Comments on: The Apostles and Dispensationalism http://www.imperishableinheritance.com/2006/the-apostles-and-dispensationalism/ Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:00:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Chris http://www.imperishableinheritance.com/2006/the-apostles-and-dispensationalism/comment-page-1/#comment-1382 Chris Fri, 02 Jun 2006 16:18:34 +0000 http://www.imperishableinheritance.com/2006/the-apostles-and-dispensationalism/#comment-1382 Thanks for the words! Thanks for the words!

]]> By: Perry http://www.imperishableinheritance.com/2006/the-apostles-and-dispensationalism/comment-page-1/#comment-1381 Perry Fri, 02 Jun 2006 15:33:35 +0000 http://www.imperishableinheritance.com/2006/the-apostles-and-dispensationalism/#comment-1381 Chris, I agree, great stuff! I truly enjoyed your research and insight. It is a powerful thought to realize that God holds to his covenant with Abraham over his convenant with Moses because it is unconditional and requires nothing from us; to me, that is comforting. Dispensational doctrine is truly a hindrance on the modern church and it is more wide spread and damaging than what most people realize. It is not a stretch to say that teachers of dispensationalism diminish God's glory by teaching that his turning to the Gentile's was a second thought after being turned down by His own people. Verily, verily I must say that such doctrines, accompanied by arminism and pentacostal teaching on the Spirit, are a plague on the gospel. Perry Chris,

I agree, great stuff! I truly enjoyed your research and insight. It is a powerful thought to realize that God holds to his covenant with Abraham over his convenant with Moses because it is unconditional and requires nothing from us; to me, that is comforting. Dispensational doctrine is truly a hindrance on the modern church and it is more wide spread and damaging than what most people realize. It is not a stretch to say that teachers of dispensationalism diminish God’s glory by teaching that his turning to the Gentile’s was a second thought after being turned down by His own people. Verily, verily I must say that such doctrines, accompanied by arminism and pentacostal teaching on the Spirit, are a plague on the gospel.

Perry

]]> By: Chris http://www.imperishableinheritance.com/2006/the-apostles-and-dispensationalism/comment-page-1/#comment-1376 Chris Thu, 01 Jun 2006 18:52:14 +0000 http://www.imperishableinheritance.com/2006/the-apostles-and-dispensationalism/#comment-1376 Thank you for your thoughts Nathan. You're definetly right that it was clear in the OT the outworking of God. It wasn't as though there were no prophecies of the addition of Gentiles to Israel. I only said I can understand their misunderstanding if I were in their spot. It's hard for us, in 2006, to say that we wouldn't have made the same mistakes; because I bet surely I would have. Again, thank you for reading and your thoughts. Thank you for your thoughts Nathan. You’re definetly right that it was clear in the OT the outworking of God. It wasn’t as though there were no prophecies of the addition of Gentiles to Israel. I only said I can understand their misunderstanding if I were in their spot. It’s hard for us, in 2006, to say that we wouldn’t have made the same mistakes; because I bet surely I would have.

Again, thank you for reading and your thoughts.

]]> By: Pitchford http://www.imperishableinheritance.com/2006/the-apostles-and-dispensationalism/comment-page-1/#comment-1375 Pitchford Thu, 01 Jun 2006 18:36:26 +0000 http://www.imperishableinheritance.com/2006/the-apostles-and-dispensationalism/#comment-1375 Chris, Excellent stuff. I certainly agree, although I would add a clarifying (by which I mean, not a disputative, only an additive) comment: While the early Apostles were tempted to think of the work of Christ in an earthly, ethno-centric (i.e. Dispensational) way, they had no excuse for doing so. The essence of the nature of Christ's work as involving suffering, the establishment of a spiritual kingdom in which the Gentiles would be gathered together as part and parcel of the true Israel, etc., was revealed clearly enough in the OT that Christ was able to rebuke them for their dullness of heart when they failed to see these things (e.g. Luke 24:25-27). Although the "mystery" motif of the NT makes clear that these truths had not been revealed as clearly and brilliantly in the OT as they were in the writings of Paul, nevertheless, the essence of the message had been made clear from the days of the prophets. What was lacking was only the specifics of time and circumstance, together with the depth of the spiritual riches involved (e.g. I Peter 1:10-12). A beautiful summative statement of this interplay may be found in Romans 16: 25-27: we may learn from these verses that the mystery of the gospel was clearly revealed in the days of the NT; however, it was revealed from the earlier prophetic writings, which therefore must have contained, albeit in more shadowy descriptions, the essence of the NT gospel truths. One example (of many) of a prophetic passage which clearly speaks of the end time gathering of the Gentiles to be part of God's Israel may be found in Isaiah 66:19-21 (with context). One more point: it is easy to underestimate the extent of knowledge possessed by the true saints of the OT. Read, for example, Peter's exegesis of Psalm 16 in Acts 2. In his sermon, he states unequivocally that David was writing with specific, conscious reference to the suffering and resurrected Christ. Good stuff. Thanks for the many helpful thoughts. Pitchford Chris,

Excellent stuff. I certainly agree, although I would add a clarifying (by which I mean, not a disputative, only an additive) comment:

While the early Apostles were tempted to think of the work of Christ in an earthly, ethno-centric (i.e. Dispensational) way, they had no excuse for doing so. The essence of the nature of Christ’s work as involving suffering, the establishment of a spiritual kingdom in which the Gentiles would be gathered together as part and parcel of the true Israel, etc., was revealed clearly enough in the OT that Christ was able to rebuke them for their dullness of heart when they failed to see these things (e.g. Luke 24:25–27). Although the “mystery” motif of the NT makes clear that these truths had not been revealed as clearly and brilliantly in the OT as they were in the writings of Paul, nevertheless, the essence of the message had been made clear from the days of the prophets. What was lacking was only the specifics of time and circumstance, together with the depth of the spiritual riches involved (e.g. I Peter 1:10–12). A beautiful summative statement of this interplay may be found in Romans 16: 25–27: we may learn from these verses that the mystery of the gospel was clearly revealed in the days of the NT; however, it was revealed from the earlier prophetic writings, which therefore must have contained, albeit in more shadowy descriptions, the essence of the NT gospel truths. One example (of many) of a prophetic passage which clearly speaks of the end time gathering of the Gentiles to be part of God’s Israel may be found in Isaiah 66:19–21 (with context).

One more point: it is easy to underestimate the extent of knowledge possessed by the true saints of the OT. Read, for example, Peter’s exegesis of Psalm 16 in Acts 2. In his sermon, he states unequivocally that David was writing with specific, conscious reference to the suffering and resurrected Christ.

Good stuff. Thanks for the many helpful thoughts.

Pitchford

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