ARTICLES FROM THE PERSUADER
VOLUME II (1993-1995)
Salvation-Different In Each Dispensation True Or False?
The word "dispensation" Means first administration and is found in I Cor. 9:17, "For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is Committed unto me." A dispensation is defined as a period of Time During Which God deals in a special way with man in respect to free and man's Responsibility. Man has divided the Old and New Testament into seven Dispensations: Innocence, Conscience, Human Government, Promise, Law, Grace, and Judgement. As we look at These Dispensations to questions comes to mind. Is man saved the same way or differently in each dispensation? Esta To answer, let us look at the Bible.
How was Adam saved? Some would say I just Took the coat of skin Offered God (Gen. 3:21). That is not all there was to it. We need to look deeper than that. He preached the gospel was first in Genesis 3:15, "And I will put enmity Between thee and the woman, and thy seed Between and her seed;. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel" The "seed of the woman "Refers to the virgin birth. "Shalt bruise His heel" Refers to the seed of the serpent temporary inflicting a wound on the seed of the woman Which occurred When Jesus died on the cross. "It shall bruise thy head" Refers to the fact of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and in so doing Placed a fatal wound (it is as good as done) on the devil. I is a defeated foe due to the gospel of Christ Which is defined in I Cor. 15: 3-4, "For I delivered unto you first of all that Which I Also received, how That Christ died for our sins ACCORDING to the scriptures; And That I was buried, and rose again That I have the third day ACCORDING to the scriptures. " When Adam received the coat of skin, I Believed the Gospel Preached to him That there was a coming "seed of the woman" who would be innocent but HAD to die for the guilty just as the innocent animals died to clothe the guilty , and would Overcome the evil one by His resurrection.
THEREFORE, Adam received the coat of skin by grace through faith, believing in a coming Redeemer.
Told was Noah to build an ark, a type of the Lord Jesus, to escape the flood (wrath to come). Gen. 6: 8 says, ". But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD," I have found grace and I Believed God, THUS built an ark and got in the ark, a picture of getting in Christ by grace through faith.
Abraham was saved in Gen. 15: 6 When I Believed the promise of God. This promise Involved a singular "seed", yet would be as the dust of the earth (Gen. 13:16) and the stars of heaven (Gen. 15: 5). This Referred to more than a single are Isaac. THEREFORE, Abraham HAD to come to a time in his life Where I Believed in a future seed, Which is Christ (Gal. 3:16). I did this in Gen. 15: 6, "And I Believed in the LORD; and I Counted it to him for righteousness." This is verified by Paul in Rom. 4: 3 and Gal. 3: 6 And Also by James in James 2:23. THUS I was saved by grace through faith in a coming Redeemer.
In Moses' day, God gave the law and required sacrifices to be Brought to the tabernacle and be slain. The law was never Given for men to be saved Which is made clear in Rom. 3: 19-20, "Now we know That what things soever the law saith, it saith to them Who are under the law. That May every mouth be stopped, and all the world guilty before God May Become THEREFORE by the deeds of There Shall the law no flesh be justified in His sight. for by the law is the knowledge of sin " The law Brought condemnation and death. Really it man backed into a corner and Showed him His sinful, helpless condition And Then Showed him the door, the Lord Jesus (John 10: 9). Then Offered sacrifices by faith man, the innocent dying for the guilty, as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God That would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The writer of Hebrews That Makes it clear it is not the blood of goats and calves but With the precious blood of Jesus whereby man is saved (Heb 9:12; 10: 1.). Man under law to offer the sacrifices HAD believing in a coming Redeemer to be saved. THEREFORE, I was saved by grace through faith.
Since the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross and Arose We have Entered into the dispensation of grace (Eph. 2: 8-9). But you've Always Been salvation by grace. It Took the Grace of God to reach down to fallen Adam, Noah to choose out of a world Filled With no, to call Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, and to give Moses the law so man would seek the "door," just as it does since Christ's resurrection. Salvation is of the Lord and That is the grace way. Man has always HAD to believe in a Redeemer Whether it was Christ's resurrection before or afterward.
Salvation've Always Been by grace through faith and not of works. For a person to preach in OT That time was salvation by works I have to overlook what Said Christ to the Pharisees in John 5: 39-40, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye Have eternal life: and They are they Which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, That Might Have ye life. " He was saying These Pharisees Were not saved, yet They Offered Their sacrifices and kept the law (to Their thinking). The problem was That They did not offer the sacrifices believing in a coming Redeemer.
Those Who Teach saved man is different in each dispensation use the rich young ruler for an example. The Lord Jesus Told him to go sell His Material possessions and give to the poor. The Lord was dealing With His gods, Which Must Be Dealt With before one will be saved. By the way, Jesus did not tell him to do esta to be saved. In Mark 10:21 He Said, "One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt Have treasure in heaven: and eat, take up the cross, and follow me." After His selling goods, the Lord required whole hearted reception of Jesus as His Lord for him to be saved. Salvation is by grace through faith and has Always Been That Way.
In conclusion, it is true That God deals in a special way with man in respect to free and man's Responsibility in each dispensation, but salvation is the same in each dispensation, by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I John 5:12 states, " He That hath the Son hath life; and I That hath not the Son of God hath not life. " Those Who Teach Otherwise are preaching another gospel and deserve to be cursed as Said Paul in Gal. 1: 8. Also They deserve the labels put on the Judaizers Paul in Phil. 3: 2: DOGS, EVIL WORKERS, AND concision (mutilators).
THEREFORE in answer to the title of this article SALVATION-DIFFERENT IN EACH DISPENSATION- TRUE OR FALSE? I Would Have to answer FALSE !!!
THE PERSUADER - Oct.-Nov., 1994