The Kingdom That Never Came

Unfortunately, it is clear from the writings of Paul that most, if not all, of the churches that he had founded or mentored eventually turned away from the Gospel of Grace that he preached and placed themselves back under the Law or Gospel of the Kingdom (Galatians 1:6), and have done so ever since, e.g., finding the church in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the other writings of the Twelve.

Sadly, with that in mind, and the fact that the kingdom never came, in their ignorance, following the writings of Augustine, specifically, his work, The City of God, early 5th century, they began to spiritualize and allegorize the texts to make them say what they wanted them to say. As a result, the church became Israel, we are now living in the kingdom, the pope is Christ's vicar on earth, and Rome is the Holy City, etc. Unfortunately, the Protestant Reformation did little to change this theology other than to reject the authority of the pope and gravitate from amillennialism to postmillennialism. Neither interpreted the Bible literally and both led to preterism. Dispensationalism was not lost, but purposefully left.

Dispensationalism is the Only Answer

The timeline never changed for the apostles. As per Daniel's prophecy and many others in the Old Testament, their expectation and hope was that Israel would eventually repent nationally, the Tribulation would begin as per the prophecies of Daniel's Seventieth Week spoken of in Daniel 9:24 and Matthew 24:15, and culminate with the Christ's Second Coming, the establishment of the kingdom, and them sitting on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel just as they were promised  in Matthew 19:28. This is reflected in all their writings without exception. This apparently remained a hope until the eventual destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the death of John: the last apostle. One would do well to remember this when they are reading anything between Hebrews and Revelation. They were always addressing the believing Jews and preparing them for the tribulation that they fully expected to come in their lifetimes. 

Paul, on the other hand, had turned to the Gentiles and the establishment of the church: The Body of Christ. As such, the apostles were teaching the Gospel of the Kingdom that required repentance and baptism, while Paul was teaching the Gospel of Grace that required only belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. As I mentioned earlier, failure to see this transition is the reason for so much confusion in the church today, e.g., baptismal regeneration, amillennialism, postmillennialism, preterism, replacement theology, much of the Pentecostal movement, the loss of salvation, etc. In my opinion, it is only through the lens of the dispensational view that these issues can be remedied.

Spearman, H. Dwayne. The Book of Acts Rightly Divided (pp. 7-8). Directional Bible Ministries. Kindle Edition. 

Perverting the True Gospel

Galatians 1:6-7: I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. Notice the word another (allos = the same of a different kind) in this verse as compared to the word another (heteros = another of a different kind) in verse 6 (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:4). In other words, they are not the same. 

The trouble that Paul was referring to here was the perverting of the true gospel of grace and it was troubling to those who heard it because it was contradicting what they had already learned from him. I believe that is exactly the same problem in the church today. There are still many who trouble you, by mingling the kingdom gospel of works with the and grace gospel of faith only to the point that there is confusion and misunderstanding. 

On one hand, they tell them they have to repent, be baptized, and keep the law in order to be saved; and then on the other hand, they tell them that it is not a salvation of works, but faith alone. Seriously? Isn't this exactly the issue that Paul was addressing in these verses? Paul refers to those who did the same thing in his day as false brethren in Galatians 2:4. He also refers to them in Galatians 5:10 as those who will be judged, and in Galatians 5:12 as those that he wishes would be cut off. Strong words for sure. 

I think today we underestimate the seriousness of purposefully or un-purposefully causing division in the church by not rightly dividing the Word of God. Admittedly, I did the same thing for years, so I try to be patient with those who haven't "seen it" yet, because once they do, they can never "unsee it" like me and so many others.

Spearman, H. Dwayne. The Books of Galatians and Ephesians Rightly Divided (pp. 13-14). Directional Bible Ministries. Kindle Edition. 

Discerning the Audience Matters

Just read this by Justin Johnson of Grace Ambassadors. This is why rightly dividing the Scripture is so important. 

An important rule in Biblical application is to respect the intended audience. Who is being spoken to or about in a passage? 

If every Bible passage were about you, then discerning the audience would not matter, but this is not the case. There  are many different audiences in the Bible that change how a passage applies to you.

It is easiest to recognize general audience groups including Israel or Gentile, male or female, and believer or unbeliever.

It is harder to discern whether the audience is singular or plural without the “thee” and “ye” found in the King James Bible.

It is more difficult to consider dispensational change when identifying the audience, but this may be the most important.

For example, what God said to males only in Deu 16:16 only directly applies to males in Israel under the Old Covenant in the land. This law exempts women and those of every other nation. However, if you are not under the law, then it would not apply to men nor women.

Speaking of Israel, it might be necessary to discern obedient Israel or rebellious Israel, priests or land tribes, Israel (northern tribes) or Judah (southern tribes), Israel in the land or Israel in captivity, believing Jews or unbelieving Jews. Identifying to whom God is speaking in Israel is important for knowing why God says what he does.

There are many believers in the Bible. There may be a different application based on whether the believer is Jewish or Gentile. Likewise, it should be considered if they are believers from John the Baptist’s ministry, believers from Jesus’ ministry, believers from Peter’s ministry, or believers from Paul’s ministry. What do they believe?

In some ways it may not matter (1 Cor 1:13). All believers have some things in common (Rom 3:4). In other ways, it matters greatly (Rom 15:20; Acts 18:26). Not all believers are given the same message to believe or position to hold.

Moreover, Jews and Gentiles partaking of Israel’s earthly kingdom differ from Jews and Gentiles partaking of the Body of Christ’s heavenly position. Which Jew or Gentile is it? These must be rightly divided.

While we can learn from every book and chapter of Scripture (Rom 15:4), not every passage is written to or about you in the mystery Body of Christ, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile.

Considering the audience is important to understand where you can take direct application. For the rest, we learn from what we have in common but rightly divide what we don’t.

For your greater understanding,

Justin "if the shoe fits" Johnson

Am I Still a Baptist?

I was raised, educated, and even pastored a Baptist church. However, now that I see the Bible through a Mid-Acts Dispensational lens, can I still be considered a Baptist?