Scripture Research - Vol. 1 - No. 8
(Inside front cover) Indoctrination:To be indoctrinated is to be fundamentally instructed. To be indoctrinated in Divine revelation is to be fundamentally instructed in the teaching of Holy Scripture.
The need for doctrinal, dispensational, and practical knowledge is of paramount importance. For a Christian to be ignorant of the Scriptures is detrimental to his Christian growth, service, and enjoyment. Such ignorance is certainly no help to the cause of Christ.
Ignorance is not in the purpose of God for believers. Six times in his epistles Paul writes, "I would not have you ignorant" (cp. Rom. 1:13, 11:35; 1 Cor. 10:1; 12:1; 2 Cor. 1:8; 1 Thess. 4:13). The expression "know ye not" also occurs a number of times (cp. Rom. 6:3, 16; 1 Cor. 5 & 6:9, 15). There are other expressions in the Pauline epistles such as "know what Is the hope of his calling" (Eph. 1:18); "know the love of Christ" (Eph. 3:18); "know Him and the power of His resurrection" (Phil. 3:10); "know how ye ought to answer" (Col. 4:6).
Knowledge is demanded in every walk of life. If it is essential to the secular walks of life, how much more so to the spiritual walk. Note the following doctrinal advantages.
1. THE FIRST DOCTRINAL ADVANTAGE 1S THAT KNOWLEDGE IS A SAFEGUARD.
Unless one knows the Book — its divisions, its interpretations, and its applications — he may readily become a prey to almost every subtle movement under the sun.
The following are expressions not infrequently heard: "His message seemed so good and true," or "The sermon was beautiful," or "Doctor So-and-so's lecture sounded good to me," or "Of course, I am not up on the Bible, but that teaching struck me as being all right."
Regardless of how good or beautiful a message may seem to the listener, there is but one essential question to be asked, namely: "Was the message scripturally and dispensationally true?"
A knowledge of the Word of God should keep one from being a victim of the wiles of the Devil. Ignorance is synonymous with darkness; knowledge is synonymous with light. In darkness, one is ever in danger. Satan uses the darkness to make more effective his efforts against our Lord and His own. Scriptural knowledge is a safeguard when scripturally used. Kindly note some of the things mentioned in Scripture as being directly attributed to ignorance:
(Continued on inside cover of back cover)
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Article Page
I. GRACE AS A WAY AND RULE OF LIFE by Russ Schaefer ...145
II. GRACE AS THE "LAW OR RULE" OF OUR DISPENSATION by Russ Schaefer ...150
Scripture Research, Inc. P.O. Box 51716 Riverside, California 92517
Formerly: Ewalt Memorial Bible School of Atascadero, California
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THE NAMES, TITLES, AND CHARACTERS OF THE SON OF GOD JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, IN THEIR VARIETY, AS FOUND IN THE SCRIPTURES."THEY ARE THEY WHICH TESTIFY OF ME."
The Headings are designed to direct the mind to various Aspects of the Person, and Glories of the Lord. Examine each text with the context, in Proof that the Son of God is the Speaker, or the one spoken of.
I.—AND SIMON PETER ANSWERED AND SAID, THOU ART THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.- Mat. 16.16.
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TESTIMONY BORNE TO THE SON BY THE FATHER, BY JESUS HIMSELF, BY THE SPIRIT, BY ANGELS, SAINTS, MEN, AND DEVILS
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II.- UNTO THE SON HE SAITH, THY THRONE, O GOD, IS FOR EVER AND EVER.- He. 1.8
The God of Abraham } Exodus 3.2-6 As to the Angel of the Lord
The God of Isaac } Exodus 3.2-6 who spake as the God of
The God of Jacob } Exodus 3.2-6 Abraham being the Son of
The Highest, Luke 1.76 God, Comp. Judges Xiii, 18, 22 (mar.), with Isaiah, ix, 6; also Daniel Iii.25, 28.
III.- VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM.- John 8.58
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS JEHOVAH OF HOSTS.-
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IV.- HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND BY HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST.- Col. 1.17
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V.- NO MAN HATH SEEN GOD AT ANY TIME, HE HATH DECLARED HIM.- Jno1.18
GRACE AS A WAY AND RULE OF LIFE By Russ Schaefer
Frequently, the believer longs for a holy walk before God and wonders about the so-called "do's" and "don'ts" of the Christian life.
The first temptation is to go back to the rules and regulations of the Mosaic Law, a defunct, enervated economy, to find there is a "way of life" and, hence, to be pleasing to God. As the believer pages the Scriptures, it will be discovered that many others did just as he seeks to do, both of Jews and Gentiles, and that his problem is no new one.
One of the reasons why the book of Galatians was written was to answer the assertion of Judaizing Christians (James, the Apostle, for instance, Galatians 2:12) that Gentile believers were bound to observe and keep the Law of Moses. The question was not as to whether Jewish believers (living under the Mosaic Law in the land, and Law being their National Constitution) were permitted to continue to fulfill their Jewish national customs, but whether Gentile believers were to be under this yoke, as Peter calls it, in Acts 15:10 and Paul in Galatians 5:1.
Before exploring grace as a way or rule of life, let us consider several truths about grace.
In Acts 15:11 Peter declared that it was through the grace of God that both Jew and Gentile were saved. This conclusion as expressed by Peter followed close upon the arguments expressed by others that circumcision (and this made one a son of the Law in Israelitish eyes) was binding upon all believers, and whether or not the Gentiles were to be commanded to keep the Law (Acts 15:5), Paul states in...
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...Romans 10:4, "For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." Faith, as Paul so aptly points out in succeeding verses of Romans 10, has to do with the substance of the preached Word, and the Substance, that Reality, is the Living, Risen, and Ascended Christ. If then we have been joined to the Living Christ, if His Life has been communicated to us by Divine Transmission, so that we can truly say, "Christ our Life" (Colossians 3:4), then we are suddenly outside of the realm of the Mosaic Law and oriented to another sphere entirely. The Righteousness of God, without Law, had been finally manifested in Christ (Romans 3:21). Since, therefore, whatever claims the law once had to being the harbinger of righteousness, it had passed to Christ, the Fulfiller of the Law.
The believer is "justified freely, grace-wise, by grace" --that is, declared righteous with God’s own righteousness" in Christ" (Romans 3:21-28 and Titus 3:7). This was upon the basis of God's grace, not law-keeping.
Now, if grace was the basis of God's dealing in salvation and redemption, and not law-works for Israelites on the one hand, or moral ethics for Gentiles on the other -- for Ephesians 2:8, 9 abolishes both and places salvation squarely on a "by grace through faith" principle -- if this then be the case, we should expect the Word to state explicitly that we are not "under law." This it does: "Ye are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14, 15). This is repeated in Romans 7:4, "Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be joined to another…." One of the purposes of the law was to reveal the inordinate sinfulness of sin, so Israelites possessed what the Gentile nations did not -- a very real knowledge and consciousness of sin -- but the effect of this knowledge was to create despair and...
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..."distance." The law which revealed so much of God's majesty and holiness did not empower the poor sinner to desist from sinning in thought, word, or deed. So the "righteousness" that would have come from Israel's laws (cp. Deuteronomy 6:25) was not for the ordinary man, since "all sinned" and so "law-righteousness" would be wanting, somewhere, some place, somehow. No wonder God called a halt to it for righteousness and instead states, ". . . even so might grace reign through righteousness" (Romans 5:21). The reign of the Mosaic Law was ending for Jewish believers in the Book of Acts; it had never commenced for Gentile believers, though every effort was made then and through the centuries since to compel Gentile Christians to look to Israel's law as a way or rule of life. Read the Law; it is holy, just, and good, but it will produce no spiritual life, for life must come from life, and the Christian's life must come from God and be found "in Christ," hence, "Christ our Life" (Colossians 3:4). All that we have been made "in Him," all that we are "in Him," will be life; outside of Him, death, including this old flesh so prone to sin.
So, then, grace remains. Can it suffice as a rule of life? Let's see what the Word has to say.
The quotation of 2 Corinthians 1:12 is not out-of-place here, "... not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved in the world." This is what we are looking for. How do we behave? Are "Rules of Living" the Christian life? Is it by seeking out the sins of the flesh, by digging up the corpsy old man, that God has declared so hopeless and had reckoned to be dead and buried with Christ (Romans 6). Can we with profit point this old man out and say, "Now I feel holier"? Or is it rather that we should look to the Man of Glory and Grace and shun the old? Paul was conscious of carting this corpsy man about in Romans 7:24 when he asks, "What will rescue me out of this body of death?" The next word in the Greek...
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...text is "Charis." Yes, grace will!! "Grace unto God" -- what a hymn of freedom rather than bemoaning sins whether past or present.
In Romans 5:2 the believer is said to have access (through our Lord Jesus Christ, 5:1) "by faith into this grace wherein we stand." The believer is "set into grace."
The believer has been declared righteous, and sin is no longer a barrier to God's presence. But God does not rest with sins forgiven, with guilt assuaged, but desires much more; hence, He "sets," "anchors," or "grounds" the believer in His own grace. If the believer were thrust back upon himself for his Christian life and walk, we could well expect to see constant and unceasing derelictions of faith. We are instead set into His grace -- brought within the all encom- passing girding bands of His love and grace. He thrusts us back upon Himself, what He is to us, what His love is to us, and what His grace is to us. No wonder Paul could say he behaved in the world … in the grace of God, or, as he puts it in Titus 2:11, 12, "for the grace of God. . .teaching us" (more correctly, severe discipline is meant, as the chastisement or scourging of Christ before Pilate, Luke 23:16, 22). So grace is to be the task-master over the Christian, and carelessness in Christian living is sin not answerable to Israel's Law, but a sin against the very love of God…the very grace of God that will not let us go, ever.
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The words of Francis Thompson have caught a glimpse of this truth:
Strange, piteous, futile thing,
Wherefore should any set thee love apart?
Seeing none but I make much of naught (He said),
And human love needs human meriting:
How hast thou merited--
Of all man's clotted clay the dingiest clot?
Alack, thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art!
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee
Save Me, save only Me?
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"Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest I am He Whom thou seekest! Thou dravest love for thee, who dravest Me."
This could well be said of God's grace -- if His grace and love is not sufficient motive for a holy walk, then He, at least, seeks to hold you by no other means. The strengthening of the "inner man" (Ephesians 1:16) is in order that we might get to know something of the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ. This alone results in true worship, true fellowship, and in a true and holy walk.
Christ's "I Have's" in John 17:
I have glorified Thee (vs. 4).
I have finished the work (vs. 4).
I have manifested Thy Name (vs. 6).
I have kept (vs. 12).
I have given them Thy Word and Words (vss. 8,14).
I have declared Thy Name (vs. 26).
I have known Thee (vs. 25).
I have sent (vs. 18).
I have given them Thy glory (vs. 22).
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GRACE AS THE "LAW OR RULE" OF OUR DISPENSATION By Russ Schaefer
This aspect of grace is found in the context of Eph. 3:2, wherein Paul, in writing to Gentile believers, states, "If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward."
From this context we may make several deductions:
1. Paul was the steward (household steward) put in trust with this distinctive Gentile ministry. Note Eph. 3:1: "for you Gentiles," and 3:2: "which is given me to you-ward."
2. It should be obvious that the dispensation under consideration should belong to God. Lest this be in doubt, Eph. 2:19 declares that Gentile believers were made of the Household of God. We are reminded, of course, that the word translated "dispensation" is a compounded Greek word meaning household and its law, rule, or management. To show the relationship of this Dispensation to God, it is called "the Dispensation of God" in Col. 1:25 and Stewardship of God" in 1 Tim. 1:4 (Marshal Text). That God should be the author of this dispensation; that God should choose Paul as its revelator and minister; that God should make this with Gentile believers -- all this is a matter of record, and, if we believe the Word of God, we are faced with certain unmistakable facts that it would do well for us to heed.
3. That this "Dispensation of God and of His grace" is addressed to "Sons of God," albeit by divine adoption (Eph. 1:5), and not to those "in Adam, in the world, who live according to the dictates of the Prince of Darkness." This is seen in reading the Ephesian and Colossian context.
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4. That the person in unbelief and in rejection of Christ as Saviour and Lord is not under the Dispensation of Grace (as has been taught by all schools of the Christian religion). The truth of John 3:36 (see John 3:18), that the wrath of God (and not grace) abides on him "that believeth not," is echoed unmistakably by the kindred thought that, prior to their salvation by the "Great Redemption" in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:7), these Gentiles "were by nature children of wrath, even as others." While Paul was announcing the great amnesty of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19-21: Rom. 5:11), he still pointed out that, while God had provided a "hiding place" from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:9), still God had not abdicated His righteousness or holiness, and that sin still provoked His wrath and displeasure. It is this same epistle of Ephesians that speaks of other Gentiles being judicially blinded by God (Eph. 4:18), and this is further emphasized in Col. 3:6.
Wherever the great Sin-Offering is spurned, Christ rejected, sin embraced, disobedience to the claims of God enjoined, the only attitude God can take is one of wrath. This word "wrath" simply means a settled state of mind against someone that, unless remedied, could issue in vengeance.
The point Paul is making in using the term "Dispensation of Grace" is that due to the receptivity of these Gentiles to the claims and dictates of God concerning sin and the Saviour, that they were brought into God's own household and henceforth would enjoy the rule of that household. That is GRACE. This would remove them from the sphere of wrath and from the displeasure of God that must always be directed against sin.
To tell the world (in all its sin, hatred, and defiance of...
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...God) that it is in God's Household and enjoys His favor and grace, simply is not true. If truth is rejected, Christ despised, redemption flounted, God may well withhold exacting immediate judgment, but the treasury of wrath grows apace according to Romans 2:5, and the accounting is as sure as night and day.
Let it be stated once more: Paul does not speak to unsaved Gentiles about a Dispensation (household rule, or law) of grace. This is reserved for God's own. . . only and forever. It is the special and completely distinctive rule over the present Household of God. This rule, therefore, settles all questions of legal observances, ordinances, days, and judicial edicts from God.
Grace Frustrated
In conjunction with the word "grace" we find several interesting terms used. Certainly it is interesting that we have a "by grace through faith" salvation (Ephesians 2:8), and this is by a "grace-gift" of God. But grace can evidently be frustrated or set aside, since Paul testifies in Galatians 2:21 that if God's righteousness could be secured by law, i.e., observance and deeds of the Mosaic law or law keeping , then, at least for the Jew (since he had the law in his possession), there was no object in Christ’s dying, His death was empty of meaning, and thus "grace" as the purveyor of God's righteousness in Christ, would be frustrated. It has been so in the past and will be in the future. It is thus that these Galatians "fell" from grace (Galatians 5:4), by seeking God's righteousness in a dead Jewish economy.
In Hebrews 12:15 a warning is given concerning "failing of (from) the grace of God," failing to esteem God's favor the most important thing in one's life. Esau, we are reminded (Hebrews 12:16), sold his birthright for a mere morsel of meat and could not henceforth reclaim his priestly...
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...right; someone else had surplanted his place. So, God's program moves on; none is indispensible, but if we esteem spiritual things lightly, the grace of God fails of its purpose in us, and we are the losers. A nation which exceeds all nations in material abundance produces the most mental patients as well. Man will learn that one cannot live by bread alone; he needs the peace and presence of God; the spiritual vacuums need filling, too.
In the book of Hebrews it is interesting to note that this book, which contains so much warning to Israel (chapters 2, 6 and 10), should be the only book to speak to Israel and tell them that in their backsliding, weakness, despair, and disobedience -- that for them, of all people, God's throne --God's throne was one of Grace. How gracious are the words of Hebrews 4:16: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Israel needed to know that God's words and His dealings were still predicated from the position of grace, and that here was the place of help in her needy hour of decision. God's throne, no doubt, is one of holiness, but it is called a throne of Grace. What a wonderful God! It is this same book of Hebrews that speaks of Jesus (using His name of lowliness and humiliation) by the grace of God tasting death for every man (Hebrews 2:9). This speaks of His voluntarily undergoing death by the grace of God in behalf of all men. If you will look carefully, there is a great truth here.
It is in Hebrews 13:9 that the Hebrew believer is cautioned to be established with grace and not meats. They are forcibly told that they have nothing to do with the temple priesthood or victims, but rather to go outside the Israelitish religious camp where Christ was rejected, crucified, and go bearing His reproach (Hebrews 13:9-13). Paul evidently had trouble with Peter on this issue of food...
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...(Galatians 2:12) and with certain Gentiles who worried over purchasing and eating the food sold in the market after being offered on pagan altars to pagan gods (1 Corinthians 10:30). Paul deducted that it all was God's anyway, and by grace he partook of it after he had given "thanks" for it, so why should anyone judge his liberty to eat what was available at "shamble" prices. (1 Corinthians 10:28) Paul was too poor to buy "choice" cuts. Many a stomach upset is saved if one does not ask where the meat came from. This was especially true during the First World War and the depression of the 1930s.
In this day when millions of so-called Christians worry about eating fish on Friday, it is refreshing to read, "Let your heart be established in grace, not in meats." If established in grace, we will agree with the words of Christ that what goes into a man (food) does not defile him, but that which cometh from him. The significance of Israel's dietary laws may have an historical interest but is of no religious merit to believers today. There are no Scriptures pertaining to fish on Friday or any other day of the week. However, we are told in the Corinthian passage that even the ordinary meal is a "eucharisto", i. e. , "give thanks," that surpasses the false Eucharist of the Romanist. The ordinary affairs of life are graced of God, and the humblest food is sanctified because, along with our joys, laughter, and toil, all are unto Him. Before going on to a few more thoughts on grace, may we ponder a wonderful admonition and plea of Peter: "But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). Growth in grace betokens a gracious people, and increase in the knowledge of the Saviour, a spiritual people. Both are needed today.
A test of any movement might well be, "What is the I am of that movement?" Is it Christ Jesus, our Lord, Redeemer, and Saviour in all His perfections, completeness, glory, and grace? Or is it something less?
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Misconceptions About The Dispensations Of Grace
This side of the subject may seem to be largely negative, but, because so much has been said and written on the subject, it might be well to make at least an effort to clarify some of the misconceptions about the dispensation (Gr. household and its management or rule) of Grace.
Point One
Many speak of this dispensation as "This Age of Grace." We regret that this is not a Scriptural term or definition. It is not ever so used or implied in Scripture. A dispensation of Grace (Gr. OIKONOMIAN, Eph. 3:2) is not the same as saying an "age of Grace." To say this , Ephesians 3:2 would read aiona (age), not oikonomia. We should point out that, according to Galatians 1:4 (Gr. text), we were part of this present evil age, not an age of grace at all. The world is still involved with the "evil age," which was present during Christ's earthly ministry and is still in operation. This "age" is an evil one and has not changed. It is distinct and different from God's dispensation to His own "in Christ."
While speaking of time (age) it might be well to point out that our present dispensation is related to the mystery of the Father's will (Eph. 1:9), and this was given for a dispensation (Greek text) of the fullness of specific times (Gr. Kairon) in which certain things in heaven and earth headed up or summed up in Christ (Eph. 1:10). This is a far cry from the so-called "age of grace." That there is a time element involved in our dispensation is certain, but the element given...
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...in Scripture (Ephesians 2:2) is one from which we were delivered (age of this world), and that we were, by divine selection, identified with a prior purpose of God in Christ (Ephesians 1:4); that is, before the foundation of the world and before the commencement of what could be translated "times of ages," (2Tim. 1:10). The Greek text reads, "chronon aionion."
Maybe it should be mentioned that our dispensation has a certain character and that is "Mystery" or "Secret" (Eph. 3:9). The unsearchable, untrackable, un-prophesied riches of Christ into which the believer is introduced and made a sharer, heir and partaker are heavenly in origin, heavenly in position, and heavenly in enjoyment. Our dispensation certainly was a "mystery" prior to its revelation and has this "secret" aspect still: secret in origin, secret in its operation, and secret from the ages. According to Col. 1:26, it was hidden from the ages, hence it cannot very well be called "an age of grace."
Point Two
The great truths of the reconciliation of God as seen in Romans and Corinthians has been confused with the dispensation of Grace as seen in Ephesians.
The Reconciliation of God is a post act, enacted at Calvary. It is God’s judicially imputing a world's sin to the great Sacrificial Victim, the Lord Jesus (2 Cor. 5: 19-21). The dispensation of Grace is the Father's present rule over His own household. The reconciliation of God is the basis for salvation and is followed by the plea, "Be reconciled," i. e., accept God's peace-terms. This sequence is easily seen in Romans 5:10 and this imputation is ours -- or, as Paul so plainly writes in Roman 4:24, "But for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead." Our sin was imputed to Christ at...
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...the great reconciliation. Upon believing, His righteousness is imputed to us.
The reconciliation of God lays before the sinner the vast truths of divine love and redemption for all without distinction; it makes an imperative and majestic claim upon the sinner: "Be reconciled." That God's justification of the sinner is by blood as to the efficient causes, by faith as the efficient means, by grace as the sufficient mode and motive, is in no wise to be confused with His ruling His own by His grace as in Ephesians 3. The Scriptures afford no excuse or refuge to the one who rejects God's reconciliation, despises the Saviour, flaunts God's mercy and disowns every appeal and claim of God.
Point Three
The term "body of Christ" is not a synonym for the "dispensation of grace." That the term "body of Christ" is used of those believers before and after Acts 28 is a matter of record. That the believers had a "standing in grace" (Romans 5:1) to secure them from judicial judgment for past sins is a great truth underscored in Romans. But that Gentile believers could experience a "cutting off" is also a matter of record in Romans 11. (The non-believing Gentiles wouldn't be grafted into anything, hence, wouldn't be cut out.). That Jewish and Gentile believers experienced judgments during the book of Acts era is easily detected if we will read the books covered by that time. There was a sin unto death as 1 John speaks of it. There was a being saved though as by fire; there were those believers struck dead like Ananias and Sapphira for falsehood, and others who were partaking of the Supper unworthily and were guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord and, as a consequence, were weak, sickly, and some had died (1 Cor. 11:27-31). They had been told if they would judge themselves they would not be judged of the Lord. So during the book of Acts there was grace given to the saved and unsaved. There were judgments to the saved and...
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...unsaved. Apostolic powers were exercised, and judgments were pronounced and executed. How different the feeling is when we see the Book of Acts closed and subsequently a new revelation given, a new position opened, a new sphere entered, a new dispensation of Grace operative with all its glory. The Body of Christ in Ephesians and Colossians has thrust upon it wealth, riches, honor, position and hopes not hitherto known or revealed. No wonder it is called "a dispensation of grace," for here all is a display of His favor to His own, "in Christ." What an acceptance, what an en-gracing in the Beloved! There is no threat of "sin unto death," no thought of being cut off from Israel's olive tree, no sickness or death if eating unworthily; for here the believer is brought beyond the "flesh" and "Israel," and on into the realm of the Father, seated with Christ there (Ephesians 2:6 and Colossians 3:1-3).
The term "one body" or "body of Christ" is a figure of speech, since Christ possesses His own body. Albeit ours shall one day be like His. (Phil. 3:21)
Point Four
It is imagined by some that wherever we find God's grace, here we have the "dispensation of Grace." It could well be that the word "dispensation," a very poor rendering of the Greek word oikonomia, has given credence to this concept. God has never lacked grace; He has never failed to show grace. Grace has been part and parcel of all His dealings as recorded in the Divine Book. Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham -- the very calling out of Israel as His agency for the preservation and propagation of His truth to the nations -- all display grace. Then in a special sense Christ was the living embodiment of the grace of God even though His earthly ministry, prior to His death, was only to Israel. He is the grace of God in fulfillment of type and prophecy; He is the grace of God in redemption and justification; He is the grace of God in sanctification and sonship.
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God has always been a gracious God … a God of Grace. This is not a characteristic He suddenly assumes after the close of the Book of Acts period. It is true, however, that after the Book of Acts period He chooses to deal with His own upon this premise, that He would rule His own by grace and only grace … that Israel's laws and ordinances, that the edicts of the new Covenant, that none of these would infringe, set aside, impugn, or in any way take away or add to Grace as the rule of His own. Grace must be the under-girding rule, the overriding law of this unique household composed of predominantly Gentile believers.
Point Five
The Gospel of the Grace of God and the Dispensation of the Grace of God ... are they the same? Can we in fact have any "good news" without grace? The gospel of God's grace and the gospel of Christ are indivisible, though the stress or accent is a little different. In this case, the Gospel of the Grace of God (Acts 20:24) was that special aspect of grace whereby Israel, even though they had rejected and crucified the Son, were given every opportunity and inducement to receive Him as Savior and Lord. God was willing and ready to blot out all their sins and secure the promises made to the fathers of the nation. Truly God's grace overflowed. The Gentiles received of this overflow and, in spite of the provocation side of their salvation (their salvation was to spur Israel to provocation, stimulation and emulation, Romans 11), still it was grace indeed.
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In Galatians 1:6 the grace of Christ is stressed and the special aspect of God's grace for uncircumcised Gentiles ("the Gospel I, Paul, delivered unto you") has a placing of uncircumcised Gentiles in and with Abraham and Sarah, children and heirs of the Abrahamic promises.
The greatness of this grace is seen in the whole of the Galatian Epistle as Gentile believers were placed in Abraham and the ancient promises without direct lineages being involved, without observance of the laws of Moses, without circumcision, not even the status of proselytes. Faith alone availed.
This is vastly different from the whole setting of the post-Acts operation of the Grace of God toward Gentile believers. There is no Abraham mentioned, no city coming down from heaven, no mention of being Abraham's seed, no mention of being children of Sarah, the free woman.
Certainly these are unchanging and eternal facets to the Gospel of Grace and the Gospel of His Son; this Savior is our Savior; this One was raised for our justification as well as those in Acts. In Him we have our righteousness and in Him our access to the Father. He is the Door and the Way of John's Gospel. There is salvation in no other for us or for others. He is the Eternal Center of all we have or hope to have. Of this truth no one should be in doubt--ever!
That God's writing hand writes and then moves on is also true and we cannot erase a word of it. This last should not be overlooked. He has written to and for us Gentile believers. He writes of engracement in the Beloved, of adoption, of completeness, of a holiness and un-blameableness, of election, preemption, of the heavenlies, of being made the very pleroma of God in Christ, of Gentile believers' being made of the household of God, made His inheritance, His...
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...holy temple. No, we would not blot out a single word of His pen in the hands of His prisoner, the apostle Paul. How majestic! "If you have heard of the dispensation of the Grace of God." Have you heard? Have you heeded? Have you acknowledged it? Are you afraid to? Why should you be?
In Ephesians 4:11-12 Paul writes under inspiration that these apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastoring teachers appointed by an ascended Christ were given for the perfecting of the saints. The word translated perfecting (Katortismon) occurs only here, but the verbal form occurs 13 times and is variously translated "restore," "mend," "prepare," "frame," "make perfect." The thought is one of arranging or setting in proper order or of adjusting or re-adjusting. These Gentile believers and those in a similar position needed a re-adjustment from the Acts position that would result in a new edifice of perfection, a new man, a new stature of perfection. Left behind would be all those rites, traditions, baptisms, suppers, and programs that were incompatible with the new dispensation, with the new man, in Christ, in the heavenlies.
REDEMPTION
Redemption implies the following:
(1) A wrong position or condition from which to be redeemed.
(2) A person or persons in that condition or position.
(3) A person or persons controlling that condition or position.
(4) A will so to control.
(5) A power so to control.
(6) A need to remedy that condition or position.
(7) A right condition or position to which to be redeemed.
(8) A price to be paid to redeem.
(9) A power to be exercised to redeem.
(10) A Person to redeem.
(11) A right of that Person to redeem.
(12) A willingness on the part of that Person to redeem.
(13) The operation of the Redeemer.
(14) Union of the redeemed with the Redeemer. J.GH.S.
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LOVE AND ITS BENEFITS - I Corinthians 13
The Patience of Love - "Love suffereth long"
The Practice of love - "And is kind"
The purity of love - "Love envieth not"
The Peacefulness of Love - "Vaunteth not itself"
The Pufflessness of Love - "Is not puffed up"
The Politeness of Love - "Doth not behave Itself unseemly"
The Preference of Love - "Seeketh not her own"
The Provokelessness of Love - "Is not provoked"
The Preclusion of Love - "Thinketh no evil"
The Propriety of Love - "Rejoiceth not in unrighteousness"
The Pleasure of Love - "Rejoiceth In the truth"
The Path of Love - "Beareth all things"
The performance of Love - "Love never faileth"
The Pre-eminence of Love - "The greatest of these Is love"
The Pursuit of Love - "Follow after love"
The Power of Love - --F.E.M.
(Continued from inside of front cover)
It was ignorance that caused Israel to crucify Christ (Lu. 23:34, cp. Acts 3:17 and 1 Cor. 2:8).
It was Ignorance that caused Israel to go about to establish their own righteousness (Rom. 10:3).
It was Ignorance that caused the Scribes and Pharisees to err (Matt. 22:29).
It was ignorance that caused Saul to persecute the church (1 Tim. :13).
It was ignorance that caused the Gentiles to be alienated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18).
It was ignorance that caused the zeal of Israel to miss the righteousness of God (Rom. 10:2).
It was ignorance that kept the people in bondage (John 8: 36).
It was ignorance that caused the people to be idolaters (Gal. 4:8).
2. THE SECOND DOCTRINAL ADVANTAGE IS THAT KNOWLEDGE IS A SERVICE EQUIPMENT.
To serve, one needs to know. The more accurate the knowledge, the more perfect ought to be the service. An intelligent activity is every believer's privilege. It is possible for one's secular knowledge to be augmented and sanctified by Scriptural knowledge; thus should one be able to acquire that necessary spiritual discernment.
To be active without knowledge is dangerous. To be Inactive with knowledge is inexcusable.
To have a basic, dispensational, practical knowledge of God's Word and then to be found exercising one's self in conformity with that knowledge is nothing short of God's will for all. Dispensational knowledge is most certainly God's will for believers today. This fact is confirmed in one's mind by a study of the two prayers in the book of Ephesians. First: Eph. 1:15-23; second: Eph. 3:14-19. If God's people are to remain ignorant of present dispensational truth, then Satan will continue to take advantage of this ignorance and thereby keep believers in a state of confusion. Why remain ignorant? Eph. 3:9 ought to encourage every believer to know the truth of the mystery.
"The Lord give thee understanding in all things" (2 Tim. 2:7); "and whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him" (Col. 3:17).
HOWARD NATHANAEL BUNCE, Ph.D.