dispensations

 

For any doctrine that we embrace I believe the guide mark is to ask ourselves whether that doctrine increases our faith in the might power of God or decreases it. And to remember that doctrinal positions are man’s interpretation of the Bible and may not always be correct.

Hebrews 4:12 says

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

If belief in a dispensation makes the Word of God seem less alive, less like that sharp double edge sword, then should we be adhering to it?

Derek Prince writes

There is a tendency today to base the interpretation of Scripture on a system of dispensations in such a way that only a small proportion of  God’s blessings and promises are made available to Christians.

According to this system of interpretation, many of God’s choicest blessings and promises are relegated either to periods of the past, such as that of the Mosaic covenant or the apostolic church or to periods in the future, such as the millennium or the dispensation of the fullness of times. (From The Spirit-Filled Believers Handbook p 125)

He goes on to quote 2 Corinthians 1:20 which says

 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God (NIV)

For me personally while I applied the doctrine of the dispensations to my life I struggled to comprehend what parts of the Bible were for today. I knew I did not live in the same dispensation as Moses, Abraham, David or Jeremiah so I did not believe the promises God made to them were promises He made to me. Therefore the relevance of the Old Testament and even much of the New Testament, during the lives of the apostles, was merely an example to me of what God did in the past,  [as if to prove to me of His existence] rather than as a living reality of what He is able to do in my life today.

In my book Beyond Head Knowledge I relate how I struggled to even believe that I could claim the promise of Isaiah 61 for healing of my inner brokenness.

 

No matter what doctrine we believe may we all ask Him to open our hearts to Scripture, in order that we may receive the Living Word of God into our hearts.

 

Naomi
Latest posts by Naomi (see all)
Does the doctrine of Dispensations affect our faith?
Tagged on:                                     

One thought on “Does the doctrine of Dispensations affect our faith?”

Comments are closed.