1 Sunday, May 18, 2014 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Grace Histry Prject Lessn 139 The 1990s: The Current Dispensatin Accrding t Prgressive Dispensatinalism Intrductin In Lessn 138 we discussed hw Prgressive Dispensatinalism (PD) renders and accunts fr the varius dispensatins. We bserved that PD maintains the fllwing fur dispensatins: Patriarchal (Adam t Sinai), Msaic (Sinai t Messiah s Ascensin), Ecclesial (Messiah s Ascensin t Messiah s Return), and Zinic (Millennial and Eternal States). Next we cmpared the dispensatinal scheme f PD with that set frth by Pastr Richard Jrdan in Grace Schl f the Bible (GSB). We saw that Richard taught that there were five dispensatins, tw in the Time Past (Prmise, and Law), ne during the But Nw (Grace), and tw in the Ages t Cme (Kingdm and Fullness f Times). Adam t Mses Dispensatin f Prmise Mses Dispensatin f The Law Paul Dispensatin f Grace After Rapture Dispensatin f the Kingdm After Kingdm Dispensatin f the Fullness f Times Eternity (Jrdan, 40) In this lessn we want t cnsider what PD teaches regarding the nature f the current dispensatin. The Current Dispensatin Accrding t PD Blaising and Bck state the fllwing regarding the nature f the new dispensatin spken f by Paul in his letters. As Paul discusses this new dispensatin in his letters, there are three things that stand ut abut it: 1) it is structured by certain features f a new cvenant which Gd inaugurated t fulfill and replace the cvenant He made with Israel at Sinai; 2) n distinctin f race, gender, r class are being drawn in the bestwal f blessings frm this new cvenant they are given t all wh believe in Jesus Christ; and 3) the new dispensatin is being revealed in the cmmunity that gathers in the name f Jesus Christ, the church. (Blaising and Bck, 109) After setting frth five principles regarding the dispensatins, Blaising and Bck state the fllwing regarding the current dispensatin. The church is the new dispensatin which Gd has rganized thrugh the death, resurrectin, and ascensin f Jesus Christ. It differs in imprtant respects frm the dispensatin that was in place prir t Christ. And yet it is nt whlly different. This dispensatin is the fulfillment f the previus ne and, as we will see, it lks frward t Pastr Bryan Rss
2 a future arrangement in which all the prmises and cvenants f Gd will be cmpletely and eternally fulfilled. (Blaising and Bck, 111) In a sectin titled, Dispensatins and Cvenants Blaising and Bck explain what they believe t be the relatinship between the current dispensatin and the cvenants f Time Past. Regarding Ephesians chapters 2 and 3, they state the fllwing: As Paul explains in Ephesians 3:4-10, the present dispensatin (which he calls the dispensatin f the mystery) relates Gentiles with Jews as fellw-heirs and fellwmembers f the bdy, and fellw-partakers f the prmise in Christ Jesus thrugh the Gspel (Eph. 3:6). The wrd prmise had been previusly used in Ephesians 2:12 in a cntext in which Paul was develping the same thught abut the c-relatinship f Jews and Gentiles in Christ. In that passage he speaks f the cvenants f prmise t which Gentiles had been strangers but are strangers n lnger (2:12, 19). These cvenants belng t Israel as the parallel phrases in 2:11-12 make clear. This means that in Pauline dispensatinalism, the past and the present dispensatins are t be understd as ways f relating tw cvenants. (Blaising and Bck, 123) Blaising and Bck view the current Ecclesial dispensatin (their terminlgy) as being a new arrangement in which blessings prmised thrugh the Abrahamic cvenant are being bestwed. (Blaising and Bck, 124) The cnnectin between cvenant and prmise had been drawn in Galatians 3:17, where reference is made t the cvenant that preceded the Law (Msaic cvenant) in which Gd granted a prmise t Abraham. Paul sees the Gspel f Jesus Christ as rted in the prmise cvenanted t the Patriarch (Gal. 3:8, 16). He als sees that cvenant as encmpassing Gentiles in its prphetic scpe (3:8). Gentiles wh nw believe in Jesus Christ are heirs f that cvenant prmise (3:28-29). The new dispensatin then is a new arrangement in which blessings prmised thrugh the Abrahamic cvenant are being bestwed. Hwever, in rder fr the bestwal t take place in the present manner (being granted equally t Gentiles as well Jews), changes in ther cvenants had t take place. (Blaising and Bck, 123-124) Next, Blaising and Bck elabrate n hw the dispensatinal change described in Ephesians 2 and 3 came abut. Accrding t them it was thrugh the inaugurated blessings f the new cvenant that the dispensatinal change came abut. In Ephesians 2:14-15, Paul argues that in rder fr Gentiles t be brught int an equal place f blessing with Jews, Christ brke dwn the barrier f the dividing wall, ablished in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law f cmmandments cntained in rdinances. The dividing wall was the prtin f the temple which separated Jew and Gentiles. Its presence was a structural feat f the Masic cvenant. In this passage, it Pastr Bryan Rss
3 symblizes that cvenant as a whle, referred t as the Law f cmmandments cntained in rdinances. In Biblical thelgy, the end f the Msaic cvenant crrelates with the establishment f the new cvenant. Paul presented himself as a minister f the new cvenant (2 Crinthians 3:6). And it is thrugh newly inaugurated blessings f the new cvenant that the dispensatinal change in Ephesians 2-3 has cme abut. (Blaising and Bck, 124) At this pint we must ffer ur sternest bjectin. It was nt the inauguratin f the new cvenant that ushered in a dispensatinal change, it was the fall f Israel frm their favred standing in Time Past. On the basis f the crss wrk f Christ, Gd the Father is free t give t the church whatever aspects f the new cvenant he s chses (frgiveness f sins, indwelling Hly Spirit) withut placing the bdy f Christ under a cvenant Gd made with Israel. The Biblical Thelgy supprting the PD teaching regarding the nature f the current dispensatin appears t be bth suspect and selective in hw it expunds upn the relevant passages. Paul writes that thse wh have believed the Gspel message have been sealed in Christ with the Hly Spirit f prmise (Ephesians 1:13). The wrd prmise here is picked up again in 2:12 as cvenants f prmise. The plural cvenants indicates that mre than ne cvenant is in view. We have already seen that the Abrahamic cvenant is fr Paul a cvenant f prmise. When we recall that the indwelling Hly Spirit was a specific prmise f the new cvenant (Isaiah 59:21; Ezekial 36:27), it wuld seem that the linkage f 1:13 and 2:12 thrugh the wrd prmise indicates that the new cvenant is rightfully included amng the cvenants t which Gentiles have been brught near. Even mre than that, thugh, the new cvenant blessing inaugurated with Christ s ascensin is the blessing which characterizes the arrangement f the new dispensatin. Ephesians 2:22 describes Jew and Gentile being built tgether in Christ as a dwelling f Gd in the Spirit. The peace by which the new dispensatin is characterized (Ephesians 2:15) is the fruit f the indwelling Hly Spirit (Galatians 5:22) the fulfillment f the new cvenant prmise. (Blaising and Bck, 125) Blaising and Bck als see the Davidic cvenant as als being present in the bk f Ephesians. Fr example, they view Paul s statement in Ephesians 2:14-22 pertaining t the church grwing int a hly temple in the Lrd as a Davidic cvenant activity. (Blaising and Bck, 125) In the end, PD sees the frmatin f the current dispensatin as a byprduct f cvenantal change, nt change in the natinal standing f the natin f Israel. As we have seen, transitin frm the past dispensatin t the present invlves cvenantal change. The past dispensatin was characterized by the Msaic cvenant; the present dispensatin is characterized by certain blessings f the new cvenant which appears in an inaugurated frm. Bth dispensatins are ways f relating t the prmises Pastr Bryan Rss
4 f the Patriarchal and Davidic cvenants (given in a yet earlier dispensatin)... frm this very fact f cvenantal cntinuity and change, the prgressive and advancing nature f dispensatinal transitin can be seen. (Blaising and Bck, 125) In the sectin titled Dispensatin and the Kingdm f Gd Blaising and Bck argue that during the present dispensatin the eschatlgical kingdm f Gd has been established in inaugural frm. Mrever, they argue that this new dispensatin began with the ascensin f Christ in Acts 1. In Clssians 1:26, Paul speaks f the mystery f Gd which has nw been manifested t His saints. It is evident frm the cntext f Clssians 1 that this is the dispensatin Paul speaks f in Ephesians 3. It is ntewrthy that this arrangement is als referred t in Clssians 1:13 as the kingdm f His belved Sn. The wrds belved and Sn are used f Jesus in Ephesians, as we have seen, recalling the Father s designatins at His baptism and transfiguratin and lking back t the prmises f the Davidic cvenant. (In fact, the designatin Thu art my belved Sn in Luke s accunt f the baptism f Jesus (Luke 3:22) is unmistakably a reference t the Davidic cvenant prmise quted in Luke 1:32-33: He... shall be called the Sn f the Mst High; and the Lrd Gd will give unt Him the thrne f His father David.) This f curse, fits with what we have already said abut the Davidic cvenant fulfillment in Ephesians 1 and 2 (cf. Ps. 110:1). Jesus is seated at the right hand f Gd, far abve all rule and authrity and pwer and dminin, with all things in subjectin under His feet. This ntin f the kingdm f Gd is tied directly t the persn and wrk f Jesus, especially His ascensin int heaven. As we have seen, this is exactly the pint f dispensatinal change in the thelgy f Ephesians... The change frm the past t the present dispensatin is crdinated with an appearance f the eschatlgical kingdm f Gd. Certain features predicted f the eschatlgical kingdm are present in the new dispensatin, including a ruling Messiah and the phenmena f peace amng and between his Jewish and Gentile subjects (Eph. 2:15, 17). In biblical thelgy, the eschatlgical kingdm is the arrangement in which all cvenantal prmises are fulfilled. The present dispensatin, hwever, is nly an inauguratin, a dwn payment (Eph. 1:13) n thse prmised blessings. Cnsequently, just as cvenant blessings are yet t be fulfilled in their fullness (v. 14), s likewise the kingdm f Gd s Sn has yet t receive its full revelatin. (Blaising and Bck, 126) 1992 saw the publicatin f Dispensatinalism, Israel and the Church: The Search fr Definitin f which Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bck were the editrs. This wrk was actually the first majr bk length publicatin t set frth sme f the key ideas f PD. Dispensatinalism, Israel and the Church is a cllectin f essays written by varius authrs n subjects related t PD. Fr ur purpses in this lessn, in terms f understanding the nature f the current dispensatin accrding t PD, I wish t cmment briefly n a few f the essays cntained in the bks. Pastr Bryan Rss
5 Chapter 3 cntains an essay by Carl B. Hck, Jr. titled The New Man f Ephesians 2. In this essay Hch makes many assertins regarding Paul s teaching in Ephesians 2. Given the limitatins f time and space we will limit ur cmments t his cnclusins. Hck maintains that befre the crss and the frmatin f the church the privileges mentined in Ephesians 2:11-12 were restricted t Israel. Furthermre, Hck maintains that Gentiles in Christ nw share with a remnant f Israel that still exists in the new man, i.e., the church accrding t Rmans 11:5. (Hck, 125) Christ and this remnant carry redemptive histry frward and frm the bridge between the ld and new cvenants. The remnant f Israel tgether with Gentiles frms the ecclesilgical ne new man. This new man is a new creatin in Christ because the death f Christ was abslutely necessary befre the transfer frm in Adam t in Christ culd be made, befre the cancellatin f the enmity maintained by the Msaic law culd be accmplished, and befre the Hly Spirit became the new standard fr the ethical new man wh walks accrding t the Spirit and nt accrding t the flesh. The ecclesilgical, anthrplgical, and ethical structures f the new man are s intertwined fr Paul that n separatin f the three is pssible. The three are interrelated and imply ne anther. Hck sees the main argument made by Paul in Ephesians 2:11-22 is that during the current dispensatin, the Gentiles were brught near t Gd and t Israel thrugh the crss f Christ. (Hck, 126) Please nte that he des nt say anything abut the fall f Israel frm her favred psitin in Time Past. Hck sums up his expsitin n Ephesians 2 by stating: If ne asks whether the ne new man cnntes cntinuity r discntinuity between Israel and the church r between the Testaments, the answer is that bth are fund in this text. There is a strng emphasis n newness, and cnsequently n discntinuity. The new creatin, new man, and new temple are discntinuus with Israel. But in terms f redemptive histry there is cntinuity. The church is n accident r substitute fr a failed kingdm prgram. Ephesians makes abslutely clear that Gd s plan and purpse have always been centered in Christ. The past alienatin f Gentiles was nly a phase f redemptive histry befre the fullness f time arrived (Galatians 4:4). The believing remnant f Israel within the church share in prmises that have Old Testament rts. Thrugh the cvenants, Messiah, and prmises f Israel, they experienced prmised blessings in which Gentiles als participate. (Hck, 126) Chapter 4 f Dispensatinalism, Israel and the Church: The Search fr Definitin cntains an essay written by Rbert Saucy titled, The Church as the Mystery f Gd. In this chapter Saucy seeks t explain Ephesians 3 and hw the church culd be a mystery in the plan and purpse f Gd. In 1993, Saucy released his wn bk length wrk n PD titled The Case fr Prgressive Dispensatinalism in which he wrte mre extensively n the subject f the church as a mystery in Ephesians 3. Fr the sake f time and space we will limit ur discussin f PD s view n the mystery t Saucy s 1993 wrk. Pastr Bryan Rss
6 Saucy identifies different uses fr the wrd mystery in the New Testament. First, as we have seen, a mystery may be hidden in symbl r language with an inner meaning (Revelatins 1:20; Ephesians 5:32). In this instance the revelatin f the mystery cnsists f the unveiling f the meaning f the symbl r language that has already been given. Secnd, a mystery may be hidden because its truth has never been the subject f bjective revelatin. That f the instant change f believers at the cming f Christ (I Cr. 15:51) is an example f this type. A third kind f hiddenness is fund in relatin t Christ as the divine plan f salvatin in him. There is n dubt that this use f mystery invlves disclsure f details cncerning the persn and saving wrk f Christ that are absent frm the Old Testament prphecies; yet it is impssible t see these additinal truths as cnstituting all that is meant in the hiddenness and revelatin f this mystery. (Saucy, 148-149) After equating Paul s statement in Rmans 1:1-2 and Ephesians 6:19, Saucy uses Rmans 16:25-26 t argue the fllwing regarding the PD s understanding f the mystery. If the mystery f Christ and the divine plan f salvatin has already been the subject f Old Testament prphecy, then in what sense can it be said t have been hidden and nly nw revealed by the New Testament apstles and prphets?... A mystery may be hidden in the sense that its truth has nt been realized. The crrespnding revelatin cnsists nt in making the truth knwn in an bjective prpsitinal sense, but in bringing it t reality r existence. In this instance the truth f the mystery may be the subject f previus prphecy, but it is said t be hidden until, in Gd s appinted time, it becmes a manifest event. (Saucy, 150) Cutting t the chase, Saucy states the fllwing regarding the mystery in Ephesians and elsewhere in the Pauline Scriptures. When we set these Old Testament predictins alngside Paul s teaching abut the unin f Jew and Gentile in salvatin thrugh Christ, it seems difficult t believe that he intends n reference t these prphecies and that his use f mystery means previusly unknwn truth abslutely. We suggest, rather, that he refers t mystery in tw f the senses we lked at earlier... Thus the mystery f the unin f Jew and Gentiles in Christ that cnstitutes the church must be viewed as bth bringing new truth t light and fulfilling Old Testament predictins pertaining t the cming f the Messiah and his ministry. In additin t the fact that the equal sharing by Jew and Gentile in the present spiritual salvatin fund in Christ is in accrd with the Old Testament prphecies, this cnclusin is supprted by the fact, nted abve, that the teaching f the relatinship f Jew and Gentiles in Ephesians 3:6 is in reality part f the brad mystery f Christ that Pastr Bryan Rss
7 is clearly related t the Old Testament prphecy... Our understanding f the term mystery and f Paul s teaching abut it leads us, therefre, t a mediating psitin cncerning the place f the church in Gd s plan and purpse in histry. On the ne hand, cntrary t traditinal dispensatinalism, the church is invlved in the fulfillment f the messianic prmises f the Old Testament. Messianic days have dawned, albeit in a way nt clearly seen in the Old Testament, but nevertheless in a way that Paul supprts in varius places by references t the Old Testament kingdm prmises. On the ther hand, as we have seen, this teaching f Paul related t the church is never said t be the cmplete fulfillment f these prphecies, nr des it in any way negate a fulfillment f the prphecies that speak f a future rle fr the natin f Israel amng the natins... The present utwrking f the mystery in the church is, therefre, nt the cmpletin f the mystery, which is t bring all things tgether under Christ... In shrt, the present wrking f the mystery in Ephesians 3 in the cnstitutin f the church is the initial stage in the realizatin f the divine plan f salvatin in Christ, which is the cmprehensive mystery f Gd. (Saucy, 163-166) Cnclusin It ges withut saying that the Grace Histry Prject cmpletely rejects Saucy s articulatin f the mystery in Paul s writings. It is hwever, imprtant t nte what happens when ne fails t view the mystery as a distinct Pauline revelatin. In the end, PD is fund t be wefully lacking and in ur estimatin is grssly in errr regarding the nature f the current dispensatin. The bdy f Christ that cmprises the dispensatin f grace was a mystery that was hid in Gd until it was revealed t the Apstle Paul. It was the FALL f Israel that brught abut the salvatin f Paul as well as the revelatin f the mystery cmmitted t his trust. Wrks Cited Blaising, Craig A., and Darrell L. Bck. Dispensatinalism, Israel and the Church: The Search fr Definitin. Grand Rapids, MI: Zndervan, 1992. Blaising, Craig A., and Darrell L. Bck. Prgressive Dispensatinalism. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Bks, 1993. Saucy, Rbert L. The Case fr Prgressive Dispensatinalism: The Interface Between Dispensatinal & Nn-Dispensatinal Thelgy. Grand Rapids, MI: Zndervan, 1993. Pastr Bryan Rss