has proved his point. The problem with man is not his circumstances or misfortune, neither is it his environment or upbringing, man's number one problem is HIMSELF. Man by nature is evil, and no matter what kind of world or environment he is placed in he will remain evil. The only remedy is God must give him a new heart (2 Cor. 5:17).

During this time those who make up the body of Christ and have gone up in the rapture will reign with Christ from Jerusalem. They may act as His ambassadors to the nations enforcing His righteousness all over the earth. Nevertheless, each born again believer's old sinful nature will be literally and forever dead, leaving him with no capacity for sin. He will also have a supernatural, glorified body like Christ's (Phil. 3:21). Therefore, he cannot rebel with the world against Christ, he has already went through his testing period. The Jews and Gentiles that enter into the Millennium from the Tribulation, however, will still have only their natural bodies and the same old sinful Adamic nature all sinners are born with.

 

[Todd]

The New Heavens, The New Earth, and The New Jerusalem
After the rebellion at the end of the Millennium and the destruction of all those involved, God's series of testing periods for man will be over; the time for final judgment will have come. God will judge everyone who has not been judged before in a final, all encompassing judgment at the Great White Throne. Every saved person from Adam to the end of the Millennium who was not part of a group that was previously judged (like the Church), along with every person of every other age who died lost will be resurrected to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and be judged according to their works. Those whose names are found in the "book of life" will be granted the privilege to enter into the New Heaven and New Earth. Those whose are not found in the book will be cast into the "lake of fire," there to spend eternity in torment (Rev. 20).
Many today claim there will be no saved people from any dispensation before the White Throne for judgment, but what about those saved in the Tribulation and Millennium? There is no other judgment to cover these people. We agree no saved person from the present Dispensation of Grace will be judged there because the "Judgment Seat of Christ" will cover them, but those saved in other dispensations must be judged at some time (Heb. 9:27), and this is the only judgment left. These people will have their names recorded in the book of life when they are saved; the Great White Throne Judgment will simply reveal their salvation, and their works, to all.

While the above judgment is in progress, God will be forming the New Heaven and the New Earth. He will do this by renovating the old heaven and earth with fire, melting the elements and purging them from the contamination of sinful man and preparing them for future habitation. The White Throne Judgment apparently occurs in the void of space.

After the judgment and renovation God will be ready to establish His final dispensational arrangement. Calling this arrangement a dispensation may not be entirely accurate because it has no clear ending. It appears to join with eternity. Furthermore, three covenants will still be in effect at this time, the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenants; therefore, the nation of Israel will still be in existence (Isa. 66:22).

Including Israel there will be three distinct groups of people in this final arrangement. Israel will be made up of saved Jews from every dispensation except the Dispensation of Grace; the second group will be saved Gentiles from every dispensation except Grace; and the third group will be all those saved, Jew and Gentile, in the Dispensation of Grace—the Bride of Christ. The Bride of Christ is a fixed number that cannot increase or decrease after the rapture, but the other two groups can increase through childbirth.

Since there will be no more death (Rev. 21:4), the kingdom will increase and rapidly fill the earth and then spread throughout the heavens. Isaiah 9:7 says, "of the increase of his government there shall be no end," thus Christ's kingdom may expand from earth to the other planets, then to the stars and beyond towards infinity. After 7000 years of dealing with man, God has redeemed those who obeyed him and put them in a suitable condition to populate the universe. Out of billions and billions of people who have lived on earth, God has saved a relatively small remnant and these now love Him in return. With
them God may begin to populate the entire universe.

The Bride of Christ will dwell in New Jerusalem, a city prepared by Christ for her habitation that contains "many mansions." The city will descend from Heaven to earth and among other things contain the throne of God and the "tree of life" (Rev. 21). At this point God will have in some respects made a complete circle in His dealings with man. The Bible begins with man in a garden with the "tree of life," and after more than 7000 years of revealing many things to him, God has him again in a garden like setting with a tree that brings life.

Although there are other more minor divisions in the Bible one could mention, the eight major divisions we have outlined above are the ones most essential for understanding the Scriptures. If a believer will spend a little time in study and by noting these divisions keep the different issues separate and the alike together, he will be well on his way to understanding God's program for man and all creation as He has revealed it. Things that are different are not the same, and in the Bible the difference is often in the dispensations.

 

[Todd]

The Great Lesson
Of the many things God has showed man through the dispensations, the lesson that should stand out above the others is that man is a hopeless rebel, utter failure, and without hope without God. He is simply not capable of living up to God's righteous standard no matter how "enlightened" and able he may think he is.
Place him in a beautiful garden with everything he needs, including fellowship with God, a beautiful and compatible wife, the earth under his dominion, access to the Tree of Life, etc., and man will forsake it all and choose death. Leave him alone with his conscience to guide him and man will become so exceedingly wicked that he must be removed from the earth with a flood. Give him great and sure promises and man will flee them and speak lies in unbelieving fear. Make of him a chosen nation for God to speak through and dwell among, with His holy Law and priesthood, and man will abandon his God and worship dumb idols. Give him an eternal redemption from sin and hell, everlasting life, an indwelling Holy Spirit, the promise of a new body, a home in New Jerusalem, and birth him into God's own family making him His son, and man will repay his Savior with rebellion, worldliness, and indifference. Give him a perfect, uncursed earth, a cooperative environment, no Satan to tempt him, extended lifespan, and Jesus Christ himself to reign over him, and man will revolt and try to force Christ from His throne. All is clear. Man is a wicked, vile, evil, selfish, and vain creature, and apart from God he is utterly hopeless and bound for hell. The surest proof of this is God is near the last millennium of his dealings with man (now 6000 years along), and man collectively has not learned this ONE lesson yet!

 

[Todd]

From our brief overview of the major divisions of the Bible, it should be clear to the reader that God does not always work exactly the same way in every dispensation. What God required of Adam (don't eat of the tree), He did not require of Moses; what He required of Noah (ark), He did not require of David. Likewise what He required of Moses and David (keep the Law), He does not require of us today. God is the same God, but He simply does not work with man the same way in every dispensation. Therefore, every Christian MUST know where the divisions between the dispensations are and what God requires of man in each of them to make reasonable sense of the Bible. Again, this is imperative to see God's overall program for man as He has revealed it.

In this chapter and the following, we are going to look at the covenants and dispensations from the standpoint of personal, individual salvation. This is a touchy topic, but our only concern is what the Bible says about the matter. Now, we realize every Bible preacher, teacher, minister, "scholar," etc. who attempts to teach something from the Bible says he is only interested in what the Bible says; therefore, the reader must determine the truth himself through prayer and study. Don't blindly follow the opinions of men no matter how "godly," "devoted," and "fundamental" they may appear; follow only the BOOK (AV 1611). When anyone (including your author) does not strictly go by the Bible, abandon him, at least in the area of error. The Bible is the Christian's absolute, final authority for ALL matters and is subject to no individual, group, church, or school.

Before we go any farther, let us clear the air and list three "historic, fundamental positions" we take issue with concerning salvation:

1. That the means of receiving salvation is exactly the same in every dispensation.

2. That every person ever saved was "born again" and a "son of God."

3. That no saved person in any age can in any way lose his salvation.

These three positions are considered "undeniable" among many today, but again, "what saith the Scriptures"?

First of all, before you jump to conclusions, let us state as clearly as we can that we fully believe every person saved in this present Church Age is saved by grace through faith apart from any works. We insist he is born again, a son of God, and has eternal, everlasting life abiding in him which he cannot lose. We further believe in all the baptistic "fundamentals of the faith," and more than that we believe the book these fundamentals were extracted from—the Authorized King James Version of 1611. Our only real difference with some of the brethren is we don't believe all these Baptist fundamentals apply to everyone in every dispensation. We contend the new birth, eternal security, the Body of Christ, permanently indwelling Holy Spirit, and all other doctrines unique to the Church Age were not available until after the crucifixion, were not revealed until the New Testament was well under way, and were not clearly defined until the epistles of Paul. We further contend these Church Age doctrines have no application to any Old Testament saint, no matter how notable (Abraham, Moses, David, etc..), or to someone in the Tribulation.

Nowhere in the Old Testament can one find the Holy Spirit regenerating anyone, sealing anyone unto the "day of redemption," placing someone "in Christ," or applying a half dozen other New Testament doctrines, but that doesn't stop people from teaching these doctrines are there. They do it by taking present Baptist (or any other) Church Age doctrines and forcing them to apply to all ages. This is nearly as bad as those who try to force doctrines unique to the Law (the Sabbath, abstaining from certain meats, etc.) on believers today. The only difference is the Baptist doctrines cannot be practiced in the past because they were unknown then, but past doctrines can be practiced now. In future dispensations, though, those who try to force presently sound Baptist doctrine to apply there will be heretics just like the Sabbath-keepers and pork-abstainers are today. As someone has said, "Nearly every bad thing is a good thing twisted," thus even the precious new birth can be detrimental if it is taught as doctrine in the wrong age.

When one reads modern, "fundamental" literature he needs to be careful. Much of what he reads will likely be sound doctrine, but some may also be based solely on assumption, emotion, opinion, or ignorance. For example, the author has read and heard several respected ministers make statements like: "People in the Old Testament were saved by looking forward to the cross while people in the New Testament are saved by looking back to the cross...," "All Old Testament saints were saved just like we are today...," "All believers from every age are born again, possessors of eternal life, and part of the Body of Christ...," etc., and make no effort to PROVE these statements from the Bible. They make them in such a matter of fact manner that the hearer usually does not even question them. He accepts them as "universal truths" from the lips of a great "scholar" or preacher. Though these remarks may sound biblical to modern ears, that does not MAKE them biblical.

For instance, concerning Old Testament saints "looking forward to the cross," what cross? A "cross" is not mentioned in any context in the Bible until Matthew 10:38, and a cross is not directly connected with Jesus Christ's death until Matthew 20:19! Where does that leave Joseph, Aaron, Gideon and the rest of the Old Testament saints? How could they look forward to something that did not exist and God had not yet revealed? Christ's own disciples who followed him for months didn't even understand why Christ had to die, let alone "look ahead to a cross" (Matt. 16:22). You say, "Well, they were looking forward to redemption, then, if not a cross." Maybe so, but what did they know about redemption (Heb. 9:12)? Did they know as much about it as Paul in Romans, John in 1 John, or even YOU today? Did they know anything about someone dying on a cross for the sins of the world to purchase and provide an eternal redemption from sin? When Christ told Peter about His coming crucifixion it was such a shock to Peter that he rebuked Him! Peter didn't want to even consider his master dying on a cross, so to say he was looking forward to it absurd. We admit it is easy to apply our rich salvation doctrines and advanced revelations to those of other dispensations, so we must be extra careful when dividing the Scriptures to only apply to a dispensation the doctrines valid at that time.

One of the strongest indications that salvation is not the same in every age is that Old Testament saints did not go at death to the same place New Testament saints go to when they die. Old Testament saints went to Abraham's Bosom or "paradise" while New Testament saints go directly into the presence of God in Heaven (2 Cor. 5:8). This alone proves there is a difference. Christ cleared up the matter in Luke 16 concerning where dead believers at that time went with the account of the "Rich man and Lazarus." Before Christ, the Bible was not clear where believers went at death. That there was a hell for the wicked was
clear, but specific details concerning where believers went were not revealed. All that is said of Abraham, for instance, is that he was "gathered unto his people." In Luke 16 the Lord gives advanced revelation and says Abraham was actually in a desirable and comfortable place (called "paradise" in Luke 23:43) across a great gulf from Hell. Abraham and the other saints did not go into Heaven until they went up with the Lord at His ascension (Eph. 4:8), but saints who die in the Lord today go immediately into Heaven (2 Cor. 5:8). Obviously, our salvation is in significant ways different than Abraham's. In light of their many similarities, the two salvations are quite different.

In the following we are going to look at salvation in the different dispensations and examine the similarities and differences between them. We will be very careful and try not to make the mistakes of many today who read doctrines from one period into another, forcing the Bible line up with their "private interpretation." Remember, the Bible is not a Baptist book written only for Baptists (or others) in this present age, it is a Jewish book written to people of all ages declaring different manners and doctrines for each period.

 

[Todd]

Innocent Adam
Before the fall Adam was not in a "lost" condition, thus he didn't need to be saved from non-existent sins. But, as we mentioned before, Adam was not righteous either. Adam and Eve are the only people ever who have been in such a purely innocent state. When they were created, they didn't have any acquired knowledge of anything. Even with all their potential "brain power," they were essentially in a state of ignorance. Though Adam was created a full grown man (likely appearing around 30 years old), he knew nothing about being a full grown man. All he knew was what God had built into him as instinct. As soon as he became conscious, however, Adam began to learn things through three methods: he learned from observation, he learned by attempting to do things (experience), and he learned what God revealed to him with WORDS. Adam knew nothing about holiness, righteousness, purity, etc., nor about rebellion, wickedness, sin, and salvation. He was truly innocent—but also ignorant of the most essential things. All he knew about his Creator was what He revealed to him, and essentially all God revealed to him about Himself and His nature can be found in Genesis chapters 1-2 under the Edenic Covenant (see chapter 1).
Notice when instructing Adam God does not go into long speeches about the benefits of doing right and the consequences of doing wrong. He knew Adam had no experimental concept of these matters. What is "right" to someone who has never seen or experienced "wrong"? On the other hand, what is "wrong" to someone who has never consciously chosen to do "right"? God was testing Adam in Eden and gave him a free will to make a choice, but the choice, as far as Adam is concerned, is not between "right and wrong," but between God and something else!

Before He would let Adam stumble upon it by accident, God, in love, warned him of the deadly result of eating of the Tree of Knowledge. Since Adam had no concept of "wrong," God did not tell him it was wrong to eat of it. He told him only that it would kill him and it was His will for him NOT to eat of it. True, Adam didn't know what death was either, but he didn't have to, to make the right choice. Wasn't God's WORDS telling him He didn't want him to eat of it enough? Adam didn't have to know all the details. God's warning showed Adam He loved him, cared for him, and didn't want him to die. Furthermore, God also put the "Tree of Life" in the garden to give Adam a positive alternative, but neither was it "right" to eat of this tree. Again, the test was not between right and wrong or good and evil, but would man love God in return for His love and obey Him, or love something else more.

The Serpent also knew of Adam and Eve's moral ignorance, and he used it to further his evil purpose. As mentioned before Satan used the desire for "knowledge" to deceive Eve into eating of the forbidden tree, but Adam, who was NOT deceived and who heard the warning directly from God's mouth, decided he loved Eve more than he loved God and ate also. Though he knew his action was against God's will, Adam was willing to suffer death with Eve ("whatever that is," there was no death before the fall) rather than live with God. As a result of eating Adam, became a "sinner." He received the lusted for knowledge of good and evil, but he also became lost, spiritually dead, headed for physical death, alienated from God, and afraid in the process. He gained much knowledge in a few short moments, but definitely the wrong kind.

When Adam ate he did not fall from what we consider today as salvation, but he did fall from innocence to sin, from a relatively safe position into iniquity. When he was in innocence (remember, not righteousness) he was much better off than in guilt, and in this sense he fell from safety—salvation. On the other hand, if Adam had eaten of the Tree of Life instead he may have acquired righteousness. Though the Bible does not plainly say that he would, it is somewhat implied since he obtained an evil nature from the Tree of Knowledge. If this is true and he did eat of the Tree of Life instead of the Tree of Knowledge, he would have still obtained the knowledge they desired. Not by doing a sinful act, but by doing a righteous act. They would have knowledge similar to the way God has knowledge of good and evil. Not by committing an act of sin and realizing righteousness as the opposite, but by doing an act of righteousness and knowing sin as the opposite.

God does not have to be a sinner to know what sin is. Since He is righteous by nature, He knows sin is everything that is contrary to Him. Everything and anything contrary to God is sin. He is the absolute standard, and His infallible word is His vehicle to convey this standard to man. Adam likely would have known this too if he had loved God enough to eat of the right tree. Having only a righteous nature he would have been saved from the possibility of sinning (eternal security) because a righteous man cannot sin!

Nevertheless, what we want the reader to realize is Adam's "salvation" before the fall was based entirely upon works. If Adam neglected the work of eating from the freely offered Tree of Life (as he did), he would never have had all God wanted for him (eternal life, righteousness, etc.). If he refused to eat of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge (another work), he would not have become a sinner. Clearly, Adam could be "saved" or lost only by works! To not work either way was to remain in the limbo of mere innocence. Faith or the lack thereof had nothing to do with the matter. In fact, Adam did not doubt what God had said about the tree in the least; he knew he would die if he ate of it! He believed God was telling him the truth. Thus Adam didn't have a lack of faith, he just had the wrong works.

At this point you may be thinking, "What about Romans 4, Galatians 2, Ephesians 2, and all the other passages which say works have nothing to do with salvation?" This is a good question, but be careful Christian; as we have stated before, don't assume everything found in the Bible applies doctrinally to everybody in every age. Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and much of the rest of Paul's epistles apply to us today, but they did not apply to Adam. All Adam knew about these things was what God said to him in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, and we must not read anymore into it. If we read our doctrines back into his or any other's day, we wrest the Scriptures and end up with a doctrinal fantasy. Nowhere can we find where Adam was to have faith in anyone or believe in anyone, neither was the "new birth" or anything related to it even vaguely hinted at. Everything hinged upon Adam's works.

One can easily see how Adam's dispensational setup concerning salvation is drastically different to our's today. Now, salvation is a free gift, entirely by grace through faith apart from any works whatsoever. Furthermore, a born again believer is much more than just forgiven or innocent in God's sight, he is RIGHTEOUS. He has the imputed righteousness of his Savior Jesus Christ. God knew when he devised eternal salvation that man needed much more than just his sins forgiven and placed back into an innocent state, he needs the righteousness of his Son Jesus Christ. From this position the believer CANNOT fall because he is in Christ and Christ is in him. God does not see the saved New Testament believer as only innocent (as Adam was), He sees him positionally with the perfect and spotless righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We receive much more in Christ than we lost in Adam (Rom. 5:20).

After the fall things were much different for Adam and Eve. Their sin brought guilt, the guilt brought shame, and all three together brought fear. They were now truly lost, and the knowledge of it scared them. What could they do now? Their new knowledge did not supply the answer for this question. They tried to cover their sin with fig leaves, but that did not relieve their conscious of guilt. "What will God think when He sees us?"

The Lord was very gentle with His sinning creation. He did not consume them in His wrath or even belittle them. He just questioned them enough to get them to confess their sin and admit their guilt. After they confessed God offered His own covering for their sin in place of their self-righteous fig leaves, and they accepted. By doing so they abandoned their own means of dealing with sin for God's means, and that is all God asked of them. Here, however, we begin to see the entrance of faith concerning salvation. They did not need to have faith that God existed because He was right before them, but they did need to have faith in something God had promised to do. Of course, they were not to believe on someone who would die on a cross thousands of years later to redeem them from their sins, such a thing was unrevealed and unknown. All they knew was God was in some way going to send the "seed" of the woman to bruise the head of the serpent's seed and this would in some way deal with their sin and the curses. Looking forward to the "cross" is out of the question. All they knew was what God had shown and told them, nothing else. Of course, we today can look back and see the cross in Genesis 3:15 and 3:21, but this means nothing to Adam. He and Eve were saved by believing what God had said (faith) and by putting on the "coats of skins" God provided (works).

The coats of skins, which God obtained by killing the animals, showed Adam (and us) two very important lessons. First, God was willing to provide salvation to man; second, a substitute could purchase a sinner's salvation with its life. We can see these lessons very clearly now, but Adam did not have the advanced revelation we enjoy and was not certain of what all he observed meant.

 

[Todd]

Cain and Abel
After Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, God did not appear to them again. Since God no longer walked among His creation, faith came even more into play concerning His dealings with man. Cain and Abel were born after the expulsion and there is no record they ever saw God or heard Him speak (Cain did hear Him AFTER he offered his bloodless sacrifice). Apparently, all they knew of God was what they learned from their parents. When they went to offer sacrifices for their sins they were offering them by faith to a God they did not personally know, so their salvation, as well as (it appears) the salvation of all others in the Dispensation of Conscience, was based on faith along with an element of works. Abel had the right faith and the right works; Cain had some faith but the wrong works, but each must have works to be accepted.
God told Cain, "If thou DOEST well, shalt thou not be accepted?" (Gen. 4:7). Suppose Abel would have said, "I believe I am a sinner, and I believe God is willing to cover my sins if I offer a bloody substitute," but he did not offer the substitute, would he still be accepted? There is no indication he would have. He would have been in the same unaccepted condition as Cain. Along with his faith Abel had to perform the WORK of killing the offering and offer it to God before he would be respected (Gen. 4:4). As for Cain, he had faith that God existed (like the devils, Jam. 2:19), but he did not have the faith and works to present the proper sacrifice to God. Abel was respected by God because of faith and works, and Cain was rejected by the lack of the same. Either way works played a part in the salvation of many during this period.

From what the Scriptures reveal to us about the Dispensation of Conscience, every saved person in it was saved by grace through faith with works playing a part. Furthermore, with a few notable exceptions (which we will examine shortly) every saved person in the entire Old Testament was saved by faith connected with works. When people in the Old Testament were saved nothing happened IN them spiritually. Of course, God imputed righteousness to their account when they obeyed him, but they were not regenerated, a son of God, indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit, part of the body of Christ, and the rest of the salvation doctrines unique to this age. Their sins were only covered, not taken away. In many ways they were saved on credit because Christ had not yet died on the cross to purchase their eternal redemption. But those in the Dispensation of Conscience knew practically none of this. Again, all they knew was what God had revealed up to that time as found in Genesis chapter 3:

1. Man is a sinner and doomed to death (3:7).

2. Man and the earth are cursed because of Adam's sin (3:17).

3. The woman's "seed" will bruise the head of the serpent's seed (they MAY have understood this to somehow relieve man of sin, death, and the curses), and the serpent's seed will bruise the woman's seed's heel (3:15).

4. Man has a knowledge of good and evil; a conscience that will excuse or convict his heart (3:5-6).

5. God will offer man a covering to cover his sin (3:21.

6. An animal substitute can supply the covering (3:21).

If God had other requirements of people during this dispensation they are not mentioned until we come to Noah. Reading New Testament doctrines into this time period brings nothing but confusion. Also, there is no reason to believe, or any verse to suggest that these people could not loose their salvation during this period. We will look more into this later, but nearly all of those saved in the Old Testament simply did not have anything in them (indwelling Holy Spirit) or any promise from God to permanently secure their salvation. Therefore, one could by faith (along with works) be saved and be on the right path toward "enduring to the end," and then, by a lack of faith fall away and loose all they gained. In a nutshell people are saved in every dispensation by simply doing what God SAYS. Sometimes it is works alone, sometimes faith alone, and sometimes both faith and works.

 

[LordMagicMan]

Is a porn board full of wiccans and witches the place to be discussing the Bible? *shrugs* Just wondering .... Not sure how many catholics are here.

 

[Todd]

Noah and the Ark
Noah is the first person God gave a direct command to since Adam. Noah was found righteous (his own righteousness by works, not Christ's) by God among his generation of wickedness (Gen. 7:1), and God, by His grace, told him to build an ark to protect him from His wrath. With this command God added (to Noah and his family only) another requirement for salvation beside those so far revealed—to build an ark. Noah's faith is readily seen in his immediate obedience in beginning to build. He trusted God's word no matter how silly it may have sounded to others and went to work—faith supplemented by works. Here, some say, "The building of the ark was only for Noah's physical salvation, not his soul's salvation. He was saved only by faith." Really? Show us the chapter and verse that says so.
Where in Genesis chapters 1 through 7 can you find where Noah was saved by faith alone? Can't find it anyplace? How about searching the whole Bible, New Testament and all, for a verse that says Noah was saved by faith alone? Peter plainly says he was saved by water while in the ark (1 Pet. 3:20). You say, "Only his body was saved by water." Okay, PROVE IT with Scripture! If you can't you had better quit trusting someone else's opinion or your emotions for doctrine and begin trusting the Scriptures alone. Again, don't try to read Church Age doctrines into the past. John chapter 3 won't fit into Genesis chapter 6 no matter how hard you force it. If the ark had nothing to do with Noah's spiritual salvation, then the people who drowned in the flood may have been saved too, just not physically!

God told Noah to build an ark, and if he refused, he would have drowned; simple as that. Do you think he would have drowned saved? On what grounds? That Noah was found righteous (a righteousness based upon his OWN works relative to other men) at the beginning would mean nothing if he disobeyed a direct command from God; he would no longer be considered righteous. Since he refused to do what God said, he would likely perish just like the rest of the world. Unless God intervened and offered another means of salvation (as He did with Adam), Noah would have died lost—an unrepentant sinner. His quick obedience in building the ark, however, proved he had the proper faith. Faith supplemented by works. Today, saved people can refuse to do what God has commanded and they DON'T forfeit their salvation. Millions of regenerated believers disobey God's commands and their salvation is unaffected. Why? The difference is in the dispensations and also in what happens INSIDE the believer. You should be beginning to see, Christian, how you have a much more gracious age to live under with much better promises to claim than those of the past. We have many more privileges than Noah, but with the privileges come responsibilities.

 

[Todd]

Faithful Abraham
Now we come to Abraham, and he is an interesting case. With him God introduces the first instance of salvation ONLY by faith. Not New Testament salvation by a long shot, but salvation by faith. Abraham is known as "faithful Abraham" because of his great faith in God, but his faith was not always great. When God first spoke to him, his faith was not even enough to save him! Many forget that when Abraham obeyed God and went into the land as God commanded (Gen. 12), he wasn't saved. He didn't get saved until Genesis 15:6, several years later! All through chapters 12, 13, 14, and the first few verses of 15, Abraham was dead lost! Before he was saved Abraham had works, he forsook his homeland and moved to Canaan, and he had some faith, he believed God enough to go, but he did not have enough or the right kind of faith for God to save him until Genesis chapter 15.
In Genesis 15:6 Abraham finally exercised enough faith in what God had said and was saved. Before he heard the promises of having descendants and becoming a great nation, but he didn't fully believe them until chapter 15. God was showing Abraham that He was capable of keeping His word and was worthy to be trusted. In a larger sense God was showing mankind that no matter how great and seemingly unlikely to be fulfilled His promises are, He is fully capable of keeping them. Abraham was the first to trust God this far, and spiritually he is the "father" of all who exercise like faith and believe God for salvation.

Abraham's salvation is like ours today in only one respect: he was saved "by grace through faith" apart from works with righteousness imputed to his account. To receive salvation Abraham simply took God at His word. His faith and the faith of believers today is the same kind and in the same God, but here the similarities end. What Abraham believed God would do is drastically different from what one is to believe today. Abraham believed his "seed" would number as the stars in heaven, and God saved him for it. He believed nothing about someone dying on a cross for his sins or anything like that, he could only believe in what God had revealed to him. Furthermore, to show how different his salvation is from a believer's today note:

1. Abraham was not regenerated or born again. Nothing happened inside him when he was saved. Dozens of things happen in a born again Christian.

2. He was not a "son of God." Since he was not "born of God" he could not be a son of God, neither could he ever call God his father.

3. He did not receive the Holy Spirit permanently to indwell or seal him.

4. He was not placed in Christ nor was Christ in him.

5. He did not receive a new nature. All he ever had was the Adamic nature.

6. He had no completed atonement to eternally redeem him.

7. He did not go to Heaven when he died.

Though Abraham was saved by faith as we are today, clearly the salvation his faith brought him is not the same salvation we presently enjoy. James even tell us that Abraham's justification was not completed until he offered Isaac up in Genesis 22 (James 2:21)! He was imputed righteousness in chapter 15 and thus saved, but he was not fully justified until he performed the WORK of offering Isaac in chapter 22. James doesn't hesitate to tell us Abraham was justified by works after he was saved (James 2:21). On the contrary a believer today is justified the instant he trusts Christ for his salvation. All of the eternal aspects of salvation occur instantly and simultaneously when he believes. Paul, in Romans and Galatians, uses Abraham as a figure of Church Age salvation, but he is only that, a figure; not an exact picture. Abraham was saved when he believed God was going to do something He SAID He would do (Rom. 4:20-22), and so are we saved, but again, what we are to believe is very different from what Abraham believed.

Suppose someone today sincerely believed God would give him descendants that number as the stars of heaven as the basis of his salvation, would such faith save him? Hardly. No matter how much he believed it he would remain lost. Not because he didn't have enough faith, but because he had it in the wrong promise. God has revealed much more to man since the days of Abraham, and man is required to believe and act on the more recent revelation (Jesus Christ) to be saved. At this point you may be thinking, "Yes, but Christ said Himself that Abraham saw His day and was glad (John 8:56), so he must have believed on Christ." Now wait a minute. First of all Christ's words refer to Genesis 22 when Isaac was offered, not Genesis 15 when Abraham was saved; and second, Abraham did not in some supernatural sense gaze into the future and see Christ on the cross. He saw Christ's day in that he believed Isaac would be resurrected from death, not by supposedly seeing the future crucifixion of the Son of God by a miraculous vision.

Abraham not only believed God was able to resurrect Isaac, he believed God WOULD resurrect him after he was slain! He was glad because by faith he saw the resurrection of his "seed" and was convinced God would fulfill all of His promises to him through this resurrected seed. Abraham saw in Isaac a figure of a "son" slain because of sin and later resurrected, but he did not see the figure fulfilled in Christ. Of course, with the Scriptures as hindsight, we can see both clearly.

 

[Todd]

Abraham's Seed
From Abraham on the opportunity for salvation belonged only to one family at the exclusion of all others. Christ said "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22), and Abraham is the first Jew. He was saved while still a Gentile (Rom. 4), but when the covenant was sealed with the sign of circumcision (Gen. 17), Abraham became the first Jew. The Lord told Abraham "in Isaac shall thy seed be called," so Isaac inherited his promises. Isaac likely believed the promises as much as his father. This is indicated in Genesis 22 where he allows Abraham to bind him for a burnt offering. Since Abraham was an old man and Isaac a youth, it is not likely Abraham could have tied Isaac up if Isaac would not have allowed him. He loved his father and also had faith in his father's God, believing that he would yet live.
Isaac's son Jacob also desired the promises. This is evident when he bought his brother Esau's birthright for a bowl of pottage. Even though Jacob was a "supplanter" and "deceiver" most of his life, he still had an eye for the promises God gave to his fathers (Gen. 28:10-22; 35:9-15). Esau, the first born, did not think the birthright was worth much or he wouldn't have sold it. That God would later identify Himself to Moses as the God of "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" testifies of their saving faith in Him. Because of their faith all three of them are still alive even though they are physically dead, for "God is not the God of the dead but of the living" (Matt. 22:32).

Jacob's twelve sons further inherit the promises and become the twelve tribes of Israel. How many of these twelve and their descendants in Egypt trusted God for the promises is unknown. Certainly Joseph did, and likely most or all of his brethren, but we know of no passage that proves it. The Bible doesn't tell us everything we may like to know, but it tells us everything we NEED to know. Every believer must be careful not to let emotion or opinion influence his quest for sound doctrine. Assumed doctrines nearly always lead to heresy, so if a believer can't reasonably show something is true with Scripture, don't assume it is true just because it sounds "scholarly."

In summary, salvation during the 2500 years from Adam to Moses was by grace through faith with works indicating and fulfilling the faith. There was no new birth then or any of the Church Age doctrines that go with it because it was not yet available (John 7:39). Neither did those saved go to Heaven when they died (with the exception of Enoch and later Elijah who are special cases). Though faith was to be in God, it had to be in a promise God had revealed. To believe God existed was not enough; one had to believe and act upon what God had revealed to him for the person to be saved. What God said to Adam, He didn't say to Abel; what He commanded Noah (ark), He did not command Abraham, etc. Each person had to believe what was relevant to him.

As for works God required a certain degree of personal righteousness of all (Noah preached righteousness while building the ark, 2 Pet. 2:5), and also obedience of any personal commands He might give. At least up until Abraham, to only believe the revelations, commands, and promises was not sufficient, each person had to act on them and continue doing so, to secure his salvation. As in every age each individual is responsible for following his conscience and coming to God for salvation when he realizes he has broken it (Rom. 2:15). Faith was, of course, the major component in this salvation equation, but for many works were also essential. The works were really an indicator the person had the right faith. If a person had faith but was unable to perform the works (sacrifice, etc.), God likely took this into consideration. But if a person acted like he had faith and really didn't and still performed works (like Cain), he remained lost. Faith had to come first, and it motivated the works. Of the millions of people who lived during this period (around 2500 years), we can only find two or three dozen in the Scriptures we can say with any assurance were truly saved.

The method of salvation during this period was not fixed; each person's responsibility was simply to do what God said. As we have seen God required different things of different people, unlike today where every Christian is saved by believing a consistent gospel. Again, there are not as many details in the Bible as we may like to have concerning salvation before the cross, but enough is there for us to see how it is different from our's today. This will be further manifested in the next section where we look at salvation in the Dispensation of Law under the Mosaic Covenant.

 

[Todd]

Moses the Law Giver
As mentioned in the last chapter, while they were in Egypt the descendants of Abraham grew into millions. During this time they were still under the Dispensation of Promise, and there is no record that God revealed anything new to them until Moses came along. After He commissioned Moses to go back to Egypt and speak in His behalf, God began to reveal Himself to His people again. Through Moses He showed both the Israelites and Egyptians His great power with the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. He also showed His love and concern for Israel by offering them a way to avoid the destroyer at the first "Passover."
God's requirements of the Israelites at the first Passover (Ex. 12) plainly show how works were involved in their salvation. No matter how much faith each Israelite had, if he neglected to put the lamb's blood above and beside the door, the firstborn in the house was doomed to death. God told them in no uncertain terms they MUST APPLY the blood (works) before He would pass over them (Ex. 12:13). Faith alone was not enough (Ex. 12:7)! It is true their salvation was based on faith in the shed blood of a lamb, but until the blood was applied as required, the faith was ineffective for the salvation of the firstborn. Today, Christ Himself (who is the fulfillment of the Passover figure), through the Holy Spirit, does the work of applying His blood to the believer. The first Passover is one of the strongest indications that under Law certain works were a requirement for salvation.

The physical salvation of the firstborn during the Passover was a picture of the spiritual salvation of each individual Jew during the Dispensation of Law. It testifies, again, that one is saved by doing what God has said to do. Nearly 1500 years later the Passover is revealed as a picture of the "lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world," but, again, this was unknown to the Israelites in Egypt. They were passed over only because they did what God told them to do They didn't fully understand the Passover's present meaning and had no knowledge at all of its future significance. The Passover was preparing the Israelites for the new covenant God would make with them in Exodus 19, which was solely conditioned on works.

After leading them out of Egypt and providing their every need in the wilderness, God officially established His covenant with them at Mt. Sinai. Again, this covenant is conditioned entirely upon works. Israel as a nation and also each individual was to keep all the requirements of the law, and when they failed, offer the proper sacrifice or possibly forfeit their salvation. The punishment for individuals who failed to obey was being "cut off from among his people" (Ex. 31:14). This "cutting off" was often physical death (Num. 9:13; 15:30-31), but more than that it was being cut off from the promises and covenant connected with Israel. In effect, cut off from salvation or the opportunity to obtain it. We will see as we go along that works play a larger role concerning salvation under the Law than it did before.

The Mosaic Covenant and the Dispensation of Law was for the most part a series of rules, regulations, conditional blessings, curses, laws, statutes, commandments, memorials, etc., which were in the larger sense designed to show man his evil nature and sin (Rom. 3:20). But to the Israelites of the time it was a religious system based on strict obedience with little or no mercy for the lawbreaker. Paul said it was "not of faith, but the man that DOETH them shall live by them" (Gal. 3:12), indicating its demand for obedience. Faith alone could not deliver the "sinner." In fact, "faith" is only found two times in the whole Old Testament (Deut. 32:20; Hab. 2:4), and in both places it refers to a man's own faith, not the saving faith God provides believers today (Eph. 2:8-9).

What God demanded of Israel was for them to do what they promised at Sinai (Ex. 19, see chapter 1), obey His every word. If they obeyed as a nation, He cared for and blessed them as a nation; if they refused, He eventually cursed and scattered them. This is clear in Deuteronomy chapters 28-30. Concerning individuals, however, salvation was not so clear. If an Israelite (or proselyte) feared God, wanted to please Him by trying to obey all His laws, and offered the proper sacrifices when he failed, at that moment one could assume he was in a saved state. Unlike today, there was no clear and simple faith "formula" given. Since nothing spiritually happened inside these people to "preserve" them and they had no promise of security to claim, their salvation was not unconditionally permanent. It appears if one at any time had a lack of faith, works, or both to a certain degree, his salvation was in jeopardy. Only God knew who was saved for certain at any given time. The individual in most cases likely did not know exactly where he stood regarding his salvation. At one point God told Elijah only 7000 Jews had not bowed their knee to Baal out of all the millions of Israel. The others had broken the covenant and apparently forfeited their salvation (if they had it to start with) by worshipping a false god.

When works are involved in salvation it is difficult to know where one stands with God. The person seldom, if ever, had complete assurance that he was accepted because a future failure could cost him everything. All he could do was trust in God and to the best of his ability do what God required of him. When he failed he must repent, offer the appropriate sacrifice, and beseech God for forgiveness and restoration (Psalm 51). In contrast, every believer today can have absolute assurance of salvation because he is not trusting any in his works but in the shed blood and works of another, his Lord Jesus Christ

In Exodus 34:6-7 God told Moses concerning salvation He was "merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving inequity and transgression and sin...," but the Lord goes on to say that all of these blessings "...will by no means CLEAR the guilty"! In the Old Testament when someone was saved and forgiven according to God's mercy, grace, longsuffering, goodness, truth, etc., he was still not cleared from his guilt. This is an important lesson. Remission and forgiveness of sins is NOT redemption. In the Old Testament God did forgive people and treat them as such but only with a view of the redemption Christ would later purchase on Calvary (Rom. 3:25). With the atonement that could "take away" their sins and clear them not yet available, salvation was only a decree, and the individuals remained inherently guilty. They were only forgiven sinners, not regenerated, justified, redeemed Christians. This is the main reason Old Testament saints didn't go to Heaven at death. Even though righteousness was imputed to their account, they were still in every other way guilty sinners.

The best way to see how salvation worked under the Law is to examine the lives of some people who lived during that period and study what the Scriptures reveal. Again, salvation is somewhat elusive and hard to consistently pin down under the Law, but the study of a few representative individuals will help one understand how different it is from Church Age salvation. Clear statements of salvation, like Abraham's (Gen. 15:6), are very rare under the Law. For the most part one is only left to assume the salvation of many individuals by noting circumstantial evidence that suggests (but does not prove) their salvation. One can conclusively prove the salvation of very few people in the entire Old Testament.

 

[Todd]

Aaron
The first time Aaron, the onetime High Priest, is mentioned in the Bible is when God rebukes Moses for trying to get out of his commission to deliver the Israelites in Exodus chapter 4. Because of his complaining, God told Moses his brother Aaron would be his mouth and speak what God had spoken to him (Ex. 4:16, 30). After Moses came down from Sinai, Aaron met him and Moses relayed to Aaron all God had said to him (vs.28). Aaron received the words of the Lord and accepted his commission from God to be Moses' spokesperson. When they returned to Egypt, "Aaron spake all the words the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed..." (vs. 30-31). Everything in the chapter indicates Aaron (along with Moses) is saved. He obeyed the Lord in going into the wilderness to seek Moses (vs. 27); he received God's word through Moses (vs. 28); and he did the work of speaking God's word and performing the signs (vs. 30). It appears he did everything he knew to do and all that God had reveled for him to do. From this we may reasonably assume he was saved; not born again, but saved in the Old Testament sense.
While he was in Egypt, Aaron saw God do many mighty things through himself and Moses. He saw firsthand the character, power, and salvation of the Lord and took part in the greatest Exodus in history. Everything was looking good, but a few weeks later when they were in the wilderness, things changed. After God had made His covenant with Israel (Ex. 19) and revealed His laws (Ex. 20-24), Moses again went up to Sinai for more instructions (Ex. 24:18). While he was on the mount "the people" got restless, and they demanded Aaron to make them "gods" to worship (Ex. 32:1). (Man must worship something. If he refuses to worship the true God, he will worship a false one, even if it is himself!) After all he had seen and all God had done through him and for him, Aaron was quick to entertain Israel's idolatry and instructed them to bring gold. Out of this gold he made a calf and the people said, "These be thy gods, O Israel," and they had a feast and offered the calf a burnt offering (Ex. 32:4). How quickly Israel and Aaron abandoned their God.

The Lord told Moses what Israel was doing, and filled with wrath He was ready to consume the whole nation (Ex. 32:10). Furthermore, He was especially angry with Aaron, enough to destroy him (Deut. 9:20). Now, what about Aaron's salvation? Could someone who readily broke the first two commandments still be saved? Even though Aaron may have been coerced into the situation, he still chose to encourage the people in their idolatry rather than rebuke them. Moses brought up the promises God had previously made and the Lord repented of offering to consume Israel, including Aaron, but after Moses came down and saw the idolatry himself, he too was filled with wrath (Ex. 32:19)! Moses confronted his brother, and Aaron, afraid, tried to wiggle out of the blame (vs. 22), but the damage was done. Moses charges Aaron with bringing a great sin upon Israel.

If Aaron died at this time, where would he go? Are you sure (chapter and verse)? Moses knew the dire consequences of this sin and was willing to have his name blotted out of God's book if it would atone for Israel, including Aaron (Ex. 32:32). Moses' actions indicate that the salvation of all those involved was on precarious ground since he was apparently willing to sacrifice his salvation for theirs. They had either lost their salvation or were on the verge of losing it because God said He would only blot out those who sinned against Him (vs. 33). What a harrowing thought, to have one's name blotted out of God's book, but God said He WOULD do it! At least some names were blotted out! In Psalm 69:28 this book is called the "book of the living" and is connected with righteousness. Furthermore, this book must also concern spiritual life after death, not just physical life. Remember, "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

As for Aaron, however, we still can't prove he lost his salvation. Yes, he was among those who greatly sinned against God, but, also, he was of the tribe of Levi and among those who went out and slew his brother, companion, and neighbor (Ex. 32:27-29), indicating he was again on the Lord's side. Killing one's family and friends if need be would require much consecration (vs. 29), and apparently Aaron had it. He knew what he did was wrong, but when given the opportunity to do right he repented and joined with those who follow the Lord. Needless to say Aaron was not killed that day, but the status of his salvation during his great sin is unknown.

Maybe Aaron lost his salvation when he made the calf (a lack of faith, and the wrong works) and gained it back when he fought on the Lord's side. Maybe he didn't lose it at all, but apparently about 3000 did and died that way (vs. 28, 33)! If God blotted them out of his book and they died in that condition, they were certainly lost. See what we mean when we say salvation under the Law is indefinite and "shifty"? Many today may arrogantly claim, "Of course Aaron was saved, and it was impossible for him to loose his salvation because Romans chapter 3 says... etc. etc.," but this PROVES nothing. We are interested in what the Bible says, not in the opinions of someone who refuses to divide the Scriptures or is guided more by emotions and "historic positions" than a desire for the truth.

God, again, graciously used Aaron (as High Priest) in spite of the events in Exodus 32, and after serving Him for 40 years Aaron was stripped of his priestly garments and sent to the top of Mt. Hor to die. God told Moses Aaron would be "gathered unto his people" (Num. 20:24) just like Abraham was and Moses was later (Deut. 32:50). So, in the end, everything indicates Aaron died saved and right with God; but if he died that idolatrous day at Sinai, the Lord only knows.

 

[Todd]

Samson
Next we will briefly look at Samson, the judge of Israel. As far as works are concerned Samson had plenty, but they were nearly all bad. He sought a heathen Philistine woman and married her (Judges 14:1); he broke his Nazerite vows by touching dead bodies and not offering a sacrifice to remove his uncleanness (14:6); he killed 30 men only for their clothes (14:19); he went in unto a harlot (16:1); he later went unto another woman—Delilah (16:4); he lied to Delilah (16:7, 11); he revealed the secret of his strength (16:17); and finally committed suicide (16:30). Not particularly a model life to follow.
God was long-suffering and put up with Samson's "indiscretions," but when he gave up the secret of his strength, God left him (Jud. 16:20)! Even though Samson was a conceited, self-indulgent, self-gratifying, woman-chaser nearly all his life, his name is recorded with the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. The only time he called upon God for anything other than right before his death was because he was thirsty (15:18), yet he is recorded among the most faithful in history. Fascinating. How are we to understand this? Of course, only by grace.

God was exceedingly gracious to Samson. He gave him many opportunities to serve Him and was very patient with his behavior, but when his hair was cut, in essence dissolving his Nazarite relationship with God, God left him. The Scriptures plainly say, "...the Lord was departed from him." Now, was Samson still saved? Can you prove it? Nearly everything he did in the past was from a selfish or vengeful motive. Furthermore, he despised his Nazarite position and neglected to remove his uncleanness and guilt with the proper sacrifices, then he allowed his hair to be cut. Was he saved while the Lord was departed from him? God only knows, but the tone of the passage is not very promising. However, in faith Samson repents (16:28) and begs God to remember him by returning and restoring his strength. Here, the right faith is seen, and if he lost his salvation, it was returned. We know he died saved from Hebrews 11:32.

 

[Todd]

Saul
Saul, Israel's first king, is also an interesting case. After Israel rejected the Lord and wanted a human king to reign over them, God told Samuel to anoint Saul (1 Sam. 9:16). In the beginning Saul was meek and humble (9:21), and shortly after he was anointed the spirit of the Lord came upon him and he prophesied among prophets (10:6) God also gave him another heart. At the same time Samuel told him, "God is with thee" (10:7). Saul became highly esteemed by Israel and they considered him a prophet (10:12). Up to this point everything is positive concerning Saul, but was he saved? The evidence so far would indicate he was. He had the Holy Spirit, prophesied, and God was with him; a good testimony for anyone, but let's go on.
After following the Holy Spirit and defeating the Ammonites (11:6), Saul's character began to change. First, he usurped the office of a priest by offering a sacrifice himself (13:9), then he made a rash and senseless vow causing Israel to sin and jeopardizing his son Jonathan's life (14:24, 32, 44), and after that he refused to strictly follow God's command to "utterly destroy" Ameleck (15:3, 9). As a result of this God rejected him as king (15:23) and took the Holy Spirit away from him replacing Him with a devil (16:14). The rest of Saul's life was spent trying to recapture what he had lost through disobedience. He relentlessly pursues David, his soon to be successor, and after consulting a witch (28:8), finally dies of suicide on a Philistine battlefield (31:4). Did Saul die saved? God only knows.

The Lord told David He took His MERCY from Saul (2 Sam. 7:15). This is not at all a good sign. On the other hand, Samuel told Saul that when he died he would be with him (1 Sam. 28:19, and, of course, Samuel is saved (Heb. 11:32). However, Samuel may have only meant Saul would be with him in death, not in the same place or state as he after death. We cannot prove it either way. When Saul was on the right path and in fellowship with God it would be very reasonable to conclude he was saved. But when he rebelled and forsook God's ways, he may have fell from his "saved" state. During the latter part of his life he had very little faith. The Holy Spirit left Saul never to return (except to protect David 1 Sam. 19:23); Christian, can He leave YOU (Eph. 4:30)? Anyone who says salvation is the same in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament is simply ignorant of the Scriptures.

 

[Todd]

Joab
Another interesting character is Joab, David's nephew and top general. Joab is not portrayed in the Scriptures as a very spiritual person. He is not revealed as a man of prayer or Godward devotion, and he, for the most part, only speaks of God when it will further his cause. Joab was very ambitious and ruthlessly stepped on anyone who stood in the way of his lust for power. He would not even hesitate to murder if it would protect his position. Besides murdering Abner (2 Sam. 3:27) and Amasa (20:10) in cold blood; he caused the death of Uriah (and others) by sending him into a foolish battle for the sole purpose of getting him killed (11:16-17); he defied David's orders and killed Absalom (18:14); and he threatened and treated David with disrespect (19:6-7). These are just some of his wicked acts. Clearly, Joab is not someone to emulate.
However, after Solomon became king, Joab suddenly became "religious." When David was near the end of his days, his eldest son, Adonijah, wanted to be king (1 Ki. 1:5) and Joab joined him in his attempt (1:7). David got wind of Adonijah's plan and quickly crowned Solomon king (1:43), putting Joab on the wrong side. With David's sudden abdication and the crowning of Solomon, Joab knew he was in a "pickle." With all his past actions and his present allegiance to Adonijah, he knew his life wouldn't be very highly esteemed (2:5-6).

After Solomon had Adonijah killed, Joab, believing he would be next, ran to the tabernacle, grabbed hold of the horns of the alter, and, in effect, pled the blood! He went there as a place of sanctuary, hoping to receive mercy (like Adonijah had previously), but Solomon had him killed on the spot (2:31). There is very little to indicate the salvation of Joab until he asks for mercy at the brazen alter. Was he saved there? He appeared to be trusting in the blood of the substitute lamb that was burning on the alter and wanted to die beside it (2:30)? This is as close as it gets to "looking forward to the cross" in the Old Testament, but apparently his "faith" wasn't enough. Joab did not receive the Holy Spirit and is not said to "sleep with his fathers" as David or be "gathered unto his people" like Abraham. He is only referred to as dead (11:21) like the "rich man" in Luke 16:22.