Solly is a Dispensationalist

[Solly]

I think I might be a dispensationalist too.

Eph 1.10/Elect in.

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth.;)

:sarcasm: :whip:

[Covenanter]

Solly,

How many dispensations do you believe in ?????
:rofl:

The word is used ONCE in the dispensationalist sense.
:thumb:

[dizzle]

Ian!!! Great to see you!!

PS: We have a structured debate section at the bottom of the forum here... I think you may be able to get an acceptance to that challenge you had proposed.

[Solly]

Ian, greetings, and welcome to TW.

I have seen your posts over on ROT; good work, Sir.

Joking aside, I don't see any dispensations at all, if one takes the word in its meaning of "stewardship, administration". Paul is a steward of the Gospel, as is Timothy, as are all ministers of the Word. It is given into his care.

The only use I can find apart from this, is Eph 1.10, which speaks of God's stewardship of all things, Who has the care of all things, and works out His purposes, as specified in that verse. The only mystery involved is that He seeks to unite all things together, in Christ; something that previous writers had not fully understood - Dispensationalism has very Jewish (as opposed to Biblical) roots, because that is what the Jews appear to have believed: that there would be a separate Jewish Kingdom ruling over the Gentiles; two seperate administrations.

In the overarching design of God, one might seek to specifiy different "times and seasons" of his work, ie, AnteDiluvian, Abrahamic-Davidic, Second Temple, Church; but these are human distinctions - we don't find a list of "the ages" in scripture, nor any dispensational hermeneutic applied by the apostles.

I personally hold to the two-ages understanding (pace DD); there is this fallen "present evil" age/world, and the world/age to come, which has broken into this age in Christ, and is now at work in the saints united to him. Israel is a "type" of fallen humanity that rejects its king despite privileges; the Law is a statement of God's righteousness and expectations for man, despite their rebellion.
Ps 8 gives us the picture of how things should have been; the writer to the Hebrews points out not only are all things not in subjection to man - not even Jewish man - but that we are in subjection to angels/elements, by whom the law came and under whom we receive the just recompense of the law, as well as the mind-blinding activity of the devil, and the power of sin. Christ came, took our place, and liberates us from this bondage. The seed having come, the shell that is Israel is no longer required, although we have the continued testimony of scripture for "examples".

So perhaps my final answer is that there is only one dispensation: that of Christ, who is faithful over his own house.

regards
Tony

[smilax]

Plagiarism!

[Dr. Jack Bauer]

Zombie threads. They're here. Get used to them.

[Sheepdog]

don't :gravedig:


brai-ai-ai-ains :duh: